People ask me, “hey Alison, what are you sewing right now?” Yes, another set of coveralls. Shocker. 😂
I’m playing with this idea of a more feminine take on coveralls, with maybe a gathered or pleated sleeve head. And a more tailored collar like a shawl collar. After all, our theme this month in the Beatrice Collective is Tailoring – why not bring a little of that action into my current project!
Reaching ease
I’m basing my draped custom pattern on a previous railroad striped coveralls I draped on my Beatrice. You might have seen me wear them during our Made by Hand live streams. I love the look BUT it doesn’t have a lot of extra room for reaching my arms up which I plan to address in this new version.
To figure out how to make it easier to reach and live in my new coveralls, I asked Gabby for advice in the Collective’s Whole Garment Lab, our bi-weekly free Zoom fitting help meet-up. She suggested I add 2″ of ease each to the front and back from high point shoulder through the crotch. I’m going to do my best to evenly distribute this “reaching ease” including through the armscyes.
Draping a shawl collar
Next up, I needed to create a shawl collar. Instead of buying a pattern with this detail or drafting from measurements, I opted to drape this collar style. Honestly, it’s a heck of a lot faster and I know from the get-go it will fit me and incorporate my original bodice block perfectly.
For a guide to drape the collar, I consulted Connie Amaden-Crawford’s The Art of Fashion Draping. Way back when I was rushing to complete my Fablibs look, I found this book super helpful for draping a notched collar.
To get my drape started, I traced off my front block onto a piece of muslin. I added some extra room above and to the right of CF for the shawl collar extension. Here’s how I laid it out:
Here’s my draped pattern as compared with a diagram from a flat pattern cutting book. The shapes are basically the same except (1) I didn’t have to do any math or drafting and (2) it fits. Win and win.
I’m pretty happy with the final result – not too shabby eh? Onwards to the new sleeves….
Love it! Can’t wait to see this new version and how you incorporated the ease. I’ve never drafted a shawl collar, or any other foofie collar before because, well, too much math! Draping …one of those duh moments for me as well! But I’m willing to let you go first to pave the way!
I’m thinking about doing a quick free tutorial in the Collective about draping a collar. Are you up for it Marie??