Garment Construction - Week 3

When transferring the style lines on to my dress block, I drew the back neckline so that it was in line with the Raglan sleeve seam. I ensured the seams were symmetrical. To make the pattern I traced off the shoulder panels, arranging them over the block sleeve, which gave me the Raglan shape.

I drew and opened a curved bust dart so that I did not lose any shaping from the bodice. Then I gathered up the central panels. After stitching the left hand side of the flare to the skirt, I realised that the stitching would have to stop part of the way down in order to fall properly. This left an opening in the skirt, looking appropriate at the front, but not at the back – so I added a straight central section.

To hem the skirt I used a turn and turn technique that was difficult to do around the curve of the flared panels, but gave an effective frame to the drape.

Garment Construction - Week 2

 Originally, I slashed into this central panel to gather up one edge, all the way from the shoulder down to the skirt. Upon pinning it to the mannequin, I realised that any gathering around the stomach area would look unsightly. However, I loved the drape in the skirt due to the flare that I had added.

I re-traced the panel, adding notches and slashed into it from the opposite edge, allowing the drape to fall on the other side of the skirt, following the curved style lines. I felt that there were not enough gathers in the diagonal panel, so I cut up and extended the pattern. I only added a subtle flare to the back central panel, but extended the gathered panel over the shoulder so that it became part of the neckline at the front.