drape drape vol. 2, no.6, drape dress

Now, this dress was a nightmare to sew!

There are only three pattern-pieces, and it looks simple enough, but I actually had to wear it to be able to figure out how to sew the draped cowl-collar. Loads of pinning, not easy when you're wearing a half finished, interestingly constructed garment in a material with loads of drape.

I then took it off, put it on my (almost finished) dressform and was lost again! Wore it once more, pinned a bit more, put it back on the dressform and eventually got it right, phew!

The front piece is one long piece that is wider in the bottom front (with two seams there, the side-seams), wraps around the neck (with one seam all around the neck and center front) to make the collar and is tucked underneath itself and attached to the side seam again in the front, to form the front cowl. Comprehensible?

It's actually a bit difficult to even put the dress on now that it's finished, it looks like nothing when not worn, and totally comes to life when you wear it. I like that about draped clothes, they need a body in them to look good, it's a bit like everyday magic!

The only change I did to the pattern is that I took it in at the side-seams, quite a bit, to make it more fitted. For anyone planning to make it, I recommend comparing the back piece to a jersey dress or a pattern that you like before sewing, to get an idea if it's fitted enough for you. It did look a bit sack-like before I took it in.

Here's the original version in the book. The material I used is a viscose/lycra jersey with a bit of drape, the version in the book is made of silk.

I do wish it would be easier to buy silk-jersey here, I love silk and would be prepared to pay for it once in a while. I guess I'll have to start buying fabric online!

Something I've forgotten to mention about the drape drape-patterns is that you're supposed to mark the material on the right side. I don't like to, so I've marked it on the wrong side so far, which makes following the instructions in the book quite difficult.

I think from now on I'll make all the marks on both sides of my traced patterns (ie transfer them to the back side) so that my projects don't become mirrored compared to the pictures in the books, and I don't have to go through brain-exercise every time I sew drape drape-clothes...

Update: Here's a link to an excellent list of Japanese sewing-terms. I'm going to use it myself!