In the software industry, CAD is short for “computer aided design”. So let’s talk about the types of software you can use for pattern drafting. (No more tracing pattern to make adjustments.) Lines and curves can be measured down to millimeters which makes tasks like walking a pattern and matches notches very quick and accurate. Pros for computer drafting: The ability to copy, paste and repeat very quickly. Whether you like drafting old-school on a big piece of paper or in software, the end results can have the same greatness or the same mistakes depending on your skill or the method of drafting you use.Ī pro for paper drafting: A drafter can view the pattern in “real life scale”.

Even if a computer or some online program automatically drafted a pattern after inputting your measurements, there is still the work of learning to to fit, learning what makes for a good pattern. However, my ease with Illustrator did not make me a good patternmaker. I’ve been using Adobe software since the 90s and feel very comfortable with the tools in Illustrator so it was easy to teach myself how to draft in it. I use Adobe Illustrator, which is a vector program.

Many readers have been interested in how I draft or what program I use to do those things, so I thought it’d be fun to open up the subject of pattern drafting software. Most of the time, those illustrations are scaled down versions of actual patterns that I either drafted on my computer or scanned and then turned into a digital pattern. If you’ve scooted around these parts for awhile you may have noticed that I like to make fancy-dancy illustrations for my tutorials.

Best free home drafting software