The students of Diploma in Fashion Design, April 2019 batch under the guidance of their faculty Ms. Pavithra Basilica created a Draping Display as part of their Styling and Draping module. Through the display the students explored different techniques to understand the fall of the fabric and placement of pattern and design along with achieving the sketch of the actual garment. The students were divided in groups and some worked individually. The exercise also helped them to create a bond and understand their batch mates better.

Draping is one of the important processes in fashion design. The technique of draping is a visual test that is pinned on a mannequin to identify the fall and look of the final garment. This medium enables the designer to determine if there are any flaws in the design or the fit of the garment before cutting the pattern on the real fabric.

Muslin is the fabric of choice for draping as it inexpensive and can be used to create fabric manipulations to create different looks and designs. The fabric is available in different weight and one can choose a weight that is close to the fabric that is going to be used in the final collection. The actual fabric for the collection is not directly used as it could be an expensive material and if there are any issues with designs or while draping it would be a waste of time and money.

To understand the basic principles of draping, the students were assigned mannequins for the display to create looks with the use of muslin. They explored various manipulations on the fabrics such as pleats, flounces, gathers, ruffles, tucks, darts, smocking effect etc. along with a couple of 3D floral elements and bows on the garments. The draping module enabled the students to understand the importance of draping for a look test in fashion and gave them a visual about how a design would look on a body shape.

Fashion Design Students creating wonders by folding and pinning the fabrics | Draping Exhibition