ABSTRACT
In this chapter I want to concentrate on sewing patterns as a means of democratizing fashion, both commercially produced paper patterns and those generated at home from multiple design sources. I will give some background to the American commercial patterns which were developed in the nineteenth century as an integral part of the American diasporic cultures of migrant seamstresses, and draw comparisons with the patterning culture of Asian women in East Africa and Britain. I will also begin to explore the use of patterns within the private domains of the home sewers, the innovative forms they negotiate and circulate through similar networks to those of the commercially based fashion entrepreneurs.
