Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Jun 30, 2005 at 9:24 am / Patterns / Trackback
I should mention that I am currently in negotiations with the copyright holder of Mayer Rohr’s pattern drafting books in an effort to reprint the books. We are uncertain as to the current demand for these texts as they’ve been unavailable for so long.
The current proposal is reprinting the red book Pattern Drafting & Grading: Women’s and Misses Garment Design into one volume and the remaining 3 smaller books Grading Women’s and Misses Garment Design, Pattern Drafting: Children’s Garment Design and Draping: Women’s and Misses Garment Design, into a second combined volume. The proposed retail price for each volume is $39.95.
If you know of these books and similarly agree these are worth exposing to a new generation, you can have a direct effect in this effort if you’d write me and tell others of this potentiality. The more feedback I get, the more likely it is that this can happen. Spread the word.
Good eye Karmen! I noted that the site hasn’t been active since last year. I don’t know them but I’m assuming they’re the sort of people who’d drop Rohr if they knew someone were reprinting the work. I think their effort is focused toward making the materials available and they’d just be glad to get the news.
Btw, I have a sticky on this site in the vintage patterns forum. They have some titles available such as oh boy…name of it fails me now…but it’s handy that it’s up there because I’d like to do a tutorial with one of the books they have up and people could follow along since almost nobody has the book. The mentions of scale that I made in the fit/size post were largely drawn from that book and Hulme (as you already know). Speaking of Hulme, wouldn’t it be worthwhile if he were reprinted?
Meghan
August 24th, 2006
5:53 PM
please keep me informed about this books. i go to school in hawaii and this is one of the textbooks my teacher said to try and find. they use to teach drafting with this book. the two books she wanted us to look for were pattern drafting– childrens garment design and pattern drafting and grading. im sure if you do get it to reprint our school would most likely order many for our drafting class and years to come.
crystal
December 20th, 2006
7:21 PM
These pattern books by Rohr and others are almost always available on Ebay. Prices vary. I own the Patternmaking book by Armstrong and find its quite thorough and easy to understand. The Pattern Drafting books by Hoshimoto/Japan are full of drafts of patterns for the 60/70s. They are in English. Dorothy Moores Pattern drafting and dressmaking book is the easiest to understand. Its also available on Ebay for about any price.
Vivian Holvenstot
May 18th, 2007
2:49 AM
I would be interested in the two Rohr books if you can get them printed. Let me know if and when they become available. In the meantime, I have published my own book. “Pattern Drafting for Fit and Fashion”and put it out in my maiden name, Vivian Katherine Cizeski. See my website with the name of my book as its title.
Cindy
July 23rd, 2007
10:30 AM
please keep me posted as I would love to purchase these books
Amanda
November 29th, 2007
11:47 AM
I would definitely be interested in these books. Im dying to try my hand at pattern drafting. I want to purchase a book. I have no idea which books are good.
marie
December 1st, 2007
11:32 PM
Please what are the news regarding the avaibility of Rhors/patterns books? Please keep me posted.
Thanks
A.K.B
March 17th, 2008
11:42 AM
I have seen one of these books and would definitely be interested in having copies for myself as the techniques and styles are very interesting.
I would love to have these books, please keep me posted. thanx
Marshall
August 28th, 2008
3:40 PM
As a former fashion design/pattern drafting studen I am interested in different techniques and publications on sewing, pattern drafting, and design. You have my vote in your venture to get the above publications reprinted. Best of luck, and let us know when it happens.
[...] 21, 2008 by sewiknittoo Fashion Incubator, always talks about how wonderful this book is and if you’d like your own piece of wonderful [...]
Andrea Baptiste
September 23rd, 2008
8:51 AM
This is good news. I have seen a copy of the book the red one. It is very fragile. It is a book I would love to use and would be happy to purchase if it is reprinted.
MURELDA BRIDGE
April 22nd, 2009
7:41 AM
I purchased my copy of the Pattern Drafting And Grading by Rohr in 1976. I am still using it, but it’s old and I need a new copy plus the others.
I used the book to teach Clothing And Textiles to 16 and 17 year old students for their final exam. The book is so straignt forward and easy to understand I taught my self much from it.
I certainly hope I won’t have to wait too long for my copies.
Thanks for the opportunity to make an input.
Murelda.
Vineca Gray
June 19th, 2009
7:23 PM
These are incredible books – they were on my book list for the Fashion Production & Design program at Sheridan College in the 1980’s….good luck!!!!!!
Nancy
July 4th, 2009
5:57 AM
I would love to have these to add to my library! Thanks for considering the reprint.
Donna S
July 4th, 2009
6:28 AM
These are the books I learned from back in the 60’s. I used them for years until I went back to school in the 90’s and was exposed to the Armstrong book. There is no comparison. I still refernece the Rohr books and have each page in a plastic sleeve in a notebook.
Ramona
July 5th, 2009
9:52 AM
I am a member of the American Sewing Guild and leader of a group. My degree is in Fashion Design. I have been asked by the membership to do a series of pattern drafting classes and have been looking for these books. PLEASE REPRINT THEM! I would appreciate it if you keep me posted. I used these books in the classes I took in college. I have been trying to locate them for our group classes. Your price point sounds perfect! A lot of the ladies in the group taking the class are either retired on a fixed income or newly weds just starting to sew. They have limited means but your price sounds good for them.
kathleen
July 5th, 2009
10:02 AM
The hold up on this was that the copyright owner Jonathon (Rohr’s grandson) wanted to negotiate a license for 5,000 copies. Try as I may, I don’t think I could ever sell that many. They’ve been out of print too long. Maybe I could sell 100. However, I’m going to write Jonathon and see if he might make them available for download as an ebook or as a POD (print on demand) title and thus capture much more of the value.
I note one enterprising individual is now selling these as an ebook. Unfortunately, she claims to have written it. All she’s done is change the heads and faces on all of Rohr’s sketches. Worse, she’s not in the US so there’s little to be done about it other than exposing her for the fraud she is. I’m sure you understand why I don’t link to her.
If they ever are reprinted, I would love to buy a copy.
carla
September 10th, 2009
8:37 PM
I had this book when I was in college. When I transferred to a university it “Suddenly” came up missing. I would love to get a new copy of the book.
SEVRAJ SYED
September 24th, 2009
11:25 PM
Hope it is reprinted really need a copy, if any one has one and is willing to photocopy and send to me I will pay a reasonable price………. working in china ladies 3 D grading huge problem and need support for training individual parties and internal teams
Ellinnet
October 14th, 2009
12:14 AM
Please reprint these books. I’ve looked on many websites for old or used copies and they are very hard to find (at a reasonable price). Should you get these books reprinted when do you expect them to be available?
Jewels
October 23rd, 2009
2:04 PM
I have been trying to get one for ever, it is a awesome book that needs to be shared with the sewing world. Keeping my fingers crossed
Cynthia
November 10th, 2009
8:41 PM
Please reprint, pattern drafting is something I desire to learn, and a series such as this could help to facilitate this. Keep me posted…..
Sandra B
January 22nd, 2010
4:51 AM
I just found a copy of this in a secondhand book shop. It’s the 1952 revised edition and has lots of loose leaf supplements inside. It is very clear, and well worth it for the beginner. I think there must be more supplements around, because I have some excellent twisted drape drafts that look like they are done by M. Rohr that I photocopied from a library book many years ago (before I learnt to keep records of sources)
As far as a deeper understanding of the principles goes, I like Natalie Bray’s books better, but the instructions are nowhere near as clear, with too much writing and not enough visual information.
I think the M Rohr books would be excellent as PDFs, and if you put them on Etsy, you’d probably sell heaps.
As an aside, the other book I found was a tailor’s manual on fitting and altering, probably from the 1930’s. In a Twilight Zone moment, it had my maiden name and former phone number pencilled inside the cover. Boy, did that give me a surprise, especially seeing as I bought it before noticing! I never owned the book, all I can think of is that I had ordered it by phone back when I was a serious patternmaking book collector, (20 years ago!) and forgot to collect it. I guess his turn over is quite slow:-D. He even charged me the original price. 20 years ago he wasn’t my favourite source, although he had the best stuff, because he was so expensive. Now he’s on the cheaper side of collectible books!
kathleen
January 22nd, 2010
5:06 AM
I think the M Rohr books would be excellent as PDFs, and if you put them on Etsy, you’d probably sell heaps.
I hope nobody does that. The book isn’t in the public domain, somebody owns the rights to it. There already is one very slimey “lady” (used loosely) who has taken his book, put her name on it, taken all of the pictures and put new heads/faces on them in each sketch but it’s all Rohr’s work. She’s in Jamaica but I imagine the bulk of her sales are from the states.
I’ll talk to Jonathon (Rohr’s grandson) maybe he will be interested in selling it electronically or maybe doing POD since technology gives him a lot more options now. The deal killer for me was that he wanted a royalty payment upfront based on a 5,000 copy print run. Upfront royalty is a little untoward but not insurmountable, the issue was there is no way I could sell 5,000 copies of his book (much less want to store it).
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27 Responses to “Rohr’s Pattern Drafting Books”
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July 1st, 2005
9:52 AM
Kathleen,
I did some searching and you may want to check out the following site in regard to the first Rohr book. Did these guys get permission!??
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/mt/archives/rohrs_pattern_drafting_books.html
July 1st, 2005
5:50 PM
Good eye Karmen! I noted that the site hasn’t been active since last year. I don’t know them but I’m assuming they’re the sort of people who’d drop Rohr if they knew someone were reprinting the work. I think their effort is focused toward making the materials available and they’d just be glad to get the news.
Btw, I have a sticky on this site in the vintage patterns forum. They have some titles available such as oh boy…name of it fails me now…but it’s handy that it’s up there because I’d like to do a tutorial with one of the books they have up and people could follow along since almost nobody has the book. The mentions of scale that I made in the fit/size post were largely drawn from that book and Hulme (as you already know). Speaking of Hulme, wouldn’t it be worthwhile if he were reprinted?
August 24th, 2006
5:53 PM
please keep me informed about this books. i go to school in hawaii and this is one of the textbooks my teacher said to try and find. they use to teach drafting with this book. the two books she wanted us to look for were pattern drafting– childrens garment design and pattern drafting and grading. im sure if you do get it to reprint our school would most likely order many for our drafting class and years to come.
December 20th, 2006
7:21 PM
These pattern books by Rohr and others are almost always available on Ebay. Prices vary. I own the Patternmaking book by Armstrong and find its quite thorough and easy to understand. The Pattern Drafting books by Hoshimoto/Japan are full of drafts of patterns for the 60/70s. They are in English. Dorothy Moores Pattern drafting and dressmaking book is the easiest to understand. Its also available on Ebay for about any price.
May 18th, 2007
2:49 AM
I would be interested in the two Rohr books if you can get them printed. Let me know if and when they become available. In the meantime, I have published my own book. “Pattern Drafting for Fit and Fashion”and put it out in my maiden name, Vivian Katherine Cizeski. See my website with the name of my book as its title.
July 23rd, 2007
10:30 AM
please keep me posted as I would love to purchase these books
November 29th, 2007
11:47 AM
I would definitely be interested in these books. Im dying to try my hand at pattern drafting. I want to purchase a book. I have no idea which books are good.
December 1st, 2007
11:32 PM
Please what are the news regarding the avaibility of Rhors/patterns books? Please keep me posted.
Thanks
March 17th, 2008
11:42 AM
I have seen one of these books and would definitely be interested in having copies for myself as the techniques and styles are very interesting.
March 21st, 2008
6:07 PM
I would love to have these books, please keep me posted. thanx
August 28th, 2008
3:40 PM
As a former fashion design/pattern drafting studen I am interested in different techniques and publications on sewing, pattern drafting, and design. You have my vote in your venture to get the above publications reprinted. Best of luck, and let us know when it happens.
September 21st, 2008
9:31 AM
[...] 21, 2008 by sewiknittoo Fashion Incubator, always talks about how wonderful this book is and if you’d like your own piece of wonderful [...]
September 23rd, 2008
8:51 AM
This is good news. I have seen a copy of the book the red one. It is very fragile. It is a book I would love to use and would be happy to purchase if it is reprinted.
April 22nd, 2009
7:41 AM
I purchased my copy of the Pattern Drafting And Grading by Rohr in 1976. I am still using it, but it’s old and I need a new copy plus the others.
I used the book to teach Clothing And Textiles to 16 and 17 year old students for their final exam. The book is so straignt forward and easy to understand I taught my self much from it.
I certainly hope I won’t have to wait too long for my copies.
Thanks for the opportunity to make an input.
Murelda.
June 19th, 2009
7:23 PM
These are incredible books – they were on my book list for the Fashion Production & Design program at Sheridan College in the 1980’s….good luck!!!!!!
July 4th, 2009
5:57 AM
I would love to have these to add to my library! Thanks for considering the reprint.
July 4th, 2009
6:28 AM
These are the books I learned from back in the 60’s. I used them for years until I went back to school in the 90’s and was exposed to the Armstrong book. There is no comparison. I still refernece the Rohr books and have each page in a plastic sleeve in a notebook.
July 5th, 2009
9:52 AM
I am a member of the American Sewing Guild and leader of a group. My degree is in Fashion Design. I have been asked by the membership to do a series of pattern drafting classes and have been looking for these books. PLEASE REPRINT THEM! I would appreciate it if you keep me posted. I used these books in the classes I took in college. I have been trying to locate them for our group classes. Your price point sounds perfect! A lot of the ladies in the group taking the class are either retired on a fixed income or newly weds just starting to sew. They have limited means but your price sounds good for them.
July 5th, 2009
10:02 AM
The hold up on this was that the copyright owner Jonathon (Rohr’s grandson) wanted to negotiate a license for 5,000 copies. Try as I may, I don’t think I could ever sell that many. They’ve been out of print too long. Maybe I could sell 100. However, I’m going to write Jonathon and see if he might make them available for download as an ebook or as a POD (print on demand) title and thus capture much more of the value.
I note one enterprising individual is now selling these as an ebook. Unfortunately, she claims to have written it. All she’s done is change the heads and faces on all of Rohr’s sketches. Worse, she’s not in the US so there’s little to be done about it other than exposing her for the fraud she is. I’m sure you understand why I don’t link to her.
July 15th, 2009
2:28 PM
If they ever are reprinted, I would love to buy a copy.
September 10th, 2009
8:37 PM
I had this book when I was in college. When I transferred to a university it “Suddenly” came up missing. I would love to get a new copy of the book.
September 24th, 2009
11:25 PM
Hope it is reprinted really need a copy, if any one has one and is willing to photocopy and send to me I will pay a reasonable price………. working in china ladies 3 D grading huge problem and need support for training individual parties and internal teams
October 14th, 2009
12:14 AM
Please reprint these books. I’ve looked on many websites for old or used copies and they are very hard to find (at a reasonable price). Should you get these books reprinted when do you expect them to be available?
October 23rd, 2009
2:04 PM
I have been trying to get one for ever, it is a awesome book that needs to be shared with the sewing world. Keeping my fingers crossed
November 10th, 2009
8:41 PM
Please reprint, pattern drafting is something I desire to learn, and a series such as this could help to facilitate this. Keep me posted…..
January 22nd, 2010
4:51 AM
I just found a copy of this in a secondhand book shop. It’s the 1952 revised edition and has lots of loose leaf supplements inside. It is very clear, and well worth it for the beginner. I think there must be more supplements around, because I have some excellent twisted drape drafts that look like they are done by M. Rohr that I photocopied from a library book many years ago (before I learnt to keep records of sources)
As far as a deeper understanding of the principles goes, I like Natalie Bray’s books better, but the instructions are nowhere near as clear, with too much writing and not enough visual information.
I think the M Rohr books would be excellent as PDFs, and if you put them on Etsy, you’d probably sell heaps.
As an aside, the other book I found was a tailor’s manual on fitting and altering, probably from the 1930’s. In a Twilight Zone moment, it had my maiden name and former phone number pencilled inside the cover. Boy, did that give me a surprise, especially seeing as I bought it before noticing! I never owned the book, all I can think of is that I had ordered it by phone back when I was a serious patternmaking book collector, (20 years ago!) and forgot to collect it. I guess his turn over is quite slow:-D. He even charged me the original price. 20 years ago he wasn’t my favourite source, although he had the best stuff, because he was so expensive. Now he’s on the cheaper side of collectible books!
January 22nd, 2010
5:06 AM
I hope nobody does that. The book isn’t in the public domain, somebody owns the rights to it. There already is one very slimey “lady” (used loosely) who has taken his book, put her name on it, taken all of the pictures and put new heads/faces on them in each sketch but it’s all Rohr’s work. She’s in Jamaica but I imagine the bulk of her sales are from the states.
I’ll talk to Jonathon (Rohr’s grandson) maybe he will be interested in selling it electronically or maybe doing POD since technology gives him a lot more options now. The deal killer for me was that he wanted a royalty payment upfront based on a 5,000 copy print run. Upfront royalty is a little untoward but not insurmountable, the issue was there is no way I could sell 5,000 copies of his book (much less want to store it).