“The birds” drape drape dress

I have not been sewing from Japanese sewing books much recently and the release of Drape Drape Book 3, which I bought a copy of without hesitation from Kinokuniya last week, has inspired me to sew some drape jersey dresses. This particular dress, however, was from Project 17, Drape Drape Book 1 and has been one of the projects I’ve been wanting to sew for a long time. 

By looking at the size chart, I’m between M and L. There were only two sizes for this particular pattern. S/M or L/XL. I went with L/XL since it would be easier to grade down in my opinion. I also didn’t add the seam allowances.

The diagrams made sewing this dress up a breeze. I think I spent 2 or more hours tracing the pattern pieces as there were 5 pieces to be joint together as two, an hour to cut and pin the pleats and probably an hour or less to sew this up. However, I didn’t want the dress to be too loose fitting so I fitted and refitted several times before I was happy with the fit and drapes. 

The fabric looks like a digital print of birds in the forest. I adored how whimsical it was at first sight. It is vintage and stored since its production. I bought 3 metres of it (which was all the seller had) the moment I saw it as digital prints like these are so hard to come by and it only cost US$1.95 per meter! The fabric has a little stretch in it but is not as soft and drapey compared to a t-shirt jersey. It is opaque which to me is a plus point for a knit dress.

I heart the drapes on both the front, sides and back of the dress.

The three metres of fabric was a little short as the pattern called for 3.2 metres so I added some orange ponte knit to the fabric’s width while ensuring the grain lines are parallel to each other before cutting.

I thought the photos taken on a tripod didn’t do justice to the asymmetrical hem which was one of the wonderful details I love in this pattern so I snapped a reflection shot which gave a better idea of how it actually looked. 

I’ll show you more photos of Drape Drape Book 3 soon. I’m really excited about this book. Unlike Book 1 which had only a few dresses which I consider wearable, Book 3 is filled with such jewels.

Have a great week!