Tutorial Tailoring: 5 mistakes in the moulage technique and how to avoid them

Learn which are the five most common beginner mistakes in this technique, with Isabel Sanchez.

The moulage technique allows you to create the design of your garment in a three-dimensional way, working the fabric directly on the mannequin, in a simple way and with excellent results. However, getting started in this type of tailoring can seem complicated if we do not know some important aspects, which would lead us to fall into certain mistakes.

The designer Isabel Sánchez (@isabelsanchezh), who has collaborated with big names in Spanish fashion such as Devota & Lomba, Jesús del Pozo or Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, is an expert in this art and will teach you in this tutorial the most common mistakes and how to solve them. Don't miss it!

5 common mistakes in moulage and how to solve them

Mistake 1: making the toile in a different fabric

The toile is the test fabric with which we will make our garment. And although it does not have to be of the final fabric since we will work with it and we will have to make a multitude of garments, it is necessary that it be of a fabric very similar to the one we want to use to create our garment. The reason? Each fabric falls differently and even if we make the same shape in the toile, the final result may differ too much. Therefore, use a fabric with a similar drape, texture and weight to the final one.

Error 2: being afraid to cut

There is no chance of advancing in our dummy if we don't cut. The fear of cutting is a common fear in people who start in moulage and that can be counterproductive. Don't be afraid to do it, as you can always refine it later or use another piece of fabric. Don't forget that the toile is just the beginning, then you have to transfer the design to the final fabric, so try it and cut without fear!

Mistake 3: Forgetting to mark the lengths

It may happen that you try to remove the toilefrom the mannequin without marking the lengths, reference points, waist and center front. This is a very common mistake among beginners and should be avoided because otherwise it will be impossible to materialize our garment.

Mistake 4: be careful with the leftover fabric!

Another mistake often made by those who get into the moulage is to build the piece and go piling up fabric behind. Isabel Sanchez advises us to build the garment from the front but without losing sight of the fact that we have to work out the garment from behind.

Mistake 5: constructing the garment outside the mannequin

Finally, it is important that if we are looking for a design with many folds and pleats, we note with certain lines and letters the crossing points between the two folds. This way, when we remove the garment from the mannequin, we will be able to reconstruct those volumes without getting lost.

Did you like this tutorial? If you want to learn with Isabel Sánchez how to create garments directly on the mannequin and how to transfer the fabric to a pattern for later replicas, don't miss her online course 'Introduction to moulage: modeling on mannequin'.

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