This week we started the black draped dress I showed you at the end of the last session. It came second in your voting, and it is the one with the twist at the shoulder and all that drape falling down one side.

It looks complicated, and it is not. The whole thing begins as a closed tube of jersey, a giant pillowcase, and the shaping happens once it is on the form.

I developed it in a cheap jersey I do not mind cutting into, which is what I always do before committing to good fabric. Then I laid the piece flat and worked out the mathematics of it, so you can draft this for your own size without draping it first.

Demonstration Steps:

• Started with jersey folded to about 76 cm wide, roughly 30 inches, so about 152 cm or 60 inches opened out, and about 150 to 160 cm long. More length than we needed, deliberately.
• Checked the fold had no twist in it before cutting anything. A twist at this stage changes everything further down.
• Trimmed the rough selvedges, then sewed the open long side and closed the top as well, leaving only the bottom open. That gives you a closed tube, like a large pillowcase.
• Used the overlocker rather than a straight machine, because the seams need to keep their stretch.
• Took it to the form and decided where each opening sits: the top seam becomes the shoulder and sleeve seam, one area becomes the armhole, and the neckline is cut into the closed end.
• Cut a neck opening and an armhole on each side, marking them so we did not lose track, then tried it on the form to see how it hung.
• Compared it against the original photograph and found the neckline sat too high, so opened it further and built the twist at the shoulder on both sides before joining them.
• Found the tube was too wide. Brought the folded width down to about 55 cm, roughly 21 and a half inches, then took a little more off and resewed from the armhole mark down.
• Shaped the side that shows the body. One side of this dress is all drape, so the other side has to follow your contour or the whole thing reads shapeless. Safety pins first, to judge how much.
• Added a little ruching at the shoulder and sleeve seam, using a strip of the same jersey stretched as it was applied, which is what the original has.
• Marked the waist and the armhole, took the piece off the form and laid it flat to read the shape back.
• Worked out the flat pattern from that: the folded width is set by your hip, the waist opens out more than the hip, and the line from underarm to hip stays almost straight.
• Gave the two measurements you actually need: your hip circumference, and the distance from your waist up to your underarm.
• In jersey, make the tube circumference equal to your hip measurement with no ease added. If your hip is 100 cm, use 100 cm. It will sit against the body without stretching.
• Showed how to lay your own dress or torso block inside that rectangle to find your underarm point, waist curve and hip, then mark the armhole opening and the neckline from there.
• Explained the neckline choice: come in a little from the shoulder if you want a diagonal boat neck, or point it further out if you want the shoulder to show.

Next time I am going to make this one in my own size, turn the diagram into a proper pattern and sew it properly.

I want mine in black because that is what I wear, though I may cut it in a lighter colour so you can actually see the drape on camera. Viscose or a rayon interlock jersey would be beautiful for this, and because it is a knit there is no zip and no opening to worry about.

The original dress sells for around two thousand dollars. I think it is worth making.