Twist Drape Shift

It’s hard to imagine how this strange shape will make-up when you first see the puzzle.  It is a slightly complex style that I managed to cut after working through the detail in a couple of stages.  Fans were quick to work this one out on the weekend as they are all familiar with the variety of twist techniques that we use at Studio Faro.

This style is a self-lined dress that has a combination of extra drape that works into a full garment twist, most likely made in a jersey fabric.  It is a twist we have seen before in the Nejiri Twist #PatternPuzzle.

The first stage in the pattern making is to push the side seams in the same way as ‘Pattern Magic’ by Tomoko Nakamichi p.72.  By doing this we use the slightly twisted grain in the pattern to make the twist in our dress.  Below is the pattern plan based on my knit block with twisted seams.  The dotted lines are marked in to open up for the extra drape and tucks in the next phase.  Also included are a boat neckline and cap sleeve.

Working the twisted patterns (front and back) onto a fold at the hemline is what holds our twist in place in the garment.  So if we were to make this dress as you see it at this stage, we would have a simple twisted shift.

However, we have decided to make it more interesting by including some tucks and drape, working from the front left shoulder around to the back right hip.  Both front and back patterns have been opened up along the dotted lines to include loads of extra fabric for the drape.