Inspired by the draped and gathered outfits created by Donna Karan, I decided to try to make some asymmetric draped clothing myself. I especially liked the strong, warrior women Donna Karan sent striding down the catwalk for the Autumn / Winter 2013 show. I'm drawn to the powerful yet feminine aesthetic which she does so well.
Donna Karan does produce some patterns which come under the 'Vogue' pattern family. I had a closer look at Vogue 1259, (pictured below) however it appeared particularly complicated, I imagined getting into all sorts of trouble with that high neck... The reviews I read seemed to confirm that it wasn't an easy pattern to sew. I was also looking for something with sleeves, or to which sleeves could be easily added. This pattern looks like a dress but is actually a top and skirt. I like the idea of creating an outfit with a top and skirt as it gives the option for wearing them separately also.
Whilst looking at some of the shows for Autumn/Winter 2014 and Spring/Summer 2015, I noticed a trend for front and side splits in skirts and also draped fronted or wrap skirts. Isabel Marant showed some beautiful sequinned wrap mini skirts worn with textured knit jumpers, click on the link above to take a look at one example.
Whilst browsing for patterns I came across this skirt with a draped front, Vogue 8711 (pictured above).
The pattern is for a mock wrap skirt designed for a stretch fabric with an elasticated waistband. I thought I could cobble together a draped top to end up with an outfit that looked something like this...
The instructions on the pattern include 'underlining' - I decided I would use the same fabric and basically double it up and sew the pieces together, and then treat them as one when sewing the skirt together. I didn't do this for the yoke pieces as this would have meant they would have been made up with four layers of fabric, which would have ended up bulky and difficult to work with.
I went to London to look for some fabric, Cloth House on 98 Berwick Street in Soho, has a great selection of jersey fabrics downstairs. I chose a dark brown fine wool jersey with plenty of stretch. As the fabric was quite expensive (and the last of the roll) I decided to experiment on some inexpensive fabric from Fabricland for the top as I wasn't using a shop bought pattern and I'd never trying draping before. After cutting the pieces of fabric front and back, and tacking the shoulder seams and one side seam and used my dummy and pinned some folds in the fabric.
The skirt pattern included three folds, and then gathers on top to create the draped effect. I decided to do something similar and create folds, close to the waist, and then add gathers using two rows of tacking. The draping experiment was successful (picture above) so I decided to go ahead with making the top.
I only had enough fabric to make the top in a single layer, I would wear it with a tight camisole or one of my Heatech tops from Uniqlo (love these) underneath. I am pleased with the top and skirt - I think a different shaped neckline would probably be more flattering but having a higher neckline certainly makes it warmer to wear.
I will make the skirt pattern again, perhaps in a longer length....
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