How Ourlette works: from a photo to a printed pattern

Ourlette turns a photo, a screenshot, a link or a written description of a garment into a sewing pattern drafted to your measurements. You check the garment it recognized, add your measurements or pick a standard size, preview the result in 3D, then print the pattern at true scale and sew it with a step-by-step guide written for that pattern. The free plan covers everything up to printing, from the catalogue; drafting the exact piece is a feature of the Maker (3 a month) and Atelier plans.

This guide follows the process in order, with what to check at each step and where Ourlette's limits are.

What you need before you start

• A picture of the garment you want to sew, or a clear idea of it that you can put into words.
• A flexible tape measure and about 20 minutes to measure yourself, or your usual size.
• To print: a Maker or Atelier plan, a printer, a copy shop or a projector, and a ruler to check the scale.

Step 1: Start from a photo, a link or a description

Ourlette accepts four kinds of starting point:

1. A photo you took or saved, of the garment worn or laid flat.
2. A screenshot, pasted straight in.
3. A link to a public Pinterest pin, Instagram post or shop page. Instagram sometimes hides its pictures from other sites; when a link does not work, a screenshot of the post does.
4. A description, such as "a midi wrap skirt in linen that ties at the waist" or "a boxy cropped top with puff sleeves".

The AI recognizes the garment, its silhouette and its details: length, neckline, sleeves, fullness, closure and pockets. It also picks up the colors and print of the fabric, so the preview looks like your picture.

Tip: The clearest pictures show the whole garment from the front, in good light, on one person. If the photo shows a full outfit, crop it to the piece you want before you upload it.

Step 2: Check the garment and its options

Ourlette does not trace your photo. When the picture shows one of Ourlette's catalogue garments, the AI chooses it and sets its options. Anything else is drafted piece by piece by Ourlette's AI pattern maker on the Maker plan (3 exact designs a month) and the Atelier plan; on Maker once its exact designs are used, Ourlette opens the closest catalogue garment, set as close as possible, and tells you what differs; on the Free plan, it suggests the closest tested models and Community patterns to start from. Ourlette's drafting engine then draws every piece from flat-pattern blocks, using your measurements and the right amount of ease for that garment. The same inputs always give the same pattern.

Look at what was chosen before going further. If a knee-length skirt was read as midi, or a round neck as a V-neck, change the option yourself. Changes by hand (length, neckline, sleeves, fit and the other options of each garment) are free, unlimited and redraw the pattern instantly, with no AI involved.

The catalogue holds 36 garments with tested drafting: A-line, circle, gathered and tiered, pencil and wrap skirts and a build-your-own skirt; T-shirts and tanks, woven tops and blouses, button-up and camp shirts and a build-your-own top, shirt, jacket or coat; sweatshirts and hoodies; shift, fit-and-flare, slip and shirt dresses and a build-your-own dress; pull-on trousers and shorts, jeans, chinos and build-your-own trousers; kimono, trucker, chore and bomber jackets, a trucker vest and a waistcoat; and a tote bag, drawstring bag, zip pouch, bucket hat, scrunchie, headband, cushion cover and apron. Each is ready in about a minute, and you can browse them all in the pattern catalog.

Anything else, such as a jumpsuit, a blazer with notched lapels, a corset, lingerie or swimwear, goes to the AI pattern maker on the Maker and Atelier plans, which takes 4 to 8 minutes and checks every seam on three sizes. These are new patterns that have not been sewn on real bodies yet, so sew a toile before cutting good fabric; very structured tailoring, underwired bras and boned corsetry may need adjusting by an experienced sewist. Ourlette makes sewing patterns, not knitting patterns.

Step 3: Add your measurements or choose a size

You have two ways to size the pattern:

• Made to measure. Enter your own measurements and the pattern is drafted to them. A guided measuring assistant explains each measurement and checks the numbers, flagging a value that looks wrong for the unit (a waist of 28 in a centimeter field, for instance). Height, bust, waist and hip are enough to start; the rest are filled in from the nearest standard size, scaled to your height and girths, and you can refine them one by one. Our guide on how to take body measurements covers all 24.
• A standard size. Women EU 32–54 (US 0–22, UK 4–26), men XS–3XL, and children from 2 to 14 years.

If you sew for several people, measurement profiles keep each set of numbers separate: one on the free plan, 5 on Maker and unlimited on Atelier.

Step 4: Adjust the design

Once the size is set, refine the style. Every change of option or measurement redraws the pieces at once, and you can go back and forth as often as you like. You can also ask for a change in words ("make it 5 cm longer", "add pockets"), which uses one AI message. A small change like these adjusts the options, and the free plan allows 2 per pattern; a big change, which redraws the pieces (a new part, a new shape), needs Maker (5 a month) or Atelier (one AI credit each) and does not use an AI message.

Step 5: Preview the garment in 3D

The 3D preview shows the garment on a mannequin built from your measurements, in a plain color or with the print taken from your picture. Use it to judge proportions: where a hem falls on your leg, how wide a sleeve looks, whether a cropped length suits you.

It is a preview of the silhouette, not a simulation of the fabric. A soft viscose and a stiff cotton canvas cut from the same pattern look the same on screen but hang very differently, so choose the fabric with the guide's advice in mind.

Step 6: Print the pattern at true scale

Printing needs a paid plan, apart from 6 easy models (tote bag, drawstring bag, scrunchie, headband, cushion cover and apron) that print for free. Choose the paper that suits you: A4, US Letter, A3, Tabloid (11 × 17 in), an A0 or 36 × 48 in sheet for a copy shop, or a projector file. On tiled paper, pages are lettered and numbered by row and column (A1, A2… B1), with alignment marks, a page map on the cover and a test square giving both a 5 cm and a 2 in reference. Empty pages are skipped, and large plain rectangles such as waistbands, ties and gathered skirt panels are given as cutting dimensions instead of being printed.

Seam allowances are included: 1.5 cm (5/8 in) on woven fabric and 1 cm (3/8 in) on knits by default, and you can change them. Follow how to print a PDF sewing pattern for the print settings that keep the scale exact.

Step 7: Sew with the guide

Every pattern comes with its own sewing guide: the steps for that garment with the options you chose, the pieces list with how many of each to cut, the notions (zip length, elastic length, number of buttons), fabric quantities for 110, 140 and 150 cm (45, 55 and 60 in) wide fabric, and cutting layouts. The guide is on screen for everyone and included in the PDF on paid plans.

You can ask the guide questions while you sew, such as "what does staystitch mean?" or "my fabric is slippery, any tips for this step?". An AI answers with your pattern in mind.

What is free and what needs a plan

An AI pattern is a pattern started from a photo, a link or a description: on Maker (3 exact designs a month, then the closest catalogue garment, set as close as possible) and Atelier the AI pattern maker drafts the exact piece when nothing in the catalogue matches; on Free, Ourlette suggests the closest tested models and Community patterns to start from instead. A small AI change adjusts the pattern's options (length, neckline, sleeves, fit, pockets) and counts as one AI message, as do questions to the guide and help with measurements; a big one redraws the pieces (a new part, a new shape) and counts against the big changes, not the AI messages. You can cancel anytime, and you get a refund within 14 days of your first payment if Ourlette does not work for you. Full details are on the pricing page.

Using Ourlette in ChatGPT or Claude

Ourlette also works inside ChatGPT and Claude as an app. Send the assistant a photo link or describe the garment with your measurements; Ourlette drafts the pattern, shows it in the chat and gives you the link to the PDF. The setup is explained in using Ourlette in ChatGPT and Claude.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

• A busy picture. Several garments, a cropped hem or a strong pose make details harder to read. Crop to one garment, or describe it in words instead.
• Rough measurements. A tape pulled tight or tilted at the back changes the fit more than any option. Measure twice.
• Treating the 3D preview as a fabric test. It shows proportions, not drape. For a fitted garment, sew a quick test version in inexpensive fabric first.
• Skipping the test square. Measure it on the first printed page before printing the rest; a printer set to "fit to page" shrinks everything by a few percent.
• Treating a new design like a tested one. Garments outside the catalogue are drafted by the AI pattern maker (on the Maker and Atelier plans) and have not been sewn yet: make a toile first, above all for fitted garments.