Sewing Patterns for Men’s Clothes

Posted April 12, 2015 by sewingplums
Categories: fit + patterns, learning to sew

Inspired by the Great British Sewing Bee 2015, I’ve been looking for men’s patterns. And I’ve been adding to this list when I find a new source.
You might think there’s nothing for men learning to sew for themselves, between making a cushion cover and tailoring a suit, but in fact there are many options.

2024 : This post was originally written in 2015. Nowadays I would recommend :
Vogue for tailoring, and Know Me for a big range of stylish clothes. They are both at this url, mixed in with many normcore items (though the presentation is very repetitive, so it looks as if there are more patterns than there are). Most of the Know Me patterns have sew-along videos.
Islander Sewing Systems – classic shirts.
Islander Sewing Systems – modern fit shirts.
While Grasser is a new-to-me company with generally stylish patterns.

[I haven’t checked the rest of this post for whether the links are still valid !]

Sections :
– Learning to sew menswear
Learn to sew patterns
– General patterns
Casual wear – including ‘made to measure’ patterns, magazines
Costumes
Activewear and Outdoor gear
Shirts, suits, vests, coats – including video courses on technique
– Make your own patterns
Basic blocks
Custom fit

–

Learning to sew menswear

Even the simplest modern sewing machine is a complex machine tool. (Here are links to information about the mechanisms.) And it’s surprising how many different techniques are involved in making even the simplest sewing project. Some people love challenges, some people prefer to learn one new technique at a time.

The first step is to learn the basics of using a sewing machine, see side menu at Aim for Quality for many free guides.

Then learn the simplest basics of cutting fabric and constructing something from it.
Do you prefer to learn from video or written instructions ?
There are a couple of free video classes on bag making at Craftsy/Bluprint.

There are some special easy patterns for men’s clothes, see next section.
There are also some special courses :

There’s a subscription service for learning to sew mens’s clothes from complete beginner. Taught by Mimi G, Sew It Academy, about $12 a month – videos with few written instructions.

If you prefer written instructions, here’s a “learn to sew” project book for complete beginners. The Merchant & Mills Sewing Book has a sequence of unisex bags and home dec (clothes patterns in this book are small and difficult to use, M&M single patterns are good).

The Sewing Guru is a trained tailor who has videos for making shirts and suits (and pyjamas), using speed and classical tailoring techniques. Projects vary in difficulty, and there’s no formal sewing school with a suggested sequence for learning sewing skills.

Burda Academy has an online video course for learning to sew menswear, which includes patterns for jacket, pants, and Barbour. This is also not for beginners.

There are many video sew-alongs for Big 4 patterns, including some by men.

Many links about tie making in this post from Thread Theory.

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‘Learn to Sew’ clothes patterns for men

These could be ‘early beginner’ projects, a first garment after learning basic cutting out and construction from simpler projects :
Robe : Simplicity 1946.
Elastic-waist pants, no fly opening : Simplicity 2290.
Elastic-waist cargo shorts with ‘mock fly’ (doesn’t open) : McCall’s 6933.

The next I suggest might be ‘extra help for the first time you do this’ patterns – not for a complete beginner at garment sewing, but perhaps for a beginner at sewing these styles :
This shirt pattern is labelled ‘Learn to Sew’ by McCall’s, but definitely not easy, McCall’s 6972. For some reason they chose the most difficult way of attaching a one-piece collar.
And this ‘Learn to Sew’ pattern is for pants with zip fly, McCall’s 7987.
These jumpsuit costumes have zipper closure : McCall’s 7675.

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General Patterns

When you’ve learned the basics of how to sew, where can you go ?
I haven’t linked to individual patterns here, as there are 100s of them ! These are just links to pattern sources.
Sections here for :
Casual wear
Costumes
Activewear and Outdoor gear
Shirts
Suits, vests, coats.
These are all paper patterns unless noted.

Plus a final section on making your own patterns.

There are about a dozen patterns for men in this list of patterns supposed to be sewable in less than 3 hours.

If you’re specifically looking for patterns for larger men, here’s a post from the Curvy Sewing Collective which lists some patterns for men which go up to larger sizes. (See also the ‘make your own patterns’ section below.)

– – –

Casual wear
Some of these sites are not sorted for men/women.
Some are in several languages.

Burda tissue patterns / Simplicity
Burda Style download patterns
Butterick
Colette Patterns – Walden for men
Elbe Textiles
Green Style Creations
Hot Patterns
I Am Patterns
Jalie
Jennifer Lauren Handmade
Knipmode
Liesl & Co.
Mark Francis
McCall’s
Merchant & Mills
Patterns for Pirates
Patrons les BG
ProperFit Cothing – caps
Rebecca Page
Schnittquelle
Seamwork (download)
Sew Sew Def (download)
Silhouette patterns
Stof & Stil
The Tailoress
Thread Theory
Toby K
Wardrobe By Me
5 out of 4 patterns

’Made to Measure’ pdf download patterns

Most of these only use a few basic measures, such as height, chest, waist, hips.

Bootstrap Fashion has patterns for several shirts and jackets.

Freesewing.org (formerly Make My Pattern) has patterns for most garment types.

Lekala patterns include more than 120 patterns for men.

For more detailed personalising of design and fit, see the ‘Make your own patterns’ section below.

Pattern magazines

There is an on-line sewing magazine specifically for menswear, Bartack.
This has been set up by Jamie Kemp, former contestant on the Great British Sewing Bee. Click on the Welcome to read about the content. It’s free to look at the content, subscription for the downloads.
There’s an extensive pattern finder section.

There’s the annual special family issues of Ottobre magazine, 7/2017, 07/2018, which have several traceable patterns for men.

Many of the download patterns at Burda Style previously appeared in Burda Style pattern magazine.

La Maison Victor is a Belgian pattern magazine said to have a pattern for men in each issue.

Occasionally there are stylish patterns for men in Italian pattern magazine La Mia Boutique

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Costumes

Many of these sites aren’t pre-sorted for men/ women.

Burda Style download patterns
Butterick
Folkwear
McCall’s
Simplicity

There are several specialist pattern companies for historic styles.
Such as :
Laughing Moon
Nehelenia
Patterns of Time
Reconstructing History
The Recollections of J.P.Ryan

Choose the era you are interested in at
The Great Pattern Review
That doesn’t link you direct to the pattern.
Here’s their list of links to sources.

The Great Pattern Review site also has a ‘futuristic-fantasy’ section.
For cosplay costumes for specific characters, you can usually find ideas on specialist sites for the character.
There are some ‘online only’ cosplay costume patterns from McCall’s : Cosplay by McCall’s.

– – –

Active wear

Burda Style download patterns
Controlled Exposure
Daisy Kingdom
Fehr Trade
Green Pepper
Jalie
Round Earth Publishing – martial arts
Shelby Kaava
Storm Mountain Designs
Suitability – patterns for riders and horses

Outdoor gear

Here’s a guide to tips on sewing outdoor gear which aren’t in most conventional sewing books.
Many heavy duty sewing projects here, from Sail-rite sewing machines.

Some patterns :
Pennine Outdoor (mainly tents and sleeping bags)
Quest Outfitters (tents, bivy bags, backpacks)
Rainshed (mainly special purpose bags)

Many free patterns for bike bags available on-line.

– – –

Moving on to shirts and suits (if you want to)

Video courses on technique

David Page Coffin, noted for his books and DVDs on shirts and pants, has video classes at Craftsy/Bluprint, David Page Coffin.

Burda Academy have an on-line video course on making menswear, which includes download patterns for notched collar and barbour jackets, pants, no shirt.

The Sewing Guru is a tailor who has many video courses on making shirts and suits.

Kenneth King has video tailoring class at Taunton Workshops, Smart Tailoring.

There are many video courses on making women’s shirts, which use the same techniques. Such as this class from Sew Over It, which includes both men’s and women’s shirts with pdf patterns.

Patterns for Shirts

More than one shirt pattern at each of these sites :
Burda paper, Simplicity
Burda Style download
Islander Sewing Systems – classic shirts
Islander Sewing Systems – modern fit shirts
Vogue
(a single shirt pattern also in some of the Casual wear listings)

Patterns for Suits, Vests, Coats

Burda paper, Simplicity
Burda Style download
Vogue

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Make your own clothes patterns

The University of Fashion has on-line video lessons on drafting patterns for men. These are standard industry slopers.

There are ready-made full size basic pattern blocks for men (average body shape) from :
Design Cut and Wear (some up to 46″ chest)
Shoben Media (up to about 110cm / 43” chest).
See below for larger sizes.

Custom fit patterns

Don’t expect a perfect fit from these tools unless you’re lucky. They only cover about a quarter of all fitting issues. But they may give a better fit than patterns for ‘average’ body shape.

‘Connect the dots’ tracing from a master pattern, by Sure-Fit Designs :
Shirts and casual jackets (easy to make any height-collar-chest combination up to about 157cm/62” chest).
Pants for men instructions used with pants pattern (up to 62″ hips).

Pattern making software :
Wild Ginger PatternMaster Tailor Made (claims no upper size limits)

Formal Pattern Drafting books :
Patternmaking for Menswear : classic to contemporary by Kim & Kim
Metric pattern cutting for menswear by Winifred Aldrich
(There are several other general pattern making books for men, but these get the best reviews.)

– – –

Other options :

Vintage patterns
There are many vintage pattern sites. Good places to start are searches on ebay and Etsy.

The Japanese produce marvellous pattern books, with full size traceable pattern sheets. So long as you don’t mind they’re in Japanese ! with many good line drawings of construction. A fun challenge, but not for beginners. Sizes are small. Body sizes are given with the book information, in cm. Multi-size patterns, so they may be quite easy to grade up.
These are the books for men’s clothes at my favourite source, which shows many sample pages.
Simply Pretty

Free patterns – with very variable quality of pattern drafting and instructions.
Sadly there’s no obvious good source focussed on men’s patterns.

– – –

It’s worth checking a pattern at Pattern Review, to see if anyone has helpful advice. (I find it quickest to search by pattern number.)
Pattern Review

Men’s clothing may not show the almost infinite variations in style elements that there are in women’s clothes. The differences are more in subtle details.
You do have to search thoroughly if you want something stylish, but there is a lifetime of possibilities to explore !

– – –

First written April 2015, links checked March 2019.
I add a link whenever I come across a new source, but I don’t keep checking whether the links are all still valid.

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Comments: 2 Comments

Patterns can’t fit everyone

Posted January 30, 2015 by sewingplums
Categories: fit of clothes

Many people complain that patterns don’t fit. But devising patterns that fit everyone is an impossible task.
We have problems with fit, not because pattern designers are doing something wrong, but because we each have a different body shape.

– – –

Our different shapes

There are some data from North Carolina State University, which I analysed in a couple of posts starting here.

They found :
About 1 in 8 of us has waist larger than hips, while about 3/8 of us have waist clearly smaller than hips, and the remaining half of us have no clearly defined waist.
About quarter of us are larger above the waist than below.
About quarter of us are larger below the waist than above.

How can anyone possibly design a pattern which fits all these people – except some sort of sack (add 2 triangular sacks for the half of us who are not rectangle shape ?), with belt supplied for people who want to show their waist.

And the research didn’t even look at fit issues like short-long waist, square-sloping shoulders, high round back.
Or any of the other 80+ fit issues mentioned by Liechty and Co. in Fitting and Pattern Alteration.
Here’s a list of common fit challenges.

My most obscure body shape element is that I have unusual armholes. Liechty and Co. is the only book I’ve found which tells me what to do about that.
We all have different preferred methods of fitting. I like ‘reading the wrinkles’. Sarah Veblen’s good book on this method, Complete photo guide to perfect fitting, has a section on fitting individual armholes. But she doesn’t mention the major pattern change I need to get a comfortable fitted armhole.

– – –

“Yay, this pattern fits me !”

It always annoys me when people enthuse that a pattern fits them out of the envelope, without saying anything about their body shape.
Suppose I recommend a pattern because it fits me marvellously. Should you rush to try that pattern ? Well, I have hips two sizes bigger than top, small bust, short waist, high hip shelf. If you have square shoulders, a generous bust, and slim straight hips, that pattern would cause you a lot of fitting work.

– – –

‘Average’ is best

Many RTW clothing companies use a ‘fit model’. They choose someone close to their idea of ‘average’, and make their clothes to fit that person. Yes, there are people who make their living by having clothes fitted to them. There aren’t all that many people who are close enough to ‘average’ US size 8/ UK size 12 to be eligible !

RTW companies use ‘average’ fit, because over the whole population, fewer people will be far from these measurements.

In the same way, the best that pattern designers can do for fit is to design for ‘average’.
(Unless they’re willing to target only a small part of the market.)
An ‘average’ shape pattern, statistically, though not for the individual, over all the people who use the pattern, will need the least fit adjustments.

– – –

Bad patterns ?

Of course there are bad patterns. In these days when cheerfully inexperienced people can sell terrible download patterns, we’re all aware that patterns need to be of professional quality. So they do have ‘average’ proportions, no mistakes, and all the pieces fit together properly in all sizes. And they have clear markings and instructions.

But patterns aren’t bad just because they don’t fit a specific person !

– – –

Learn to fit

I think pattern companies make a mistake by not making this fitting limitation clear. Then people are disappointed with their product, and don’t understand that disappointment is unavoidable.

Beginner sewers can be upset that their hand-sewn garments don’t fit them by magic, even though RTW doesn’t.
Few instructions for beginners mention that there’s a lot of learning to do with gaining fitting skills as well as sewing skills.

Yes, if you make your own clothes you can have beautifully fitting clothes. But only if you do the fitting work.

Well fitting clothes make you look as if you have a perfect body.
I once saw an exhibit about ‘couture’ which included dress forms for some people who were famous for being elegant. Oh dear, some of them were a mighty odd shape underneath.

So it is worth doing the fitting work !

There are several methods of improving fit. Such as taking measurements and altering the pattern. Or making a muslin and ‘reading the wrinkles’. Tissue fitting is often mentioned but is almost impossible to do without help. You may need to try several methods before you find the fitting method that works best for you. There are several Sewingplums posts about body shape and improving fit (2022 – the most recent is here).

Those of us who are further from average have to do more fitting work. It’s just something we have to accept as part of being us.

Good Luck to everyone who is far enough away from average that they have to do fitting work on all patterns. It’s inevitable for many of us !

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Comments: 9 Comments

The Vivienne Files wardrobe plan : ’Starting from Scratch’

Posted July 17, 2014 by sewingplums
Categories: wardrobe planning

Janice of The Vivienne Files has been running a wardrobe building series which is simple, clear and step-by-step.

I brought the links together for my own use, and am posting them here in case anyone finds it helpful.
(2023) This post was written in mid-2014. All the Vivenne posts have been moved on, though there are links for finding their new home. I have removed other links that no longer work.

The main sections here :
– list of links to the Scratch wardrobe plan.
– other wardrobe building plans from Janice.
– grouping the steps into capsules.
– some suggestions on personalising the plan.
– a few tips on co-ordinates.

So many situations where building a wardrobe can be an inspiring idea :
– choosing a travel capsule,
– revising your wardrobe when you have a change in job/ lifestyle/ size/ climate or want to explore a different personal style,
– ‘shopping your wardrobe’ to check if you have any big wardrobe gaps.
– when you feel you have “nothing to wear”, your closet is full of clothes that don’t go together.
– when you feel your clothes are just tired out, or you’re tired of them.

– –

Build up a wardrobe

It’s good to take at least a day on each step, as Janice did with her posts. Every time you add a step, explore the outfits you can make by combining these with your previously chosen items.
I think this is especially important early on, when you’re establishing your own best colours, styles and clothing needs.
Imogen Lamport’s mantra at Inside-Out Style blog is “Love what you buy, and only buy what you love and what loves you back.” Take the time to find these items, if need be.

Choose colours that flatter you and that you love, not just colours that go together.
Pick styles which make you feel and look your best.
Don’t try to mimic Janice’s choices exactly unless they are what makes you happy.
Think about what clothes you need for your climate and how you spend your time.
(A little more about these decisions in later sections.)

These are the steps to take one day at a time. Each ‘step’ tells you which item(s) to add to your wardrobe grouping. The whole process takes less than 3 weeks.

Step 0. choose 5 colours – 2 neutrals, ‘white’/ best light neutral, 2 accents
click here

Janice has a colour planner available for purchase, showing a huge range of possible combinations, see here.

Step 1. pants – main neutral
click here

Step 2. shoes – same neutral
click here

Step 3. cardigan; tee – same neutral
click here

Step 4. jeans – same neutral; shirt – ‘white’
click here

Step 5. accessories I – bag, watch, bracelet, earrings, scarf – same neutral
click here
(other suggestions – belt, necklace, hat, vest)

Step 6. 2 tops – 1 in each accent colour; mixed colour scarf
click here

Step 7. layer; pants; shoes – 2nd neutral
click here

Pause for review
click here

Clarifying preferences
click here

Step 8. 2 tops – any of colours, may be print; necklace – accent
click here

Step 9. dressy [winter] outfit : skirt; top; shoes – all in main neutral
click here

Step 10. casuals : jacket – neutral; top – mixed colour print; casual shoes – neutral or accent
click here

Step 11. personal style outfit : layer; top; bottom, to fill in your needs – both neutrals
click here

Step 12. winter outerwear : coat; boots; scarf – mainly neutrals but your choice
click here

Step 13. accessories 2 : bag, watch, earrings, necklace, brooch/ pin – mainly neutrals
click here

Step 14. leisure wear : 2 tops – any of the 5 colours or prints; 2 bottoms – mainly neutral
click here

Step 15. dressy summer outfit : dress – neutral; layer – may be accent; sandals – neutral or ‘flesh’
click here

Step 16. evaluating and balancing neutrals (complete core groups of both neutrals)
click here
Sort your wardrobe by colour, plus ‘bridging’ garments which combine colours. Too many or too few of one of your colours ?

Step 17. finishing touches
click here
Many examples of things you might feel are missing.

Step 18. simple neutral tops as background for accessories
click here

Final summary, no new items
click here

Worksheets available
click here

Supplement : Summer wardrobe, all the steps in one post
click here

– – –

Alternates

Janice has previously posted several wardrobe building schemes with different perspectives.
Some of them add some other considerations, which can be confusing. On the other hand, if they‘re more like your style, they may make things simpler !
Just pick one to start from, as a way of building up a basic group of clothes. You can branch out from it later.

Alternate 1 : a 15-piece wardrobe for Agnes
– 5 layers, 5 tops, 5 bottoms.
click here
Buy all 15 items from the same department/ store at the beginning of the season, and no need to think about clothes again. . .

Alternate 2 : Four by Four casual wardrobe
– four groups of four
click here
Janice has many versions of this – click on Four by Four in the labels section of her menu.

I wrote a couple of posts about this at the time :
Wardrobe of relaxed basics
Variations of the relaxed wardrobe

Alternate 3 : the common wardrobe
– 12 neutral casuals
click here
This is rather different from the Scratch wardrobe. Here a small group of neutral casuals is used as the background for interesting accent colour accessories.
In the Scratch wardrobe most of the accessories are neutral in colour.

Again I wrote some posts about this at the time :
Common wardrobe
Accessory styles
Where do you like your outfit variety ?
I gave up on listing all the colours Janice explored, but you can find them if you click on ‘A Common Wardrobe’ in the Labels in her menu. An amazing example of Janice’s wardrobe gifts in action !

Alternate 4 : building a working wardrobe after college
click here
Another simple group of classics built up a few items at a time.

Alternate 5 : a two-suit wardrobe
– 24 items
click here
More basics using 2 key colours.

For someone else’s recent suggestions on wardrobe planning, there’s the Wardrobe Architect series from Colette Patterns.

– – –

Sewing this wardrobe a capsule at a time

Elizabeth (ejvc) has grouped the Scratch Wardrobe items into 6PACs for ease of sewing. Each 6PAC has its own reduced colour focus.
In a ideal world you sew a 6PAC each season. 6PACs are groups of items which make a capsule, so you have plenty of wearable outfits even if you only make these 6 items.
click here for ejvc’s post

Elizabeth calls the main colours ‘base’ colours rather than neutrals, as some people aren’t happy in neutrals. She counts a colour as a base/neutral if you’d enjoy wearing a pair of pants in it. So if you love shocking pink pants, shocking pink is a ‘neutral’ for you 😀

Some people are happy to follow Janice’s Steps. Others feel they have a clearer overview of the process if they group the Steps in Capsules and then the Capsules into a Wardrobe.
I’m a ‘one step at a time’ person, so long as I know there is a flexible overall plan which works out in the end. But some people instantly relax when they see Elizabeth’s scheme.
So do whichever works best for you.

– – –

Personalising the plan

Love dresses and skirts ? lace and frills ? studs and skulls ? Need many layers for warmth ? Have greyed warm colouring ? Many reasons why the items Janice picks may not be ideal for you, so try not to get stuck on specifics. If you’re not a city-dwelling working classic with clear cool colouring, it may take a bit of thought and experimenting to adapt this wardrobe to your own needs, but the basic ideas are very simple to deal with.

My e-book has some suggestions on identifying your own wardrobe needs.
click here

And there’s this post with some questions to get you thinking about your personal style.
click here

It’s also important to dress for your colouring.
Which describes you ?
light – dark
cool (blue based) – warm (yellow based),
clear – muted
low contrast – high contrast

The approach to colouring which works best for me is ‘signature colours’ – colours from your hair, skin, eyes, blush, veins.
I enjoy Imogen Lamport’s posts on this ’signature colours’ approach.
click here (search for signature colour)
But some people don’t look good in their personal colouring, and prefer the ‘seasonal’ approach. So try both.

For choosing clothes which enhance the details of your body shape, there’s the excellent and fascinating oop workbook ‘Flatter your Figure’ by Jan Larkey.
click here.

– – –

Co-ordinates

And then there’s the art and skill of choosing clothes that co-ordinate.
Several of my posts with suggestions on co-ordination linked to from this page.

Basically – you’ve simplified co-ordination by using only a few colours and a few prints.
Also just use a few silhouettes and a few style elements.
It’s easiest to have collars on tops and not on jackets, or collars on jackets and not on tops.
Make sure your layers are big enough, especially at the armholes and sleeves. Many fitted jacket patterns have sleeves that only work over a sleeveless top or camisole. Raglan and dolman sleeves fit over most other sleeve styles, but not vice versa.

One way of making it more likely your clothes co-ordinate is to use patterns from only one designer. (2023) The original post had a section of suggestions, but sadly most of those links no longer work. Personally I find that my favourite patterns all come from different designers 😀

– – –

After all the thinking involved in writing Sewingplums, I have a fairly clear idea of my wardrobe needs and my personal style, my colouring and body shape, but I still learn something new from most wardrobe plans. I much enjoyed exploring this one from The Vivienne Files. And am looking forward to using it as a guide for what to sew.

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Comments: 9 Comments

A Change in Direction

Posted November 16, 2013 by sewingplums
Categories: sundry messages

I’ve noticed many blogs have a natural life span.
I’ve recently begun wondering if I was repeating myself.
What I wasn’t at all expecting is that I’ve quite suddenly stopped having a head full of ideas about what to say here.

Not that I’ve stopped having ideas but they’re about other things !

So I’ve decided to stop posting here. A good time to stop, with the holiday period coming up.
I may post occasionally when I feel strongly about something. But at the moment anyway, posts won’t appear regularly.

I’m hoping to do more sewing – but for some reason I feel no inclination to blog about it. And happily many people write such good blogs on that.

A four-year commitment, that’s pretty amazing !

Many thanks to you all for your interest.
I’ve found it very rewarding to see how many of you wanted to visit here and see what I had to say.
I’m planning to leave it all available in the hope it continues to be useful for reference.
My most visited posts are ones written several years ago anyway !

Best Wishes to you all, and Many Thanks for your encouragement.

Enjoy sewing lovely life-enhancing clothes.

😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀

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November 2013

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Comments: 33 Comments

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