My dress forms are finally out and the machine is running, so we can properly drape again. The studio is still not finished but it works.

Karen sent me a photograph of a one shoulder top and asked how to achieve it. The answer is that it is one single piece of fabric: it wraps from one side, goes around the neck so that shoulder is bare, and whatever is left becomes a sleeve on the other arm.

Her photograph was a woven, not a jersey, so I draped the woven version even though it is the harder one. In jersey this is genuinely a one day project.

Demonstration Steps:

• Gave the fabric requirements first. For the woven version my 71 cm width was too narrow: you want at least 90 cm and ideally a metre, with a length over 150 cm. The jersey I used afterwards was 127 cm wide by 140 cm long. My form is a UK 12.
• Joined two shorter muslin pieces on the same grain to get the length, which is worth knowing if you are working from remnants.
• Placed the woven on the bias deliberately, so one edge does not stretch while the side that has to travel around the body does.
• Explained the trade off in placement. On the bias it hugs the body and shows more curve. Placed straight it gives more drape at the front and skims instead. Both are valid, so choose from the look you want.
• Pinned at the underarm and set the length at the side, keeping it above the hip line as in the photograph.
• Brought the fabric around to the back to meet the opposite side, gathering the excess at the shoulder into pleats. How many and how deep is your decision.
• Cut and slashed to separate the shoulder area, then pulled it straight and fixed it, which is the step that makes a one piece look possible at all. In production this would be cut as separate front and back pieces.
• Released fabric at the waist to let the back drop, since the back on this design is noticeably shorter than the front.
• Paused on the sleeveless version, because it is beautiful in its own right. Attach the free edge at the side, add a hook and eye, and it becomes a chic top, or extend it into a gown by joining a skirt at the waist.
• Went back and turned the excess into the sleeve: trimmed the shoulder band much narrower, since the original is closer to a halter, then brought the two edges together and joined them at the inner sleeve seam.
• Shortened the sleeve so it did not drag, shaped it, and gathered the bottom to match the photograph.
• Marked the reference lines while it was still on the form: waist front, centre front, apex and the side seam.
• Diagnosed a pull at the bust that was the form’s fault rather than the pattern’s. She is a fuller cup than the original, so the fabric tensions. Shortening slightly, or keeping the body looser, releases it.

Questions & Answers:

• Q: How much pleating should there be at the shoulder?
• A: Entirely your choice. More pleats give more drama, fewer keep it close to the halter look in the photograph. Pin them, look at the front, then fix them so the drape cannot shift.
• Q: Does the fabric need stretch?
• A: The woven I used has a tiny amount of elastane and a lovely drape, which is what you want. Pure cotton muslin with no give at all will fight you. In jersey it is far easier.

This is Karen’s design and I am pleased with how it came out. The sleeveless version might be my favourite of the two.

Next week I want to do it again properly in jersey, with correct measurements and steps, turn it into a real pattern, and sew it so it can actually be worn.

In jersey you could start this in the morning and wear it that evening. The time goes on the finishing, not the construction.