Taunton's Threads - For people who love to sew
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From the pages of Threads magazine Go against the Grain Get creative when aligning pattern pieces along the fabric's yarns
First, study your fabric To become a grain rebel, you first need to identify and understand fabric grain (see Crash course on grain). Then take a fabric and tug it in all directions to test its stability and stretch. Once you know how different fabrics stretch and drape, you can start playing with grain to make a garment that is truly unique. If you take the time to manipulate grain, you want it to stand out. So look for fabrics with bold texture, like damask, linen, herringbone, or faille. Or opt for a linear print. My absolute favorite fabrics to play with are stripes and plaids. Grain as layout guideline, not gospel With a grain-worthy fabric at the ready, look to your pattern. And don't be bound by the layout outlined in the instruction sheets. Pattern layouts are starting points only. They're not commandments.
Spin just a few pattern pieces. Go ahead and cut only a few select pieces on different grains. Let's take, for example, a princess-seamed jacket. Try laying out the front and back pieces on the lengthwise grain, but use opposite bias grains for the side front and side back pieces. This will give you visual interest and can have a slimming effect on many figures. It also adds real "pow" if you're working with a plaid or a stripe.
Focus on center front and back. One of my favorite places to play with grain is at the center front or center back. It's easy to do. With most patterns, simply ignore the "cut on fold" direction and make a seam at center front or back. (Don't forget to add seam allowances.) Then cut the fabric on the bias for a lovely chevron effect, as in the cream jacket shown here. Slice and dice. Don't be bound by the pattern shapes. Take a cue from "Cut Up Patterns and Add Seams" in Threads no. 129. I did. For the cream jacket, I sliced out the top of the front pattern pieces and changed them to a bib-yoke-style front. This completely altered the look of an otherwise plain-Jane princess jacket, allowing me to highlight a contrasting fabric. Eke extra mileage from precious yardage. Playing with grain has a wonderful side effect: Varying the direction of your layout usually saves fabric. Case in point: I recently bought an abstract print silk fabric in Paris. Because it was so dear, I only bought enough for a simple shell. The pattern I decided to use was a bias-cut, cowl-neck top. I didn't have enough fabric to cut the whole top on the bias. But I did have enough to cut the front and cowl on the bias and the back on the straight of grain. Thanks to the overall print of the fabric, it's impossible for anyone to tell the difference.
Once you break free from conventional grain layouts, you'll be pleasantly surprised with the design options: Play with stripes. Striped fabrics are a logical place to begin your grain adventures. They lend themselves to great design opportunities. The plainest button-down shirt, for example, can become a work of art. High-end designer Thomas Pink cuts one front piece on the lengthwise grain and the other on the crosswise grain for a funky, asymmetrical look. Another fun use of stripes is to create a chevron effect along seams, like the blue-and-white halter dress shown at the beginnin of this article. This visual trick allows you to emphasize or disguise figure flaws, create the illusion of a waistline, and create visual "flow" in a garment.
Turn it all on the cross-grain. A linear print or texture often looks quite different when turned 90 degrees. I especially love to cut a basic skirt or pant on the cross-grain to give it a unique look. Build in comfort with bias. With grain, you can manipulate the way fabric drapes or stretches. By cutting the smaller side pieces of the princess-seamed jacket on the bias, I added more ease, which makes the otherwise stiff jacket comfortable to wear. It also gives you a little extra room to accommodate weight fluctuations. Small touches, big impact. You needn't use grain differences on major pattern pieces to make a major impact on your garment. Just focus on details and try cutting collar, cuff, or pockets on a different grain.
Most collars and cuffs are cut with the long edges on the lengthwise grain, which can be visually compelling. You can also cut them on the cross-grain to align with the rest of the garment. Or try cutting a collar on the bias, and add a center seam at the center back. The grain will then fall beautifully and draw attention to your face. A favorite touch of mine is to make welt pockets but cut the welt on the bias. Bindings are another way to show off grain: The strips are traditionally cut on the bias to bind armholes and edges. Matter-of-fact tips Dreaming up all sorts of creative options is great fun. The next step, however, is a bit more practical: construction and fit. Here are some tricks that will help you be successful with your grainy adventures:
Next, make a test garment out of muslin or other inexpensive fabric that is similar in weight and drape to your fashion fabric. This is the final step to make sure everything is going according to plan. When I cut out my muslin test garment, I mark grainlines on the right sides of each fabric piece in pencil. I also note any changes that need to be made to the pattern directly on the muslin fabric. Mark new grainlines directly on the pattern pieces. After making a muslin test garment, I mark the new grainlines on my pattern pieces using my quilter's ruler and a bright red marker. This ensures that I won't forget and use the original grainline. Match at key points. On the muslin, you'll also quickly identify where you need to match stripes, plaids, or texture lines. It's virtually impossible to match stripes at every seam --and really, no one will notice if stripes don't match under your arm. Just match up stripes or lines at key points: center front and center back, for sure, and at side seams if possible. Invest in a quilter's ruler. When you cut on the bias, you needn't always use the 45-degree true bias. You can get interesting effects with a 30-degree bias as well. Buy a quilter's ruler (QuiltersRule.com) so your cuts are exact. Most have 45-degree, 30-degree, and other angles marked, which make easy work of adjusting grainlines. Adjust closures as necessary. You may need to adjust the pattern pieces to accommodate button or zipper closures. In the cream jacket, I realized that using the printed pattern as directed would cause an overlap at the center front and would ruin the line I wanted to achieve. To fix this, I cut a new pattern piece for the right front, eliminating the overlap. I also switched from using buttonholes to bias loops. This allowed me to achieve the pattern matching I desired without the distortion created from buttons and buttonholes. Cut in a single layer. Always unfold your fabric and lay it out in a single layer, right side up. This may take more time, but you'll be able to see the grain through your tissue pattern. It ensures that the grain is cut exactly as you envision and prevents layout mistakes.
Use larger seam allowances to accommodate bias. If you cut pattern pieces on the bias, increase the size of the seam allowances up to 3 inches. Bias tends to pull down on the body over time, so the final fit may be a little closer than your original straight-grain pattern. The extra-wide seam allowances will give you room should you need to make fit adjustments.
Now you control the grain Grain manipulation can be a wonderfully creative design tool, so don't be afraid of using it to suit your tastes and needs. I like to repeat to myself, "I control the fabric!" as I let my creative juices flow. It's empowering, for sure. With a little planning and thoughtful layout, you can have a garment that rivals the runway looks from Paris and Milan for a fraction of the cost.
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