Polytech: Drafting A Basic Skirt Block
On Tuesday evening we had the first class of the Patternmaking course. In this class we drafted a basic skirt block for ourselves. This looks something like this (but the paper would be lying flat. I also drew on the lines in on the computer because the pencil didn't show up):
Then we traced around it. We are going to convert it into an A-line skirt block next week.
I have to admit that it was rather slow, and not just because I have done pretty much exactly the same thing before. It's just not really that difficult to draw some lines of a certain length at right-angles to other lines, with detailed instructions, after having seen the instructions gone through in each detail.
But it was still fun and I was pretty excited. I could have drafted the A-Line block too if I'd had another 5 minutes, but she decided to end the class 20 minutes early to not over-tax anyone. About half the class took twice as long as the other half, and I suppose these were the ones that might be over-taxed. Or maybe they were just bored. I thought it was fun. They probably just don't understand the enormous potential for chopping up the skirt block and making new skirt ideas. Of course, I haven't really made any skirts that way - by modifying the basic block - but it is a powerful method. I haven't made a great deal of skirts though. The ungathered ones I used my plain skirt block for though, like for this one:
I only really flared it a little I think, and left out the front darts. Otherwise it is the same as the block.
So, I thought maybe I could MAKE the skirt we are supposed to be finishing the drafting of next week, the A-line, and maybe wear it to class. Except no doubt that would be rude to the other students. But it is a cool idea, whip up an item each week based on what you learnt. I would make the "pencil skirt" that is the basic block, except I don't think it would really suit me; however that would not be so pretensious. Hmmm, maybe I can work out some way to do it flattering.
Anyway, then I immediately thought of a way better skirt to make based on the A-line pattern.
To make the A-line, you get your basic block, and chop a few bits and spread it out so it looks like this (this is just the front which is from our handouts which I think is from a book, so you don't get the whole page in case it isn't allowed):
The triangle pieces are gaps where the paper has been spread out. You trace around the whole thing to make a nice pattern that isn't made of chopped up paper. Clearly, a simple adjustment would be to actually make the triangles in a different material and sew them in, making interesting detail.
However, that doesn't change the shape of the skirt from the basic A-line, only the surface appearance. So the next step is to make the triangle pieces wider, and perhaps still in a different material perhaps the same as the rest of the skirt, so that they hang, umm, as they would if they were bigger than the original space they are fitting into. Kind of in folds.
This skirt would be as long as our standard pattern block - to just below knee - and would probably have a waistband. I'm not sure which of my material I would use on it because I am not ENTHUSED over the idea, it merely seemed easy and fun, so I don't want to use any of my favourite stuff, which is of course pretty much all of it that is usable. I'm not sure how I should have it fasten or HOW I should sew in the triangles. I discovered recently the best way to sew stuff with these kind of annoying angles is with top-stitching, rather than the normal method. But do I want that look? I am considering other creative seam-sewing methods to see if they offer advantages here.
Then we traced around it. We are going to convert it into an A-line skirt block next week.I have to admit that it was rather slow, and not just because I have done pretty much exactly the same thing before. It's just not really that difficult to draw some lines of a certain length at right-angles to other lines, with detailed instructions, after having seen the instructions gone through in each detail.
But it was still fun and I was pretty excited. I could have drafted the A-Line block too if I'd had another 5 minutes, but she decided to end the class 20 minutes early to not over-tax anyone. About half the class took twice as long as the other half, and I suppose these were the ones that might be over-taxed. Or maybe they were just bored. I thought it was fun. They probably just don't understand the enormous potential for chopping up the skirt block and making new skirt ideas. Of course, I haven't really made any skirts that way - by modifying the basic block - but it is a powerful method. I haven't made a great deal of skirts though. The ungathered ones I used my plain skirt block for though, like for this one:
I only really flared it a little I think, and left out the front darts. Otherwise it is the same as the block.So, I thought maybe I could MAKE the skirt we are supposed to be finishing the drafting of next week, the A-line, and maybe wear it to class. Except no doubt that would be rude to the other students. But it is a cool idea, whip up an item each week based on what you learnt. I would make the "pencil skirt" that is the basic block, except I don't think it would really suit me; however that would not be so pretensious. Hmmm, maybe I can work out some way to do it flattering.
Anyway, then I immediately thought of a way better skirt to make based on the A-line pattern.
To make the A-line, you get your basic block, and chop a few bits and spread it out so it looks like this (this is just the front which is from our handouts which I think is from a book, so you don't get the whole page in case it isn't allowed):
The triangle pieces are gaps where the paper has been spread out. You trace around the whole thing to make a nice pattern that isn't made of chopped up paper. Clearly, a simple adjustment would be to actually make the triangles in a different material and sew them in, making interesting detail.However, that doesn't change the shape of the skirt from the basic A-line, only the surface appearance. So the next step is to make the triangle pieces wider, and perhaps still in a different material perhaps the same as the rest of the skirt, so that they hang, umm, as they would if they were bigger than the original space they are fitting into. Kind of in folds.
This skirt would be as long as our standard pattern block - to just below knee - and would probably have a waistband. I'm not sure which of my material I would use on it because I am not ENTHUSED over the idea, it merely seemed easy and fun, so I don't want to use any of my favourite stuff, which is of course pretty much all of it that is usable. I'm not sure how I should have it fasten or HOW I should sew in the triangles. I discovered recently the best way to sew stuff with these kind of annoying angles is with top-stitching, rather than the normal method. But do I want that look? I am considering other creative seam-sewing methods to see if they offer advantages here.
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