Clone your Clothes by Claire-Louise Hardie

Everyone has their favourite items of clothing that they love because they fit them perfectly and look great. This practical guide for home dressmakers explains how to remake your wardrobe favourites without having to unpick and ruin the originals.

Discover how to create a wardrobe full of your favourite items that you know will fit perfectly and can be remade again and again in various fabrics simply by using a combination of techniques including tracing and measuring to create your own dressmaking patterns.

To get a truly accurate pattern the best way is to take the garment apart but that would destroy the original piece – this instructional guide to pattern making explains a number of techniques you can use that enable you to remake without having to ruin first. These include the Direct Measurement technique which works well for simple shapes without too much shaping or detail. Another method covered is Over Draping which is useful for complicated designs like a waterfall frill or a ruched panel, where measuring or tracing would be impossible, and the third method is the Tracing method which is a quick and easy technique suitable for lots of different styles of clothing.

All of the cloning methods are explained in the Cloning School section of the book with step-by-step instructions and photography so you can follow along. Each technique is illustrated using an example garment so you can see how it works in practice.

The second part of the book, the Design School, shows you how to apply these techniques and skills to specific garments. There is a pair of trousers, a simple dress, a gathered skirt, a shirt and a camisole top. Learn which methods to use for different types of clothing and when to use a combination of different methods to get the best results.

In addition to the step-by-step instructions there is advice about choosing fabrics and which tools to use for the best results. Claire-Louise also provides ideas for adapting the designs to make new pieces for your wardrobe based on patterns created from your favourite pieces.