I check the sales on Gilt.com from time to time but rarely get excited over them. But today there’s a sale on Magaschoni (why oh why had I never heard of them before??) and it’s like a dream in which Audrey Hepburn takes your hand and says, “Would you like me to take you on a tour of my closet, delightfully updated with current colors and detailing?” I would happily wear almost anything from the sale, but here are the ones that are really getting me:
I think I can figure out how to draft most of those myself as the shapes are pretty straightforward. And I’ll probably never even get around to most of them because my need for silky things and flouncy ruffles is not super urgent. But what is urgent is this top which I *MUST* have and have no idea how to draft!
Brilliant readers, I implore you to help me! How do I do this? What does the draft of that center bib piece look like? How can I make something so impossibly gorgeous and graceful? Your advice please- I must have this top, and my French blue bamboo knit is languishing in my stash. It is an emergency because I will indeed perish if I don’t have this top. Please help.
[P.S. I think Gilt.com is now open to anyone to browse and shop, but if not and you need an account, just email me at selfishseamstress[at]gmail[dot]com, and I’ll send you an invite.]
The Selfish Seamstress 
43 comments
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January 22, 2010 at 12:17 pm
cecili
Dear Selfish, I think the bib may look something like that: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45578694@N04/4295339637/
BTW I’m French so what I called “grain” is “droit fil”!
January 22, 2010 at 12:24 pm
selfishseamstress
Wow, merci Cecili! I’ll give that a try, and thank you so much for sharing your expertise, and so quickly!
I learned to sew in Germany and I still mark the grain on my patterns with “Fadenlauf” :)
January 22, 2010 at 2:24 pm
cecili
You’re welcome, I’m eager to see what an incredible garment (again!) you’re going to make from this top!
January 22, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Susan - Knitters Delight
Those are amazing! Knock them off and share the patterns, please. lol
January 22, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Jessica
Oh, wow! That top is amazing! Makes me want to run home, grab some knit from my stash and start pinning it to my dress form. Figuring out this shape might be my weekend project once I finish the jacket I’m working on. It appears that the sleeve is cut with the back and wrapped around to the front. But then wait…it doesn’t look like there is a side seam, so the front and back are cut as one with the only seam at the center back. Ok, so 3 pieces: front/back with sleeve, “bib” which wraps around the shoulders and crosses at the center back (cut 2 and seam at CF), and front placket behind the bib (cut 2 and seam at CF). The bib and placket look like they are folded in half at the top. Wow this really woke my brain cells up after lunch…Does what I’m suggesting make sense?
January 22, 2010 at 1:34 pm
selfishseamstress
Interesting– I had not considered that the bib and the placket might be separate pieces. Rather I thought they were one and somehow angled to create the drapey fold. Hmmm. I’ll have to think about that for a bit.
January 22, 2010 at 12:30 pm
cidell
Ceceli drew what I was going to badly ‘splain
January 22, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Melissa
Well the knit top is pretty, but imagine how much it would slide off your shoulders! *miss practical*
January 22, 2010 at 1:06 pm
lunatepetal
whoa
indeed they are all so gorgeous!!
I’d love the top for myself too :) look forward to seeing how yours turns out!
January 22, 2010 at 1:55 pm
A Peppermint Penguin
I was going to say it looked like a draping thing rather than a drafting thing – but I see you’ve already had expert help.
So instead I’ll say ooooh that tartan jacket is gawjus.
If anyone can pull this off it’d be you – what with the right figure to wear the top and the fanatical determination. And it’s Saturday tomorrow.
Good luck!
January 22, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Katie
Way yummy!! That top dress reminds me quite alot of the Coffee Date dress, although the Coffee Date dress fit you better than that one fits the way-too-skinny model.
January 22, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Sabine
When we find a pattern of a dress. The dress has the excerpt which you are looking for.
http://www.schnittquelle.de/schnittmuster_schnitte_shop.php?navID=20&GID=6&Von=11
January 22, 2010 at 2:34 pm
selfishseamstress
Thanks, Sabine! I looked at the patterns and I think you are referring to Kleid Sines? It looks like it may help me get on the right track, especially because it has the drape and the “bodice” cut as one piece, which is what I initially assume. Herzlichen Dank!
January 22, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Rachel
I am impressed with your ability to draft. I think it is something I need to learn if I am going to keep doing knockoffs. Would you share how you learned this? Is it something you have always done or a new skill? Do you have any book suggestions? Unfortunately I live in a small, podunk south Alabama town of 6,000 people and no drafting or sewing classes nearby. Thanks.
January 22, 2010 at 2:44 pm
selfishseamstress
:) There are some people who learn to draft because they want to realize all the ideas in their head. Then there are folks like you and me who want to learn so they can knock off everyone else’s ideas! Yay, knockoffs! In addition to having taken some classes with the marvelous Tchad (http://tchad.biz) I also rely on Helen Joseph Armstrong’s “Patternmaking for Fashion Design.” It’s a pretty hardcore drafting textbook of the sort that one might use in fashion design school, but I really like it. It’s quite comprehensive and thorough in its explanation. There may be better drafting books for hobbyists, but I haven’t tried anything besides this one so I can’t really comment on that.
January 23, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Rachel
Thank you so much. I will take a look at that book.
January 22, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Auntie Allyn
I was drooling over the Magaschoni pieces myself today!!! I think they’re all very stylish pieces that are also timeless as well. Good luck on your drafting project!!
January 22, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Trudy Callan
How scrumptious.
January 22, 2010 at 3:30 pm
sa
I think how that one is made is a very low cowl neck and then a modesty panel sewn it?? I might be wrong though.
January 22, 2010 at 3:55 pm
jacynrebekah
I definitely think it’s more about draping and less about drafting. It looks very similar to this Michael Kors top: http://www.zappos.com/michael-michael-kors-mini-leo-cowl-neck-top-cream which appears to have a similar drape but with out the pieced in bib part.
January 22, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Myra
I think the cowl facing is larger than usual and is sewn/tacked down inside for the flat part to be showing above the cowl. Take an existing cowl pattern and make the facing bigger and try tacking it down, maybe even interfacing that portion. Your coffee date dress would suffice for a base to knock off most of the dresses.
January 22, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Lily
Yeah I think the tight bit at the neck and the cowl are separate pieces (sorry, you’re talking about “placket” etc but I don’t know what that means… I am awesome at drafting patterns, though! hehe). I’m not sure about the extent of your pattern cutting knowledge… but to do the cowl you just draft the pattern as a normal tight fitting top with a low neck (ie exactly the shape in the picture, but tight). Then you take the pattern piece and slash it from the top down (not cutting all the way through at the bottom), then spread the slashes out, trace around, neaten up the curve and that’s it!
You should buy Metric Pattern Cutting by Winifred Aldrich… it explains all this stuff.
January 22, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Catherine
I saw these and you totally nailed the best pieces in your selection up there. I’m a drafting ignoramus and humbly submit that if anyone can do it, you totally can. Can’t wait to see the results!
January 22, 2010 at 5:32 pm
Beth Prince
I can’t wait to see what you come up with. The neckline to me appears to be a type of shallow hood, and the entire top sort of a reverse hoodie. Keep up updated!
January 22, 2010 at 6:30 pm
nikole
I’ve been trying to figure out how to reply to this from a black berry for the past 30mins and I hope it goes through. I certainly love the challenge of drafting this top. It looks to me like a deep cowl inset with a panel sewn onto it. When drafting the front, instead of stopping at the shoulders and making a seam place the back sloper against it to make the continuous rap around shoulder. Based on how I know how to draft cowls they come with a self lining but based on how this looks it can be shortened to attach the panel. Backtracking a bit to the wrap around shoulders a part of the sleeves should also be drafted on it right now I,m thinking like a very small cap sleeve without a seamline then the rest attached. I’m actually gonna try drafting this on a small scale when I get the chance.
It’s times like this I’m happy I can draft patterns. The knowledge allows you to disect a garment and even make shortcuts. I wish you all the best with this
January 22, 2010 at 6:38 pm
nikole
And a placket is the opening you will find on a polo shirt or on a shirt cuff. They’re a bit tricky to sew.
January 22, 2010 at 6:40 pm
nikole
And a placket is the opening you will find on a polo shirt or on a shirt cuff.
January 22, 2010 at 8:29 pm
Dei
Yummy stuff. Be even better if you could wrap your brain around drafting that top. Bet it’s something so simple that it’s hiding in plain sight. I’m confident in your boosting skills, so get to it so we can observe your wonderful creation.
January 22, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Kathi
Beautiful pieces – good luck figuring out the top. I particularly like the black dress and the coat. All of the pieces look so classy!
January 23, 2010 at 6:42 am
spottedroo
Love that blue plaid jacket. I will have to check out the textbook you recommend. I’m trying to learn more about drafting and trial-and-error is going pretty slowly.
January 23, 2010 at 9:44 am
Erin
I think the cowl is one piece. And I think it looks a little sumthin like this:
Know what I mean?
January 23, 2010 at 10:37 am
selfishseamstress
Thanks, Erin! This is more along the lines of what I was thinking, though I suspect from my experiments last night (pinning knit remnants to my bra straps!) that the pointy piece may angle downwards more to create the drape at the center front. Thank you- this is a huge help and maybe I’m not crazy after all! :D
January 23, 2010 at 11:15 am
Erin
I wondered if there might be an angle (though I would have thought upwards) to the pointy piece. I’m trying to see the grainline (crossgrain) in relation to the fold, and it looks relatively parallel at the shoulder, but a little angled at the point in the back. I think the drape line has to stay relatively on grain so it doesn’t go all twisty. I also had the thought that you could tack the seam allowances together at the front to keep the fold. I can’t wait to see the result (though I might just have to try my hand at it too).
January 23, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Nikole
I started experimenting this morning and mine is very similar to this except i did the cowl separate and then put the inset piece in. But this is soooooo much better and simpler.
January 24, 2010 at 12:40 am
Bussey
Hi, Elaine! This post is of no use at all for a selfish seamstress… I just needed ti let you know I find your taste wonderful (and your humour as much!) BTW, I haven’t still tried to make your coffee date with slleeves (my 45 yrs arms are not definitely the sleeveless type) so I guess I could call myself the selfish would-be-seamstress…
January 24, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Michelle
Take a look at Simplicity 2550. I was browsing here http://www.themahoganystylist.blogspot.com/ and she made a dress that lookes similar to what you want. Just thought I’d let you know.
January 24, 2010 at 7:43 pm
Anonymous
Hot patterns.com has a similar drap with modesty panel. http://www.hotpatterns.com/products/hp-1072-weekender-renaissance-tops
January 24, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Kelly Summers
another options with Marfy patterns, change the point to a scoop and you have it.
http://voguepatterns.mccall.com/f9851-products-5793.php?page_id=879
January 25, 2010 at 4:23 am
Marie-Christine
Bad gir! That jacket will haunt my nights..
Have you seen the Sandra Betzina top for Vogue with draped cowl front over a stay? I think that’d be a very good starting point for the top you must have. Ah, 2945. The stay is the critical piece here..
January 25, 2010 at 12:36 pm
amber
I have no idea, but I hope you can figure it out. I’m excited to see what you come up with. :)
January 30, 2010 at 6:37 pm
localredvine
omg that shirt is amazing… I just got some cherry red rayon remnant pieces… hmmm… i WISH i had a dress form to drape on… please post updates!!!
August 2, 2011 at 9:11 pm
Poornima Thakur
i like its mujhe drafting ka bahut sounk he mujhe bahut pasand ayu
January 16, 2013 at 10:21 pm
Jan
Marfy 2037 is very similar. I have the pattern, haven’t opened it yet. Look at it and if it’s similar enough for a start , I’ll look at the pattern and see if it makes any sense.
Jan