Let's draft the pattern for this cocktail dress.
It features a deep neckline and a drape that hugs the body highlighting the hourglass silhouette.
We suggest to sew an inner dress - either in self fabric or in lining - with the original front waist dart to keep the inside neat and the dress tight.
The fabric you see in the photo is a medium weight satin, but you can choose also other drapey, medium weight, soft fabrics as crepe or viscose.
If you use a non-stretch fabric - or a fabric with minimum stretch - as the ones listed above, start from a fitted basic block (zero wearing ease).
Start from back. Discard the dart dividing it from center and side, blending the new lines to hip level. Draw the new neckline from armpit to center back, perpendicular to it in the last few cm.
On front, work on half first and draw the new neckline with a soft heart shape, then widen the shoulder dart by 1cm at neckline to have the dress tighter to the chest. Lastly, trace a copy of full front.
On both front and back draw the spaghetti strap sitting halfway on the shoulder line.
Measure the spaghetti strap from back and front and calculate the strap total length. Write it somewhere, then cut away the pattern above the new neckline.
On front, draw the lines for dart manipulation at armhole. Cut through them and close the original shoulder darts.
This is the front with new bust darts (remember to redraw the apex approximately 3cm away from bust point).
Draw the underbust line (where your bra underwire sits on your ribcage). At this point, make waist darts 3cm wide, then blend them to bust point.
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