Mirroring Suzy Bee Sews - Life So Strange It Should Be Fiction

About a year ago this Oscar de la Renta boucle jacquard dress, which was $1890 at Saks (it's sold out, but for the moment is  still on the website  if you'd like to zoom into the details), caught my eye.   The fabric content of the original is poly/acrylic/polyamide, with a silk lining.  I looked forever for the perfect fabric.  It's tough to find a boucle that is lightweight enough to be pleated, so in the end I went a different direction with the fabric. My starting point for this was Butterick 5558 , which has the perfect collar/neckline and the empire waist.  This pattern has only two reviews, which surprises me as I think it is rather cute and purchased it before I ran across the inspiration piece.  Having made it, I am impressed with the drafting of the collar/neckline and recommend it. B5558 is drafted with a peaked center front skirt, while the inspiration's bodice is straight across.  I prefer the straight across look.  The bust shap...

I should have made clear in my last post that I had actually already drafted and sewn the final pattern when I posted about my muslin, before there was a consensus (and confirmation, as seen below) that there *are* seams in the front.  But, alas, I was still in the dark and drafted the front as one piece. Both Nancy K and Loti asked about draping.  I don't know how to drape and though it would be an awesome skill to have, I just don't have enough free time to learn.  :(  I have only a few hours a week to sew and I would miss general workaday sewing too much to devote that time for months (or longer) to learning how to drape just to do a few projects a year.  Also, flat pattern works better with my non-3D mind.  I would never be able to unpin a draped project from a dress form and figure out what the heck I did! After my first couple of muslins , I decided to try to be a little scientific.  Plus, making full sized patterns was getting really old!...

There are a lot of PR contests that I enjoy, and the Ready To Wear contest is one I look forward to every year.  I am quite content to sew with patterns and very quick to correct real-life non-sewing friends who think I am a "designer," but drafting the occasional pattern challenges me intellectually and increases my knowledge of how to adjust and sew already-drafted patterns. This year I went through my Pinterest boards and settled on Diane von Furstenberg's Grandie Top (originally $245).  It's a (deceptively) simple shape, and would be lovely with sleeves for Fall/Winter.  It's a great way to show off a beautiful piece of silk, and is office-appropriate without being boring.  Kind of the holy grail of patterns!  How hard can it possibly be to draft? Oh boy. The thing about this top, is that it has all that volume in the front, but after carefully looking at all available detail shots (it's available on multiple websites, all of which did their own phot...