Making Leather Patterns

By MikaelaHolmes in CraftLeather

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Introduction: Making Leather Patterns

 By MikaelaHolmesMikaela Holmes
More by the author:
About: Costume and experimental fashion designer and artist. Maker of clothing and accessories
for time traveling cyborg superheroes, and lucid dreamers. Interested in fusing couture design
and leatherwork with weara… More About MikaelaHolmes »

Now that you've seen how to use a pattern to create a wallet, I'm going to show you the basics of
making your own patterns for simple leather designs.

Patternmaking can get very technical when you're making patterns for complex shapes, but it can
also be very simple, and knowing a little about it will really help your creative process. Also,
once you have a pattern for design, it makes it that much easier to re-create that project or make
another version!

I use a combination of techniques to create patterns depending on the design. Sometimes I play
around with cutting and folding paper first to create a general shape, sometimes I go straight to
drawing a flat pattern either with pencil and paper, or with a vector design program. Most often I
use some combination of these techniques.

At this point I digitize most of my smaller leather patterns because it makes it easier to organize
them and alter them without wasting a lot of paper. I also do a lot of leather lasercutting, so
having a pattern stored in the form of a vector file is very useful. I use Adobe Illustrator to create
my vector patterns, but you could use any computer drawing program. (Autodesk Graphic is a
good cheap option. With a one time price of only $30, it's a lot cheaper than an Adobe Creative
Cloud subscription.)
I'll talk a little about basic patternmaking concepts, then I'll show you how I made the pattern for
the small bag we'll be making for the rest of the class. There is a lot of information in this lesson,
so if you find it overwhelming, don't worry, you don't need to absorb everything I'm covering
here in order to move forward in this class. You can absolutely just work with one of the two
pattern variations I created (which are available for download in the next lesson). Whenever
you're ready to make your own patterns, this information will be here for you.

In this lesson I'll be using:

 Pattern paper or big sheets of semi translucent paper (marker paper works too)
 Pencil and eraser
 Colored pencils
 Clear ruler
 Cloth tape measure
 Paper scissors
 Overstitch wheel
 French curve
 Scotch tape
 Adobe Illustrator or another vector design program like Autodesk Graphic
 Printer or access to somewhere you can print files

Step 1: Anatomy of a Pattern

A pattern is a two dimensional template that has all the information you need to cut specific
shapes out of a flat material that can be assembled to form a design. A leather pattern usually
includes the following information:
Cut Lines: the lines on a pattern that indicate where you need to cut your leather, these are
usually the outside borders of the pattern, but may include internal cut-outs as well. In my
patterns, cutting lines will always be indicated by solid black lines.

Sewing Lines: internal lines on a pattern that indicate where two or more pieces are going to
be joined by a line of stitching. On my digitized patterns, these lines are always indicated by
dotted lines or lines of tiny circles.
 Fold Lines: internal lines on a pattern that indicate where your leather will be folded and
creased as you assemble your design. On my digitized patterns, fold lines are shown in red.

Seam Allowance: in order to sew, glue or rivet leather pieces together we need to leave room
between the sewing line or other attachment point and the edge of the leather. This space is
called a seam allowance. The width of seam allowances can vary based on design and
materials.

Holes: black circles on my patterns show thethe placement of holes that need to be punched
for rivets, snaps, buckles etc.

Pattern Label: Each pattern piece should be labeled with some information to identify it.
This information should tell you: which piece of the pattern this is, what material it should be
cut in (the main material of a design is called the "self," and a secondary material is call the
"contrast"), and how many copies of that piece should be cut. (If you need to cut more than
one copy of the exact same pattern piece for a design, you can usually just create one pattern
piece in paper, and then cut it out multiple times in leather.)

Step 2: Ease and Leather Thickness

When you are creating a pattern to fit around an object, you almost never use the exact
dimensions of that object, instead you need to add a little extra wiggle room or ease to your
pattern dimensions.

The amount of ease you need to add often depends on the leather you are using. For thin leather
you only need to add a small amount of ease, for thick leather you need more. For flexible
leather that has a little stretch to it, you can add less ease, for stiffer leather you will need more
ease.

For example, say you want to design a flat two piece pocket that will hold a single credit card,
how big does your pocket pattern need to be? The credit card is 3 3/8" x 2 1/8". If you were to
make the inside of the pocket exactly the dimensions of the card, it probably wouldn't fit, or if
you did manage to squeeze it in, you would have trouble getting it back out.
To add the right amount of ease, measure the thickness of your leather and add that amount of
ease to each side of your pattern pieces, except on the side with the opening. If your leather is
less than 1/16" thick just use 1/16" as your ease measurement. Let's say we're working with 1/8"
thick leather, so the final pieces should measure 3 1/2" x 2 3/8" along the sewing lines.
Ease on Folds: Now imagine you want to create the same pocket, but you want to do it with one
folded piece of leather not two separate pieces. If you take a piece of 1/8" thick leather that is 6
3/4" long (double the length of your credit card) and fold it in half, will it make a pocket deep
enough to hold the card? No it won't.

Why? The inner depth of this folded pocket will be 1/8" less than the length of the card because
the thickness of the leather will take up that 1/8" at the fold. Therefore, if you want the folded
pocket to be as long as the card, you need to add 1/8" to the pocket on each end for a total of
1/4" of ease on that pattern piece.
Step 3: Patterning in 2 Dimensions
The basic goal in making most patterns is to figure out how to transform a flat material into
something that will fit around a three dimensional object. The more complex and three
dimensional the object, the more complicated your pattern will usually be. Here are some
important things to keep in mind as you travel from two to three dimensions.

Patterning for Thickness Using Ease: going back to our card pocket example, now say you
wanted to make a two piece pocket that would hold not just one card, but a stack of cards 1/2"
thick. How long and wide does a flat pocket need to be to accommodate this thickness?
If you are working with 1/8" thick leather, first of all, you know you need to add 1/8" ease on the
sides and bottom of the card pocket.

To make room for the 1/2" thickness of the stack, you also need to add half that thickness (1/4")
to the sides and bottom of the pattern. Since you are going to be using two pieces to create this
pocket, the 1/4" you add to each side will add up to the whole 1/2" thickness you need when the
pocket is put together. You don't need to add that 1/4" to the top of the pocket because it doesn't
need to bend around the sides of the stack of cards.
So when you're creating a flat pocket for an object with some thickness, the general formula is
this:

Width of pattern without seam allowance =

width of object + thickness of object + (thickness of leather x2)

Length of pattern without seam allowance =

height of object + 1/2 thickness of object + thickness of leather

As I mentioned before, the type of leather you are using can affect these measurements quite a
bit. If your leather is really stiff you will have to add even more ease, if it's a little stretchy, you
can sometimes get away with less. Unless you are trying to make something that is intentionally
tight fitting, it's usually good to err on the side of more ease, rather than less. Some of this can
really only be figured out by trial and error, but as you do more leather patterning, you will start
to get a feel for it.
Step 4: Patterning in 3 Dimensions
Adding extra room to a flat pocket like we just talked about is the most basic way to make room
for objects with some thickness, but it really only works for relatively thin objects. To create
designs with built-in three dimensional shape you need to start creating patterns that are more
than just two flat pieces of leather sewn together.

Gussets: One of the best ways to do this is to add a gusset to your design. Let's go back to our
imaginary 1/2" thick stack of cards and create a different kind of case for it.

We'll start by taking the basic width and height of the cards and adding the 1/8" ease for leather
thickness to the sides and bottom, this is the size of the front and back pattern for your pocket
before you add the seam allowance.
Instead of making the pocket bigger so it will fit around the 1/2" thick stack of cards, we are
going to add a side piece that accommodates thickness of the stack. This side piece is called a
gusset. The length of the gusset pattern will be the length of the sides and base of the pocket
combined (6 1/4") + 1/4" ease, and the width of the gusset pattern will be the stack depth of 1/2"
+ 1/8" ease.

To construct this case, these three pieces would be sewn together like this:
This is a basic gusset design, of which there are many variations. There are a lot of other ways to
create three dimensionality in cases, but most of them are based on the same basic concept: If
you are creating a pattern for a three dimensional object you usually need a seam where the angle
of the object changes, the more seams you have, the more you can shape your design. There are
also ways to create shape and volume with folding and pleating techniques. But for now we are
going to focus on seams.

Step 5: Designing a Simple Leather Bag

Now we are going to take all these concepts and use them to make a pattern for a simple leather
bag. As you may have noticed, the patternmaking techniques I've been discussing center around
the idea of making a case to hold an object. Not every leather project involves encasing
something, but many do, and learning how to make leather bags is a good way to practice basic
leatherworking techniques.

The first step in my design process is almost always sketching. Well, actually, first I look for
design inspiration by falling into a lot of Pinterest holes, but when I have a pretty good idea what
I want to make, I sketch. I usually start by making rough sketches of a few ideas, then I choose
one design and do a more detailed technical sketch, with some dimensions.

When you are designing an accessory, like the bag we're patterning, you need to think about its
features and dimensions from an aesthetic standpoint and a practical standpoint. A good thing to
do, is to define your constraints and work around them. For the little bag, my constraints were: I
wanted it to be big enough to hold my phone and a few other essential objects, but also small
enough to be comfortable as either a belt pocket or an underarm pocket. I also wanted it to be
constructed using sewing, and I wanted to keep the aesthetic of it fairly unisex.

With all that in mind, I ended up designing a small rectangular bag with a one piece gusset, a
flap, a strap and buckle closure, a small accordion pocket with a snap, and two strap loops to
connect the whole thing to a single strap, belt or a shoulder harness.
When you are designing a bag like this, you aren't literally designing it to fit precisely around a
specific object as we were in the examples in the last two steps, but the same concept still
applies. So, to get an approximate size, I took a few measurements of objects like my phone, and
the distance between my waist and my underarm, and came up with a set of dimensions based on
these measurements. To start out with, all you really need is a height, width and depth dimension
for the bag when the flap is closed.

Step 6: The Pattern Draft

The first step in turning your design into a pattern, is to create what I call a pattern draft. A
pattern draft is a full sized front, back and (sometimes side view) technical drawing of your
assembled final piece with all the correct measurements, it doesn't necessarily show all the
pattern pieces you need to create, but you will use it to determine the proportions and design
elements, then trace pattern pieces from it.

To create a draft, first draw a horizontal line near the bottom of your paper, then draw a
perpendicular line coming up from the center of this line. This will be the centerline of your
draft.
Now take your width and height measurements, and draw the basic outline of the bag from a
front view around this center line. I made my bag 5" wide by 6" tall. If you are working with
paper and pencil, use a ruler to draw your lines, if you are working in Illustrator, use the
rectangle or pencil tool.
Take a look at the proportions of this outline and decide if you like the size and shape, if you
don't, change it. Remember that the bag will end up slightly smaller than it appears here because
of the ease that is taken up by the leather thickness. I decided to make the top of my bag slightly
narrower than the bottom (I took 1/8" off each side) because I thought this created a nice shape. I
also rounded the bottom corners because I liked the look and because curved edges will make it
easier to sew in a one piece gusset.
Now add the details to the front of the bag. Draw in the flap as if it was closed add a pocket,
buckle and strap and side loops. Make sure there is enough room for your buckle closure below
your flap. Refer to your sketch, but alter your dimensions if you need to, so they look good on
your draft. Think about what you will want to put in the front pocket and create its dimensions
accordingly. I made mine 4" wide by 3 3/4" tall. If you want, you can draw these details on one
side only, then fold your paper along the centerline and trace the details to the other side with an
overstitch wheel. Below you can see what my front draft looked like when drawn by hand.