I’m new to Seamly 2D and am having trouble understanding best practices with using it.
For example, I drafted a block for a jacket and had my first fitting. Not sure what the best way to alter the pattern would be from here.
Based on the fitting the shoulder seam needs to move so I started to construct angles and arcs to alter pattern but stopped realizing that I should be changing measurements but not sure how to track changes.
dain jacket v2.val (23.5 KB)
Could you upload the measurement file as well? @Grace or @Douglas, who are among the most likely to be of assistance, might already have compatible measurement files, but my only file with all those measurements is for a 15" tall doll, so the proportions are somewhat… fantastic. 
Hmmm… If you’re trying to make a pattern fit a given size, you don’t want to be changing the measurments, but rather the formulas for the various (grade) points in the pattern. If you measure yourself, the measurements don’t change - how the pattern uses those measurents changes.
The way a pattern adapts to the measurements is by using measurement variables in the formulas… and when you change to a different measurment file, then the formula values change according to the measurments, and thus the pattern changes.
For example… in the BK block you have the shoulder point B25 based on the hardcoded value of an arc. Normally most pattern systems are going to base that point on either the shoulder to shoulder or shoulder width measurment or some proportion of the chest measurment (AKA a “proportional draft”)
Likewise the formula for B7 from B9 would be something like @chest_circ / 4 or 1./4 the chest measurment. If the chest is 36, the B7 would be 9… if chest is 42, then B7 would be 10 1/2". Now chances are you would want ease in the garment… so lets say you want 4" of ease… the formula for B7 then could be(@chest_circ + 4) / 4 . Or you could even create a custom measurment or variable called #JktEase… and give it some value like 3 or 4. Then that way you can use (@chest_circ / 4) + #JktEase… and (@waist_circ + #JktEase )/ 4. Then if you want to adjust the ease you simply need to change the value of #JktEase and not every formula.
In any case, I’m including a sample shirt pattern that may be hellpful to see how the measurements relate to the pattern. This pattern uses a lot of custom variables (fromerly known as increments) defined in the pattern. For example the shoulder point is found by using the #ShoulderWidth varible which is defined as shoulder_length + 5 where the shoulder_length is the known measurment in the vit + 5cm of ease.
MaleShirt.val (63.9 KB)
MaleShirt.vit (900 Bytes)
yes. sorry should have clarified that i started with a block before i measured my client.
so need to go back and fill in measurements.
And adjust any formulas to use the measurements. You can draft a pattern with hardcoded measuremnts to one person’s size, but it defeats the main purpose of the application in making patterns that adjust to custom measurments.
I normally draft with a multisize measurement chart attached so that I can see that the curves, etc. work over a number of sizes and then use that measurement chart to create an individual measurement chart for a client. If you work this way, then you can just upload the individual chart into Seamly2D and the pattern will automatically adjust to the measurements of your client without you needing to do anything further.
After the 1st fitting, you can make adjustments directly in your client’s measurement chart to get the perfect fit for your client. It’s only when it comes to client-specific adjustments that you will need to copy the pattern file to a new name and then do adjustments like for uneven or rounded shoulders, etc.
Are there multisize measurement charts with ‘standard’ measurements?
You can create your own. I’m busy with a basic pattern with multisize measurements that will be available in a week or 2.