As you’ve probably seen from my TNG skant analysis and TNG skant examination, I was really able to get a lot of mileage out of the screen-used TNG skant I examined a few years ago, courtesy of Steve Barnes.
In addition to thoroughly documenting the costume’s dimensions and construction, I actually extrapolated a sewing pattern from it, using a technique I learned from a book called 101 Sewing Secrets from the Singer Sewing Reference Library.
Basically, this process entails pinning or hand-basting a layer of muslin to the garment and lightly tracing the seam lines with a pencil.
I did this for every single piece of the skant, even including those enormous shoulder pads!
In addition to the shape of the pieces themselves, I also noted the direction of the grain, as well as all the various seam/hem allowances (etc.).
I then transferred my muslin pattern to my dot-and-cross pattern-drafting paper, “true-ing” all the seam lines with the various rulers needed and double-checking everything for accuracy.
Then, I added all the appropriate seam/hem allowances to the appropriate edges and traced the pattern onto the large sheets of paper I usually use for my Tailors Gone Wild (formerly Bad Wolf Costumes) sewing patterns.
I’ve since had it scanned at my local copy/print shop, given it a good polish, and digitally labeled it, so it’s all ready to go!
You can download my traced pattern here for free.
The pattern is a PDF, comprised of two large 36″ x 48″ black/white pages.
Click here for instructions for how to print a digital pattern download. 🙂
A few minor notes on the pattern draft:
- This is a women’s skant, with finished garment measurements of 36″ bust and 29 ½” waist.
- The grain lines indicate the crossgrain, not the straight grain! Use the horizontal “weave” of the jumbo spandex as a guide.
- I standardized the neckline/trim seam allowance to ⅜” all the way around the neck.
- The front yoke originally “leaned” slightly to one side; I made it symmetrical.
- The neckline trim and yoke piping pieces were extrapolated based on the length of the seam lines, rather than tracing the actual pieces.
- This traced pattern is VERY close to the original, but you’ll want to allow a tiny margin (say, about ⅛” in any given direction) for “human error.”
That said, here’s a comparison between the screen-used TNG skant I examined, and a replica I made using this traced pattern:
(I made the replica with a lightweight spandex rather than jumbo spandex, as an experiment and because it’s what I had available at the time – hence the slightly different drape under the bust.)
(FYI, this is the exact pattern I used as a base for my graded Tailors Gone Wild Women’s skant pattern.)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the free pattern. 🙂
If you appreciate this pattern download and would like to see more like it, please support my costume research on Ko-Fi.
Every bar of gold-pressed latinum goes toward producing more sewing/costuming resources like this, for everyone interested in Star Trek costumes. 🙂
Hello, I have downloaded through your link, the pdf of the uniform pattern.
There turns out to be a problem because the pattern shows up to me as a simple a4 size sheet, with a pattern sketch on it, where there are no sizes or anything else.
I assume in your editing error
Hi Giulia,
The PDF pages are full-size. Be sure to deselect, deactivate, etc. "fit to page" or other comparable settings in your PDF reader. Do select "actual size" or comparable option if it is available.
- Alex