Draping for Custom Design - Creating a Placket Front Shirt Dress
I saw this dress popping up everywhere in my Spring and Summer feeds (see this previous post and video) and knew I had to make a Fair Fit version of it as a personal challenge to adapt the pattern quickly to a seasonal trend. The princess seams in the Fair Fit dress pattern allow me to easily adapt the design. And by using fashion draping you can lower the neckline a lot more effectively than just cutting into a flat pattern.
I don't know about you but when I was learning how to customize my sewing patterns, I learned the hard way it's not just as simple as cutting the neckline lower. In this post and video tutorial, I'll show you how I use draping to customize the neckline of the Fair Fit dress I'm creating, as well as show you how I am adding a front shirt placket to the design in order to customize it to my specific intention.
Section 1: Describe the overall design.
The process from the video
Drape the bodice with 1 inch of ease away from the body.
Mark the neckline a little deeper and create the shoulder straps by sketching it out with chalk.
Cut it. Step back and make sure it is even.
Double check your draped seams around the neckline on the front and back and tighten as needed.
Leave the side seam open in order to take the dress off the form.
Drape and sew the skirt and full dress. (This is only demonstrated in Fair Fit Method online courses, not this video)
Pin your measuring tape to the center front and mark the line for the placket.
Cut the line.
Go and sew your side seam.
This tutorial and video allows you to add shirt and shirt dress details to a design by adding the placket front. Check out your stash and see if there are any patterns you would love to turn into a shirt dress. If you are a Fair Fit Method student making this project, please shoot me an email - I'd love to see your progress!
If you want to create your own custom self sewn clothes and like this way of learning, I want to invite you to check out my signature online courses, the Fair Fit Method. It is a series of online sewing and fashion design courses that will teach you how to create custom clothing for yourself that adapts to your personal shape and style. Using the Fair Fit pattern and the 6 core areas of focus - design, pattern, draping, check fit, sewing, and customization, you can create your own artistically and intentionally designed wardrobe using the step by step videos in each course. To learn more and read the full course descriptions visit the full website here:
