One way to develop your creative visualization and draping skills is to play with fabric! That is what I did during a break from my housework this morning.

To enter into the spirit of fantasy draping, buy large lightweight scarves and a yard or two of lightweight, soft fabric. These can be a poly charmeuse, poly crepe back satin, a light weight cotton chambray or batiste–or if you can afford it–a 1-2 yard length of a silk blend or a few very large silk scarves.

I have not tried heavier weight fabrics as I am not feeling very inspired by denim or tweeds at the moment.

Hold the fabric in different positions over the dress form. Try to have a conversation with the fabric to learn what it wants to do. You may discover that the cross grain looks better than the lengthwise grain, or a bias cut really takes your vision to a new high point.

Here are the results of letting my imagination take wing for a few minutes. These are not meant to become a finished evening gown or cocktail dress. Rather, this exercise is meant to help me develop a feel for handling the fabrics and learning what they want to tell me.

I recommend this activity as a way to heighten your abilities and expand your understanding. I describe this as fantasy draping because I can get as outrageous as I want and not worry about final results. This is all a way to see how far the fabric will let me go and how it will look.