Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research Vol. 36, December 2011, pp. 358-365 Pattern engineering and functional clothing Noopur Anand a Department of Fashion Technology (Apparel Production), National Institute of Fashion Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110 016, India Garments conventionally address the protective, social and aesthetic needs of individuals but they can also be engineered to carry out a range of specific functions. Besides incorporating the features to meet the specific demands of a particular function, the garment must meet the basic requirements of protection and comfort. Pattern engineering for functional clothing involves applying technical, scientific and mathematical knowledge of patterns to modify and develop patterns with the objective of developing a garment which meets the function specific requirements, is comfortable to wear and contributes to maximize the efficiency and performance of the wearer. This paper explores, through examples, use of pattern engineering for functional garments to achieve these stated objectives. It establishes pattern engineering as the first step of planning a purposeful, efficient and aesthetic functional garment. It shows how the techniques of pattern engineering can be used to find solutions to challenges posed by the anthropometry of the human body and how these techniques are used to generate the blueprint of a functional garment incorporating all functional and aesthetic components. Keywords: Darts, Ease allowance, Functional garments, Girth, Pattern engineering 1 Introduction Pattern engineering is the technique of working with a 2D medium (i.e. paper or fabric) to develop blocks (using either body or garment measurements) which will assist in making garments to drape a 3D body to achieve the desired fit with optimum utilization of resources. The key components influencing pattern engineering are as follows: • Body shape vs garment shape • Garment fit • Fabric properties • Garment assembling techniques • End use. Body Shape vs Garment Shape 1 The shaping in human body is primarily in two main areas – the side of the body and the depth of the body. The shape on the side of the body is addressed by shaping the side seam of pattern to bring the garment closer to the body on the side (Fig. 1a). The depth of the body in front is around bust and waist and in back is around shoulder and small of back. This shaping is more pronounced in case of women body and has to be addressed by folding in the surplus fabric to shape the body contours (Fig. 1b). This folded fabric is called darts. Garment Fit The desired fit of a garment is defined by the function for which it is intended. The required fit can be obtained by developing a suitable basic block generated from body dimensions. Basic block (for garments made from woven fabric) could be loose fitted, semi fitted or fitted (Table 1). Loose fitting blocks are much bigger than the body girth measurements, the extra spacing between the wearer and the clothing being the ease. Bigger the ease, looser is the garment. Essentially, loose fitting garment block is one where the garment is more than 5” bigger than the body hip and chest girth measurements. It has a boxy shape, i.e. dimensions at chest, waist and hip are equal, and therefore falls away from the body (Fig. 2a). Such blocks are used in the production of shirts, windcheater and rain coat (Fig. 2b). Semi fitted blocks are shaped closer to the body on the side. The blocks have chest and hip girth measurement 2- 4” bigger than the body measurement while waist girth is 6-8” bigger than the actual waist measurement (Fig. 3). Fitted blocks are required when garment is to be made fitted around the body and fullness of the garment around the body is required to be reduced such as uniforms, swimsuits or action wear, etc. In such garments, the shape of the body at the front as ________ a E-mail: noopur_anand@yahoo.com