Math and rules tend to go hand in hand. Math, like science, like baking, requires more finite precision to achieve a desired outcome. We hold tightly to our rules because without them we’d feel lost and we enjoy the security and they provide us in a number of situations. With a structure, we can feel more comfortable having a place to start and from which to grow when taking on a new set of skills. In pattern making, like math, there are rules. In order to achieve a desired balance and fit we have to follow them. But once we’ve learned and honed the rules which belong to that skill set, it is precisely then that we’re allowed to break them. Upgrade to paid The first instance I understood how and when in pattern making you could break the rules was during my time at Rachel Comey. This was the era of the infamous Legion Jeans, knocked off by everyone at the time. The desire was to have the jean hug the inner ankle and kick out at the outseam. Typically, if you follow the rules in drafting, you’re left with a pant that hangs straight down the legs. The only way to get this kick out particular to the Legion Jeans was to pick up or pinch out at the sides, throwing off the grain (plus some other minor trickery, but mostly this). We were looking at a pattern that was “wrong” and who’s rules were broken yet the desired outcome was achieved (and a cult following was born). note the inseam hugging the ankle, contrasted by the outseam flaring out. In the sewing community there’s a certain book out there that I see a lot of people referencing which I believe needs disclaimers at the ends of each of its rules. It’s...