Copying Corky's shirt 01-08-13

Several readers have asked about taking a pattern from Corky's shirt so I can make him a new one.  So, here is a rough step by step.  I'm not very "professional" about this, I learned it decades ago and have rarely used the technique.  It is for simple garments, although the lady who taught me could do quite elaborate copies.


Corky's mommy is making him stand for a side shot. This is the shirt I am copying.  The fabric is very lightweight.
 

To copy the pattern, first determine how many pieces there are in the garment.  This one has four.  I've spread out the belly section.
 

There is also a back, a band and two sleeves.
 

The tool I use is a pinpoint tracing wheel from Nancy's Notions.  This is different from a regular tracing wheel that one buys at Joann's.

As you can see the points on the wheel are extremely sharp so that they will penetrate the fabric without damage - like straight pins or needles.

 

You also need a base of Styrofoam or some other soft medium and paper to cover it.  For my pattern I used gridded paper, but for these pictures I used tracing paper.  I spread out the belly part, trying to not stretch it out of shape, on top of the paper/Styrofoam and pinned it outside the shape to hold it in place. 
 

Then I used the tracing wheel to carefully follow the seam lines of the section, perforating the paper underneath the garment. 
 

Then I cut out the pattern piece.  Here it is on top of the tracing paper copy.  I make whatever notations I think I will need.  "Add S.A.", "Belly pattern piece", "Neck, "Cut on fold", etc.
 

I repeat this for all the parts.  I also take measurements to be sure that the pattern pieces will fit together.  The half band pattern is the same length as half of the back pattern.
After I have the pieces needed I make a mock-up using fabric such as I might use in the finished garment, here an old T-shirt, a little heavier than original shirt, but what I had at hand.
 

Here is the little guy in the mock-up.  I made it slightly longer to cover his ailing hips.  I didn't sew the elastic into the bottom of the belly piece - that will smooth out some of the wrinkles across his back.  I think it needs a ribbed fabric for the bottom band to make it fit better.
 

 
When I cut the sleeve pieces from the T-shirt I didn't align the bottom edges along the grain so, of course, they stretched.  I had to put a light elastic in so they would not be too full.  I made a note on the paper pattern indicating which way to align the grain so the elastic won't be necessary.

In the past I have used this method to copy a pair of shorts, a couple blouses and a pair of light weight cotton pants.  None of them very complex, but I did it because they fit well.