Pattern Magic

Yesterday’s post brought me a book I’d been longing to read for quite some time:

I had seen the book (in Japanese!) at a Japanese bookstore, and bought it for the pretty pictures – hoping to be able to make some sense out of the diagrams even if I couldn’t read the text.  What a delight to discover it was now available in English!  I promptly bought a copy of it, and its sequel, Pattern Magic 2.  I believe Pattern Magic 3 is also out, but as it deals with stretch knits, I’m not as interested in it.

Anyway, Pattern Magic shows you how to do some very interesting pattern manipulations – mostly for garments that you wouldn’t actually wear (tubes in clothing, for example), but the ideas and techniques could easily be applied, in less extreme form, for interesting effects in everyday garments.  And, in any case, I’m not restricting myself to everyday garments, since my interest runs to wearable art.  There is a LOT to learn from her techniques!

Here, of course, is the garment that naturally caught my eye:

The weaving content in this piece makes it just right for a “pun” piece: imagine a variant of this in a handwoven plaited twill…triple-weave, without having to make three layers!

Anyway, I’ve added it to my list of Things That Must Be Understood.  While I’m in this pattern drafting phase, anyway.  I plan to draft it using my jacket sloper so I understand how to make it…then I’ll set it aside in my pattern concepts for another day.

Unless, of course, I get so taken with it that I decide to put it in the project queue…. 🙂