Draping Is Fun

What is draping?

It is pattern-making in a 3-dimensional way (not by drafting). You place a piece of cheap muslin on the dress form mannequine, and then do whatever you can to shape it into a dress (or a shirt, or a pant ) that you design. You do folding, cutting, pinning, measuring.......WHATEVER. For example, if you need a dart on your skirt, you have to gather the extra fabric and make adjustment and smooth out until you got the fit that you desire, then you pin the dart and make marks. After you remove the muslin from the dress form, you draw lines according to the pins and marks to guide your sewing. Our teacher said in order to draft a good pattern on paper, you need to have clear concept of draping first. You could also duplicate a favorite piece of garment that you have with ease (without having to rip it apart) if you have enough draping knowledge.

I am not good at this becuase I have a very poor sense of spatial relationship. You really need to be able to shift your mind between 2-D and 3-D quickly in order to do nice draping (and pattern-making I guess). You want to ask me what the hell is spatial relationship? Well, remember the kind of questions in an IQ test that ask you what an odd-shaped box will look like from a different angle? That's it. I got zero point at that part of my IQ test, which is good, becuz I feel I am entitled to be slow and dumb at our draping class. It's stress-free.

To watch that piece of muslin slowly change into a piece of clothing right on the manneqine.......it's totally magic.



The collar & the sleeve.











When you sew the bodice and skirt together, the darts and side seams have to line up.

Sewing Project 003: Blouse

We did this at our sewing class. The pattern pieces were cut by our teacher so all we did is putting them together. To ease the sleeves (curved and bigger than the armhole) is the most difficult part.

Sewing Project 002: Chair Makeorver

The sofa slipcover has several holes made by our cat Smarty, so I use it to make covers for the ten-year-old kitchen chairs to give them a facelift.

Sewing Project 001: Pencil Case

I made this pencil case for Cheryl to practice my sewing skill.

It looks awful but it's just my first try.........I should forgive myself.

The materials were collected from old clothings that are too small for Cheryl now: Jeans, T-shirt, and short.

My first fashion design class project

Yuzhi and I worked together to create the first paragraph.
Then I wrote the rest of it and she fixed my grammer.

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This Valentino midi-dress is sleeveless with a fitted bodice cinched in by a silver-toned buckle. The top half of the bodice is sheer with a bib-shaped ruffle front and a tie at the center of the neckline. The skirt is pleated at the waist with a slight flare and a fuzzy overlay that falls several inches above the hem.
I like this dress because while the tailored bodice, the ruffled-front and the tie convey demure elegance, the sheer part of the top, partially covered by the ruffled-bib and the tie, makes the whole garment look subtly sexy. The fuzzy overlay also adds a bit of edge that helps to create an even more interesting look.
If I were to redesign this dress, I would keep the basic fitted-and-flare silhouette. The overlay of the skirt, the ruffled bib and the tie can stay, too. The major change in shape would be a fuller skirt to make the contrast between the upper and lower body more dramatic. Three-quarter length sheer Chiffon sleeves will be added so that the dress is less revealing but still sexy as well as sophisticated. Other revisions include adding colors and patterns and bringing in different kinds of fabrics to make the overall look more eclectic and patchwork-like.
The features of the new dress are as follows:

• *More pleats at waistline and a fuller skirt made of brown pin-striped cotton.

• *An overlay that’s the same size as the original but made of purple sheer Chiffon.

• *Three-quarter length sleeves made of purple sheer Chiffon and embroidered with small eyelet flowers. The cuffs will be purple, too, and in the same fuzzy material that was used for the overlay of the original dress.

• *The neck and waistline covered by a band of dark red jewel-toned velvet, which will also be used to make the neck tie.

• *The silver buckle replaced by a small rectangular piece of black suede with sequins on it.

• *The original bodice that consists of upper/lower parts to be replaced by one made of a whole piece of light grey satin. The same material will be used to make the ruffled-bib.