Draping

Draping is like playing dress-up for grown-ups who make clothes. You might have played dress-up with your friends where you put different clothes on and make yourself look fancy or silly. Well, grown-ups who make clothes do that too, but they use a special way to figure out how the clothes should look on a person. That way is called draping.

When people want to make a new piece of clothing, they start with a big piece of fabric and drape it over a mannequin, which is like a pretend person. That way, they can figure out how the fabric should flow and where it should be tucked or pleated to make a good fit. The person who is making the clothes can move the fabric around until it looks just right.

After they finish draping the fabric on the mannequin, they take it off and use it as a pattern to cut the actual piece of fabric they will use to make the clothing. Then, they sew all the pieces together to make the final product.

So, to put it simply, draping is when people use a mannequin to figure out how clothes should be shaped and where the fabric should go before they make the real clothes that people can wear.