I’m a pattern maker, costume technician, educator and lifelong maker who loves helping sewists turn their ideas into patterns they can actually use, fit, and eventually even sell.
MFA in Costume Technology
15+ years in costume shops
CLO3D, Illustrator and Affinity Designer
My background is in professional costume construction and pattern making. I have an MFA in Costume Technology and more than 15 years of experience in costume shops, theatre and garment construction, taking designs from an idea or sketch all the way through patterning, fitting, construction and the finished garment.
But somewhere along the way, my work started shifting from only creating patterns myself to helping other people realize that they could learn to do this too.
Digital pattern maker
Draper/Cutter
Tailor
Seamstress
Educator
The Tempest, Denver Center for the Performing Arts (2026): digital pattern maker
Somewhere, Denver Center for the Performing Arts (2026): digital pattern maker
Little Shop of Horrors, Denver Center for the Performing Arts (2025): digital pattern maker
I’ve always loved the technical side of sewing: figuring out how a garment is constructed, how a flat pattern becomes something three-dimensional, and how small changes to a pattern can completely change the way a garment looks and fits.
When I began bringing digital tools into that process, a whole new world opened up. CLO3D, Adobe Illustrator and Affinity Designer make it possible to draft, alter, test, organize and prepare patterns in ways that simply weren’t possible when I first learned pattern making.
But I also noticed something. For a lot of sewists, digital pattern making feels intimidating: unfamiliar tools, new terminology, complicated software, and no clear explanation of how the pieces fit together.
Through Creative HadleyDike, I teach sewists how to move beyond simply following a commercial sewing pattern and start understanding how patterns are actually created. That might mean learning how to:
Some of my students want better-fitting clothing for themselves. Others dream of designing patterns they can sell. And some simply love the technical side of sewing and want to understand why patterns work the way they do. There isn’t one “right” reason to learn pattern making.
Knowing how to draft a pattern and knowing how to teach someone else to draft a pattern are two very different things. My goal is never to show you a bunch of buttons and expect you to figure out the rest. I want you to understand the process:
That’s why my programs combine step-by-step training with real support. Inside the Digital Pattern Drafting Academy, students work through lessons on their own schedule and join live sessions to ask questions, work through challenges and keep moving forward.
Sometimes the difference between giving up and that “Oh! Now I get it!” moment is being able to ask one question.
Even though I spend a lot of time teaching, I’m still constantly designing, drafting, sewing, testing and experimenting. I sell digital sewing patterns and sewing tools, develop new pattern-making courses, try out new digital workflows, and share tutorials and behind-the-scenes projects on YouTube.
And I still love the moment when an idea that started as a sketch, a measurement or a digital pattern becomes something you can hold in your hands and wear. That part never gets old.
“I wish I knew how to make my own patterns.”
“I want to change this pattern before I waste fabric.”
“I’d love to learn CLO3D, but I have no idea where to start.”
“I want to sell sewing patterns someday, but I don’t know what to learn first.”
You’re in the right place. You don’t have to become an expert overnight. You simply need a place to start, a process you can follow, and someone who can help you understand what comes next. That’s exactly what I hope to give you here.
Have a question? Send me a message, or use one of these shortcuts to get to the right place faster.
Students
Hiring me for pattern work
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