Dressmaking patterns - shocking price

Try ebay or charity shops.

Have you tried the charity shops? Noticed when I look for wool a box/tray of patterns, gosh £17 that is expensive and I thought knitting patterns had gone up!

Or try Vinted

I bought some in a charity shop a while ago, along with some other sewing bits and bobs. I think they were about £2 each. Some of the styles are a bit dated and the sizing may be off depending on how old they are. But things like shift dresses never go out of style.

I used to go to pattern making classes so in theory I could make any pattern to fit me from my dress and trouser blocks.

I don't think it is really possible now to save money by making ones own clothes, but it is certainly very enjoyable. I tend to find a pattern that I like and make several garments from the one pattern. I don't think anybody notices they are the same if they are made up in different fabrics.
There is an indi pattern company who do numerous variations in one pattern. I will look it up as I can't remember the name off hand, and get back to you.

Deconstruct old clothes and use them as a pattern. Utube has lots of ‘how to’ videos and you can buy books as well with tools and techniques for almost anything. Yes, charity shops are good for patterns and I’ve bought several.

Fabric ‘pound a metre and ‘pound fabrics’ can be ok. Try using calico for trying out patterns for fit, or again use old clothes for testing.

I steer clear of slippery fabrics as they can be a bit of a nightmare. I prefer 100% cotton or cotton and polyester as they are more stable.

Good luck with your sewing.

I believe the pattern company is called "Notches" they are sold on the Fold Line website. The Fold Line is well worth a look if you enjoy dressmaking.

Prima magazine do a pattern every month which is free to subscribers

Thank you all for your replies.

I’ve scoured charity shops and only found one pattern, but I’ll keep looking.

I think as Ilovecheese suggests, I should sew as enjoyment rather than to save money. Although in my case it’s also to get the fit.

ebay

Many years ago I made clothes to save money but now I make them primarily for fit and quality. I now have about half a dozen patterns which I have used many times. If you choose carefully each pattern will give several variations. Sewessential (online) stocks many different brands and if you sign up for their newsletter you will be alerted whenever there are offers (often up to 50% off).
I would recommend NOT buying cheap fabric unless you really love it.

Hobbycraft are selling dressmaking patterns at half price at the moment (most of them are from the big 4 companies). They often do this, and they are my go-to online site for patterns. Have a look at the website and see if there is anything that takes your fancy. It's true these days that making your own clothes is more about fit, style and comfort rather than saving money. Having said that, I also buy my fabric online and make clothes for my younger grandchildren for less money than it would be to buy the equivalent garments ready-made. They also choose the fabric themselves sometimes. The added bonus is that I love making them!

PDF patterns are cheaper and indie do the best designs, some designers are hand-holding. You need a printer and A4 paper. The best aspect is that most do layers ie if you know your size, you just print that size, if you need to grade then print 2 sizes or more. The sticking and cutting is easy, just time consuming

I have sewn everything in my wardrobe and many started as wearable toiles from cheap and/or disliked fabric. I always saved my very best fabric for the final versions, these days I generally only buy linen and good linen blends from the best quality suppliers, unless making a coat or eg a classic denim jacket

I don`t do cheap wrt fabrics nor patterns. I can easily pay £20 for an indie pattern, taking pdf into account and I usually get the AO download printed, easier that cutting and sticking

I also suggest ebay or charity shops if you want the big 4 patterns.

You can get cheap indie patterns simply by enrolling to get the offer e mails, itch to stitch, love notions and so on plus there are dozens of free pdf patterns from the best sites too

uk.sinclairpatterns.com/?shpxid=735beefd-6ba5-48fe-84d0-f597793fe838
the harper cardigan is very popular and free

4 free patterns, this company is one of the best for instructions and the best drafting
itch-to-stitch.com/product-category/free-pattern/

several here
www.lovenotions.com/?swp_form%5Bform_id%5D=1&swps=free

Doing A4 prints using scales for a top is very easy and quick

Prima magazine ( which I get free with my bank account) has free patterns and I think you can ask for backdated ones. Last year I got hold of some this way for a lady who could not afford expensive patterns

cheaper than ready made depends on the ready made clothes eg I like to compare my makes with the retailer toast. I make very good quality, indie designs and use the best fabrics, however I am still using up old stash but generally only as toiles to check fit etc

Today I am wearing a merchant and mills dress, one that I saw 8 years ago in a shop, made in quilting fabric, on sale for £140. Mine today is beautifully made from top quality linen with a yarn dyed element to give the colourful print. It will last me a lifetime as long as I dry it out of the sunshine. This is the 5th time I have made this dress pattern, the others have all been quilting cotton, including the toile and each lasted a good two years. I have ordered another length of dressweight linen for the same style, from fabric godmother, a plain flattering colour with the linen slubs. Cost me £60

Dontcallmelove, I have just been looking at a site that would give anyone the incentive to sew

called mytheresa uk

viscose blouses £590 and I have several patterns and fabrics in my stash that would compete

The difference between home made and hand made is not just the wording, home made gives the impression of slapdash, ok but not with flair or polish or quality. and looks home made

Hand made is all those with the added professionalism and attention to detail. Anyone can do it, just need to be accurate, use good quality fabric (which if you are lucky, can also be very cheap) plus a pretty special pattern that might cost £20 but be unusual and `designer` like maison fauve and atelier jupe

All the best, I hope you are still thinking about it op, sewing is a fantastic enjoyable hobby. I have been doing it for 70 years

Burda magazines have a lot of patterns- you have to trace from the sheets enclosed. Looks very complicated at first, but easy when you get the hang of it. Some issues have more useful patterns than others, but you can browse through in the book/magazine shop where these are available. If you get even one pattern from the mag, it's worth the price.

if you like tracing from spaghetti then ottobre offers very good value for money and the patterns are modern. If you look at te ottobre site you can see all the patterns. I have quite a few of these ottobre books, made a parka from one last year

www.ottobredesign.com/subscription/single.php?lang=en

I got mine from dots n stripes

dotsnstripes.co.uk/

This is a beautiful free pattern from maison fauve. I have made it twice. Tilda blouse with short or long sleeves. There are sew a longs on youtube

maison-fauve.co.uk/products/tilda-blouse-free-pdf-sewing-pattern?_pos=9&_fid=0f7ce9ba2&_ss=c

also a simple free jacket. Does not take much fabric

itch-to-stitch.com/product/deba-topper-digital-sewing-pattern-pdf/

My last post on this thread op

Oh, that blouse if very pretty karmalady. I like sewalongs on youtube too as I'm still at the stage of improving my techniques. I think I'll download that one - thank you!

At least patterns now cover several sizes. When I was making my children’s clothes and wanted matching dresses for multiple little girls I had to buy a separate pattern for each size. That was expensive but home-sewing was still cheaper than buying their clothes.
Now supermarkets and chain stores sell incredibly cheap clothes and children have huge amounts. I see mums selling sacks full of baby things. My babies had 3 vests, 3 nighties etc and the same for items of school uniform for older children.

Actually there has been big news in the sewing world last month. The Design company that bought up all our favourite pattern companies has gone broke. They have applied to the courts to help them find a buyer. We are talking about Vogue, Butterick, Simplicity, New Look, Burda.... It's horrifying. I am considering taking up pattern cutting.
It does make sense now that all those brands seemed to have similar patterns with nothing unique about them over recent years.