This is for the Much Ado project. The women wear these sweet, frothy cartridge-pleated skirts with wide waistbands that lace closed in back:
http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL417/1033223/23310958/388817664.jpg (http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL417/1033223/23310958/388817664.jpg)
http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL417/1033223/23310958/388817891.jpg (http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL417/1033223/23310958/388817891.jpg)
I don't need the instructions for how to do the pleats. Lady K's previous thread (http://www.renaissancefestival.com/forums/index.php?topic=8365.0) on that covers everything. I need more advice on calculating yardage, plus how to do a lace-up waistband, how wide to make it, etc. I was hoping to find a basic, cut-to-your-measurements tutorial online, but I haven't found anything.
I'm thinking of using straight panels, maybe 4x the waist measurement? For me that would be 112"; for MIL 124". Would that work? I think it would make calculating the pleats easier than just doing 4 yards for each, right (altho' this would make it closer to 3 yards/each)?
Anything else?
Thanks!!
Gem, if you are making a very very wide waistband, say 3 to 4 inches you might be better off making a shaped waistband.
Quick and easy way of making a pattern for it if you have the person on hand.
( I do not doubt there are better ways to do this.)
Take a strip of fabric, the length of their waist measurement + a little extra and the finished width you want.
Then pin it around them.
Look to see how it sits at their waist and pin darts at the side to contour it to their shape.
Mark at the back where the edges meet, and mark your darts then take it off them and trace it onto paper.
Where you made the darts becomes the side seams of the band, add your seam allowances and double the width if you are making it a fold over.
Also be sure to interface the waistband, be it sew-in or fuse, it makes a difference in how they hold up.
If you are making a narrow waistband you usually don't have to worry about shaping. In the screenshots you linked I can't see how they are lacing up. You could just put eyelets or buttons holes in the back of the waistbands, and add a placket at the back section of the skirt so the split won't show.
Thanks! That's a great tip. The waistbands are wide-ish, I'd say, maybe 2-3"?
I'm really surprised I'm not finding a basic tutorial for this. I know I could make a mockup from muslin, but since cartridge pleating takes a bit of time, I'd love to just find instructions or a pattern that would save me such a lengthy, fussy step!
gem, I doubt you will find a less tedious tutorial on Cartridge pleating. It is lenghty sa you say. Iam embarking on getting the Overskirt pleated for the Pelican Portrait gown of QEI.
Like I said, I don't need a tutorial for cartridge pleating itself; I need directions for the whole skirt. Measuring, yardage, etc. I know how to do the pleats. I don't know how to decide how much fabric to use, how to calculate how big the pleats should be, etc.
Thank you!
A majority of the skirts I cartridge pleat run about 5 1/2 yards from end to end. That is for tight pleats. Less snug pleats, reduce by 1/2 yard for 6" of waist.
That comes out to 3-60" wide panels, or 4-45" panels. That works for waist measurements from 32" to 46".
Thanks, Lady K!! That should work well for my MIL (waist 31"). My waist is a little smaller at 28", so I might try the 5 yard version. Since that's a good 2 yards more than I was anticipating, I will go ahead and do a mockup from muslin after all.
Is there a particular reason to cut panels and not just pleat up a continuous length? I'm using plain ol' white linen, so there's no nap, no pattern to contend with.
I cut panels because I like to go with the straight of the fabric. Perhaps tht has something to do with how the fabric should fall. I do the 5/8" seam. It's just easier for me that way.
Well, frankly, I have to admit that it sounds easier to me, too! I cut panels for the skirt on my brown gamurra, and I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it's the familiarity. :)
Excited to get started on this! Haven't picked out the right white linens yet, but I've found the perfect fabrics for the bodices. Milord is hem-hawing about pants fabric, and I'm hem-hawing about pants *patterns!* LOL
Hope to have a little time this evening. Which I will do, if I get off the computer and GO TO WORK!