Toiles or Muslins in Clothing Design: Test Pattern or Wearable Art

In 1950 designer Jean Desses created this miniature toile or muslin of a dress design. (photo courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum). The folds, draping, smocking and tie at the waist wrought from inexpensive fabric evoke images of both ancient and modern sculpture. Toiles or muslins are created as test pieces for designs and include markings and perhaps written notes. Once finalized, the toile may be taken apart and the pieces used as a pattern for the garment. We might liken a toile or muslin to a prototype.

(www.vogue.com)

Here is a toile of a jacket by Peter Do. You can see the marks and stitching made in different colors as well as notes on changes to be made in the final design.

(Photo credit Victoria and Albert Museum)

This is a costume designed by Annie Mochnacz in 2007. The sleeves covered in writing from the elbow to the wrist are fascinating to a person interested in the process of clothing design.

(Photo credit coloradocommunitymedia.com)

This photo shows the beauty of Christian Dior toiles from past collections assembled as part of a traveling exhibit.

(Photo credit notordinaryfashion.tumbler.com)

To wear this toile of a Christian Dior haute couture evening gown created in 2008 would be like wearing a filmy cloud. To me, the toile is a finished piece!

The collar on these two views of a jacket toile made in 1997 represent a notable transformation of the classic Dior bar jacket.

These two views of a half toile for a jacket are some of my favorite clothing images.

Here is another half toile by Dior, this one of a dress. Perhaps making a half toile provided the designer with enough information about the fit and final look.

Leftover drapery lining had been my available fabric during the pandemic. When we moved here to the Texas Hill Country, the gathered skirt I had made from drapery lining with a draw string of ribbon originally used to package a stack of Williams Sonoma dish towels received rave reviews. Many asked about the “beautiful” fabric. My favorite recollection is one from the grocery store. Picking out lemons, I could see a mother and daughter stop and look at me out of the corner of my eye. I overheard the girl say to her mother, “Mom, maybe we should dress up more; it might make us feel better.” Of course, dressing up is simpler when, much like a character from a novel, you are wearing a skirt made from the lining of some drapes you had in a previous home.

The plain cloth of a toile or muslin is appealing to me. Wanting to create my own patterns and to make clothes that had the same look as a toile or muslin, I began experimenting with using painter’s drop clothes from the hardware or paint store as my fabric. Working with washed painter’s drop cloth fabric would give me a heavier weight fabric with the look of Belgian linen.

This skirt is one of my first pieces. Drop cloth frays significantly when cut so the edge of each piece must be turned over and stitched in place two times before putting the garment together. The center seam on the skirt as well as the hem are double top stitched.

This Balenciaga duster/trench coat has the feel of a muslin or toile.

Here is my version made of a painter’s drop cloth. The places where multiple seams met were difficult to stitch due to the thickness of the double turned edges. The drop cloth wasn’t long enough to achieve the length of the coat that inspired me and thus, there is a piece cobbled onto the hem. It was challenging, but interesting to make.

A version of the coat untied with a drop cloth dress underneath.

The dress without the coat.

I continued to redesign the dress, cutting it to tunic length and adding gathered sleeves with a wide band at the elbow.

A shorter version of the first skirt; this one with top stitched cargo pockets.

This is the back view of a tea length wrap skirt redesigned when a 1940’s vintage pattern of a sleeveless wrap dress did not fit in the bodice.

This skirt falls slightly above the knee. The gathered waist is made by sewing a wide piece of grosgrain ribbon inside the garment and pulling the wide elastic through it. The belt is a long double-sided piece wrapping from front to back and back again before tying. It is topstitched in a repeated surface design similar to an obi belt.

A toile of a peplumed jacket on a stand in a museum. Yes, the toile is an art form!

As to sewing clothes made of painter’s drop cloths; the beauty of working with this fabric is that it is readily available and inexpensive enough you can experiment with it. For me, it’s also a lovely fabric because it is not too precious to wear no matter what I am doing here in the Texas Hill Country.

An unforeseen benefit to wearing drop cloth toile clothes is the conversations with people who stop and say they love your outfit. Best of all is seeing the excitement of others as they consider creating their own clothes.

Be it drop cloth, calico, muslin, silk or velvet, there is nothing quite as satisfying as making something by hand!