Like a Red Thread

The saying “like a red thread”, is sometimes used as a metaphor to describe the logical continuation and relationship between a sequence of events, and so the project that I undertook over the last couple of days fittingly is of a red dress.

I found a picture of an Alannah Hill dress ages ago and pasted it into my scrapbook, this red dress with a blue neck tie and sash became my inspiration. I sketched a similar looking dress with a dropped waist line seam. A flared bias cut sleeve and a v-neck with a bias cut neck tie. The result is a soft feminine retro style dress, reminds me of the movie The Notebook.

Sketchbook & Drawing

I started with flat pattern making, drafting a dress block for a size 10 and plotting the design lines. Then it was about tracing the pieces and slashing and spreading for the flare in the skirts and sleeve. I kept the neck tie simple and decided it was easier to take the neck measurements and construct it from a elongated rectangle. 

Paper Pattern - Proving the Waist Dart

Luckily I had a lovely red floral crepe to toile it up in. I’m always fascinated at how the pattern may be perfect to the millimetre but the fabric has a mind of its own and unless necklines are stay stitched and sleeved eased in at the right places a seam can grow quite unexpectedly. It’s a good idea not to wind your bobbin thread at a high speed either as this can cause the thread to tighten. And where do you think it relaxes? Yes, right in the middle of your seam, which no amount of iron will remove the puckering! So back to unpicking!

Layout, Pin, Cut - Traditional Dressmaking

 I also learnt to make sure the side seams on the bodice meet at 90 degrees or else they make a V shape when sewn together. Also, I found out to test the length of my finished sleeve length in relation to the underarm, armhole and sleeve seam, from a design perspective it would have been better just a 5mm longer  where the sleeve hem flares.

Before the Sleeve is Fitted in

Sleeve in...

Zip in!

The Grafis Moment

With red thread clinging to the carpet, I went onto digitize this pattern using Grafis. I used Bodice Block 10 and moved the shoulder dart into the side seam. Tolerances and ease  where put into the bust, across back, waist and hip area. I also moved the shoulder seam forward by 10mm. It also needed to be lengthened and the skirt side seam flared.

Basic Block and Development

After inserting a new part, I continued to work on the development piece, using curves to draw in the front neck line. Also I dropped the waistline on the front and back. I then traced off the Bodice pieces and moved the back shoulder dart into the neck line, I also shortened it so that it would not be seen from under the neck tie on the back. I found that I was more aware of measurements and how the pieces where relating to each other, I double check often and kept a notepad for referencing back to. I used the dart hood 10 tool in dart menu and parallel to create seam allowances.

Front Bodice & Back Bodice with Facing

To create the soft flare in the front and back skirt, I closed out the remainder of the dart into the hem, with the function transformations – turn from point to point. In order to add a little more flare I spread with line, in the spread menu. I found a discrepancy in the final hem length when I had finished linking the hem and instead of fixing it by going back to the Block I mistakenly used the curve tool to redraw a new hem line, this I believe would be suitable if I was doing a one-off pattern, but in order to use this pattern with a hem line of variable length I would wisely have used the X value, (which I was shown in last evenings lecture and was very excited about). More about  the construction parameter X value in the coming weeks.

Front & Back Skirt Pieces

The sleeve admittedly needs more refining of the curve on the sleeve head as it looks a little bumpy after being spread. I would need to go back to the curve tool to smooth out the sleeve head, but for this exercise I will push my perfectionism aside, as there are other patterns I want to have a crack at!

Sleeve 

The neck tie was very straightforward and I used the circles and rectangle menu to enter the dimensions that I needed and adjusted the lines with a gentle curve around the neck according to the neckline measurements.

Neck Tie

This has been my first experience of taking a paper pattern and finished garment and recreating the pattern in Grafis. It has been a real eye opener. I can imagine that there is a need for all archived paper patterns to at be digitized (without a GTCO CalComp or Summagraphics digitizer) , it's great practice for someone like myself, without the pressure to get the garment into production.

This software feels unlimited, and the more you use it the deeper you can become involved with the industrialized realization of this program. So many clever additions have been made, like the x value for example that it makes Patternmaker Designers better at their jobs. 

Lined in 100% Viscose

Finished Dress Sample - with French Seams of course!

No More French Curves? Quoi?

Having spent the last 5 months attending evening classes with Toni Stalls at Integral-T and working through the Grafis Text book, which is freely downloadable from the Grafis website in pdf format here; I am confidently using the construction tools and I am not even half way through the manual or my lesson plan yet. There are 20 Chapters in the book, which means that give or take 2 chapters a month and it will take me a year to begin to know it! 

 This month I have been focusing on Curve Constructions and Transformations, which I have been using in a basic way with the Mirror at line tool and Turn with turn point – from point to point in previous pattern constructions, but it’s more complicated and interesting than that! So read on and find out how!

In the Curve menu there are 3 options, Create new curve, Replace curve and Manipulate curve. The curve line is defined by 2 types of points. Firstly Base Point and secondly the Auxiliary Points which have the following attributes respectively:

Base Points

Bound to points or lines, which is an important feature to remember because when grading a garment the same construction steps are used from size to size and this bound point will remain constant throughout the sizes.  Each curve line must have a minimum of 2 BP i.e. Start base point and Finish base point. Base points can move along the line they are bound to by being dragged freely along that line. Direction is set to the curve line at the BP and a BP is indicated by a little cross.

Auxiliary Points

Are not bound to the construction, they can be dragged freely if Adjustment is selected in the Curve construction submenu. The position is calculated relative to the ‘zero curve’ which sounds dauntingly like rocket science but the zero curve is displayed as a dashed line after direction is set on the BP and the AP are adjusted away from their original position. A top tip is that the fewer the AP on a curved line the smoother the line, just think of it like a fine gold chain that you are pinning and finding the desired and expected shape.

Lastly before doing a little exercise, points must have a minimum distance of 5mm between each point. And only AP should be deleted!

To practice I want to use the curve tool to make a yoke on the skirt front so, I call Skirt 20 and click the curve menu.  Select top button Create new curve and click centre front of the skirt, (start BP) then click your side seam, (finish BP) and this is where your direction arrow will point. Set Direction 90 degrees at CF and at the side seam I drag the angle to the desired position before right clicking out. The angle can be reset using Delete Direction on the Curve construction menu if you want to change it. Insert your Auxiliary points and if your style requires that you bind the AP to a construction for example a dart apex  click Bind Point, this means that the curve will intercept this point as it’s a construction point and be in the same position in all sizes. To reset this, unbind point!

Skirt Yoke - Set Direction on Base Points

Curves can be adjusted at a later stage, but I would use great discretion! But if it must be altered double clicking or <F12> the line will bring you back to the interactive area. Beware that it must be logical in the construction record and not impact daughter parts. (I’m not sure what will happen when you hit test run all parts, but it might not be a good result and you might get error messages).

A few more exercises to reinforce this knowledge were the construction of the shirt yoke on the back of Bodice 10, using exact measurements down CB and armhole. It also allowed me to experiment with binding points to the apex of the back shoulder dart.

Shirt Back with Yoke Bind Point to Dart Apex

The second example is of a bodice constructed with a princess line into the armhole and bust point, as well as a curve in the hip area beginning to look like a corset design line.

Princess Line and Curve Hem Shape

Then comes a straight skirt with a curve to create a back and front yoke, meeting at an angle of 90 degrees at the side seam, centre front and centre back lines.

Straight Skirt with Curve Yoke and Hem

The construction of the yoke with the straight line from the shoulder was a little trickier than I had first anticipated, but with a few reset and trying again I managed to achieve the requirements of the exercise.

Yoke on Bodice with Straight Line Shoulder then Curve Neckline

The trousers are shortened and flared; the trouser leg is given a curvy hem and a curvy front trouser yoke. One of the last exercises using the curve menu in this way was a pocket construction, and then to change the pocket interactively into a jeans style pocket, by extending the curve into the centre front into the fly seam.

Trouser with Side Seam Flare & Perpendicular Inner Leg Seam

Trouser with Curvy Yoke and Hem

Trouser Pocket & Adaptation  to Jean Style Pocket 

The construction of the collar band is similar to flat pattern making of drafting a collar using measurements and joining the points. A series of measurements are given as per a block draft i.e. ½ neckline measurement, stand measurement, fall measure, roll line, break point etc much in the same manner connecting the points and setting the direction gives shape to the collar.

Collar Band