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Diagonal
D E S I G N
{ by Ana Jankovic }
Chevron fabrics are popping
up everywhere, from clothing
to accessories to home décor.
These fabrics are especially
flattering for garments, as they
create diagonal lines for a
slimming effect. Learn four
fun and simple techniques to
translate this runway trend
and design custom chevron
fabric for unique garments.
All patterns
are author's
own designs.
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Show Your Stripes
Turn a striped fabric in various directions within a garment to transform
the stripes into slimming geometric
chevron patterns.
the angles. Highlight one line in a bold
color (1). In the following steps, this
line is referred to as the stripe line.
side seams. Copy the stripe line
onto the back pattern using a bold
color (2).
Place the skirt-back pattern right side
Place the front-bodice pattern right
When working with striped fabric,
down over the skirt front, aligning the
side down over the front skirt, align-
always alter and prepare the pattern
first. The featured dress is composed
of a waist seam and simple pencil skirt.
2
1
Trace the pattern pieces onto
new paper.
On the skirt-front pattern, draw several
equally spaced diagonal lines connecting the side seam and center front.
Redraw the lines until satisfied with
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ing the waistline. Copy the stripe line
onto the front bodice in the same
manner (3). Repeat the process to
mark the back bodice.
which stretches more easily than the
straight-grain. To avoid stretching and
distortion, don’t over-handle the garment pieces.
Lay the striped fabric right side up
in a single layer on a large work surface. Position a pattern piece over the
fabric, matching a fabric stripe to the
marked stripe line; pin (4). To cut a
mirrored pair, such as the front skirt
pieces, first position and cut the first
piece using the pattern. Flip the cut
fabric piece to the wrong side, and
then position it right side down over
the fabric, carefully aligning the fabric
stripes (5). Pin, and then cut out the
second piece.
Use this method to create large chevron blocks throughout the garment,
as in the featured dress, or use it to
highlight just one area. For example,
cut a wide waistband in a chevron
pattern or just the side panels of a
gored skirt.
When constructing the garment,
carefully match the stripes along the
seamlines (not the seam-allowance
edge) and pin generously. Also note
that the fabric is cut on the bias,
3
4
Stripe Line
5
Match
stripes.
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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014
6
Petite Pintucks
Embellish the surface of a plain fabric
with small pintucks, and then arrange
them into a textured chevron pattern.
Use the pintucked fabric for an entire
garment or to highlight particular sections. This technique offers a great way
to dress up a basic button-down shirt,
and works best for mediumweight
woven fabrics, such as cotton, linen,
or silk doupioni or shantung. Use
matching thread for a subtle effect or
contrasting thread to add more drama
to the garment.
Cut a large fabric rectangle. The fabric
rectangle size depends on the size of the
pattern piece. Keep in mind that the fabric will shrink slightly after pintucking.
Determine the desired distance
between the pintucks. For the featured
7
shirt, the pintucks are placed 1”apart.
Mark equally spaced lines along the
long edges for the pintucks (6). The
lines should be parallel to the fabric
straight grain.
Fold the rectangle with wrong sides
together along each marked line; press.
For very crisp folds, press each line over
a piece of cardboard or card stock (7).
Set the machine to a 2mm stitch
length. Edgestitch each fold as closely
as possible to create the tucks (8). Press
the fabric first from the wrong side, and
then from the right side.
8
To create the chevron pattern when
cutting and constructing the garment
pieces, use the method in “Show Your
Stripes,” treating the pintucks as stripes.
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9
Right
Side
Wrong
Side
10
Inverted Pintucks
As a variation on the pintucked chevron design, create inverted topstitched
pintucks. This method is suitable for
heavier fabrics, such as cotton twill,
velour, velvet, wool, boiled wool, or
denim—anything that prominently displays the topstitching. Add texture to a
princess-seamed jacket or make a striking coat with sleeve cuffs and a collar
accentuated by inverted pintucks.
Cut a fabric rectangle larger than
the pattern piece. Keep in mind that
the fabric will shrink quite a bit after
pintucking. To determine the correct
amount of fabric to cut, test the process
on a scrap.
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On the fabric wrong side, mark the
pintuck lines, spacing them 2” or
more apart.
Fold the rectangle with right sides
together along each marked line; press.
Stitch each line from the fabric wrong
side approximately 3⁄8” from the fold.
Press the pintucks in one direction first
from the right side and then from the
wrong side (9).
From the right side, topstitch 1⁄4” from
each pintuck seam (10).
To create the chevron pattern when
cutting and constructing the garment
pieces, use the method in “Show Your
Stripes,” treating the pintucks as stripes.
11
Pieced Pattern
This piecing method allows you to
create your own striped fabric to incorporate into a garment design. The
technique is suitable for medium- to
heavyweight fabrics. Use two contrasting fabric colors, or experiment with
more than two colors for a more eyecatching effect.
On a piece of pattern paper, trace the
desired pattern-piece outline. Within
the outline, draw a chevron pattern.
Once satisfied with the angles and shape,
number the stripe sections, and then cut
them out (11). Assign the even number
stripes to one fabric color and the odd
7A
7A
6A
6A
55
77B
B
66BB
44
number stripes to the remaining
fabric color. Cut the stripes from
the fabric.
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Align the stripes along the long
edges with right sides together, fol-
22
lowing the number order. First align
the chevron center, and then move
toward one end; pin. Stitch toward
the point, clipping the corner and then
aligning the remainder of the stripe
with right sides together (12).
1
12
Press the seams in one direction,
and then continue piecing the stripes
until complete. Z
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