Princess Line Dress

This was the final project for my third quarter patternmaking class. We were to find a princess line dress to "knock off" using a sheath dress sloper as a starting point. Once again, I enlisted my girlfriend to find dresses she'd like.

We settled on this dress by the Japanese company Mary Magdalene.

Front

Back

The basic shape of the dress was easy to pattern, but the sleeves proved to be quite a challenge. They are essentially raglan sleeves that are elasticized at the shoulder and hem. I drafted them as actual sleeves with an underarm seam, and this made it more difficult than if I had just made them like really wide straps with no underarm seam.

Another interesting part was the center back panel. I put a seam at the waist of this panel, and the top section is a double thickness, with channels stitched across to accommodate the elastic. The elastic pieces were cut to a specific size and tacked at either end.

Everything else was pretty straightforward, just lots of lace and trim. There is a small invisible zipper at the waist on the left side seam. The dress is made of 100% cotton sateen. It is not lined, due to time constraints on construction.

Alterations: Restyling Project

One of my most recent projects was a restyling project for my alterations class. We were assigned to make at least three alterations to an existed garment to give it a new look. I chose this blazer that my girlfriend has had in her closet for some time.

It didn't really fit her very well, particularly in the back and the bust. I took it in at the sides and added contour darts to the back to help with the fitting. For other styling changes, I shortened the sleeves to about elbow length and added black velvet cuffs, secured with silver buttons. I also added pocket flaps to the front patch pockets, secured with the same silver buttons. Black velvet ribbon trim was added to the collars and lapels, and I replaced the front buttons with the same silver ones I used on the cuffs and pockets.

Here are the results, with a few detail shots:

There is also a skirt that goes along with the jacket, and my girlfriend is trying to convince me to make it into a pair of shorts with the same velvet cuffs. We'll see...

8-Gore Skirt and Princess Line Blouse

One of the last projects in our first quarter patternmaking class was drafting a simple gored skirt. We took measurements of the person for whom we were making the skirt, and plugged them into a sort of formula to draft the pattern.

I made mine for my girlfriend out of a basic cotton print fabric. The skirt is fully lined with cotton sateen and has an invisible zipper in the side, closing at the waistband with two small buttons.

In our second quarter construction class, we made a princess line blouse from a pattern. We got to choose the size and fabric, but there was no patternmaking involved. We did, however, have to create a spec sheet, sequence of construction, and technical sketch. Again, I made it for my girlfriend. The grey panels are Kona cotton and the black panels are cotton sateen. The side seams are French seams.