Practices: Draping | Commercial Patterning | Pattern Matching

Style/Era: ~2010s

A solo project handed off to me by our costume shop manager, Theresa Ham, as a draping project for the vest and practicing my pattern matching with a checkered fabric for a commercial pattern of pants.

Being my first draping project for a production, I broke down with the designer all the desired attributes for the single breasted vest such as: lining, button types, number of button holes, length, neckline shape, and more. I did not shy away from asking questions regarding my approaches to marking the style lines, draping the muslin fabric, and figuring out the arm holes. I had prior familiarity with pattern matching, so I was able to mostly tackle on the checkered pattern for the pants, accommodating for the pleats and pockets.

The process consisted of draping out the vest and transferring onto a paper pattern. Then creating a muslin mockup to fit on the actor and make adjustments to fit designer's vision. Lastly, cutting out the fashion fabrics and lining to create the final garment. For the pants, figuring the size needed for the actor from the commercial pattern and making alterations to the pattern as needed for the designer's desire of larger pleats at the front of the pants. Then creating a mockup to make sure the alterations fit the actor as desired. Finally, laying out the pattern onto the checkered fabric and marking out matching points to ensure the checkered fabric had a smooth continuity throughout the pants.

Points in which I was challenged:

• Figuring out the arm holes for the vest.

  • A bit of guidance helped determine a good starting size that could be taken in during the fitting.

• Cutting and spreading the commercial pattern to add larger pleats for the pants.

  • Many questions aided in figuring out how to adjust the pattern.

• Getting the checkered fabric pattern to match along the large pleats.

  • Marking out, arduously, the various points of matching along the pattern aided in positioning the pieces correctly.