Reviews

Here are excerpts from reviews of European Cut  (reprinted with permission).

Originally intended as a textbook for college or tradeschool design students, this self-published how-to manual has very clear, concise instructions for drafting the building blocks of design: the bodice, skirt, sleeve, torso, and pant slopers. Many experienced sewers who are frustrated with commercial patterns will find help here in creating slopers for themselves and their clients.

The author points out the differences between European and American cut and fit in the introduction. Her method is a blend of several different schools in Europe, and is supposed to give a fit similar to Burda's.

As with any system of building a sloper, taking proper measurements is the key. Ms. Allemong spends 2 chapters on body marking and measuring. Her method of using a washable makeup pencil to mark measurepoints on the neck, shoulder and waist is unique. A measurement chart (is) included to copy and fill out. Thankfully there are also calculation worksheets for each draft to be copied off and filled in for the individual's sloper. For those of us who are math challenged this is an enormous help.

There is a separate chapter for each draft, and then an excellent chapter on making the muslin samples and doing the fittings. The instructions include how to true up the pattern you have made, and believe me this is good information for any pattern you are working on, not just base slopers.

Fitting instructions are broken down into first, second, third... onwards thru to the fifth fitting. By this time you should have those niggly details worked out, and your muslin should be fitting like a glove, with all the changes carried back to your pattern.

Once you have mastered making the well-fitting sloper, you are ready to carry that knowledge into drafting fashion patterns. That is, however, outside the scope of this book.

Georgine Shelton
online book review
PatternReview.com
08/11/03

•

Today, I did something I¹ve never done before. I drafted a sleeve sloper and sleeve sewing pattern using Elizabeth M. Allemong's "European Cut" method. It took me all morning and lots of concentration, and I am truly satisfied with the results. My test sleeve eased perfectly into the armhole, and the fit is just right.

Why am I focusing on the sleeve sloper? Well, because I didn't try drafting every sloper in the book - bodice, skirt, sleeve, torso, and pants - since my husband wouldn't go through the long process of taking the 38 measurements required to draft all the slopers. Most importantly, many books and articles that purport to be drafting or draping methods for slopers never include sleeves. For some of us who already have bodice and pants slopers, it may be worth the price of the book just for this chapter on straight, fitted, and two-piece sleeves.

There is a lifetime of technical knowledge in "European Cut", which means that is not light reading. It will take you two chapters to work through the 38 measurements, and you will need a cooperative person to take and record them. Be sure to measure precisely and follow the clear and well-illustrated step-by-step instructions exactly.

The reward for all your work is a set of slopers that fit those measurements. Then you'll need to sew muslin samples and adjust fit before the final hard copies are made. The author hints that another volume may appear which addresses the process of creating sewing patterns from slopers. She also explains the differences between American and European fit, which may appeal to those who have been unsatisfied with other drafting methods. If you love measuring, geometry, and drafting, you will feel very satisfied, even virtuous, with the results.

Joy Landeira
NOTIONS^® A Publication of the American Sewing Guild
Winter 2004

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