The Kimono Dress Project (Duro Kimono Dress)

Courtesy of Barney's NY.

Duro Olowu won the British Fashion Award in 2005 -New Generation Designer.

You can see his original dress here on Dress A Day.

From NYMagazine.com from his 2007 collection.

"Since arriving on the London fashion scene in 2004, Nigerian-born Duro Olowu has impressed the right people with his vibrant mix of African prints, seventies tailoring, and unlikely color combos. A high-waisted patchwork boho dress—known as the “Duro”—put the brand on the fashion map, and became a cult item in 2005 after being discovered by American Vogue editor Sally Singer and Julie Gilhart of Barneys."

Then there were the other versions...

Drew Barrymore in the movie "Music and Lyrics"

This is the one that made me take notice of the dress, I liked the side panels and contrast fabrics.

That set me out to look for patterns, and there were a number of bloggers who had already made their own versions using these..

McCall 5137 OOP

Butterick 5031 OOP (but still available on the McCalls website)

Simplicity 4072

Butterick 4849 OOP

Serendipity The Torii Tunic Pattern 

McCalls 5137

So how is McCalls 5137 like the Duro?  

It has kimono sleeves, neckband, hem band.

How is it not like the Duro?
The skirt is more A line with a curved hem, the Duro is more like a dirndl the side seams are straight and the hem is straight across with no curve.

The waistband is wider and has a tie, the Duro has a narrower waist band and no tie

The neck facing is wider on the pattern.
There is no back neck facing on the pattern.

There is no option for a long sleeve version on the pattern.

NEXT

Butterick 5031


How is Butterick 5031 like the Duro?

The neckband is closer in width to the original dress
It has kimono sleeves
The hem is straight and the skirt side seam is straight
It has gathering at the skirt under the band
It does not have a tie on the back, but a zipper as the original
It has a long sleeve version

How is it not like the Duro?
The top crosses instead of having a facing
There is no shaping to the waistband
The contrast bands are narrower than the original
It has gathers under the bust over the waist band

Note: The contrast sleeve and skirt bands on the right photo of Butterick 5031 are not hemmed the pattern was intended to look like the pic on the left.


I played a little with the proportions to see what would suit me best.

From left to right.

Far left - hems are not folded

Middle - skirt hem is folded

Far right - sleeve and skirt are as originally intended following the pattern instructions.

In the end you have to play until you find what looks best on your body.




You'll also notice on the Duro, that there are no gathers under the bust, in the Butterick 5031 version it was the same but really didn't suit me at all, so it had to be tweaked.

There was something about the bodice fit on the kimono dress that was bothering me. When my arms were down there was excess drape around the breasts. So I played with it a bit, wrapping the tie, playing with the widths on the front facing and yoke, and for this version finally settling on a shoulder adjustment.  The adjustment also improved the unfortunate pattern placement making the two large flowers on the bust area look a little less obvious.

Playing...

Once I pinned the shoulders up, things started to look a bit perkier :), and without the excess it makes the outside bodice line more streamlined, it also resulted in less width at the sleeve opening as well as less of a blouson back. Most Importantly it raised the neckline as well, which was a concern. If this pattern were made in a stiffer cotton, it might be ok.

Added the shoulder slant and shortened the front & back bodice.

So it meant reworking the back facing

Now we are really finished.

Waffle Weave Cotton Princess Line Top McCalls Palmer Pletsch 2818

This is my first tissue fitting exercise, of course I didn't pick a simple t-shirt, but McCalls 2818 Palmer Pletsch princess line tank.  I thought it might be nice to have a few of these for summer.

This pattern is a mini tutorial for tissue fitting, pattern adjustments and general fitting woes. 

There was a lot of slashing, taping and tracing involved in this project.

I've selected this mossy green candidate for the muslin.

The one thing I can say about this pattern is that it isn't fitted, and I have a tendency to over fit everything. It was fitted through the shoulders and back, but once it hit the bust it hung straight down, so there was a lot of ease around the waist and rib cage. The pattern envelope says semi- fitted, so I'm guessing that's what this means.

It isn't all bad though, I added some shaping to the side seams, and I need to true up the bust shaping after all of the adjustments made to the pattern. Because the pattern falls straight down from the bust and upper back, it gave me an opportunity to keep the fullness I need in the front and taper the back.

There are some adjustments that need to be made to the back armhole, I'm finding this is one that I personally need to make on quite a few patterns (marked with white arrow). I'll need to take a dart at the back armhole which shortens the curve, then round out the back bottom armhole curve.

I've read a number of pattern reviews and it looks like the most successful versions of this top were made in fabrics that are stiff, not soft with drape. I have a number of sheer fabrics, or fabrics that need to be lined so I'll use this muslin as a lining for another top in the stash. The more I look at this, the more I think it would look better sleeveless, with another neckline, or split down the center front for a deeper v-neck.

Version 3

I think I'm ready to cut it out of a stiffer fabric.

Here are the changes that were made to the pattern.

There was too much fabric around the back armhole, so the armscye seam allowance was trimmed at the shoulder, and the princess line seam on the back was shaved back about 1/4" at the armscye down to nothing just beyond the notch.

It's darkest before the storm... sometimes you just have to hang in there to get what you want.

I changed the back to insert a zipper instead of having a button closure, so this won't be finished until this weekend when I have the opportunity to buy a zipper for it. It doesn't look so covered up in person, and the neck facing still needs to be inserted, so the neckline will be dropping another 5/8". I may decide to change the neckline to something a bit lower and rounder. We shall see.

Here are some of the adjustments that were made from the very first to the successful muslin.

The side seam shaping is the most dramatic change.

The center back piece had only a small adjustment.

This is as done as it's going to be, after all of the fitting, I picked a fabric that I have fond memories of, and just couldn't bring myself to do all of the understitch by machine, so I did all of the finishing by hand and I just couldn't stop myself, I kept on finding areas to finish off, so there is a lot of handstitching and basting in this one.

It started out as a v-neck with sleeves and then I fitted the muslin, and picked the fabric, and it turned into a sleeveless version (I only had a yard), so I raised the armhole and I made it 1 1/2" longer.

This is one of those garments that looks strange on the hanger because it has so much shaping. Better on the body for certain.

I love it, so I'll be making more of these in the future. Sorry for the dark pics, I was getting artsy and playing dress up :)

Palmer Pletsch 1 Piece Pant Leg M6571

These pants were very interesting, you cut out one piece on doubled fabric.

This pant has only two seams (inseam and the crotch seam).  The side seam has been engineered out.  I've read about these pant patterns, so was delighted to see it included in this pattern.  At least I wouldn't need to try and hunt it down elsewhere. 

Again the fitting is what takes the longest, and I cheated a bit with my TNT pant pattern, so it moved along faster.  In the end I reduced the crotch depth 2" and the width of the pant about 3-4".  I wasn't sure I would like them but I do.  They're not like your typical elastic waistband pant, this has shaping to it.  There are darts that mark the sides, then another pair on the back and a total of four on the front.   I elected to use the side seam dart, and the back dart, but no front darts.  My next pair will have at least one pair of  front darts, they aid in keeping the pant from shifting and reduce the gathering bulk. You can just about make out the back dart here.

Don't be alarmed, I'm not going to wear these together, I just wanted to see what the proportions look like together to make the top I will eventually wear with them. Below the top from the same pattern McCalls M6571.

With the left over striped ponte, I'll try and piece a top together and hopefully not look like I've broken out of prison.

Palmer Pletsch Boatneck t-shirt Pattern McCalls M6571 With Fitting Instructions

I don't know why people think that knits don't have to be fitted.  Is it because we are so used to this kind of fit, that improving it isn't a priority? 

Example of ill fitting T-shirt

So here's an opportunity to get one version of a t-shirt done to my specifications.

Another Palmer Pletsch pattern from McCalls.  These patterns are fun, they are chock full of fitting instructions, and while the style isn't trendy or cutting edge, it is a classic.  View A is a boatneck with a shallow V  just a little different, view B is more of the classic boatneck, with a slightly rounded neckline.

This is exactly how RTW fits, complete with drag lines on the lower back and funky fullness on the front.

Tackling those issues.... sway back is adjusted.

Bust dart is marked

Changes are made to the pattern and refitted.

It's only tissue and it's already looking better.

Here we are at the fabric stage, just pinned at the shoulders and sideseams.

Tada!! This will be one of these t-shirts I'll wear until threadbare.  Now I changed the fit from the pattern a bit and made it a little less fitted.  The reason for this is that the knit used is fine cotton lisle, 100% cotton, with no lycra.  I don't know if it will shrink substantially but I've left enough ease to wiggle my way back in after washing.  The neckline on this t-shirt is very flattering, so it will be made again, maybe even today.

This is the cotton lisle close up.

I liked the facing on this t-shirt, and while I thought it might make it too precious, it gives stability to the neckline and shoulder area, and makes this t-shirt just a little more refined, and it gives the neckline stability.

The t-shirt above is view A, (on the left) which has a slight v.  View A (on the right) has a rounded shape but they are both about the same depth.  The pattern comes with 2 pattern pieces for the front, so you don't have to worry about cutting the "v" neckline and destroying the pattern for the rounded version.

Here is the other view in the pattern which is the classic boatneck.

Had to make another to go with my striped pants, but the skirt was on the dressform and I think I'm channeling french casual here.  I just need to go out and buy a baguette and beret!  This is the proper boatneck neckline included in the pattern.  I really like how this is drafted, and have learned a little about not over fitting with this pattern.

Back

Side

As a display to show off a necklace.

The pants are in the next post....