Giveaway: Drape Drape Vol.3

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As I mentioned yesterday, thanks to the generosity of Laurence King Publishing, we’re having a give-away of Drape Drape Volume 3. Yay!

For my review, I constructed style #14 which is on page 74. I picked it because one couldn’t tell what the style looked like because it was cut in black fabric or close enough to black as to make no difference. Which reminds me, for fitting purposes, you should never cut a style in any dark color even if the final design takes said color. It is too difficult to see problems or fit issues in dark colors.

I cut this style in garage sale nasty fabric; its only saving grace being its light color -which I would describe as the decor du jour for US Army offices. Chairs, desks, walls, bookshelves -I tell you, this dress would fit right in. But I digress.

This pattern’s accuracy was amazing. I’m still shaking my head over it -the tucks were perfectly trued- not a particularly easy style to do that with either. It also bears mentioning that I did something wrong or at least I think I did. I don’t think the neckline was supposed to come out like it did on mine. Don’t chalk that up to the pattern or the book; I’m one of those people that don’t like to read the instructions mostly because they usually confuse me.

This particular style calls for a lining but I didn’t cut one since I only intended to do a mock up. I also didn’t cut the armhole facings, nor did I hem it. I think you can use your best judgement as to whether you decide on a lining. I only know that if I had intended to finish this off and I had included a lining, I would have finished the armholes with the lining itself rather than add an additional layer of facings. That’s the other thing -with all of those tucks, some layered on top of each other, this was a lot of layers to plow through. Unless you use a very thin fabric, you may have trouble sewing it on a home machine due to layer thicknesses and also feeding. I used my needle feed which makes short work of things like this but not everyone has a machine ideally suited for this sort of work.

One technical note: the pattern has tuck lines which one is to use in folding. I wasted a lot of time trying to transfer these markings so I’ll tell you not to bother. Really. If you fold the tucks in such fashion as to align smoothly along the neck edge (this may not make sense since you lack context but it will be obvious once you work on this one), the tuck lines are completely unnecessary. I lost a day trying to manage it, no need for you to too. Again, the tucks are trued perfectly so marking those fold lines in the body of the garment won’t be the best expenditure of your time. In my opinion that is, your mileage may vary.

One last thing I’d like to mention. When I finished the style, I put it on the form and it just hung as you see it. There was no off-camera styling involved nor any strategically placed hidden pins. The back in particular, is just gorgeous. There is a larger version of the photo if you want a closer look.

Okay, now for the challenge! To  enter for a chance to win a copy of  Drape Drape Volume 3, compose a haiku extolling the virtues of the Drape Drape books, pattern making generally or even -in keeping with yesterday’s theme-  site migration. Good luck and have fun!

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50 comments

  4. Marcanne Green says:

    If you don’t master
    The proper technique of draping
    Your designs will be better suited
    As drapes for your windows

  5. Tracy J says:

    My first Haiku ever

    To drape, tuck, and fold.
    The summer breeze whisps gently
    through a lovely frock.

    The dress is lovely, even in “garage sale nasty fabric” that matches Army decor.

  14. Marita says:

    So true, the accuracy is amazing, I have made the “goddess” dress from book number one with lots of pleats and part of them going on top of each other, was a bit worried before setting it under the presser foot for sewing but it vent really well and my sewng machine is just an ordinary Pfaff, not an industrial or anything fine as that.

    I love your U.S. military version and prolly would do the lining as you suggested, no reason to add bulk in armholes or any other place for that matter if it is avoidable.

    I can’t wait to get my hands on this book, I preordered it last fall from my book supplier, now I guess I’ll just have check out if it’s still on.

  16. Tracy J says:

    To drape, tuck, and fold.
    The summer breeze whisps gently
    through a lovely frock.

    I posted this last night, but today it was gone…

  18. MandySA says:

    I haven’t paid much attention to these books because my dessform is an alien and I am an earthling. Now the penny has dropped that these books come with a flat pattern for each featured style (yes?) so my current dilemma becomes “how feasible is is for a home enthusiast to make her height and shoulder adjustments to said flat patterns”? I have a touch of drafting knowledge and a good personalised bodice block, in no small part thanks to the Fundamentals of Fitting: Torso section in Kathleen’s fantastic book. I am not shlooping up to the judge, just asking for information (in case you were wondering)!

  19. diya says:

    The details of this dress is so flattering.Thanks for the giveaway :)

    Exciting it is to drape,
    Whether its knit or crepe,
    It is here ‘Drape Drape Three’
    Learn to drape it and be free..

  21. G says:

    Hey I have another one just for fun:

    Poor poet I am
    Though haiku I will try
    To win Drape Drape 3

    Just as bad as the first one huh?

  27. Breeyn says:

    Creative minds must
    have a strong technical guide
    to prevent sucking.

    An ode to Drape, Drape and The Entrepreneur’s Guide.

  29. Karen says:

    I would love to have this book. Having gained some weight over the past year I am looking for options to add some fullness to the garments I make and this seems like it would be a great solution.

  36. Dalila says:

    Shifting folds, Fabric
    draped, tucked, stitched down
    Magical flat patterns.

    I have the other two books and really like them. I’ve only seen a few of the photos from this newest book and they look really neat too.

  39. Cynthia Col says:

    Here’s another… this is just too much fun:

    fabric in motion
    –a simply impossible
    visual delight.

  40. Patricia Coomes says:

    To drape is to use fabric as the insprational tool, along with having a visual eye for design placement.

  42. patricia says:

    spring brought back the river
    my loneliness is carried away
    beauty of flawless drapes fill the air

  43. Cary Pragdin says:

    Welcome back Kathleen!
    I thought you had left blogging
    To make white blouses…

    (Seriously, when your posts slowed down due to what I now know were hosting issues, I assumed the worst and imagined that you had decided to corner the market on perfect white ladies’ high-end blouses. (As per your posts on what you would produce were you a DE!)

    I was upset but decided that your incredible intellectual generosity had left a body of work large enough to sustain us for a good long while, and just having that to reference was blessing enough.

    So, a warm welcome back from an ardent South African fan! I feel like I’ve already won just to have access to your new posts!

  47. Marie-Christine says:

    Japanese hands make
    Big ungainly squares flow in
    Such lovely drape

    or how about

    Creeks ripple in spring
    Light fabric flows in sunlight
    drape drape shows the way

  49. rehman says:

    drapery brings life to your outfit,
    and so does to your body fit,
    drape drape volume three,
    make us tension free.

  50. rehman says:

    drapery creates fiction in your outfit,
    drapery changes your personality,
    drapery enhances your style,
    drapery makes you look flawless,
    drape drape vol. 3 is just the book i want to get all this at once.

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