Introduction to Fashion Draping: Create Custom Womenswear

Introduction to Fashion Draping: Create Custom Womenswear

“We have reached the end of the course, and now you are ready to start your project. Before saying goodbye, let me give you some advice and sum up the steps I recommend you follow to complete the project. First, I would advise you to start the process without an idea in mind. Don’t think of designers you love and copy their work: this will just lead to a fairly mundane outcome. The best results are achieved when you just clear your mind and let the fabric and body (in this case, a mannequin) lead you and direct your design. The more comfortable you become with this technique, the more complex your drapings will become, and you will be able to create truly amazing, one-off pieces. Remember this tip: step away from your work! When we are so up close and personal with a mannequin or client, details can sometimes seem much bigger than they are. The best thing you can do is place your idea, step away, evaluate, try and view your creation from different angles and perspectives to make sure it is progressing how you want it to. I also recommend you to familiarise yourself with all the materials out there and which ones could be best suited to your technique and design idea by using your final fabric on the half scale mannequin. This will save you lots of fabric waste whilst demonstrating the abilities and properties of your chosen material. Calico and silk, for example, behave very differently, and if you wanted to make a slinky garment, calico just wouldn't give you the right results when draping. You can even buy half metre fabric samples to save on cost, but get the experience with the fabric. Once you have all the necessary materials organised, you are ready to start draping onto your mannequin. You can start with the front or the back to add the main design features. Remember to steam your fabric first and have enough material to cover the area you are working on.

If you are happy with your design, once your drape is completed, you can start the annotation process. Make sure you mark every point you need and every detail. Remember that this is for you to understand, nobody else! You can write instructions all over the muslin if that helps. Mark your seam lines, notches and darts if you have them, along with necklines and fastening areas. Then you can create patterns out of your draping. Remove all of your pins that secure the drape to the stand, but if you have pleats, keep them secured with pins. You can now cut the border of your draping on the table with your design details intact, so when you remove the pins, it will have created the pattern outline for you! Now that you have your pattern outline in calico, you can continue to deconstruct the draping on the table and cut any seam lines you have marked on until you have separate pattern pieces. You will then need to place these onto your pattern cutting paper and trace around them. Remember: you can place your calico patterns underneath or on top of the paper and trace them - whichever system works best for you. Add the appropriate seam allowance, usually 1cm, to all your patterns, so when you cut the paper and place it on the fabric, you have enough excess to sew the piece back together. The more accurate you are, the better your final piece will look and be to sew. Once you are ready to cut your patterns on your final fabric, there are a few things you need to check. Have you steamed your fabric? Can you align your patterns with the correct grain line? Have you marked all of your notches on your patterns? Do you have your pins ready? If you say yes to these questions, you are ready to cut out your garment! Make sure you have used enough pins to secure your paper pattern, but not too many that it causes your fabric to ripple or fold. I remind you that we always pin in the seam allowance as it will be hidden, this will avoid leaving holes or pulls in the main body of your fabric. It’s time to jump on your sewing machine! Make sure you are sewing corresponding patterns together inside out so when you turn them the right way, your seam allowance is hidden internally. Don't forget to steam iron every seam after you have sewn it, it always makes for a better outcome as your seams are flat, and seam allowance is neat. I’m really looking forward to seeing what you create on this course and wish you the best of luck with your draping projects! Upload photos of your creative process and the final result of your work in the forum. Remember, you are all here to learn, so if you can help fellow participants with their questions and queries, you will reach your final outcome quicker. The more feedback you have on a project, the better! I will also be dropping in to the forum to assist you with any problems you are having, but please be patient with me as I do also have a company to run. And if you want to make this even more fun, create a totally different design. You can just use the skills you have learnt to create something even better, maybe a dress or a skirt if you’re up for the challenge! ”

Partial transcription of the video

“Final Project Congratulations on reaching the end of this introduction to draping course. You've achieved so much and done so well. It's great that you took this journey with me and learned about what I love to do. We began the course by looking at the material and tools you'd need as well as investigating different types of fabrics that you could use so that you chose the right one. Remember to iron and steam your fabric of choice before you start draping. We looked at the correct positioning of your drape to work with your design. Remember to manipulate your fabric around the form so that...”

This transcript is automatically generated, so it may contain mistakes.

Course summary for: Introduction to Fashion Draping: Create Custom Womenswear

• Level: Beginner
• 95% positive reviews (167)
• 10825 students
• 4 units
• 13 lessons (2h 35m)
• 3 downloads

• Category

  Craft, Fashion

• Areas

  Fashion Design, Patternmaking & Dressmaking, Sewing