Draping and Drafting

This week I started making my senior collection, stating with the draping and drafting of a pleated navy blue skirt. My goal of this skirt was to have it be full and flouncy, the ideal garment for any formal function. In order to obtain this look and feel I draped my gingham using a flared skirt method and added pleats every inch and a half. After I made the pattern I drafted it onto muslim using fresh red wax drafting paper which made this process go extremely fast. The day after I sewed up my muslim I had a fitting with my model and to my surprise it fit her perfectly, I truly could not have been more thrilled. When I was fitting her I decided to shorten it by 2 inches making the skirt 16 inches long going right past her knees. After realizing the waist size fit my model I began figuring out pleat lengths. I initially decided to make them 2.5 inches but after sewing it up I realized my skirt would lack the fullness I desired. After that I started experimenting with pleats 4, 6, and 8 inches long, by doing this I was able to find 8 inch pleats were the best fit. After creating the pleats I began figuring out the skirt’s pocket size. The pocket I initially made was too snug on my hand, so I had to increase the width making it more functionable. After creating a flattering muslin I drafted the pattern onto my fashion fabric using white wax paper and light weight paper underneath. I put lightweight paper underneath my fashion fabric so it would have an exact seam allowance. One aspect of my garment that was missing at this point was the lining since I couldn’t use the same pleated pattern. In order to solve this problem I began draping a flared skirt with darts so both the lining and exterior would be of similar widths.

In the next week I will be finishing up my garment and having another fitting. Can’t wait to see and post my final product!

I forgot to post some aspects about my target market and my design story line. My target clients are women between the age of 27 and 45 who have an affluent busy lifestyle. The story behind my collection is a lady in south California throws an annual holiday party, which is the highlight of the season. Her friends come from all over, even Europe, to attend her soirée and show off their elegant fashions.