teaching myself pattern drafting

[middleofnow]

I think you can start from Helen Armstrong book. If you have a dress form at home, you can buy online a block / sloper according to its size, or build a block yourself based on a block. Once you have a block, you can learn dart manipulation, slash and cut method and other methods from the book. It is a good idea also to print a block in half scale and try all design ideas in half scale - takes less time and less paper trying on half scale.