Draping 101

Warning! Sewing jargon!

I just posted my eportfolio for Draping class, so now I'm going to share my draping tutorial with you.  Lucky you!

First of all, draping is not about making draperies or curtains.  Draping actually refers to taking fabric and hanging it onto a form—a dressform or a person—and shaping it into a piece of clothing. I've been of two minds about this class: It seems a little impractical to drape an entire article of clothing onto a real person—unless it's a really unusual style that would be difficult to pattern otherwise.  But I learned a lot about problem-solving and fitting, and gained more understanding of making patterns. The coolest part is that I've learned that I can visualize, create, pattern, fit, and sew an entire garment in one week—and do good work, too! Not bad, huh?

I'm going to show you just how I made my . . . almost . . . final project:

First I have to prepare the fabric: I tear four pieces of muslin to the sizes I'll need to create each panel of the dress; I press them, and I make sure they're straight and square. I fold and press one inch over, down the lengthwise grain of both the center-front and center-back pieces (because that is the rules), then I'm ready to begin draping.

a beginning

Normally I'd line up the folded edge of the fabric with the center-front of the dressform, but since the piece I'm showing you is double-breasted I drew a line down the middle of the center-front fabric piece (on grain) and aligned that with the center of the form instead; the folded edge of the fabric is smoothed over to the left side princess line. (Draping is done on the right side of the form—her right, not yours.)

side view, after the drape is all finished

I smooth the fabric into place and pin it to the dressform.  (See? Impractical. I don't know what woman would stand still for two hours and let me stick pins into her "girls" —or shoulders, or anywhere else! ;-)) When the front piece looks right, I mark the seam line (princess seam) with a red pencil, then cut off the excess fabric, leaving about one-inch of extra material on the right side of the princess line.

I pin a fisheye dart between the front body of the piece and the collar, because the textbook tells me this is how you make a shawl collar.   When I'm satisfied with the front, I move it out of the way and proceed to pin and mark the side-front piece, then the center-back piece, and the side-back piece.  I draw the back neckline, mark the waistline, and make notch marks where I want the pattern pieces to meet up.

After I've draped and marked each piece, I remove all of them from the form and true up the lines.  I pin the pieces together matching up the notches and seamlines that I penciled in, then I hang it on the dressform again, pinning it to her center-front and center-back so it will stay in place. Once the drape is situated on the form, I make sure all the lines and notches are really where they should be; if I see anything that needs changing I re-mark it with a blue pencil.   The last thing I did with this drape was to pin the back-collar in place and trim the entire collar to the shape I wanted.

That took two hours, and at this point I'm about one-third finished with this project. Worky, huh?

pattern tools

Now I take my drape home, hold my breath and take out all the pins, then press it. I lay the fabric pieces onto the pattern paper and then roll over all my red/blue lines and notches with my needle-point tracing wheel. (A needle-point tracing wheel would make a dangerous weapon.  Seriously, I hurt myself on it every time I open my sewing box!)

The wheel leaves pin-prick marks in the paper that I can trace over with a pencil. After I've drawn the pattern pieces I make sure the pieces match up with each other, the notches are in the right places, and there's no weird dips or bumps in any of the lines.

I knew this would be a problem when I drew my pattern, but the muslin showed me exactly how to fix it.

Once the pattern is trued, I cut it out of muslin and sew it up.  Then I go back to school, put the muslin dress onto the dressform and check for any adjustments that might need to be made.  In this case, the whole dress looks good except for the collar: it has a weird little dip right in the center back where it attaches to the dress. The front collar didn't hang right either, but opening up the fisheye dart corrected that problem beautifully.

So now it's back to the drawing-board, literally.  I make the needed changes on the pattern pieces and then, taking a leap of faith in myself, I decide to cut it from fashion fabric rather than make another muslin.  (Usually I turn in a finished, perfected muslin dress, but I'll get extra credit for using nice fabric.) I have a cute, blue Hawaiian print that I think will be perfect for this dress; Michael helps me choose the buttons.

I cut it out, sew it up, and here is the finished product (which fit perfectly, by the way):

side



back

front

Cute, huh? And now you know how to make this dress yourself!

But the question is, who do I know who can/will wear a size six, open-necked, mini-dress?

Kidnapped!





This morning at 3:17 a.m. my Jason was abducted, right from his bedroom.  I haven't seen him since he went to bed last night—around 10:45 p.m.  It will not be on the news because the police have not been notified. I have not called the police because I aided and abetted in the crime; in fact, I paid the kidnappers to take him.

Last night I left the front porch light on, turned on the piano lamp in the living room, and stuck this note to the outside of the front door:


"Attn: Kidnappers,
Go down the stairs. Turn right and go through the door. Walk straight through the laundry room. Jason is sleeping on the other side of the door. The $ is on the front door."

I should have said "on the inside of the front door."  But they got it.

Given the excitement to come, I'm surprised that I fell asleep at all last night, but I did—and quickly!  I awoke around 3:00 a.m., probably to the sound of a very light knock on the front door (although I didn't realize that at the time—Bruce told me about the knocking later). I heard Jason's abductors go into his room and talk to him.  They gave him time to put on some clothes and use the bathroom.  Then they went out the front door and I fell asleep again, knowing all was right with the world.

Yes, Jason is gone.  He is being initiated into the Hunter High School Madrigals! :-) 

Traditionally the seasoned Mads "kidnap" the newbies and take them all out to IHOP for an early breakfast (hence the $ left on the door), and a "getting to know you" party.  They teach the inductees some songs, then they (the new guys) have to wear signs all day long at school that read, "I'm a Madrigal.  Ask me to sing for you."  The new Madrigals must sing if they are asked.  I got a phone call last week—unbeknownst to Jason (who never knew whether he'd even passed the audition)—and made arrangements for him to be taken away this morning. 

So hooray for Jason!! 

But if I don't see him after some time after school is out today . . . then I'll think about calling the police!

Drumroll, Please . . .

It's time! The time you've been eagerly anticipating! Time to announce the winners of Loralee's Fancy Poetry Contest 2012!  Yaaaayyy!

This year we were improving the lives of the Old Woman in the Shoe, and her family. There were lots of entries in the Children's Division.  Lots! I got quite a few from some of you grown-ups (older than 12's) too. The old woman had quite an array of homes as well—from a penny, to a peach, to a car, to a tree. But before I show you the vast array of women in their small abodes, here are my token rhymes:

My answer to the first challenge (change only the last two lines) :

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe;

She had so many children she didn't know what to do.
She gave them some soup with fresh, home-made bread,
Then she kissed them all soundly and sent them to bed.

And my answer to the second challenge (change the entire poem) :

There once was a woman so loving and kind,

She had lots of children, but she didn't mind.

She sent them to play after they'd all been fed,
Then she winked at her husband and took him to bed.

Why does she have to be an old woman?  But, I admit, my second one doesn't really meet the challenge because we don't know what kind of small domicile she lives in.  And it just barely fits into the "OK for little readers" category, too. 

Now that we are through with the preliminaries, let's get on to the real entries!

Rachel was very prolific and entered seven poems! 

Rachel 1:

There was an old lady who lived in a shoe.
She had lots of children who lived in there too.
She sure wasn't as mean as a big, old viking
Because every Tuesday she took them all biking.

Hahaha! Maybe he should be a big, hairy viking, or maybe a hairy old viking —for meter—but this one made me laugh.

Rachel 2:

There was an old lady who lived in a shoe
Who loved all her children and they loved her too.
She gave them some broth and 3 loaves of bread
And gave each a kiss and tucked them in bed.

Very good!  Tucking them in bed is even nicer than sending them to bed. :-)

Rachel 3:

There was an old lady who lived in a house,
Who loved all her children and so did her spouse.
She loved them all, so she gave each a pear
And then took them all to Temple Square.

Nice.  I might have said ". . . to go see Temple Square." —just for the meter. But it's pretty good.

Rachel 4:

There was an old lady who lived in a house,
And all of her children kept out every mouse.
So she gave each child a small piece of candy,
And all of their lives were quite fine and dandy.

This must have been a family of cats. :-)

Rachel 5:

There was an old lady who lived in a car.
She gave all her children a small, little jar.
Inside of each jar was a small little pet.
Each child was so happy they never did fret.

Again, just for meter, I might have said, "She gave each of her children . . ."  Apparently pets equate to happiness . . . at least for children. :-)

Rachel 6:

There was an old lady who lived in a tree;
She had lots of children—even one that was three.
They found different leaves in the spring and the fall,
And every last child was having a ball.

And Rachel 7:

There was a young teacher who lived in a school.
She taught all her children who sat on a stool.
She taught them all math and gave them all candy,
And all of their lives were quite fun and dandy.

Woo-hoo!  Let's hear it for Rachel!  Good job!

Kaylie entered three poems:

Kaylie 1:

There was an old lady who lived on a penny
She had a small son whos name was Benny
Whenever he cried she rushed to his side
She called him a sweet boy
Then she gave him a toy.

Uh-oh!  A very small house, but not quite enough children. ;-)

Kaylie 2:

There was a young lady who was a vet
She gave her children any pet.
They asked,"May we have a rabbit?"
"Don't give it a bad habit."
"What about a bird?"
She thought,"Well, that's not absurd."
It was when they asked for a snake
That she began to shake.

Oooooh! I might shake, too!  It's a silly poem, but doesn't fit the original meter.

Kaylie 3:

There was a young woman who lived in a peach.
She gave her children $100 each.
She told them to spend it on bikes and candy
And their lives were all fine and dandy.

There we go!  Apparently candy makes life good too. :-)

Kaylie 4:

There was an old lady who lived in a shoe
She loved her grandchildren, and they loved her, too.
On Tuesday morning, they all went biking;
On Saturday morning, they all went hiking.

Yeah, I guess if she's an old lady, maybe she'd be the children's grandma and not their mother. And this grandma must be in really good shape!

Kaylie 5:

There was a young lady who lived in a school house.
It had a pool complete with a pool house.
She had a girl whose name was Limming,
And every day they both went swimming.

Very creative, Kaylie!

And Ryan entered four poems:

Ryan 1:

There was an old women who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children she didn't know what to do.
She gave them a cow (except for the head).
Then she hugged them all nicely and sent them to bed. ;)

Ummm, I don't know if giving your children a headless cow would make them very happy. Silly guy!

Ryan 2:

There was a young women who lived in a pipe.
She sent all her children to look for a snipe.
They all came right back with faces quite sad.
She kissed them all sweetly and told them "Be Glad!"

OK then. :-)

Ryan 3:

There was a small woman who lived in a tree.
She had a few children all counting to three.
She gave them some soup and a loaf of bread each.
and they all went right out and played on the beach.

Well these children are well-fed and happy!  But why were they counting to three, I wonder?

Ryan 4:

There was an old woman who lived in the butter,
She had many children who made her heart flutter.
She gave them some toast and some raspberry jam,
Then she kissed them all dearly and gave them a ham.

Wow!  Now that family is really well-fed!  And if they run out of other stuff they can always eat the butter. ;-)  Good job, Ryan!

And that's it for the Children's Division.  Give the kids a big hand!

Now on to the Everyone Else Division:
Stephanie was the first to enter her poems, and she entered no less than five!

Stephanie 1:

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.
She gave them some broth with all of her bread,
Then she tucked them in soundly when they were in bed.

Stephanie 2:

There was an old woman who lived in a box.
She had lots of children, and one was a fox!
She loved them all dearly, or so it was told,
So she kept having children, although she was old.

I love the last line, but is the one child a fox, like "she's so foxy"? (Is "foxy" getting archaic now?) Or was that child really a fox? I do love that last line!

Stephanie 3:

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.
She gave each one a purse with a bag full of money,
Then she told them all proudly, 'now you can buy honey!'

Money, candy, pets, honey . . .

Stephanie 4:

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.
She said it was time to go on vacation,
So they went to the beach without a Play-Station.

Yaaaaayyy! Hooray for no Play-Station!

Stephanie 5:

There was a young lady who lived in a house.
She had eight great children and one loving spouse.
Today was her birthday and so they did say,
"Happy Birthday to you! Let's eat cake and go play!"

Hahaha! Thanks, Stephanie. :-)

I got one poem each from the Ben and Tami Bailey family.  Well, not their kids, just Ben and Tami.

Ben:

There was an old woman who lived in a stump
With kids so abundant her house was a dump.
But she read them fun stories and snuggled in bed;
Their family grew stronger—or so it was said.

Yeah, an abundance of kids can make a house a dump.  But they were happy anyway—I think . . .

Tami:

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe;
She had so many children she didn't know what to do.
So she packed up their bags to go away
Where they frolicked and played and had a great day.

Running away for a day is always nice.  :-)

And Jason entered two poems:

Jason 1:

There was an old woman who lived in a fiddle.
She had many children, and gave each a riddle.
To get them all going she offered a prize;
A red rubber squid, with ninety-nine eyes.

Wow—what an awesome prize! Maybe I should keep my eyes open for something like that for next year's contest.

Jason 2:

There was an old woman who lived in a knoll.
She had more children than even a mole.
When they were young, she taught them a game,
And now they are old, and play it the same.

Good for them!  For the meter, I'd say, "and they play it the same."  :-)

And last of all, one entry from Becky:

There was an old woman who lived in a jug.
She had so many children, she couldn’t feel snug.
She informed her spouse a new home was past due,
So they packed up their bags and moved into a shoe.

Heeheehee! That's a clever twist.

There you have them: all of the entries for the 2012 Loralee's Fancy Poetry Contest!  Yaaaayyy!  Honorable mention goes to Kaylie for the woman who lives in a peach, and to Ryan for the woman who lives in butter. Honorable mention to Stephanie for vacationing without the Play-Station and for the old woman who kept having children; and honorable mention to Ben, because that one just appealed to me (maybe it's because the family can be happy in spite of living in a dumpy stump).

And now for the moment you've been waiting for . . .
The winners of this year's Poetry Contest are . . .
In the Children's Division . . .

Rachel, for the woman who wasn't as mean as a viking! (Wild applause here.)

There was an old lady who lived in a shoe.
She had lots of children who lived in there too.
She sure wasn't as mean as a big, old viking
Because every Tuesday she took them all biking.

This one made me laugh.

And in the Everyone Else Division . . .

Becky, for her clever twist on the family's living arrangements!  (More wild applause here.)

There was an old woman who lived in a jug.
She had so many children, she couldn’t feel snug.
She informed her spouse a new home was past due,
So they packed up their bags and moved into a shoe.

This one really made me laugh.

Rachel and Becky will each be the recipients of  a Loralee's Fancy Poetry Contest certificate and some yummy treats.  And you can look for their winning poems in the sidebar of my blog.

Thanks for playing everyone!  'Til next year . . .

Extension

Good news for all you poets!  I happen to know that Kaylie wrote some poems for the contest, but she hasn't posted them yet.  So I'm extending the deadline to 7 p.m. this evening for y'all to enter more rhymes.

Judging will be done tonight! :-)

My Very Cute, Waste of a Project.

I just have to show off my latest draping project because I think it turned out so cute. And it was a lot of work, for something that will never be used.

In Draping class we are assigned something to build each week—a bodice, a skirt, a collar, etc.—and then we take pieces of fabric and drape them over our dressforms to make that item.  First we tear fabric to the appropriate size and drape it over the dressforms (hence the name draping.) When the fabric is in place, we pin in darts, and mark it all up with a pencil so we'll remember just what we did.  Then we take it off of the dressform, take it home and transfer the markings to paper to create a pattern.  When the pattern is perfected, we cut it out of new fabric, sew it up, and go try it on the dressform again.  Then we make any necessary alterations, transfer those changes to the pattern, and if necessary cut it out and sew it up again.  We use up a lot of muslin this way. 

Now, since my dressform is a size eight (which translates to size 6 in real people, I'm told), I will certainly never wear any of these creations, and I don't know anyone else who will either.  And, truthfully, I don't like most of them that much.  But this last week we got to do a "free drape" —anything we wanted to do, and I think mine turned out really cute.  If I had a cute figure I'd make this pattern in my size, add some sleeves, and wear a dress like this.  If this one that I made would fit Lindsey I'd give it to her. (I'd probably dye it though.)  As it is, all I can do with this dress is show it off on my blog and on my school eportfolio. >sigh<

So here it is:

back

front

It took me forever to make the pleats (both when drawing the patterns and when pressing them into the fabric). But it's cute, huh?


p.s. Only four days left for the poetry contest!