Concept to Creation: The Jumper Dress

Step 1: The Inspiration

One of the first steps to any design is to find your inspiration. It can be a time period, a costume, an object, or just about anything.

I am starting the interview process for internships and I needed a business outfit but I didn't want to wear a suit. I wanted to have something business like but youthful and not so rigid. Most of my inspiration comes from old /50s/60s movies. I wanted to go for a 50's junior assistant/secretary/Nancy Drew-ish look.

The jumper has princess seams, single piped pockets (like back pockets on nicer pants), a big belt loops, a back invisible zipper, and box pleats on the front and back, with a slight flair to the skirt.

The shirt would be a vented front with a large starched collar and short sleeves with french cuffs.

Step 2: Make the Pattern/Layout and Cut


There are 2 ways to create something. You can drape or make a pattern. When draping, you can go straight from fabric to finished garment but if you want to duplicate something then you will always need to make a pattern from the draped garment. For me it's fastest to just start with a a pattern.

Making a pattern starts with a sloper. Slopers are a very basic pattern without seam allowance which you can manipulate to make other patterns.

From the slopers I make drafts of the pieces of my garment. From the drafts I make the final pattern with seam allowances. From there one should test the garment in muslin but given that I know my slopers pretty well and have made other things that are similar, I know how things will turn out.

When cutting out your material you should alway mark your notches and darts. Some suggest thread tracing and others do it with pins. The type of dart or marking determines what I use. You can also use white tracing paper, but never any other color, as it won't come off.


Step 3: Baste and fit
Technically, you are supposed to baste and then fit your garment. I machine baste and fit as I go along.

Step 4: Sewing
One important step about sewing is having a good iron and pressing supplies. The best items to have are a sleeve roll or sleeve board, a ham, a pressing cloth, a point turner, and a really good iron.


Step 5: The Finished product

Along the way I made some design changes. The biggest was adding puffier sleeves to the shirt. It also has a zipper in the side seam so that I could add darts to make it more fitted. I didn't want a bunchy shirt under the jumper.





So there you have it. A garment from concept to creation.

Short bursts of creative energy

The past two weeks have been busy, busy, busy. My sister came to visit me and that included quite a bit of walking through the streets of New York and a lot of window shopping. It rained most of the time so we didn't get to go ice skating at Rockerfeller Center like we wanted. None the less, it was nice having her here.

It's also been midterm time. That meant projects and tests for days on end. Here's my project for flat pattern class. A princess line top with a yoke and puff sleeves. A percentage of the grade is based on creativity so I decided to go with a quilted look on the insert and sleeves. It reminded me why I don't like making quilts. Lots of thread, straight lines, and piecing things together.


This week has been filled with more homework and some quick bursts of creative energy. Much of which has been driven by necessity. I needed some larger size bags to carry my supplies. At first I was going to buy some tote bags but I wasn't in the mood to walk the streets looking for some. Instead I opted to make some out of printed canvas from B&J fabrics .


And with the cold weather setting in, I really need to add to my hat collection.

I made another beret style hat using my leftover worsted weight yarns. I used the R&R beret pattern but used garter stitch and alternated yarns every row or two. It is a great way to use all that extra yarn. I still have enough for another hat but I'm thinking I'll make a regular hat with it using the same method.

New threads

I took a break from all electronics this weekend. I didn't check email/bloglines all weekend. Instead I spent some much needed time with friends. I went to dinner,bowling, and then spent time with one of my best friends....my sewing machine. It's been sooooooo long.





I made the Michael Kors Vogue V2873 pattern using the black wool I bought from Mary Jo's. The pattern was pretty straight forward. The biggest problem I had was finding buttons that I liked. I don't know of a lot of places that sell nice buttons in the size that I want. I went to JoAnn's and eventually found some that would do but I'm not overjoyed about. I'll be in Alexandria this weekend, so maybe I'll find a place with a better selection.

I definitely see more sewing in my future.