Summer top

What lovely comments on my new set from last post, I’ve tried to answer the questions in the comments there.

I’m having a blast with drafting patterns. This is what I tried this weekend, a cowl neck top. The basic draft is from the moulage class, the cowl neck from the dart manipulation class. I had some extra work in the waist/hip area and used my experience to deal with that issue.

Wearing it today and had sat at my desk for a while before the photos were taken, resulting in a few wearing wrinkles. What I like in this method is there is no extra fabric below the bust area, which was the case in a method I used before. The ease you see here is my wearing ease as I generally prefer not to have my garments too tight in the waist. Waist definition is fine, but not too much with my figure.

  

The cowl is a bit too low for everyday use and I think my shoulder seam should be a bit more to the front. Little alterations for next time.

4 shoulder darts

A few weeks ago I showed you the muslin I made for a top with 4 shoulder pleats.

It was ä study on how it worked out. I liked it enough to make a top for myself. Changed a bit to the lenght of the darts as there was excess fabric on me and this is the result.

   

  

Only when seeing the photo of the side I realized that the back has too much fabric/is puffing. I’ll either have to have a bit more room in the waist or increase the back darts.

For those interested in dart manipulation or are taking the Craftsy class on it: I did not completely rotate the waist dart out. When I would do that, the angle of the waist to the hip would be very sharp. For the difference in waist/hip measurement I think it does not work well without waist darts, certainly when there is no waist seam. For that reason I also have more ease in the waist. Very fitted looks good on a dressform, but not on me ;)

Two dresses

I’ve been in dress-mode in the past month: I made 3 dresses, of which I’m showing two here. The first one I made is a black one which is exactly the same as the taupe version. Black garments are awefully difficult to photograph, so I’m only showing the two others. I was inspired seeing a black dress/colored jacket combination at a work meeting and realized I was short on plain dresses. Read: none in the closet, except for one silk dress. I knew I was missing something….

I wore my black dress/jacket combination to a work appointment this week and when I entered the conference room the other two ladies present wore the same sort of combination: black basics with a colored jacket. Very different colors and styles so definitely not the same look, but it was such a coincidence. Or it’s the current work-dress trend which I obviously was not aware of.

The dresses were made based on the same sloper as my color-blocked dress from January. I started out making a pattern for a dress with princess seams. Very easy to make, even with the lining it does not take more than two evenings.

The blue version below was inspired by this Marfy pattern. I did not want the flared skirt and also omitted the center front seam. I don’t know whether the Marfy pattern has a full side seam. It’s not important, I just used the inspiration and decided to continue the diagonal lines that come from the front seam to the back.

For the square neckline I followed the instructions of Suzy Furrer in her class on necklines. It was a new to me method to draft the back neckline to match the front and make sure it does not gape. It worked well for me.

     

This was the quick muslin I did on the top of the dress with some remnant pieces of ponte knit. In the color blocking I see opportunities for a sports top (with a different neckline). Initially I had the back seam open and asked my daughter to pin it . Then I wondered whether I could go without a zipper. The neckline is wide enough and the fabric has stretch, as well as the lining. So I closed the center back seam and could easily put it on and get out of it again. So even easier to make: no zipper.

Perhaps I can show you some photos of me wearing the dresses tomorrow. Would be nice to make photos outside but the weather forecast says it will rain

Dart manipulation ideas

It must be in the air: shortly after my last posts on dart manipulation The Cutting Class blog wrote a post Bust shaping with panel lines by Dior. Lots of dart manipulation ideas!

Once you look for it you come across more ideas. Marfy patterns/catalogues are a source of inspiration too.

 

It’s nice to think about how to draft these patterns. I will not do them all but my version of the yellow Marfy dress is almost ready in a denim blue. Will show you later this weekend.

Dart manipulation inspiration

It’s nice to read in the comments there are others working on pattern drafting and dart manipulation too. I don’t think you see it a lot in the blogosphere. If you know blogs/sites let me know in the comments, it would be nice to see it more.

Apart from the in person classes I took Suzy Furrer’s Craftsy class on dart manipulation and it was a great inspiration. I only bought this class a little over a week ago, and I can heartily recommend. She’s very clear and deals with the subject very, very well.She uses the imperial system, but it’s not a problem as in this class it’s not about taking your own measurements and converting that to a paper pattern. It works from a sloper/block pattern, which I have. (disclaimer, I’m not affiliated to Craftsy, this is just a great class if you’re interested in pattern drafting/changing patterns).

Browsing the internet as one does from time to time for inspiration, I found this top. Certainly dart manipulation, combined with pleats/doubled fabric and a ruffle. The ruffle is a bit much to me, I’m not a ruffle-person in general, but the variation is something I might try.

This top is from the Jil Sander collection spring 2015, price 690 euro. It’s not even made from silk.