Before anyone arrived I was taking apart a fitted t-shirt to use as my own knit block. It is an ordinary shop bought tee that happens to fit me beautifully through the shoulders and arms, so I unpicked the front, back and sleeve to trace it. If you have a knit top that fits well, do this before it stretches out. It is the quickest base pattern you will ever get.

Then we turned to the draped front top from a fortnight ago. I could simply have transferred the drape to paper, and that is one route. But what if your dress form is not your size, or you do not have one at all?

So I showed the other way: start from a sloper or a fitted knit block and manipulate it to the same design. Only the front matters here, because the back of this top stays straight.

Demonstration Steps:

• Traced the front of a sloper onto fresh paper, keeping the centre front line, the bust dart, the armhole and the hip line, and ignoring the waist darts since they are not needed.
• Added ease, because a sloper is fitted and this top is not. About 2 to 2.5 cm out at the side seam, or 2 to 3 cm for a looser fit. Deliberately did not drop the shoulder or the underarm at this stage.
• Placed the start of the drape between the bust line and the waist rather than at the waist itself, roughly midway, which is where it sat on the original drape.
• Worked out the flare angle rather than guessing at a measurement. A full half circle is far too much. Taking half of that, around 45 degrees from the centre front, gives the right amount of fabric for the drape.
• Explained that the centre front is not used as a fold here. That edge shifts across to the side seam of the other side, which is what produces the asymmetric wrap.
• Cut the shape in muslin, twice, to make both sides, ironing it first. Muslin is stiffer than the final jersey, so I showed the woven version and the knit version and pointed out how differently each behaves.
• Sewed the centre front only as far as a point between the bust line and the waist, leaving the rest open so the drape can hang.
• Gave a method for fitting this on yourself without a dress form: put on a fitted t-shirt, tie a little elastic at your waist as a reference, safety pin the muslin at the shoulder, centre front neck and underarm, then lift the drape until it hits where you like it and pin that point.
• Explained what that pin tells you. It records how far above or below your waist you want the drape to sit, and therefore how much of the centre front seam to close.
• Showed how the position of the two lower points changes the whole silhouette. Points closer to the centre read as a narrower hip; points further apart widen the lower body and make the waist look smaller by contrast.
• Measured the side length rather than eyeballing it, noting I had come down about 35 cm, so the finished points could be placed repeatably.

Questions & Answers:

• Q: I found my jersey t-shirt foundation. Should that work?
• A: Yes, that is exactly the right thing to use. A fitted knit foundation or a t-shirt block both work here.
• Q: How do you know how much room to give at the side?
• A: Honestly you do not know precisely, and that is why the first muslin exists. Two to three centimetres is a sensible starting point, then adjust once you have seen it on your body or the form.

We now have this top as a pattern in both versions, for a woven and for a knit, and I have a new pattern for myself out of it.

The real lesson is that you do not have to drape everything from scratch. Once you have your base blocks, most designs are a manipulation away.

Post your questions in the group and we will pick them up next time. Happy Mother’s Day.