 Connie Crawford for Butterick Patterns
Patterns for ALL Sizes
If you've been lucky enough to attend one of Connie Crawford's lectures or seminars, you know that she's a boundless package of energy, moving around the podium demonstrating the basics of draping, pulling students from the audience to aid in her presentations, entertaining the assembly with stories of her experiences in the fashion industry, and telling a few jokes along the way. You've had such a good time that you may not realize until you've walked out that you've really learned something about fit, proportion and balance. That's Crawford's goal, to unlock the mystery of fit and make your sewing experience successful, painless, and fun!
It all began after a short-lived career as a secretary when Crawford decided to return to college to study Fashion Design. After graduation, she was lucky enough to land a job at a ready-to-wear manufacturer and learn apparel production from the ground up. "Unfortunately there was a lot missing from traditional Fashion Design programs, and there were many things I hadn't been taught. I had to learn quite a few things on the job," explained Crawford. As luck would have it, she had the opportunity to work for a master European pattern maker who took her under his wing and taught her the principles of couture draping. Crawford flourished under his training and excelled in her field, becoming a master pattern maker herself.
It wasn't long before Crawford realized that there was a real need for good, basic training in draping and patternmaking for people who wanted to pursue a career in the garment industry, and she soon found herself teaching at The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, California. Teaching came naturally to Crawford who loves sharing her knowledge about draping, balance, and proportion so that everyone can understand how easy it is to achieve a great fit. While teaching at FIDM she honed her skills by studying haute couture draping techniques under designer William Pearson who had spent four years in France as an apprentice in the House of Dior under Marc Bohan. Their professional relationship lasted until his death in the 1980s, and many of the techniques he taught her are used in her books and classes with his blessings.
Being something of a work-aholic, Crawford continued as a patternmaker in manufacturing while she taught at FIDM for 23 years. In her spare time she wrote seven books on sewing, draping and patternmaking, and lectured at local venues on weekends. Fit and fashion are so ingrained in Crawford's blood, that when her husband decided to retire 10 years ago, Connie decided to slow down too, quitting both her jobs and taking her classes on the road. "My husband Wayne and I love to travel," explains Crawford, "and we've re-modeled a horse trailer to hold and transport all my teaching equipment, samples, patterns and books." Together, they criss-cross the country eight months a year, stopping for three to four-day sewing events and seminars, where Connie is the sewing celebrity, and Wayne the business manager.
Through years and years of fitting hundreds—if not thousands—of "real" women in her classes, Crawford discovered that as women mature they add fullness to the bust, waist and hips, but the shoulders and neck remain the same, smaller size. It didn't take her long to figure out there was a need for stylish, good-fitting patterns for these women, and Crawford decided to fill it. "Most sewing patterns are designed on 'perky' size 10 dress forms, and then sized up to larger sizes. Traditional sizing also expects bodies to grow larger in the same proportion. This leads to patterns with necklines and shoulder seams extended out and beyond actual body growth," explains Crawford. So, she set to work and, using all her design and patternmaking skills, developed a line of patterns in a new size range based on the proportions of women in her classes.
In the beginning, her designs were strictly for larger women, sizes XXL to 6X. "But then, smaller women started coming to my draping classes and asking, 'Why don't you make these patterns in my [smaller] size?' And, I thought, why not?" So, Crawford expanded her patterns to include smaller sizes XS (3-4) to XL (16). "My designs are developed on the principles of balance and proportion so that they are flattering for all women whether they are a size 6 or 6X," states Crawford. "Looking good is not about what size you wear, but how well the garment fits."
Now, Connie Crawford's patterns are available to home sewers through Butterick. This collection of designs gives you a fabulous array of design options including blouses, shirts, tees, skirts, pants, jackets, and dresses. There's something for every taste and figure type. And they all come in her unique size range.
A quick look at Crawford's sizing chart (in the Butterick pattern catalogue) shows the difference—sizes are not designated by numbers, they are small, medium, large, etc., with the corresponding retail size underneath. "My sizing is based on ready-to-wear sizing, so people who are new to sewing can just pick the size they're used to wearing and sew; they don't have to trouble themselves to learn about 'pattern sizing.' And, all my patterns are multi-sized, so you get five Misses' sizes—XS, S, M, L, XL—in one envelope, and seven Women's sizes—XXL, 1X, 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X, 6X—in one envelope. This gives you more flexibility to cut from one size to the next to get a good fit."
Design and comfort are also top priorities for Crawford. "A lot of women avoid sleeveless garments because they tend to gap," she explained. "But, because I use a balanced draping technique, the armholes on my garments fit better, and women can wear them with confidence. I also give optional waistline tucks on my dress so you can choose a loose fit or a more shapely fit, depending on which is more flattering for your figure."
We're pleased to see Connie Crawford join the Butterick Patterns family, and hope you'll enjoy sewing her patterns as much as she enjoys creating them. Look for her designs in the Butterick pattern catalogue at your local stockiest or on the Butterick website www.patternsplus.com.au For all the information on Connie Crawford's teaching schedule go to www.fashionpatterns.com
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