Last time we draped this knot front top and transferred it to paper, but we stopped before correcting the pattern or cutting a sample. Today we finished the job.

I cut it in a soft rayon jersey, because the fabric I used for the drape was not the right choice and I wanted to see the design in something with proper drape.

The second half is the part I think is most useful. Draping is how I work out what the pattern should be, but once you know that, you can draft this straight from a block. I gave the numbers so you can do exactly that.

Demonstration Steps:

• Transferred the draped pieces to paper, working in a darker marker once we saw the light green was not reading on camera.
• Checked the shoulders, necklines and armholes on both halves. Everything below the bust is deliberately asymmetric, but the shoulders, neck and armholes must be symmetrical, so those were corrected first.
• Folded the front piece at the centre front to compare the two sides directly, and cross checked the armhole against the base pattern to confirm which side was right.
• Adjusted the back the same way, bringing one shoulder out and reconnecting the raised armhole line down to the side seam.
• Added 1 cm seam allowance to the seams being sewn, deliberately leaving the neckline and armhole without allowance because the final shapes were still open questions.
• Cut the sample in rayon jersey, checking the grain and keeping the fabric from shifting, which is always the tricky part with jersey.
• Overlocked the shoulders and side seams, stopping the seam about eight inches short on the side where the tie passes through.
• Fitted it on the form. The drape worked, so the remaining decisions are cosmetic: the neckline shape, whether to close the armholes further, and whether to add a sleeve or a dropped shoulder.
• Then drafted it flat from my knit block, adding roughly 2 inches at the shoulder, 2 inches at the armhole and down through the waist and hip, to give the ease the knot needs so it falls instead of clinging.
• Gave the extension numbers: from the centre front come down about 4 inches and extend roughly 13 inches; on the back extend about 4 inches on the short side and about 15 inches on the long side, curving out rather than going straight.
• Explained why the back needs more than the front. That long curved extension is what wraps around the body, comes to the front, ties, and falls, and it is what makes the drape sit properly.

Questions & Answers:

• Q: How can this pattern be made more easily?
• A: Start from your knit block rather than draping. Add ease at the shoulder, armhole and side, then add the long curved extensions I measured out. Draping is how I find the pattern, but once you have the numbers you can go straight to paper.
• Q: Please post some of the recent live sessions to the website.
• A: Yes, that is on Josh and he will get to it. Thank you for the nudge.

I really like this top, and I am going to make it for myself now to see how it fits after losing weight.

Whatever you do from here is a small decision: a V neck, a boat neck, a longer dropped sleeve, or leave it as it is. I would not change the side seams.

Next session we will start the draped dress I previewed at the beginning of this one.