Happy New Year! May 2013 bring you many new sewing ideas and lots of hours of sewing fun.
One of the books I started the year with was “Precision draping; a simple method for developing designing talent” by Nelle L. Weymouth. Published in 1889, this is a lovely book; everything is so well explained and it just makes pattern drafting seem so easy! I got to this book via The Perfect Nose, who posts lots of vintage goodies as well as marvelous sewing projects of her own.
One of the things that I sketched into my notebook for future reference were the necklines and how to design facings. My favourite were the sweetheart neckline, the triangular keyhole neckline and the peter pan collar, both the rounded and the pointed version.
The full lesson on neckline facings can be found here and these are the drawn notes I took while reading. Drawing helps me both remember notions I would like to experiment with and understand better what it is to be done. Just don’t get to bored by the repetitive busty lady shown below.
1. The Sweetheart Neckline
A rounded and rather modest sweetheart neckline is shown here, but you can make it as generous or as square as you like it.
2. The Keyhole Neckline.
A triangular shape is shown here but the same can be done with an oval shape.
3. The Peter Pan Collar
The Peter Pan collar has been getting a lot of attention lately and I’ve seen many tutorials and even made my own following the pattern of a blouse I have. This all seems silly when you notice how simple it actually is to draft. If only I had pictured it like this 6 months ago.
4. The Pointed Peter Pan Collar
Another reason why I am such a sucker for sewing books is learning the names of things. And then calling them by their names, dammit 🙂 This is such a pretty collar; did you know it was called a pointed peter pan? How do you call it?
Hope this sounds at least 25% as exciting as it does to me and if not, well, I expect you to write about it in the comments section 🙂 I’d rather be told when I am boring than yap yap yap alone.
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I love these sketches and find them helpful. How do you do it? As someone who still uses a pencil and a set square I would love to know. And how wonderful are those old pattern books. I used to have such a collection but have lots them all over the years. Recently bought a set of Women’s Institute training books which are pretty nice, but here I am dying to get into the 21st century with my pattern drafting.
Hello!
I love old pattern books! Thank you for your comment on the sketches 🙂 I use a wacom bamboo tablet for this kind of illustrations, but I would love to get better at pencil drawing and drawing in general. I am really just a beginner, but It’s a lot of fun!
Thank you for this. I did an internet search for “vintage sweetheart neckline” and all that turned up in images was pictures from chinese wholesale companies of strapless dresses… until I found this sketch! Great blog.
Thank you Kristen for your kind comment : )