Maxi Dress for Summer (now with mini tutorial on pg 2)

Quote from: 3littlechicks on April 25, 2008 01:46:03 AM

I love the way the skirt falls! So nice! The top is flattering too, even with no sleeves.
Could I ask you a small question?

, Is the skirt a square piece just gathered in the right places? Or is it shapes? ...like "A" shapes or trapezoids (lol) or whatever they're called...It's ok if you don't have time to answer, I think the dress looks great on you, very nice job!

The skirt is an altered version of the disastrous Simplicity 3867 seen here. (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=205845.msg2198232#msg2198232)
The original skirt shape is an a-line with about 16" added to the waist on each front and back piece. This excess is taken in by a series of eight 1" tucks measuring 3.5" inches in length (the length from my under-bust to my waist). This allows the garment to flair out over the hips and still provide definition to the waist.

Quote from: twylag on April 25, 2008 05:31:45 PM

I love it!! I am trying to figure out how to make a top like that right now. Really pretty.

I used the Burda Style sloper and altered it to fit me really well. Then I measured from my shoulder to where I wanted the waist line to hit and cut the sloper to that length. Next, I measured from the sloper neckline to where on my body I wanted the panel to hit and how wide I wanted it to be and modified it accordingly. I split the vertical dart into two darts half the original size and joined one to the side dart (this involved me actually pinning the darts on my body...oh, for a dress form). The back is just your basic sloper back, but shortened. I cut the lining out of the exact same pattern and used the grey that was supposed to be the belt to make decorative binding. Here is a picture showing what I did (the black is the original sloper and the red my modifications).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v382/henabebe/maxisloper.jpg

Quote from: acajjou on April 25, 2008 03:56:41 AM

It really is beautiful, and you look lovely in it. I think I have a similar body shape as you - any hope for some pattern tips?

I'm 5' 10" tall with big boobs and giant birthing hips. If I want a top to fit me properly, I pretty much have to make it myself. I base most of my patterns off of a sloper I created based off of the one on Burda Style. I've found that tops fit much better on me when I split the vertical bust dart into two shorter darts, rather than one long one. Princess seams work well on me too. I have a very defined waist, but it is also very high up when compared to most traditional patterns. So something with a "natural waist" sits on my high hip and makes me look short. This particular dress has lengthened the area in question by creating a straight fitted line from my under bust to my waist, making me look more in proportion. I mask my hips by flaring the skirt out from the waist. For dresses and skirts, this generally works best if the hem hits slightly below the knee, to soften the flair effect and continue the line so that I do not visually cut myself in half. It can be done with tunic tops too, but I tend to want to end the "skirt" of the top either at the top of my hips (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=225430.msg2439077#msg2439077) or below them just above crotch-level. The main goal with tops is to create a balanced look where I have approximately the same amount of space at the top and bottom of the garment (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=33778;sa=showTopics;start=10). When dealing with line and color, I tend to want to emphasize both my vertical features and my hourglass shape. I use a lot of belt effects and pleats and tucks to achieve this goal.

As for actual patterns, I suggest finding a sloper pattern ( check out Burda Style or http://www.panix.com/~aqn/tailoring2/drafting/index.html) and altering it to fit your needs. If you've never worked off of a sloper before, look for commercial patterns that fit your needs and compare them to the sloper to see how they have been altered, or check out a book on pattern drafting. I tend to like the shape of simplicity patterns, but the patterns themselves are kind of stupid when it comes to getting a good fit. However, altering commercial patterns is a really good way to learn how to make your own patterns and can be a nice shortcut when you just want your garment to be done.

Sorry for the novel. I hope this helped everyone.