Toiling and fitting, before you cut the real cloth.

A toile — the trade's word for a dummy garment — is made in calico or another inexpensive cloth of similar weight to your intended fabric. It is the first time your design exists in three dimensions, and the last time changing it costs almost nothing.

Why it is worth the step

Designers who skip toiling cut their good cloth on faith. When something is wrong — and on a first pattern something usually is — the mistake is made in silk at forty pounds a metre instead of calico at four. A toile is the cheapest insurance in garment making.

Full or half toiles

A half toile, made to one side of the body, is enough to check fit, fall and construction on a symmetrical garment and costs less. A full toile is needed for anything asymmetric, anything wrapped or draped, or when you want to photograph it. We will tell you which yours needs.

The fitting

Once the toile is made, we fit it on a suitable model and take detailed measurements at every point that matters. We assess fit, comfort and how the garment actually behaves when somebody moves in it — a dress that looks correct standing still and rides up when the model walks is not finished. Corrections are marked on the toile and transferred back to the pattern.

What we include

The first fitting is free, and so is the calico for your toile. Please supply a model who genuinely represents the target size for the design — fitting a sample size on somebody two sizes off tells you very little.

How many toiles

In most cases one is enough. Heavily structured garments, tailoring, corsetry and anything cut on the bias sometimes need a second. We will tell you at the fitting whether we think another round is necessary, and why.

Booked alone or as part of a run

Toiling and fitting can be a standalone job, or a stage inside a full pattern-to-production booking. Many designers come to us for this one step having cut the pattern elsewhere.