{"id":1720,"date":"2014-12-15T15:54:40","date_gmt":"2014-12-15T19:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/?p=1720"},"modified":"2019-09-27T11:53:34","modified_gmt":"2019-09-27T15:53:34","slug":"needles-in-the-stacks-draping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/2014\/12\/15\/needles-in-the-stacks-draping\/","title":{"rendered":"Needles in the Stacks – Draping"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"FIT<\/a>
FIT students from 1947<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We welcome you back for a holiday version of Needles in the Stacks<\/em>.\u00a0 We’ve designed this post to help you decide which of the many draping manuals out there should be on your holiday wish list.<\/p>\n

Here are the books we looked at this fall:<\/p>\n

\"Drp-drp<\/a>Drape Drape<\/strong><\/a>,<\/p>\n

Drape Drape 2<\/strong><\/a>,<\/p>\n

Drape Drape 3<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

All three volumes by Hisako Sato, and kept in the same place:<\/p>\n

5th Floor Main Stacks TT520 .S286 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"drape<\/a>There are three books in this series, which we’re discussing together.\u00a0 The author wrote and designed all the garments presented in each.\u00a0 Each book in the series contains instructions for making a group of non-traditional garments.\u00a0 Sato distinguishes these by using soft but weighty fabrics draped into many folds (hence the title).\u00a0 The books include pictures of the pattern pieces, detailed written directions, computer-generated “how-to” images, and photographs of petite young women wearing versions of the finished garments.\u00a0 The books also came with pattern pieces, but these have long since disappeared from our library copies.\u00a0 Hence, it is more of a designer “how to” (see our “Couture edition” from 3\/21\/14) than a draping manual, but we’ve thought a lot about it anyway.<\/p>\n

\"drdr<\/a><\/p>\n

Denise and I agree that the patterns shown here are super interesting.\u00a0 However, the maker needs an intermediate level understanding of both draping and sewing.\u00a0 The garments are clearly illustrated, as you can see.\u00a0 And just as clearly they are not for beginners.\u00a0 The pattern pieces are unusually shaped and often defy conventional construction methods.\u00a0 Computer-generated drawings demonstrate numbered steps for the many tasks involved.<\/p>\n

\"drp-drp-no-5-dress\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The dress pictured on the right gives some idea of the unconventional draped detailing in these books.\u00a0 This is dress #5 from the first book.\u00a0 The design owes something to couture and movie gowns of the 1930s, but Denise and I agree that this is a great dress.\u00a0 Unlike some garments in this book, this would probably be flattering on women of every shape, from Plus sized down to Model-like.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Many of the garments are\u00a0 asymmetric, and all take advantage of fabrics with both weight and softness, using these characteristics to create garments with inherent movement (hence the titles).\u00a0 Recommended fabrics include cotton, wool, and silk, many of them knits or crepes.\u00a0 These characteristics are clearly shown in this “goddess” dress (book 1, dress 17), illustrated here by a sewing blogger:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/blog.cyberdaze.org\/2014\/08\/02\/and-now-for-something-completely-different-drape-drape-no-17\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The shape of this garment, seen in the pattern pieces below, is characteristic of Sato’s work, using many pleats arranged asymmetrically across the body.<\/p>\n

\"Drape_Drape_Goddess_Diagram\"<\/a>A quick search on the internet shows the international popularity of Sato’s three pattern books.\u00a0 As the author of this blog listed, nearly two dozen bloggers have worked their way through patterns in these books.\u00a0 She’s compiled a list:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/lifeisexamined.blogspot.com\/2013\/07\/drape-drape-all-around-world.html<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

By and large, these bloggers have had good results from working with these patterns.\u00a0 That may be that these bloggers are better than average sewers, or it may be that Denise and I are wrong about the difficulty of these patterns.<\/p>\n

Regardless, I wonder if these patterns are so popular because of their unconventional (avant-garde, even?) construction and finished appearance?\u00a0 Or is it that western-European seamsters are on the hunt for construction challenges beyond the standard sloper variations of darted bodice + skirt or pants + sleeves?\u00a0 Or is it that these garments reflect an extreme expression of the shifts towards less-formal, increasingly-knit garments that are taking place in western European\/American society?\u00a0 I don’t know that it matters, other than to a student of the cultural history of clothing (completely guilty here), but I find the popularity on the internet of Sato’s designs pretty intriguing.<\/p>\n

(in a wonderful play on the books we’ve researched, Alabama Chenin, owner of the company of the same name, and author of the two books in our library… interpreted a Sato pattern, then blogged about it here:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/alabamachanin.com\/journal\/2013\/07\/diy-drape-drape-3\/\u00a0 <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

We reviewed Chenin’s books in an earlier “Needles in the Stacks” post, which you can (re-)read here:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/2014\/03\/21\/needles-in-the-stacks-couture-edition\/<\/strong><\/a> )<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"jaffe<\/a>Draping for Fashion Design<\/a>,<\/strong> by Nurie Relis and Hilda Jaffe, 4th edition.<\/p>\n

TT507 .J34 2005<\/strong><\/p>\n

I confess to being fond of this book, because it is an expanded version of the manual I used in Mrs. Sica’s lectures in *my* draping class here (in 1987).\u00a0\u00a0 But, readers, this book is an even better draping manual.\u00a0 It begins with an explanation of how draping fits into the design industry.\u00a0 It continues, as do many of these books, with a description of the tools needed, as well as some details about human reference points for as they appear on a mannequin.<\/p>\n

The bulk of the book illustrates the draping process with careful step-by-step written descriptions, including how to layout the cloth and prepare it, but using all drawings. \u00a0 Overall this book makes an attempt to cover every variation of a basic bodice, skirt or pant, in as concise a way as possible.\u00a0 Denise and I both found the instructions to be easy to follow.\u00a0 While it includes a lot of\u00a0 how-to for some pretty complicated garments, it’s a good book for novices both because of its breadth and it’s clarity.\u00a0 The book has been expanded from the version I used, now including foundation patterns for knits, swimwear and sporting wear, tailored garments, and some basic fitting info.\u00a0 Designwise, fashion illustrations of the garments have been added, making the book a bit more friendly looking, in my opinion.\u00a0 But friendly looking or not, it remains an excellent reference for beginning designers to industry stalwarts.\u00a0 I think I need to update my wish list.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"duburg<\/a>Draping: Art and Craftsmanship in Fashion Design<\/strong><\/a>, by Annette Duburg and Rixt van der Tol.<\/p>\n

TT520 .D83 2008
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The project of reviewing so many how-to manuals from the library’s collection has brought to our attention the changes in book design since the early twentieth century.\u00a0 Technology has increased our expectations to require\u00a0 photos instead of drawings, “modern”- i.e.\u00a0 graphic design using\u00a0more white space, as many photos as possible, and those in color instead of black and white.\u00a0\u00a0 As a professor of mine used to say, “We are all children of Modernism.”<\/p>\n

That said, this book is attractively laid out using the best of the modern ideas.\u00a0 It uses photographs in the how-to sections, and black mannequins with the white design lines to make the unbleached fitting-muslins especially clear.\u00a0 The avant-garde design continues with a sideways-printed table of contents.<\/p>\n

\"drp<\/a>Denise and I were both frustrated at this book’s dependence upon the metric system. However we loved that the step-by-step illustrations are photographed muslins being fit onto a body.\u00a0 This made the book’s lessons very clear.\u00a0 This book provides something for both left-brain and right-brain learners.\u00a0 The how-to is very technically written, and the images are good enough that you don’t need to read it if you don’t want to.<\/p>\n

\"dr<\/a>The book begins with basic slopers and womenswear shapes: skirts, bodices, dresses, sleeves, collars, pants, etc.\u00a0 But the second section, after one has learned all the basics, explores the draping of some of fashion designer’s Greatest Hits between 1892 and 1995.\u00a0 Beginning with a Worth day dress, step-by-step muslins are photographed to walk the student through the pieces in these gowns.\u00a0 The Dior dress on the left is carefully worked out in muslin here: \"dr<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This book would be on my Wish List, if it were still in print.\u00a0 Alas, but the only copies for sale are now going for $$$$.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"armstrong<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Draping for Apparel Design<\/strong><\/a>, by Helen Joseph-Armstrong.<\/p>\n

TT520 .A742 2013
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is probably the most comprehensive draping manual we’ve ever seen.\u00a0\u00a0 Helen Joseph Armstrong began her writing career in 1985 with her basic patternmaking manual: “Patternmaking for Fashion Design<\/a>” (TT520 .A74 , 5th Floor Main Stacks , and Circulation Reserves)<\/strong>, and has continued to update this technical title regularly while expanding her writing to the art of draping as well.\u00a0 Here is a bit more about Armstrong and her publishing career:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.tukatech.com\/news\/PressRelease_HelenJoshep.html<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This book is laid out nearly the same way her patternmaking book is.\u00a0 It begins with discussion of fabric grains and properties, including the bias.\u00a0 It gives instruction on fabric preparation, correct measurement of the body, tools of the trade, and dart manipulation.\u00a0 It presents instructions for draping just about every garment type regularly made in the western world, including bodysuits with cutouts.\u00a0 It has an excellent section on laying out and cutting knit fabrics (which tend to roll),\u00a0 lapel designs, grading and patterning jacket sleeves, with some bonus basic grading techniques.\u00a0\u00a0 Also bonus is the dictionary of draping terms, techniques, and garment descriptions.<\/p>\n

\"twist<\/a>Like Armstong’s patternmaking books, each draping project is laid out with a fashion illustration of possible uses for the technique, then carefully-drawn how-to steps for draping the garment.\u00a0\u00a0 The illustrations are current-feeling, unlike some of the older draping manuals, which still use drawings from the 1940s.\u00a0 The projects are then laid out from simple to difficult, and from basic bodices to skirts to dress slopers and beyond.<\/p>\n

This is the comprehensive book.\u00a0 If our readers plan to work in the industry (especially Special Occasion wear, which requires more draping than Mass Market), or wish to teach themselves the basic techniques of draping *anything*, this is a Must-Have book.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"spech<\/a>Cutting and Draping Special Occasion Clothes: Designs for Eveningwear and Partywear<\/a>,<\/strong> by Dawn Cloake.<\/p>\n

TT520 .C58 1998<\/strong><\/p>\n

As someone who is constantly trying to keep my personal library limited to only the most-useful titles, and taking up the least space, I often wonder in which markets new books think to fill gaps.\u00a0 My desire to have good manuals to hand, but not have shelves and shelves of them duplicating the same information, like the FIT library does, makes me especially picky about the ones which target a small niche, such as Special Occasion, or Shirtmaking (e.g. the books by David Page Coffin we reviewed here:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/2014\/06\/17\/needles-in-the-stacks-professional-sewing-techniques-edition\/<\/a><\/strong>. )<\/p>\n

For Denise and I to be interested in a book that deals with a very small subset of the world of garment design, patternmaking, or construction, it has to offer more detailed information, better presented (e.g. the D. P. Coffin titles), than the manuals (e.g. the Armstrong above) we already own.\u00a0 This book, “Cutting and Draping Special Occasion Clothes”\u00a0<\/strong> does not make the cut.<\/p>\n

\"bad<\/a>This book is an odd one.\u00a0 It has a gorgeous picture on the front, but absolutely no photographs inside.\u00a0 How can one publish a book on eveningwear design without at least a few sumptuous pictures???\u00a0 Even in 1998?\u00a0 Furthermore, this book attempts to cover the basic patternmaking skills that go into eveningwear construction using crude hand-drawn illustrations and scanty instructions that assume a lot of prior knowledge.\u00a0 Or perhaps they weren’t thought out well.\u00a0 But neither the written nor the illustrated instructions\u00a0 present as much information as any of the previous three books reviewed here.<\/p>\n

Finally the pattern shapes and design suggestions lack creativity and range of design skill.\u00a0 Save your pennies and buy the Helen Joseph Armstrong instead!<\/p>\n

All righty, everyone!\u00a0 This should help you figure out what to order your favorite FIT student this Christmas!\u00a0 Or, perhaps your favorite student of life.\u00a0 Have terrific holidays and peace to you and yours,<\/p>\n

Beth & Denise<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Denise<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We welcome you back for a holiday version of Needles in the Stacks.\u00a0 We’ve designed this post to help you decide which of the many draping manuals out there should be on your holiday wish list. Here are the books we looked at this fall: Drape Drape, Drape Drape 2, Drape Drape 3. All three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":271,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[147,14184,29980],"tags":[8421,36157,8434,14203,36156,14192,36161],"class_list":["post-1720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fashion","category-libraries","category-needles-in-the-stacks","tag-books","tag-design","tag-dresses","tag-dressmakers","tag-fashion","tag-fit-library","tag-sewing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2hRtx-rK","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/271"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1720\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}