Drape Drape 2: Winner and Another No. 2

Okay, so before I announce the winner of the English translation of Drape Drape 2, I wanted to share with you my second No. 2: one-piece side drape top. This time made up as intended in a S/M. You read that right; it’s the same size as last week, only this time it drapes just like it does in the book. You see, as I was getting ready to trace out pattern No. 4, I noticed a piece labeled No. 2 side.

“What’s this?” I wondered.

The answer: the extra little bit of fabric that I was missing last week. Remember when I said, “It wasn’t until after I cut the pattern out from a bit of leftover Mood wool jersey from my Swingy Stripes dress that I realized just how small the pattern was around the hips. I then went back and converted the waist and hip measurements for S/M to inches and found out that I should have added quite a bit of fabric!” It turns out there’s enough ease built in when you trace the pattern correctly that the sizing was actually okay.

Now, believe me, my leaving the side piece out last week was my own fault. I’m not used to the large format all-on-one-sheet pattern pages, and I thought I was good when I found No. 2 front and No. 2 back. Nope, there’s No. 2 front, No. 2 side, and No. 2 back. And, they’re all clearly shown in the instructions, too. Anyway, I scratched plans for making No. 4 since I felt I owed to to myself and to the book to get this pattern right first. I pulled out some linen knit from Fine Fabrics that was left over from my Renfrew pattern testing last year and got to work.

I have more photos of my new No. 2 below, but before I launch into them, I want to announce the giveaway winner.

Drumroll please…

Congratulations go to dizzidays! I’ve already sent your name and address to Laurence King Publishing. The rest of you should run over and enter into Ginger Makes’ Drape Drape 2 giveaway that’s going on through the end of the day. But, if you wake up tomorrow still without the book, it’s worth the purchase (from the publisher, from Amazon). Just remember to trace off all the necessary pattern pieces!

Now, back to my new dress.

This time around things went even more smoothly and quickly. I zipped through the few seams. Unfortunately, I mangled up the neck line yet again, but I got it much, much closer to right this time around. My issue is distributing the binding evenly around the neckline. Last time I used a serger to stitch it on, and I couldn’t unpick it without putting too many holes in the garment. This time I used my regular sewing machine, and I did end up unpicking it once, but when I got it this close, I deemed it good enough since I wasn’t sure it could handle any more unpicking. Next time I’m going to measure and make my own notches to help my distribute everything more evenly.

To jazz up what would have been a solid teal No. 2, I spliced in a bit of a neutral. I was careful to match the side seam so that the side would show off a subtle diamond shape.

My favorite part though is definitely the drape. That missing piece sure did amp up the way the fabric falls. I’m very happy I found it!

Now to wait for those warm summer months – I think this dress will get a lot of wear!

Stay tuned for yet another giveaway coming tomorrow! It’s the start of the holiday season after all!