[Module 7] Draping | 6. Draping advancement - Volume Control Approach- Part 2 Folds and Twists

Folded Base Top

Here is what I mean by a folded Base Top.

It is basically a V Neck wrap top that is sealed up in the Base by the fabric as it is folded in the Base and returns back upon itself to cover both sides of the dress form.

In this version created below there will be a yoke from the Shoulder Seam and ending at the Cross Chest Guideline and the main body of the top is gathered on each side at this Style Line. The top will be longer than the illustration above. The gathers create draping that flows down and is nipped into the Side Seams mostly around the Base with soft pleats and would look lovely in a very flowing fabric such as a chiffon. Obviously this would need to be made in a fabric that looks and feels very similar on both anterior and posterior, unless you were going for an asymmetrical look.

Only the Front draping will be reviewed in this demonstration as draping backs and transferring to patterns have been covered in previous units.

Although it’s not going to be easy to see tape through the layers of this fabric I have taped the Body Form to indicate where the front lines are going to travel across the body.

For this example I used a very cheap light to mid-weight knit fabric and because it was darked I used tailors chalk to mark it. It was a wide fabric so the Cross Grainline was used, but for no other reason than to reduce fabric waste for this demonstration. The length used was 40”.

As with all draping there are multiple ways to get the result you would like, the obvious things are choosing fabric and Grainlines but one other thing to consider is where to start. You don’t always need to start from the top and drape downwards.

I have draped this top a number of times and I find that I prefer it to have a flattish base without it twisting too much which does help to get the diagonal neckline more symmetrical. So starting with the fold is a discernible place to begin.

To start with the fabric is folded lengthways selvedge to selvedge and the Cross Grainline is marked on the uppermost fabric. Each end of the Grainline is pinned with the pin at the Folded side going through both layers and at the open end just pin the Grainline position on the lower layer of fabric, then you can lift up the top layer and draw a line joining the two pins to mark the Grainline on the lower layer.

The fabric is folded again selvage to selvage keeping the Grainlines matched on both layers.

The fabric is then double pinned in with the fold at the Base at Centre Front of the Garment to really secure it down and then pinned temporarily at the Neckline Centre Front. So we are starting from the Base setting this point and draping upwards.