Tuesday 12 July 2016

Draping - Diana statue part 1

This is the first proper 'exercise' in the draping course and one I've really struggled to get my teeth into. The simple fact is I'm not a fan of the garment, I couldn't imagine myself wearing it (even as fancy dress) and as such I've found my drive to be lacking. I almost skipped the chapter, but I don't want to miss out on the skills this early on so I bucked up my ideas and got stuck in.

This is the statue that is being draped:






See what I mean? Lovely statue, lovely dress, really good information about the dress and dresses from this period of history in the book, completely not the sort of thing that inspires or drives me. But still, here's the book's draped version:


I mean, seriously, this woman's a genius - it maps so well. The only real difference is fabric vs stone. Maybe one day I'll be able to do this out of my head!

Here's my version (excusing the fact I'm working in the baby's room as he's still in ours):





I had some difficulties with this. Firstly my new mannequin doesn't match up to the measurements used for the blocks in the book so I had to work out how to adjust the measurements. I haven't quite got it right as my shoulder seams don't meet, but I can learn from that. Secondly, I feel like I've created a scrunchy ball of fabric where the exercise shows a sleek gown. Close up it does have the right kind of shape, but I just can't get the drapey bits to sit right, no matter how hard I try. Hopefully I'll get there with that, and when we move on to more tailored-looking, sleek items (which is my style).

There were also two massive improvements from the last exercise: firstly I blocked the fabric better and was better able to map the grain lines of the fabric. Secondly let me introduce you to my cheap amazon mannequin - she needs a name still, but I'm really impressed with what you can get for just £25. Working with a full mannequin rather than the gaps on the adjustoform really made a difference. What do you think she should be called?


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