I have been looking since may 2007 for a pattern of the top Shania Twain wore in her video “Forever & Always” does anyone know where i could find the pattern it was cream in colour, seemed to loop around her arms but drap at the front. It really is stunning. If you type forever and always into igoogle video bar you can watch the video for free. Would love anyone who could find the pattern for me.
No pattern needed. It’s just a really long rectangle. The width would depend on how much of your skin you want to cover.
The total length would need to wrap around one arm at one end, hook in the center back and wrap around her front body once to the hook again, then go up and end by wrapping once around the other arm. Three loops in the scarf: One in the center, and one at each end. The body goes in the center loop, and an arm at each end loop.
Hmm. Maybe this is a better way to describe it: Take a long narrow scarf, put it over your bosom in front, and let the two ends dangle down the center of your back. Put a pin in the center back so it stays up, but the ends still hang free.
Now take each of those loose ends, put a wide hem in it big enough to slide your arm thru. The rest of the fabric just hangs there looking really tricky and like How’d They Do That???
The only thing is that sort of soft drapey fabric probably would need to be anchored to some sort of strapless bra type thing. It’s way too soft to stay up on it’s own.
Alright, I’ve been analyzing her video and working on this for about an hour now. I think I very nearly have it. I am not an advanced knitter, and by no means could I write a pattern for this, but I am very good at drawing 3D images in my head and I’m fairly certain I’ve figured out how it’s all connected together. Maybe someone could take what I’ve gleaned and make a pattern. Because I would love one! (My husband would like me to have one, too! ) Here goes.
It’s certainly all one piece. The drape goes from the body out to the arms and wraps around the arms front to back and is seamed in the front of the arm. There’s a clear view of this in the video at 2:29. You can also see the one-piece effect well at 00:54 and 01:46. (I’m going off the video posted in PassionKNITly’s blog. http://passionknitly.blogspot.com/search/label/shania%20twain) The top few inches of the top as well as the top part of the drape coming from the sleeve wrap around to the back and form the back and clasp. There’s a good view of how that looks at 00:18
If you were looking at it from the front, this is what you would see.
The dotted lines show where her body is. The soft line shows where the fabric drapes between the body and the sleeves - which is where it also wraps around to the back to clasp. The line marked with x’s is a seam.
Here is a view from the back.
The dotted line shows another layer of fabric attached directly to the body wraps around from the front to clasp. Two good views of the shaping of the back are found at 01:14 and 01:56.
As I said, I’m not good at creating patterns, but this is roughly how I imagine it would look from the front if it were laying flat.
The faint lines show where it would look draped from the front.
Anyway, that’s what I got. Kudos to anyone who can take that and make it into a pattern!
See the fold/hem at the top of the front? I think that hem is what we see in the back. At various points (1:46 and later at 3 something ) you can see that the top of the drape goes around to the middle back, while the bottom is clearly at the front. So, I think the drape is always only one layer, and the sleeves are just the ends of the rectangle, seamed a few inches in to make a tube.
Let me see if I can explain better - a loooong rectangle, with a 3 inch (ish) top hem.
Take the hem at the top, and attach a clasp to JUST the hemmed portion, at the back. Now, take the unhemmed free short side, wrap around arm, and seam. Repeat for opposite arm.
I think, from the top down, it’s knitted in the round for maybe 6 inches, then from the center back it splits into flat knitting, a ton of stitches are cast on on both sides to make it into a HUGE rectangle, and the rectangle is knitted back and forth for another, say, 10 inches. Then the ends of the rectangle are seamed for where her arms go.
Since my dress form doesn’t have arms, I did a draping on a giant Barbie, lol. As you’ll see, it’s basically a long skinny rectangle. It may have some shaping on the long sides, but more about that later. Keep in mind that I used polarfleece here, which is nowhere near as drapey as a knit would be. So my sample doesn’t hang as softly, but the idea is there, I think.
#1 – The entire piece, before being wrapped around the body. Note the arrows. One marks the center front (red line) and the other is the back fastening point (black dot). There is a matching black dot on the other half, which isn’t visible here.
#2 – The center front is matched to her center front, and now you can see the other black dot.
#3 – The garment is taken around the back and pinned. Voila! This is the front view.
#4 – Back view. Note the safety pin; that’s where the black dots are now.
#5 – What it looks like with the arm section hanging free.
Lastly…I used a straight-sided rectangle, but it’s very possible the long sides may have some curvature. Perhaps one side somewhat concave, and one convex…in other words a slight arc shape, not a true rectangle. Also, I think the center front part (covers the chest & tummy) is probably wider, with a taper so that the arm sections are narrower.
Yes, I agree with sideways.
It appears to be a very creative way to wear that long shawl you knit but hardly ever use. (if you have the figure for it.)
I concur with sideways. I agree that there’s likely some curvature in the front. I also agree with abbily when she says there’s a hem at the edge of the top. If someone typed up a pattern, I’d be glad to test it out sometime.
Sideways, you are amazing, i would never have g=figured that out, love the use of giant Barbie…lol If anyway does figure out a pattern for me i will be ever-so grateful
Campbellmum the images you attached didn’t stay so i haven’t seen them but looks like sideways is onto something…it you ever do manage to work out a pattern would you let me know. God bless
I am guessing at the least, there is some sort of a strapless bra built into the front of it, here’s why:
–Her bosom doesn’t seem to shake or jiggle much during the video, and it doesn’t move much when she lifts her arms either. I mean look, she’s walking around and there’s no jiggle…yet her bosom doesn’t look small enough to not have jiggle. It defies physics, lol. No jiggle prolly means there’s a bra under there.
–The structure of the fabric means it would be stretchy or loose, and not well suited to holding on all by itself. It would fall down unless there is something underneath holding it up.
There’s really no way for a piece of fabric to stay wrapped around the body as well as her top does, without some sort of undergarment providing an underlying structure. It’s not an entire corset-type thing, like a longline bra, because the back is open; so that’s why I think it’s just a strapless bra of some sort. It just has a very narrow back section, so the connection point of the shawl-thingie keeps it covered.
Now, you and I can wrap a bathtowel around ourselves and tuck in an end…and it stays up. But that’s not how her top looks. There’s one little point in back where it’s hooked together, and it doesn’t look to me like it’s tight enough to stay up by itself (ie without an underlying structure of some kind).
I notice this stuff because I’ve been sewing for over 20 years. I’ve learned how to deconstruct ready-mades to come up with my own version. I am also a sort of hobbiest about medieval/renaissance clothing construction, which has all sorts of tricks for using shaped undergarments to make outer clothes achieve what looks impossible.
If I had a better figure, I would make something like this in a second.
EDIT: Think along the lines of those demi-bras that go into bathing suit tops. There is probably something like that underneath.
) Here goes.
