Qipao Deconstructed

Today, we are deconstructing the qipao blouse. I'm aiming to be as detailed as I can but I will not include tutorial-style step-by-step instructions to draft it. This is because creating a qipao pattern for an individual person is as much continually adjusting for precise fit as it is drawing all the lines and darts for the initial draft. We're going to start, as we always do, with a basic foundation block aka sloper. I used my french dart block. If you don't have one, you can start with a woven pattern that fits very well. So no T-shirts or tunics or leotards or anything like that; something like a fitted button-down shirt (with darts) might be more suitable. You will find yourself taking in ease in many areas, some in unusual places, even if you start with a sloper, because a qipao is a very fitted garment, with practically no ease. At the same time, it should still be a garment that allows a fair bit of movement, which is a challenging drafting requirement not only because of the snug fit but also because the material does not have much give (you cannot make a qipao out of knit fabric so unfortunately, we cannot cheat that way). There will be compensations, of course, and we will discuss them later.

Let's do the back first. We began with the basic/foundation block and used it as is from the waist up. From the waist down, we chopped it off about abdomen- level, flared it very slightly from the waist to the hem (see red arrows), and curved the hem up at the side seams. We also kept the back darts.

Nothing dramatic there. It is completely symmetrical and very straightforward draft. No fit issues, either - the back sits on the body as the foundation block/sloper would, even in its muslin stage.

Now let's work on the front. 

From a drafting point of view, the qipao is an interesting garment for many reasons.

One of these reasons is its asymmetry. By that, I don't mean that its hem slants lower on one side of the body, or that one sleeve is different than the other. Instead, I mean that the front pieces are different on the right and left side in the draft. You might be familiar with cross-wrap dresses, whose mirror-image front pieces cross over the body and cannot be laid out along the center front fold. See sketch below of a typical cross-wrap bodice (ignore the numbers; they are for another tutorial). 

However, they are still mirror-image symmetrical and the left and right pieces can be cut out with the typical double-layer layout of fabric. In addition, their symmetry implies that they have identical darts, and any fit issues can be easily corrected by replicating the adjustments on both pieces equally.

The front qipao drafts, by contrast, cannot be laid out along the center front fold AND are not mirror images of each other. The sketch below shows how this draft evolves from the front french dart foundation block. The red piece is almost the full front bodice, with one shoulder chopped off. That shoulder is "replaced" in blue, as an inner layer, 

with an overlapping portion for a button panel.

This asymmetry extends to the darts: while symmetrically drawn in the original draft, they are not present symmetrically in both pieces of the front bodice. In addition, the location of the separation of the two pieces results in at least one of the darts being only partly sewn shut (and continuing on the other piece). The overall effect = it is trickier to adjust for fit because one cannot simply "take in or move the darts by the same amount on the left and right"; there is no longer a straightforward "left-and-right", or a convenient place to move them to. 

Since we're on the topic of darts, let me digress a bit and talk about curved darts. Everyone knows straight darts, right? They are the triangular/diamond-shaped pinches of fabric you sew shut to take in ease in localized hollow spots. 

Curved darts allow you to shape those hollow spots more precisely. They are especially useful around rounded portions of the body e.g. the bust region.

Here are three kinds of curved darts you might use often:

CONCAVE DART
We use concave darts to curve the fabric around a mounded area, like the side of the bust. Well-endowed folks, take note: your garments should always have an armscye dart, because it shapes your armsyce around your assets more fully than a french dart or a sole waist dart. In addition, very well-endowed folks might enjoy making this armscye dart a concave one, 

so it curves around the side of your bust more gently and does not peak in a nippley-looking dimple. 

bird's eye view of bust area

When sewn shut, the dart still looks like a straight line, but the fabric has been pinched in a curved way behind it.

CONVEX DART

We use convex darts to pinch more fabric in a particularly hollow area, like the region immediately under the bust. See this hollow underbust area on Fleur?

Side view - that area is not a straight ramp:

A convex dart takes in more fabric at the apex of the dart where the body is hollower,

to produce a more closely-fitted profile

in garments that call for it.

Like the concave dart, the fabric is pinched in a curved way but the dart itself looks like a straight line when it is sewn closed.

PRINCESS SEAM

Okay, this is probably old stuff to you, because even if you haven't sewn one yet, you've read about it here on ikatbag about a million times. I love princess seams so much!!! Read about them here and here.

Princess seams are two darts joined together. The kind I commonly use originates from the armscye. At least one of the darts gets curved in the process of merging. See in the sketch above how that armscye dart curves downwards to meet the apex of the vertical waist dart? In addition to the fabric now being pinched in a curved way, the closed dart itself is also a curved line:

End of Dart Detour. Summary: shape your darts to shape your contours better. Simple principle, right?

Let's talk about the collar next.

That mandarin collar is just a stand collar. There is nothing special about it. If you've ever sewn a shirt collar, you'll know there are two parts to it: one is the stand, which is the erect ring of stiff fabric that holds the actual pointy collar up. 

All you need to know about drafting stand collars are

1  they have to fit around your neckline. 


So measure half your neckline from center back to center front, and make sure the bottom edge of your stand collar (drafted in half) matches that exactly.

2    they are curved. 
The more closely you want them to slant inwards to hug your neck, the more curved they should be. See my collar draft below - the bottom edge rises away from the horizontal reference line quite a bit (shown by black arrow).



3      use indirect interfacing.

When you assemble a stand collar, it is best to have three layers:

• The outer fabric
• The inner fabric (lining)
• The interfacing: a light fusible (no SA) ironed directly onto a piece of cotton (with SA) to create a stiff, thin and SEPARATE sew-in layer. Do not iron the fusible interfacing directly onto either of the lining or outer fabric layers, or you will get rolls, puckering, or uncomfortable stiffness as the collar curls around your neck.

Finishing up now: there is a separating zipper along the side seam.

Now that the bodice is finished, all that are left are the sleeves.

Traditionally, qipaos and qipao blouses have cap sleeves. These can be integrated into the draft by extending the shoulders out, or set into the armscyes.

Cap sleeves are not for everyone because they cut off at what is (for most people) not the most flattering part of one's upper arm. I've heard it said that unless you are a teenager, or have exceptionally toned or skinny arms, avoid cap sleeves and opt for a slightly lower sleeve hem.

I'm working on a separate post all about sleeves and angles and stuff like that, so for now I'll just show you some pictures and say two quick things:

Muslin version                        Final version

1      Always obtain a superior armscye before attempting to set in a sleeve. Otherwise, your sleeve, no matter how beautifully drafted, will be compromised. Check out the muslin armscye in the photos above - it was too large. An armscye that is too large restricts movement (counter-intuitive, I know) because it pulls on the sleeve when one moves one's arm. A smaller armscye pulls less on the sleeve and allows more freedom of movement.

2      The shallower the angle of set of a sleeve, the more movement it allows, especially with fabric that has very little give. Translation: a more horizontally-lying sleeve (final version) is more comfortable than a more vertically-lying sleeve (muslin version).

Before we end, let me encourage you not to be afraid that unstretchy fabric + a snug fit = uncomfortable or impossible to move in. All you need to do is fit your armscye and bust well and you'll be surprised at how much movement you can manage. 

We're finally at the end now!

I made lots of little changes to the original draft in order to get the right fit for this style of garment and the fabric I was working with. In order to understand the difference all those adjustments made to the final version,

you have to remember what the muslin looked like:

Hahahahahahaha, right?

Thank goodness that's gone now.

See you back for the Frog Button Tutorial!

(Or the Sleeves Tutorial. Whichever I'm in the mood to tackle first).

7 Utterly Random Most Recents

Snapshots of where I am this fortnight -

#1 Most recent song-breaking-my-heart-right-now:

Track #9: Dyin' Day

#2 Most recent just-read:

Quote:

"My friends call me Wrath. My enemies call me Please Have Mercy. What's your name, soldier boy?" - Raffe, during a human-Resistance interrogation (Angelfall, pg.95.)

So awesome. I want my own personal archangel.

#3 Most recent BIP (Book In Progress):

Checked this out after finishing Ender's Game (no, I haven't watched the movie). Love the writing. It's like being in a world in which everyone speaks like their IQ is off the charts or writes like they work for the government. 

#4 Most recent mistake:

What was I thinking? There is no such thing as an alternative nutella.


#5 Most recent mission accomplie:

Eight bunnies (or "kittens", as we should correctly say). My sewing room is officially a warren.

#6 Most recent home invasive species:

I remember the good old days when it used to be Cheerios. 

#7 Most recent craft workshop with the kids:

Geometric Stuffed Toys 101

Will share soon (along with all the other projects and tutorials on my Procrastinating List). 

Frock

Off-focus shot of this dress I couldn't bring myself 

to blog about because it is a frock.

And LiEr does not do frocks.

(And yet look at her. Pearls, no less. Long story.) 

However, this frock has many good drafting lessons in it, 

so in the name of education, I think I'll share it after all.

At some point in my life, I mean.  

Breeding Like uh . . . Rabbits

Bunny bottoms. Eeeeeeee! 

Still tweaking the faces, though. 

The goal is "Devastatingly Cute Or Bust".

Quite some way to go yet-

so far we're only at "Marginally Awwwww."

We Drew Princesses

I'm buying time until Spring.

And that is all I will say about the weather.

Changing the subject totally, here's a freebie today - 10 princesses, as custom-ordered by Kate, plus one knight and one prince, just so it doesn't feel as if I'm marginalizing the boys out there. I'm sure I must have drawn thousands of princesses in my mothering career. I think that, in my meager arsenal of Parenting Skills,  drawing is arguably the most useful. It is even more useful than multi-tasking and picking things up with my toes. I've lost count of the number of times I've conveniently fallen back on a drawing surface - paper, backs of receipts, paper napkins and the crinkly paper on the examination table in doctors' offices - and a drawing implement (including non-conventional ones like chalky playground pebbles) to entertain my kids when we've had to wait for something. Better than the iPad, cheerios and origami-using-burpcloths combined.

Some weeks ago, during a lull in our afternoon, Kate asked for princesses to color. Again. So I drew some, and scanned them, just to save the time of drawing them (yet again) at her next request. 

Thought I'd share them here, so you can use them to entertain your kids during these long and uninspiring winter days. You can tell which ones I drew first, and which ones brought up the tail end of the sketching session as I got tired. And yes, I know some of you will decry their being heinous stereotypes. Chill, friends. They were, as I said, ordered by Kate. And dictated as to their features, hairstyles and particular gowns so as to be superior for coloring purposes. Here's how I got them to all look uniformly and unrealistically skinny:

I sketched a featureless generic template and then layered plain paper over it to free-hand each different princess without having to first sketch with pencil (wastes time because must then draw twice plus must erase the pencil marks later).

Incidentally, Jenna came by later and said, "You missed out "Fairy Princess". Darn. Nothing escapes Jenna. Might have to draw a sequel set to pacify her. I'd better include Ballerina Princess, too. Also Equestrian Princess, Fashion Runway Princess, Astronaut Princess and Aviator Princess while I'm at it. Just to be comprehensive, you know.

Meanwhile, enjoy!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

And may Spring be upon us soon . . . like right now would be nice. Or -nicer yet- yesterday.

I Love Finding Old Patterns

Literally!
It's always a treat to revisit an old WIP and find that I actually made a pattern (instead of randomly drawing on fabric, which is a rather reprehensible habit, which I am ashamed to say I sometimes do).

And that I didn't throw it away immediately after making it (which is a slightly less reprehensible habit, but only because I don't like saving patterns because they hog space).

And that I actually stapled the pieces together to keep them in one place, even if that place is the innards of some old folder that I hardly ever access so that it is completely unlikely that I will ever find it again.

But which, this time, I inexplicably did. 

! ! ! 

Either the planets have aligned or else the 2010 me was an imposter whom the aliens left in my place while they were conducting brain tests on the real me in their mothership. 




P.S. I haven't forgotten that I owe you a qipao deconstruction and a frog tutorial. So I'm procrastinating again (what -like you're surprised?).