Last post on Project Jennifer, we saw the design for the wedding jacket Elena liked. This post, you’ll get a look at how she figures out how to take a drawing and make something real out of it!

Thank you, Heidi.

Well, with the drawing intriguing my client, I asked myself how I was going to make the darn thing. I pulled out my handy-dandy muslin and started pondering. Muslin, in case you didn’t know, is a woven, unbleached cotton that’s really cheap and thus used for the purpose of figuring out patterns and fit problems just like this. Being raised by my father (who greatly resembled Ebenezer Scrooge on the thrift end of things), I wouldn’t want to waste yards of even this cheap cloth on experimenting when I haven’t a clue what I’m doing. Luckily, I’d bought Donna a miniature mannequin for her to drape fabric scraps on. The body’s about a foot high, so I decided to use that as my model.

There are two methods in making a garment — one is making a pattern through measurements and calculations, the other is to “drape” the garment onto a dress form or model and then make the pattern or cut directly out of the final fabric. Since the dress form’s measurements are cock-eyed in this case, I decided to drape.

  I used the red tape to mark where the major lines of the outfit are, then put the muslin up against it and start cutting. Here, I decided to make the front side pieces one piece each with a dart instead of panels like the original, because the curvier the bust, the less good it looks with seams running through it, generally. Each piece is laid out, cut, and then pinned into place.

I then mark where I need to put darts, gathers, etc., or any changes I want to make to the shape of it.

 

 The next step is to cut out the pieces with seam and dart allowances, then sew it all together and see how it works.

  

Until you have a full sample. Then you make little alterations to try to better the fit. Since this mannequin has really weird hips (I’ve never met a person who was as lopsided as this thing, thank goodness), it still didn’t come out perfect. I also had a little trouble with the back collar, but amazingly enough I remembered how to do it correctly that night in my dream!

So here’s what I took in and showed Elena. She loved it! But… well, there’s a twist, but we’ll save that for next time….

Tune in next time for another episode of Project Jennifer.