RTW Knockoff Comp - The Pattern

I thought I would have to draft the pattern from scratch for this project but a quick hunt through my stash turned up Vogue 2538 (OOP).

This pattern is like a bad penny (except in a good way)! Some of you may remember this pattern was a contender for my winter coat last year, but I couldn't use it because I had previously cut out a size 10 and couldn't be bothered grading it up to my current size. Kristy wrote to me at the time to let me know the dress was a winner. By some miracle I hadn't cut out the dress pattern and the 12 was still intact. Here are the original pieces:You probably can't see well but there are some really nice features - the shaped back seam and the french darts principally.

Of course there are a couple of changes needed to the base pattern to get where I need to go.

On the back:

1. Added 3cm at hip level tapering back to nothing at the waist (this dress is quite narrow through the hips and that part of my body is not size 12!).


2. Made a 2.5cm sway back adjustment, removing length above the waist.


3. Added 2.5cm to the centre back hem length tapering to the original length at the side. I'm not sure if this will add a slight train to the back hem or compensate for the sway back - either way I'll see how it looks.

You can see the back pattern has a rather odd shape now, but I think it will stop my side seams swinging forwards.

On the front:

1. Added 3 cm at the hip. I folded out the french dart before drawing in the shaping so the dart will still fit in as designed.


2. Added a pleat at the centre front. The dart is 1cm wide at the neck edge and 5cm wide at the waist, with the flare continuing all the way to the hem. I added these distances twice to create the front and back of the pleat (make sense?)


3. I shortened the front length by 5cm at centre front and squared out across the pleats. I followed the original hemline at the side seam for the first 10cm then used a straight line to join the two points. I hope this will be enough to mimic the hem shaping in the inspiration. I'll draw the band depth on the toille so I can see how it will look.


4. I didn't do an fba, but going by the tissue measurements I should have enough room in the bust.

The pattern pieces were really difficult to photograph so I hope you can get enough details to see where I am going with this.

I'll use the original sleeves and omit the collar.

Next post I will show you the fabrics I've chosen and the toille. Fingers crossed it'll work out!