Drape Drape 2 No 4 top

May 28, 2017 by steelyseamstress 10 Comments

Drape drape 2 No 4 Following on from my post about the Drape Drape series of books, here’s a post about my first make from the Drape Drape 2 book. I decided to make the No4 One-piece scoop neck asymmetrical top. These tops have such snappy names! I wasn’t sure which size I would be, but taking heed of the advice I’d seen on various blogs I used the size guide in the book and discovered I was an L/XL size, which seems to roughly translate as a size 10 /12 women’s size in the UK. It’s a real pity the sizes don’t go any bigger in these books, clearly they were written with Japanese women in mind.

Usually when I take on a new pattern, I’ll select a size which is roughly right and then use that to make some of my usual adjustments. The Drape drape patterns are bewildering though – I have to look carefully at the pattern to even work out where my right arm-hole should be! Given the unconventional drafting I decided that it was best to put my brain on the back-seat and just run with the size I’d chosen.

The construction of the top is very simple once you get past the idiosyncratic nature of the garment. In fact, it is quite a bit quicker to sew than a conventional t-shirt, requiring only two seams – one side seam and one shoulder seam – how crazy is that! Then there is the neckline to finish, the bottom hem and arm hems and that is it!

I’ve worn the top a few times now and can say I’m please with it. I was initially concerned that the asymmetry would be annoying. I thought I might keep noticing the two different arm hole shapes, but actually that hasn’t been the case, and it feels just like any other t-shirt. I’m particularly contented with how the drapes high my bulging mid-riff too – there’s a bonus I wasn’t expecting!

My only worry is with the fabric. I bought three lengths of this viscose-lycra blend reasonably cheaply.I was really pleased with this purchase at first, because I recognised that the drape was perfect for these drape drape garments. However, the first t-shirt I made has already starting pilling. I’m sure given more wear the same will happen to this one.

I received quite a bit of very useful feedback about that t-shirt (thanks everyone who contributed), and there seem to be ways of avoiding this. Firstly, more expensive fabric is less likely to pill, although that hasn’t always been the case. Secondly, synthetics are more inclined to pill too. I have made a t-shirt with an expensive bamboo viscose and that shows less signs of pilling – perhaps I should invest in more of that. I have bought some more viscose-lycra (but this time something more expensive) that I would like to use for the No 2 One-piece side Drape Top. I’m hoping that spending a bit more money on the fabric will pay off.

Just to finish off, I compiled a list of Drape Drape 2 projects that I could find on the internet. (Let me know if I’ve missed anything off!) There are some wonderful takes on these designs here and they’ve really inspired me, so I thought I share them all in one place:

No 1 Two-piece gather drape cape

No projects found.

No 2 One-piece side Drape Top

Jorth in coral pink

Meggi Peg in stripes

Montana Designs in blue

Nicole at Home in an ditsy print

Sew Busy Lizzy in stripes, in tie-dye print, and another in stripes.

Sew Indigo in a Missoni chevron print

Sew Smitten in animal print

Sew Well in two-tones, with sleeves

Tessuti Blog in a tie-dye print and with stripes.