Friday 10 July 2015

Tutorial - How to Sew a TSC Draped Wrap Skirt

I have a fantastic pattern for you today!

(Note: there is a slight revision to the pattern shown in this post as well as a walkthrough, which is in this post here. However if you want information about the slash and spread technique carry on reading!)


I've put my bralette top aside for the moment as I am waiting on bra underwires in the mail.

In this post I was intending to show you how to do the 'slash and spread' technique often used when adding fullness to a garment, but I got a little carried away and I ended up drafting a pattern. The resulting skirt was pretty simple so I thought I'd share my maths with you!


I've seen variants of the below photo all over the web (the original source is unknown to me) and think this is a brilliant illustration of the slash and spread method. The four images on the left are drawn as if they have been draped on a stand, and then the designer has transferred the fullness to a pattern via the slashing and spreading of the pattern pieces. 

It involves measuring whilst the fabric is on the stand. These are then noted down and are helpful when working on paper. The measurements taken off of the stand vary garment to garment, for example in the bottom skirt they have kept the hem measurement the same and added the fullness to the waist, whereas in the top skirt they haven't changed the waist measurement at all, and the fullness has been added around the hip area. Both skirts use the same technique, but in different places. 


Anyway, a week or so ago I came across this beautiful cotton blend piled in one of the stalls of the Nichols Building near Shalesmoor tram stop, Sheffield (go there, there is so much fabric up for grabs!) It has a wonderful drape but it was the properties that made me think it would be easy to sew.


I managed to drape it with a bobby pin and a badge from Warhammer World (don't ask, my boyfriend is a nerd) and was pretty happy with it. I took photos for later as I was away from my machine at the time of draping.




And so this leads me to today! I've spent this afternoon trying to draft the pattern for the skirt. With a few adjustments made, I think I'm pretty happy with it. I've taken a few inches off the hem and made some edits to help the fullness underneath the wrap fit better. Let's hope it works! 

I'm going to give you the instructions this week, then follow them myself for my next post. This way I can see it from both angles and hopefully improve both my drafting and my instruction writing skills.

Here's the pattern, you need to do some maths first but it's a really easy sew. It's made from a large rectangle of fabric with two curves cut out.


I gave the width of the fabric the letter 'D' as I presumed 'W' would be more commonly associated with the waist measurement. 

To calculate 'D' you might need a scientific calculator, or a maths friend. I tried to simplify it as much as I could, but I've been out of maths practise for over a year now. Kids, this is what doing an art course does to you. 

The D/4 curve on the bottom left corner extended on my skirt to equal W/4 along the bottom, but I am sure that this could vary with many situations. The type of fabric used and fabric thickness would influence it, as well as how you are going to gather the fullness in on the left (see instructions below) with small pleats for example I think I would have gotten away with not trimming any off at all. However when I draped it last week I did mine with gathering and so I made the decision to cut some off.


Tada, handwritten instructions! I am fully aware I made a typo of 'binding' in the first instruction as it looks as if it says 'binging'...which it did up until the moment of taking the photograph of it.

The extra strips depends on how much you have left of your original fabric. I have enough left for mine to bind it and to make the waistband in the same fabric, but I know that many sewers buy coordinating fabric and this would work brilliantly here. You could have the bias and band in a similar colour, or a contrasting one, if you're feeling brave. Obviously if your skirt is made from jersey you can get away with not binding it at all! Lucky you.

As to whether to bind the skirt or to hem the skirt really depends on your fabric. 

And that's it, pretty simple. 


As for the buttonhole placement, you don't have to have one if you hate buttonholes. I just personally prefer having one there as it stops it riding up and I think the wrap skirts have a more defined waist with one as then all the straps and tension are on one place on the body. 

Any questions, drop me a line. I'll be giving this baby a go and I'll have pictures to prove it when you check in next week! 

Happy stitching,

Toni

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