Pixel International Conferences

Pattern parametrisation offers significant efficiency, sustainability, and creativity advantages in fashion product development compared to traditional pattern construction methods. Despite its presence in fashion CAD systems for several decades, as evident in early body-to-pattern exploration, its widespread realisation and adoption in fashion academia and industry are still limited. Only a small number of researchers have recognised its sustainable and efficient advantages and primarily employed it in the development of novel yet largely inaccessible fashion systems, such as s simulation (prototyping) technologies, pattern construction automation systems, and digital draping.

This study addresses this gap by designing PatternInstruction, an open LMS-based OER that embeds generic and adaptable frameworks for pattern parametrisation. The tool is intended for use in future collaborative initiatives with UK-based fashion institutions to engage students, academics, and industry-based patternmaking partners with pattern parametrisation, thereby promoting its large-scale adoption across both industrial and academic environments. The development process followed a systematic instructional design approach aligned with the phases and procedural activities defined by the OER-PattEdu Model—the first instructional design model in the discipline developed to support the creation of educational tools that enhance the adoption of fashion-related innovations.

This study also piloted the usability of PatternInstruction and evaluated the design impacts on promoting the adoption of pattern parametrisation. This evaluation engaged thirty-eight UK-based pattern construction practitioners using a mixed-method approach, combining post-learning semi-structured interviews focused on the tool’s design impacts with a usability survey.

The study makes significant contributions to both theory and practice. Theoretically, it provides a structured understanding of how educational tools can be designed and piloted to support the widespread adoption of innovations in fashion pattern construction, specifically within the context of open LMS-based OERs. It is the first study to operationalise the OER-PattEdu Model and to offer empirical evidence regarding the usability and adoption-enhancing impacts of its output tools. Practically, it advances methods for evaluating open LMS-based OERs in fashion education and delivers a tool with the potential to catalyse a paradigm shift towards more sustainable and efficient practices in the fashion industry.