Lo and behold: I'm actually making something I planned to make!
In this post, over a month ago, I told you of my long overdue plan to make a twist dress... and after that, I went on to do other things. Although I seem to do that quite a bit, I'm really happy to have returned to that dress-idea today.
Rather than messing about aimlessly, trying to combine the Burda twisttop and my knit sloper, I studied this post by Karin of Ancien Nouveau. It explains how to construct a twist, follow the instructions of the Japanese book 'Pattern Magic'. I changed quite a bit to get the result I wanted. Basically, in most examples, the twist part is on the bust area. I wanted it to sit between bust and waist, with the lower edge of the upper part curving from the armhole, under the bust to the twist and with the lower part ending well below the waist.
To test the drape, I made a quick muslin top. I used some jersey from my stash which has a print I don't like. That same print makes is rather difficult to make out any details, however, the border print is helping here.
You also may be able to spot the heads of the pins at the shoulder. I will pull up the front neckline quite a bit (you always expect a bit of that, whenever you cut into a sloper to make a V-neck), but after that I should have a plunging but narrow V-neck which doesn't gape any time I move.
Now, I will make the pattern pieces for the skirt. I think I will still want that front pleat, but I haven't decided about the back yet. Usually, I want front and back to be 'related'. For that reason, I planned to have a horizontal seam there, matching the lowest ends of the twist at the side seams. On the other hand, I might just as well leave the back plain and save myself the trouble of matching those seams up.
Any suggestions?
I will also wait untill the body of the dress is finished until I decide on the sleeve shape. It will have to be some kind of short sleeve but at this point there are several options for the exact shape. Plain, puff or with vertical gathers at the hem to name the front runners.
I'll get back to you soon and show the progress!
I like what's going on here. Can you post a picture of the pattern pieces for this?
ReplyDeleteso i'm sitting here sipping my tea, thinking, this is the first twist top i actually like; that wonderful pattern on the fabric must have something to do with it, it incorporates the flow of the twist so well....
ReplyDeleteerrrr... i really like your muslin :)
I really like the muslin too!! Looks very cool... With the skirt seam; it depends whether you are using plain solid colour fabric and want the seaming to be a detail that shows up, in which case I would go to the trouble of putting in a horizontal seam. If you are using patterned fabric, then maybe the seam wouldn't show up much anyway? Looking forward to seeing the finished items...
ReplyDeleteI love the twist under the bust like that. It would be much more flattering for any woman but particularly for bigger busted women. It's going to look gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI love your top... and the fabric too! If you want to get rid of it once you're done...email me :o) Silvia
ReplyDeleteIt looks so much better with the twist where you placed it! I also think it's a lot more figure flattering than the "normal" placement.
ReplyDeleteI tried to put the twist further down than in Drape Drape, but not as far as you did, I think you've suceeded in finding the right spot :-).
If I make a proper one myself I'll have to copy you!