Garment Blocks

 Once again that fabulous designer from the 1950's, Charles James, is the subject of the #PatternPuzzle.  I believe the dresses photographed below are of the same design and at first the differences were a little confusing.  In the end I decided they were in fact, two different versions of the same design as the proportions in the garments vary a great deal.  Perhaps the same design made for two different clients.  My sketch and pattern are a reasonable facsimile of this design.

We had a fabulous #PatternPuzzle conversation last Saturday with four different players contributing to the solution of a complicated style.  This pattern shape is the front and back dress as one pattern piece for the body of the Jersey Ruche Dress.  The sketch below illustrates ruching in the shoulder line and down the right-hand side of the dress.  Also, note the sleeves have different treatment for the right and left side.  The right sleeve is a raglan style that includes the shoulder piece.  And the left sleeve is the regular set-in sleeve.

For the first time ever in the short history of our #PatternPuzzles it was solved with in the first answer.  Mioara  Cretu showed her pattern brilliance and described all the design detail in one go.  Another first for the Saturday morning #PatternPuzzle.  The design featured below is a draped dress with asymmetric seaming and the addition of drape for the tucks and fishtail.

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.

We know this is an insanely busy time of year and would like to send a huge thank you to everyone who dropped by on the weekend for our #PatternPuzzle.  The shape below is what greeted our fans on Saturday morning on our FB page.  Below is my trade sketch as my best interpretation of the pattern with the intention of cutting this tunic in a light papery taffeta to hold the sculptural effects of the twist.

Solved with lightening speed by Alison Calderwood, Julie Eilber and RedPointTailor, last Saturdays #PatternPuzzle turns out to be a fab summer shift.  The image below has the puzzle shape right way up with some notations to help make sense of the thing.   Some of you may remember the Cowl Tee with Drape and Draped Tee from way back that feature the same kind of drape seam as this weeks puzzle.

This treasure was discovered in the archives of The Metropolitan Museum along with thousands of other beautiful pieces.  Much to my surprise, I discovered that it is a fairly recent design by John Galliano for The House of Dior in 1998.
For this puzzle, the focus is on the skirt and not the tailored halter neck top.  The combination of the well-organised waterfall drape at the back of the skirt and the cowl drape in the front of the skirt was fascinating to me.
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