Modeling Cloth

I have not been able to get Mudbox and Maya to cooperate in the lab, so I have been putting together a model at home.
I started modeling using methods I have tried in the past, but I thought I would try using the fabric dynamics I learned this year.
I have been having trouble figuring out the technique Fran from Pixar demonstrated; orienting the geometry so the hypotenuse is perpendicular to the line of stretch. The approaches I know all wind up with the quads along the x and y axis, and the hypotenuse at 45 degrees. I think she started out with costume patterns laid over a plane, and I guess they applied the fabric dynamics to the pieces to get them into the right shapes, but I can't figure out how they sewed them together.

 am having an error with the nDynamic Cloth 
// Error: line 1: Coding error: Undo of command 'doDelete' caused re-entrant call to undo manager /
I can't paint the variable thickness.