Having researched what consumers would like from a sewing pattern and doing my own market research into what is currently available, I decided to start with drafting a basic stretch block. The first block I made was for a women's stretch leotard. One reason for using a women's measurements is that I wanted something that would accommodate breasts, then once I had it made up I could trial it on a male mannequin and assess what the fit issues were, then adjust. The other reason is that, in cutting a female pattern for a male mannequin, I am replicating the process that a drag performer takes when working from women's sewing patterns.
Looking at the image above (which contains the same leotard in both sides of the image), and the image below (a side view) the fit issues are as follows:
Too short in the bodice
Armholes too small
Shoulders not wide enough
Side seam creeping towards back
Individually, these are all things that can be adjusted (if you know what you are doing) but I do feel that a lot of people might be put off by this many alterations.
Following this, I drafted a men's stretch leotard in order to fit the male mannequin. I wanted to determine what alterations would be needed in order to 'feminise' a male-fitting leotard.
At this stage I didn't make any alterations to the chest to accommodate padding, I wanted to make an unadapted male bodice so I could clearly see what the issues were, before making a third test garment that was a hybrid of the two.
See images below:
This garment was better in terms of fit, but wasn't very sexy. The legs weren't cut high enough, especially viewed from the back, giving it a very frumpy overall look.
In drafting the 'hybrid' leotard, I wanted to create a pattern that didn't just 'fit' but was also unique and eye-catching. In acknowledgement of the respondent to the questionnaire had mentioned pointed shoulders, and remembering my one of my pieces from a previous module, I looked again at the pattern pieces I devised in making this:
I decided to incorporate these into my pattern pieces. This poses some problems in that the peaks of the shoulders need to be stiff in order to stand up, and the body of the leotard needs to retain its stretch as it has negative ease. However, as with my Leigh Bowery piece, there are ways to get different properties from one fabric, such as through the use of interfacing.
First impressions of the first toile are good, but I will need to try it on an actual person to establish how it 'moves', and also try differing levels of stretch fabric. I am concerned that there is an indentation in the shoulder peak and am interested to see if I can avoid this by cutting the whole shoulder piece as one panel.
Commentaires