lou

Dossier.
Emma Parke-Wolfe
The Flou Atelier
Year 2
Fashion Atelier 1
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Emma Parke-Wolfe
The Flou Atelier
Year 2
Fashion Atelier

3
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Contents
Garment One 8
Draping & Flat Pattern
10
Toile
22
Final Construction
34

Garment Two
50
Manipulation
52
Draping & Toile
60
Final Construction
66
5
6
7
8
Design
One. Bias Cut

Design one is a soft bias cut

jacket. Inspired by the dif-
ferent tears, levels and over
lapping drape of chande-
liers. The fabric used for de-
sign one has a good weight,
yet delicate fabric with nice
drape; this decision was
made to echo, the heavy
look of draping chande-
liers, while at the same time
hanging very gracefully.
The colour is a dark green,
inspired by Chihuly organic
chandeliers and sculptures.
100%polyester

9
10
Draping &
Flat Pattern.
11
12

Bust Line
St
ra St
ig ra
ig
ht
ht

Bias

CF Bias
 Draping Under Bodice
Design one is made up of two main bodices; the Un-
der bodice and Outer bodice. The under bodice is
the first to be draped. It is cut on the bias to create
soft drape around the body, and good fit at the waist.

Cutting fabric on the bias allows the fab-

ric to sit around the bodies contours without hav-
ing to add darts or other methods of suppression.

The under bodice has no side seams to allow for a clean

drape around the waist. This piece is draped with one
piece of fabric, with a seam at the shoulder. It is placed at
the shoulder because it will be hidden by the top bodice.

This diagram is the draft of

the under bodice . The aim of
this garment is to use the bias
and keep the main elements
of the cut on the true grains.
CB

CF

Bust line
Bias
Bias
St
ra
ig
ht

The diagram on the opposite

page, is an indication of the
shape and grain angles of the
fabric used to drape the bodice.
13
 Straight

as
Bi
CF

Bust Line
Straight
14
Draping Outer Bodice
The outer bodice is draped much like the under, how-
ever it does not hang on the bias. The bodice hangs on the
straight, to give a non-fitted silhouette, that will hang over
the top of the fitted under bodice. The bias is located at the
front edge. The edge, cut on the bias, creates a soft sweep-
ing line across the body. The edge folds back on itself at
the neck, and the fabric shifted slightly to reveal both layers.

The Outer bodice draft be-

low clearly shows that this part
of the jacket keeps on the true
straight at centre front, and
the true bias at the front edge.

Fo
ld
lin
e
CB

CF

Bust line
Straight
Straight

15
 Fo
ld
lin
e
CB

CF

Bust line
Bias Straight
Bias
Straight
St
ra
ig
ht
16
Draft Both Bodices
Red = Outer bodice

Blue = Under bodice

17
 Draping The Sleeve
Only half of this sleeve can be drafted on pa-
per. This is because to get a perfectly draped
pleat at the shoulder, it must be done by eye.

Once the armhole shape has been drafted, the un- B F

der arm can then be traced onto the sleeve draft.

The top of the sleeve, where the pleat will be,

has been left with a large area of fabric to drape
with, as can be seen in the diagram below.

Large area of fabric left to drape

the pleat.

B
F

Bias
Bias

The sleeve is cut on the bias to

get a soft drape from the pleat.
This way, the pleat will fall
nicely over the arm when the
garment is worn.
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19
20
 The pictures opposite show the
draped sleeve with the pleat. While
the draped sleeve is pinned into the
bodice, the width of the sleeve is
falling where is naturally wants to.
This is marked and looks like the
diagram below.

B
F

21
22
Toile
23
24
Sewing Under Bodice
The two bodices are assembled
separately. The photographs oppo-
site show the under bodice attached
at the shoulder seam.

25
 Sewing Outer Bodice
To sit over the top of the under
bodice, the outer bodice is attached
at the seam behind the shoulder, as
can be seen in the photographs op-
posite.
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27
 Finishing Neckline
The majority of the nackline is finished by the two bodices sewn right
sides together and bagged out. However the one side of the neckline that
over laps the rest must be finished speratly.

The part of fabric across the cheast

that folds back on itself can also bagg
the rest out the rest of the nackline. as
can be seen in the images below.
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29
 Sewing The Sleeves
The sleeves are carefully sewn into
both layers of the under and outer
bodices. The pleat has been sewn to
slightly overlap by 2mm at the shoul-
der. This is for strength; to ensure the
weight of the pleat does not pull at
the fabric where the pleat divides.
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31
 Adjustments To the Toile
Before the final construction, a few adjust-
ments must be made to the pattern of this
garment.

1
The original under bodice is
slashed into front the neck to
the hem.

2
It is then opened to create more
fullness and rape at the front.

3
The over all length of the under
bodice is increased by 4cm.

4cm is also added onto the CF.

This piece will fold back on
itself along the front edge and
finish the edge of the garment.

This is because it is on the bias

and therefore frays very easily.
Using this method of finishing
eliminated the risk of stretching
and fraying.
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 1 2 3
CB

Bust line
Bias

CF
Bias
St
ra
ig
ht
CB

CB

Bust line Bust line

CF

Bust line
Bias
CF

Bias

CF
Bias
Bias

Bias

Bias
St

St
St

ra

ra
ra

igh

igh
ig
ht

t
CF

Bust line
Bias
Bias
St
ra
ig
ht

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34
 Final
Construction
35
 Fabric Testing
This fabric is 100% Polyester, therefore there is a danger of the fabric
melting or distorting under heat. This is a test to see how the durable
the fabric will be under heat.

Fabric under iron for a few

seconds without steam.

Fabric under iron for a few

seconds with steam.

Fabric under iron about 5

seconds without steam.

Fabric under iron about 5

seconds with steam.
36
Fabric Conclusion
The fabric is absolutely fine under a few seconds of heat with and without steam.
However when the fabric is under the iron without steam for 5 seconds, it turns
slightly darker. It also burn slightly on ridges and bumps on the fabric surface.
When the fabric is under the iron for five seconds with steam, it creates darker
patches where the steam has melted the fabric.
Whilst making this garment, the iron must not be on the fabric for longer than
three seconds, especially if steam is used.

37
38
 Fold
Layplan.

110cm
150cm (3m in total length)

39
 Under Bodice
The under bodice is assembled at
shoulder seams with wrong sides to-
gether. This is because the raw edges
of the seams will hide underneath the
outer bodice.

The centre back seam is finished as

a french seam because both sides
will be visible at times.
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 Outer Bodice
The outer bodice is assembled at the
back shoulder seam. All hems on the
bias are finised by hand pin hem-
ming. This is a neat finish that works
well with the cut of the hem.

To allow the fabric to sit neatly

across the shoulders, and hand well
at the back, a dart has been placed
at centre back.

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 Both Bodices
42
The two bodices are placed together
and aligned at the armholes. The neck-
line is finished with both bodices sewn
right sides together, and bagged out.

Instead of closing the two layers

completely, the end had been left
open for a nicer roll at the fold.
43
 Sleeves And Armholes
The sleeve is first basted pinned
into the armhole, and the correct
size of pleat is basted in place.
The pleats overlaps slightly to
reinforce the join.
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 The soft fabric always shifts. To make sure
the arm hangs correctly, the excess is pinned
away and marked at the under arm seam. It
may not hang the same if the pattern was fol-
lowed without checking.

The sleeves are stitched into both layers of bodices, match-

ing shoulder and under arm notches. The armholes are
then bound on the inside for a clean finish. The thickness
of the binding adds a nice soft structure to the shoulders for
the fabric to hand from.

45
 Fastenings
This garment fastens in three places around the
neck and chest area. To fasten the layers, small
bagged out tabs and poppers have been places at
the correct points. The garment fabric is placed
between the poppers and tabs. The tabs give
strength to the poppers and distribute the tension.

The photographs opposite show the order in

which the layers and poppers are assembled.
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1 2 3

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 Final Garment
48
49
50
Design
Two.
Fabric Manipulation

Design two is a soft dress

exhibiting the use of fabric
manipulation. The ma-
nipulation is inspired by the
round owls and free form
sculptures by Chihuly. The
fabric is light and bouncy
for the manipulation to
drape correctly. The back
of the dress utilises the bias,
the corners are picked up
and attached further up
the dress to create a heavy
sweeping effect, much like
Barlas Baylar.’s chain chan-
deliers. The colour of this
design is a dark navy blue
with a violet edge. This is
inspired by Chihuly’s natu-
ral chandeliers and sculp-
tures of water and skies.
100% polyester

51
52
Manipulation

53
 Manipulating The Fabric
This manipulation has its best effect
on a large area of fabric. It is made
up of three gathered semi circles, that
attach to each other in the middle.

First steps in creating the manipulation:

. The fabric is first folded over. Sand-

1 wiched together, a stitch it run through

both layers in the shape of a semi circle.

. The stitch is then pulled, allowing the

2 fabric to gather up into a small round

manipulation.
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 Manipulation Pattern
Once the perfect size of
manipulation in step 1 and
2 was found, the accurate
dimensions could be traced
onto paper. This enables the
manipulation to be replicat-
ed, identically, many times.
This diagram shows the
perfect distance between each
manipulation, in order to cre-
ate the full manipulation.
The diagram also indicates
where the fabric should be
folded in red, and where the
fabric should be stitched in
green. The light grey areas
indicate the amount of sup-
pression of fabric caused by
this manipulation.

Fo
Stitch line

ld
lin
e
e
lin
ld

e
Fo

h lin
Stitc

h line
itc
St

Fold line
56
 . As can be seen in Picture 3, the manipu-
3 lation pattern has been marked onto the
fabric, and is ready to be manipulated.

. Here in picture 4 is what the manipula-

4 tion looks like once the pattern has been

followed

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58

Bust Line

150cm Wide
CF

300cm Long Selvage

Manipulation On a large scale
The manipulation is re-created three
times across the fabric as shown below.

. The top manipulation is located

just below the bust at CF.

. The side manipulations are located

Below the lower hip at the side. 59
60
Draping &
Toile

61
 Draping The Front

. Firstly, the Front manipulation is pinned in

place at CF.

. The fabric is pulled around the body and

anchored in the correct places.

. The side manipulations are pulled around,

towards the back of the body, until hey
are positioned in the desired place. A short
stitch holds the two sides together at CB.

There are no zips in this dress because it would be

too stiff against the fabric. The dress will be fastened
in one point at the back.

Further construction details are explained in the

‘Final Construction’ section. This is because draping
the toile is so loose and it is less about the steps of
draping, and more about the preciseness of where it
is draped.
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 Draping The Back

. The dress is anchored again at CB, this

time at the bust line with ribbon. If the
CB was sewn closed all the way to this
point, there would be no room to get in
and out of the dress.

. The excess fabric at the back is picked

up at the corners and crossed over to
meet the opposite side. The corners at
the front of the fabric are attached with
the back corners, and the points are
anchored within the folds of the draping
excess.

. At the shoulders, the back is pulled over

the front, and then folded back on itself
to create a sweeping cape-like effect.

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 Final
Construction
67
 Manipulation Creating the Final

1 . Once the manipulation pattern was chalked onto

the fabric, the manipulations could be created.
Firstly folding the fabric and running a stitch
through the layers.

. The thread is pulled, and the first gathered piece

2 is made. For this main manipulation, the thread

has been doubled up to ensure it does not snap,
and the manipulation does not fall out.
68
3 . This is repeated for the second time.

. And a third. Once all three groups of manipula-

4 tions are complete, they can be attached in the

middle, and draped across the body. 69
 1

3
70
 Steps Of Draping Front

1
Once the three manipulations are complete,
the fabric is held to the mannequin and pinned
in place at CF. The manipulation sits sym-
metrically ether side of CF, and the top sits just
below the bust line.

2
The two side manipulations are pulled around
the bodice, to the sides of the mannequin, and
temporarily pinned in place.

3
The excess fabric is pulled to the back, and
anchored in two places (see image below).
This holds the side manipulations in place and
closes the dress.

This point will be fastened

with a ribbon.

From this point, the fabric

will be stitched about 10cm
down. will be
71
 Shoulder Seam

1
The fabric at the front is pulled smoothly over
the shoulder and marked.

2
The fabric at the back is pulled over the top of
step 1. This part is stitched to the front fabric,
however the seam is hidden when the back fab-
ric folds over itself, creating the cape-like part.
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73
 Fixing Front Manipulation
1 2 3

1 The final manipulation at the front of the dress

is rather heavy. Therefore, the weight of the
dress pulls on the joins between the gathers.

2 To add support and avoid this problem, a thick

piece of thread has been threaded through
each manipulation. When this thread is pulled
it brings the heaviest parts of the manipula-
tion together, in a way that does not pull on the
unsupported parts. This can be seen in fig 2
above.

3 Now that the heaviest parts of the manipula-

tion are secured, the final central join can be
made to complete the manipulation as can be
seen in fig 3.
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75
 1

2
Anchor points

3
76
 Steps Of Draping Back

1
Once the back of the dress is fastened with the
ribbon, the two wing-like pieces fall to the floor.

2
Firstly, the two corners at the back of the fabric
are picked up and crossed over. They are then
anchored at the sides of the drapes. (Indicated
by the arrows)

3
The two last corners at the front of the fabric
are also picked up and anchored at the same
points as the other corners.

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 Finishing Neckline, Armholes and Hem

The Neckline on this dress is high,

and fairly straight. Binding the
neckline was the best solution.
This way no stitching is seen from
the outside. It adds strength to a
delicate area and prevents it from
stretching. The binding is hand fell
stitched down so it is completely
invisible.

The same finishing is used on the

armholes, this is so they match.
A facing would not be effective
because the fabric is slightly see-
through and would not look profes-
sional.
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Zig Zag Stitch.

This garment uses the true edges of

the fabric at the hem. It was more
logical to finish the edges of the 3 me-
tres of fabric, before draping it into a
garment.

Here are some examples and ex-

periments of the finishing used on
all edges of the fabric, including the
hem.

The Zig Zag stitch us created on a do-

mestic machine. The fabric is folded
over and stitched along the edge. One
side of the zig zag stitch pierces the
fabric, and the other does not. This
creates a nice tiny finishing.

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 Final Garment
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End

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