Introduction to Pattern Designing

Pattern designing refers to the process of creating a blueprint or template for a garment or textile item. Pattern designing involves a combination of artistic creativity and technical skill, and it plays an essential role in the fashion industry and other related fields. In order to create a pattern, a designer typically begins with a sketch or a series of sketches, which serve as a visual representation of the design concept. The designer then translates the sketch into a 2D pattern, taking into account the various components of the garment, such as sleeves, collars, and cuffs. The pattern must be precise and accurate to ensure that the finished garment fits well and looks good.

Note: Pattern is usually made out of paper or cardboard and serves as a guide for cutting and sewing fabric pieces to create the final product

There are several methods for creating a pattern, including draping, flat patternmaking, and computer-aided design (CAD). Draping involves creating the pattern directly on a mannequin or dress form, while flat patternmaking involves drawing the pattern pieces onto paper using measurements and calculations. CAD uses specialized software to create digital patterns that can be edited and adjusted easily.

Once the pattern is complete, it can be used to create a sample garment, which is then tested for fit and functionality. Adjustments may be made to the pattern based on the results of the fitting, and the process may be repeated until the desired result is achieved.

Pattern designing requires a combination of skills, including creativity, attention to detail, and technical knowledge. A successful pattern designer must be able to visualize the finished product and translate that vision into a precise and accurate pattern.

A design pattern provides a general reusable solution for the common problems that occur in software design. The pattern typically shows relationships and interactions between classes or objects. The idea is to speed up the development process by providing well-tested, proven development/design paradigms. Design patterns are programming language-independent strategies for solving a common problem. That means a design pattern represents an idea, not a particular implementation. By using design patterns, you can make your code more flexible, reusable, and maintainable.

It’s not mandatory to always implement design patterns in your project. Design patterns are not meant for project development. Design patterns are meant for common problem-solving. Whenever there is a need, you have to implement a suitable pattern to avoid such problems in the future. To find out which pattern to use, you just have to try to understand the design patterns and their purposes. Only by doing that, you will be able to pick the right one. 

Goal: Understand the purpose and usage of each design pattern in order to pick and implement the correct pattern as needed. 

Example:

In many real-world situations, we want to create only one instance of a class. For example, there can be only one active president of a country at any given time. This pattern is called a Singleton pattern. Other software examples could be a single DB connection shared by multiple objects as creating a separate DB connection for every object is costly. Similarly, there can be a single configuration manager or error manager in an application that handles all problems instead of creating multiple managers. 

Types of Design Patterns

There are mainly three types of design patterns: 

1. Creational Design Pattern

These design patterns are all about class instantiation or object creation. These patterns can be further categorized into Class-creational patterns and object-creational patterns. While class-creation patterns use inheritance effectively in the instantiation process, object-creation patterns use delegation effectively to get the job done. 

Creational design patterns are the Factory Method, Abstract Factory, Builder, Singleton, Object Pool, and Prototype.

Use case of creational design pattern- 
1) Suppose a developer wants to create a simple DBConnection class to connect to a database and wants to access the database at multiple locations from code, generally what the developer will do is create an instance of DBConnection class and use it for doing database operations wherever required. This results in creating multiple connections from the database as each instance of DBConnection class will have a separate connection to the database. In order to deal with it, we create DBConnection class as a singleton class, so that only one instance of DBConnection is created and a single connection is established. Because we can manage DB Connection via one instance, we can control load balance, unnecessary connections, etc. 

2) Suppose you want to create multiple instances of a similar kind and want to achieve loose coupling then you can go for Factory pattern. A class implementing a factory design pattern works as a bridge between multiple classes. Consider an example of using multiple database servers like SQL Server and Oracle. If you are developing an application using SQL Server database as the back end, but in the future need to change the database to oracle, you will need to modify all your code so that factory design patterns maintain loose coupling and easy implementation, we should go for the factory design pattern in order to achieve loose coupling and the creation of a similar kind of object.

2. Structural Design Pattern

These design patterns are about organizing different classes and objects to form larger structures and provide new functionality. Structural design patterns are Adapter, Bridge, Composite, Decorator, Facade, Flyweight, Private Class Data, and Proxy.

Use Case Of Structural Design Pattern- 

1) When 2 interfaces are not compatible with each other and want to establish a relationship between them through an adapter it’s called an adapter design pattern. The adapter pattern converts the interface of a class into another interface or class that the client expects, i.e adapter lets classes work together that could not otherwise because of incompatibility. so in these types of incompatible scenarios, we can go for the adapter pattern.

3. Behavioral Design Pattern

Behavioral patterns are about identifying common communication patterns between objects and realizing these patterns. Behavioral patterns are Chain of responsibility, Command, Interpreter, Iterator, Mediator, Memento, Null Object, Observer, State, Strategy, Template method, Visitor 

Use Case of Behavioral Design Pattern- 

1) The template pattern defines the skeleton of an algorithm in an operation deferring some steps to sub-classes. The template method lets subclasses redefine certain steps of an algorithm without changing the algorithm structure. For example, in your project, you want the behavior of the module to be able to extend, such that we can make the module behave in new and different ways as the requirements of the application change, or to meet the needs of new applications. However, no one is allowed to make source code changes to it, i.e you can add but can’t modify the structure in those scenarios a developer can approach template design patterns.

Advantages of Pattern Designing:

1. Precision: The primary advantage of pattern designing is that it allows for precise and accurate measurements and calculations, resulting in a well-fitted garment.
2. Efficiency: Creating a pattern saves time and effort in the production process. Once the pattern is created, it can be used to make multiple garments, reducing the time and resources needed to create each one.
3. Creativity: Pattern designing allows for creative expression and experimentation, enabling designers to explore different styles, shapes, and techniques.
4. Consistency: A pattern ensures consistency in the production process, resulting in a uniformity of the finished product, which is essential for large-scale manufacturing.
5. Replicability: Patterns can be replicated and used for different sizes, styles, and fabrics, making them a valuable asset for designers and manufacturers.

Disadvantages of Pattern Designing:

1. Cost: Pattern designing can be expensive, particularly if it involves specialized software or equipment.
2. Skill: Pattern designing requires specialized knowledge and skills, which may not be available to everyone.
3. Time-consuming: Creating a pattern can be a time-consuming process, requiring attention to detail and numerous adjustments to ensure a proper fit.
4. Limited creativity: Working within the confines of a pattern can limit the designer’s creativity, making it difficult to create unique or innovative designs.
5. Sustainability: The production of patterns, particularly on paper, can contribute to waste and harm to the environment.

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