I had a design idea in my head that I really wanted to try: a top where the sides and the back stay straight and close to the body, with no pleats and no gathers, and all the drape sits at the front, starting from the shoulder and falling in soft folds across the body.

This was the session to finally use Penelope, my little half scale form. When a design is new and I do not know whether it will work, testing it on her first saves a lot of time and fabric. Even a muslin on my size takes a metre or two. On her it takes scraps, and if the design works on her, it can work on us too.

So the plan was: make her a quick bodice pattern, use it to work out the drape, sew a sample, and see. We started a little earlier than usual today, and it took about an hour to go from sketch to a working design.

What We Covered:

• Explained why a half scale form is useful for testing original design ideas, and that you can pad one to your own shape (not your size) so the pattern you develop on it can simply be scaled up.
• Drafted a quick jersey bodice for Penelope, front and back, from shoulder to just above the hip, working only from her measurements rather than fitting it on her first.
• Cut it in jersey with seam allowance at the sides and shoulders only, sewed it up, and tried it on. For a pattern made by eye it fitted well, which gave us a base to design on.
• Sketched the design: neckline, shoulders and armholes plain, side seams straight with nothing on them, and curved drape lines across the front starting from the mid shoulder, not right at the neckline.
• Copied the bodice to fresh paper, marked the centre front, bust line and waist line, then drew the drape lines on the front, going down and around towards the waist.
• Labelled the matching points A and A on either side of the opening, since these are the points that get sewn back together and create the fold.
• Slashed along the drape lines and spread the pattern open towards the centre front and the neck, while keeping the side seam close to its original length so the sides stay clean.
• Redrew the outline around the spread pieces, with a little extra room and a slight curve at the side, and marked the neckline, the A points and a notch in the middle.
• Cut the front with the centre on the grain, added seam allowance where it would be sewn (leaving the armhole without), and cut a back from the same scraps.
• Sewed A to A first, then the shoulders and side seams, and put it on the form. The sides and back were straight, and the front draped and folded in on itself, even though there is not much fabric there to fold.
• Turned off one of the studio lights, because with too much light bouncing off the fabric the folds disappeared on camera. With it off, every drape showed.
• Explained the rule for more drape: the further apart A and A are spread, the longer and deeper the drape. Spreading more at the neck brings the drape lower, below the bust line.
• Made a second version with the drape lines straighter and the pattern spread further. Measure A to A on the pattern before you cut, so you know how much you have added.
• Compared the two on the form. The second was looser, with more drape and a slightly longer line, and it shows much more clearly what is going on.
• Talked about fabric weight. On a form this small, a medium weight jersey behaves like a heavy one and gives a structured, architectural drape with volume. In a lightweight jersey or something chiffon-like it would fall much softer.
• Pointed out what I like most about this design: the sides sit close to the body so it never looks bulky, while the front drape covers the tummy.

Questions & Answers:

• Q: If you make the line between A and A longer and sew it together just at the shoulder, how will that look?
• A: Give it a try. I deliberately started the drape from the middle of the shoulder rather than right next to the neckline. Making A to A longer spreads the pattern further, and that gives you a bigger, longer drape.
• Q: How can you make a pattern without taking measurements?
• A: Mostly experience. I guessed Penelope’s bodice from her measurements without trying anything on her, then sewed it to check. For a test like this it does not need to be perfect, only good enough to see whether the design works.

If you want to play with this yourself, follow what I did here: start from a bodice that fits, draw your drape lines, label the matching points, slash and spread, and test it small. Or wait for me, because I am going to make this on my own block next, in a stretchy jersey and also in a woven. The woven version will be different because it has darts, but it will create the same look.

There is no live session next week, as I have workshops all week. We will be back after that.