Abstract

I made the decision to make this leotard over two weeks instead of the usual one. As I wanted to show you more of how leotards become the spectacular masterpieces that we all admire on stage.

I’ve decided to make a leotard that even my head struggled with at times!! The idea is abstract and this is what starts to make thing hard, as no two piece is the same and joining the back to the front require patients and a lot of thinking.

Designing an abstract leotard isn’t too different to how you design a symmetrical leotard. It just takes more time to get your idea right because you have to draw the whole leotard up. The general structure stays the same – bust lines, necklines and leg lines- it just what fills the middle that creates the abstract. It just takes a long time to get all those lines perfect. And as you will see there are a lot of lines that went on the draft till I got the right proportions that I was looking for.

I can say I am still not happy with the back of this leotard, it has a bit of working out to do!

From here it is working out how all pieces intertwine and work together to become a front and a back of the leotard.

Now this is what I really struggled with during the drafting phase were the lefts and rights, as they are always opposite when they are on the body to when you are just looking at them. Now really it shouldn’t be too hard, but what I found the hardest was creating the back of the leotard and making sure that pieces on the back match up with they corresponding pieces on the front. As there was a high chance that I could have put them on the wrong side, which would have been a disaster.

(Though it also didn’t help that I’ve been sick while making this leotard.)

The general sewing of this leotard is the same how I do all my other leotards either the material is zig zagged or over locked together. The one thing that you do have to do is to remember to cut the excess lycra after zig zagging – which is shown below.

The reason why, is because this excess will not sit flat. Which is not only aesthetically unpleasing to the eye, but is an annoyance for whoever is wearing the leotard. SO definitely always trim the excess!!!

Now that the base leotard is made its time to decorate!

First off I have started with the chiffon skirt, which has been cut from a circle pattern. Once the skirt has been pinned you can trim the hem to your desired style and length. A trick with cutting chiffon is let the scissors do the work; it should be like a shearing action not a chopping. That is how I always get the best results.

I also have used chiffon on one of the busts to give it added difference and dimension. To do this part you are going to need a rectangular piece of chiffon that has been folded in half, length ways and overlocked with one seam. You then turn the piece inside out so the seam is now on the inside. Then you gather and tack to chiffon to the leotard to create you desired effect.

As for the lace I really have no hints for this part… it is just trial and error and seeing what works.

Though this is no were near finished, I am happy with how the front of the leotard is panning out and once it is decorated I’m sure it will be very striking.

However the back of this leotard still needs a lot of work and I feel like I’ve made a mistake with the large triangle shape on the back. However, I am sure I will find away to make it work and make the leotard complete.

So until next week!!!

Also if you have any specific sewing questions, ask away :)

xx