Institute of Fashion Designing in India

WLCI Fashion students participated in draping session on 28th April 2012 taken by Ms. Sumina Gupta in the campus. Drape is the way that fabric hangs. The process of draping involves sewing loosely hanging material to a garment to create a flowing look. Though it can make for a very dramatic effect when done properly, it does take skill and practice. Many designers choose to experiment with the way fabric hangs, but there are also objective ways to measure drape. This technique is commonly used in making dresses, but can also be used to make blouses, skirts, and pants.

Draping usually begins with a designer taking a basic garment and putting it on a dressmaker's model. The garment is generally already sewn into its core shape — for instance, a bias-cut dress would start out as a bias tube on the model. Next, the designer takes pieces of fabric and pins them to the garment where the drape is desired, which will give the final garment its shape. Most of the time the pinned fabric is not the same as the fabric that will be used for the final garment, but rather a similar cheaper fabric. This is because the fabric that's pinned on the dress will often be cut or marked on during the design process, which can be expensive with fine cloths.