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Friday, June 16, 2017

Draped denim day dress

Here it is; the culmination of my draping class at WVC!  When I say draping class, the assumption is that there are going to be, like, a drape of fabric somewhere on the garment, but really draping is just another way to draft a pattern.  Many of the styles we did as exercises were not "drapey" at all, since the method lends itself well for creating perfectly fitted garments.
It looks very simple, but there are some tricky (to drape) and interesting elements to the dress.  Let's walk through it, shall we?  First up is the combination sleeve and bodice. It's essentially a kimono sleeve.  I love the above-bust seam line for us smaller-chested ladies.
The front bodice has a seamed center front and I used decorative red topstitching for fun.
There are princess seams in the front that transition into scoop pockets.
The back also has princess seams that end at the hip.
I topstitched the hem in red and used a red invisible zipper to tie it all together.  The back bodice/ sleeve combination has the same general shape as the front
My original dress didn't fit me because my dress form at school wasn't petite enough (despite grabbing the only petite form in the class), so to adjust, I took up about an inch on the upper sleeve seam, if that makes any sense.
While it's not the most earth-shattering design, it's very me and I kind of love the utilitarian vibe it has.  Also, within 2 minutes of wearing it to the farmer's market, a woman walked over to me to tell me how much she loved my dress and asked where I got it, so that was affirming.  It was pretty amazing to be able to say I designed and sewed it myself!
As a bonus for making it this far in my post, I've also photo'ed my mid-term dress!  It doesn't work on my body, so here it is on the form.  The assignment was to design using bias or other non-straight grain grainline.

The dress opens at the front at the waistline with a snap--it's kind of clunky.  The dress was a complete pain to drape and it doesn't look like I envisioned it, so I'm not thrilled with it.  Let's look at my final project again, since it was a pleasure to work on :)
Thrilled that this is one of the items I'm taking to Paris!





7 comments:

  1. I love this dress and the pockets!

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  2. I don't know that it's as simple as it is subtle- whatever, it is FABULOUS! If the pattern were for sale, I'd want it.

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  3. So clever, love the pockets!

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  4. I love the design of your dress - it has all the must have elements :) princess seams, pockets positioned in a "handy" place - comfortable yet flexible enough you could make it out of a lovely silk/linen lined and wear it out on a summer evening :)

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  5. Love it!! The curved pockets and bodice detail are wonderful.

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  6. the day dress is lovely!

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  7. It's fantastic Nicole. If only you'd accidentally worked on the bigger-than-petite dress form as I'd love this pattern! Great little accents and it will be perfect for Paris.

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