Hi all,
Picked up a couple books for Amy to help her with her gown making
The Tudor Tailor: Reconstructing Sixteenth-Century Dress The Tudor Tailor: Reconstructing Sixteenth-Century Dress
Patterns of Fashion: The Cut and Construction of Clothes for Men and Women, C.1560-1620 Patterns of Fashion: The Cut and Construction of Clothes for Men and Women, C.1560-1620
Both got favorable reviews for both beginners and experts. Granted trying to find graph paper big enough to make the patterns :D
Even if she doesn't use it to make her own patterns hopefully it will provide inspiration, details and ideas.
Any of you used these? Any recommendations on there use?
Thanks,
Drac
Patterns of Fashion -or anything by Janet Arnold- is sort of the bible for Historical Costuming in many ways.
Tudor Tailor is sort of the Patterns of Fashion for Dummies version. :-) I looked at it when I was told I "had" to get that book and realized there was nothing new in it.
I have the TUDOR TAILOR and all the Janet Arnold Books.
They are MUST haves for anyone who does Period Clothing eithr as a professional profession or for the fun of it. Vey educational on many fronts.
While Amy isn't a dummy she is a beginner of the level for she wants to get to. She works through the basic patterns you can get at JoAnn. Big issue is trying to figure out how to get from one step to the next with the minimal instruction. She calls me up to he "shop" to help. I enjoy origami and the origami instructions can be very difficult to follow.
Her gowns get compliments but I also see the looks of envy when she looks at the cast gowns or the high end playtons garb. I know she really wants to step up her game.
One from a couple years ago -
(http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg685/scaled.php?server=685&filename=dress2ts.jpg&res=medium)
Last year's work -
(http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg535/scaled.php?server=535&filename=dress2009atthefair1clos.jpg&res=medium)
She also wants to fight less while making a gown. Right now she spends almost as much time pulling threads than putting them in.
Drac
Patterns of Fashion isn't really a sewing book. There are no instructions for anything in it. Tudor Tailor covers more of that--but the instructions are extremely cursory, and there are no step-by-step illustrations. I personally find TT more valuable (particularly seeing the pieces made up), although there are a lot of errors in it (photos with the wrong captions, steps omitted, etc).
I do think they're both essentials for a Renaissance costuming library. Paying close attention to the details of the work of costumers like Ninya Mikhaila will help. Mikhaila is an absolute master of the small details that really make an outfit come alive and look authentic. You can see more views of the pieces in the book at her website: http://www.ninyamikhaila.com/c16th.htm.
Amy's doublet gown is particularly lovely, btw.
As a professional dressmaker used to drafting both modern and historical patterns, I find no difficulty in scaling up patterns from Arnold's books, from Waugh, from TT or from my newer best evvvah book, Seventeenth Century Women's Dress Patterns, which has really great instructions for making the garments by hand, using original stitch methods from the garments used for the patterns. BUT! if Amy hasn't tried drafting her own patterns yet, it might be an idea for her to try some basic pattern drafting before she dives straight in...
Scaling up the patterns to full size from the books is relatively easy: you need stuff called 'dot and cross' paper, which has either an imperial or a metric grid on it. It comes in large sheets or on rolls. Here in the UK I get mine from a company called Morplan. Someone will tell you where to look for it in the USA, I'm sure, or a quick google will turn it up.
Once you have the pattern in it's original size, the fun starts! You then need to alter it to fit your corseted size. This is where having a lot of pattern altering experience and some drafting experience comes in handy: you know where to slash the pattern and how to add and subtract what you need without altering things you don't (like armscyes, necklines, and sleeve placement, for example).
And you MUST make toiles! Any gash fabric in a similar weight and drape to the stuff for the final garment will be good. You really DO need to test the fit when you play with these patterns.
As a step in the right direction, you might like to get her a couple of the ready made TT patterns, or have a look at Margo Anderson's lovely patterns. The MA patterns each come with a whole tome on construction, decoration, fabric advice, and alternative sleeves, collars, etc. to personalize them. As with any commercial pattern, I strongly advise tracing off the size that is closest in measurement to the body in question (IN STAYS!), and altering that to fit, as you then still have the original pattern to refer to if things go horribly wrong...
As a sensible lass with some good sewing skills under her belt, she looks ready to branch out and be a bit more adventurous and historically accurate. Good for her! Enjoy the ride,... And beware of the SAS! (Stash Accumulation Syndrome!) ;)
Well it has got her juices going.
Thank you on the recommendation. I had never heard of it. I will be the one dealing with it as I am the artist of the family, barely.
Are there any "figures" that are good for sketching dresses?
One of the next things I need to get for her is a new sewing mannequin. Her current one -
(http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg571/scaled.php?server=571&filename=annet.jpg&res=medium)
is too big for her. She has lost several sizes since she got it years ago.
Thank you for the pattern recommendations as well. She will order the sets soon.
Drac
If she's in the market for a new dress dummy, I would highly recommend one that can be fitted *exactly* to her shape, not just her size/numerical measurements.
I have a basic shop display form (like this (http://www.americansewingsupply.net/shop/images/display%20forms%20wooden%201.jpg)), padded out to my shape with the Fabulous Fit Fitting System (http://www.fabulousfit.com/fitting_system.html). It ended up costing me about $140--roughly the same price as a basic adjustable form, and a fraction of the cost of a whole custom form from someplace like Fabulous Fit or Uniquely You. And a lot less work than a duct tape double. (The FF Fitting System went on a terrific sale last Christmas, so that might be worth waiting for.)
I saw that while looking for a new mannequin for her.
I saw this on Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004DYF0EK/ref=s9_simh_gw_p201_d0_g201_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=014MYK729Q2ZZCQ0X1TP&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846
Drac
Yep! That's how I got mine. I'd recommend that you/she spend some time looking at the Fabulous Fit website and seeing how their sizing works, and then if you have any questions, actually give FF a call. The people who work there are really knowledgeable and can give her spot-on advice about what size to go with. (Are there sizes to the Fitting System? At the moment I can't remember. Anyway, I called and chatted and it was helpful! :D)
My advice is to get an adjustable one like the one she had but smaller. Then she can use it for both mundane clothing AND garb. :)
Dial it up to a size or so smaller than she needs it, and pad the dummy with wadding. Then dress it in her stays. Fill gaps firmly with toy stuffing until it is the size and shape she is in stays. You then get a much better fit for your garb. This is what my sewing partner and I did last year. We made toiles for the stays and used them on the dress dummies once they fitted us properly, so we didn't have to keep swapping stays from dummies to people.
(http://pics.livejournal.com/katexxxxxx/pic/002dg1r8/s320x240) (http://pics.livejournal.com/katexxxxxx/pic/002dhcfe/s320x240) (http://pics.livejournal.com/katexxxxxx/pic/002drpcy/s320x240)
These particular ones were for an 18th C project, but you can do something similar for any era. Smoothing out the bust with some sheeting helps and keeps the stuffing under control.
Thanks.
Just out of curiosity, do any of you have images for drawing out dresses? I might be able to scetch some but it would probably turn out better if there were predone ones I can just print up and sketch out the dresses (I'm the drawer of the family) for her so she can get better picture in her mind for how something will look.
Drac
Drac, Sempstress used to have a feature called "Ye Old Dial-a-Dress" that would generate a basic Renaissance gown with various features (waistline changes, neckline, tabs, etc), but she's removed a ton of content from her site in recent years. You might Google and see if it's still available. If you Google the word "croquis," you'll find fashion drawing figures designed for mundane clothing, but they tend to be in "model" poses or have exaggerated figures. I don't really find them that suitable for period costuming.
Otherwise, what I always did was print out a (b&w) photo of a dress similar in shape to what I was interested in making. I'd flip it over and tape it to my sliding glass doors, then trace the outlines of the dress in black ink. Then I'd sketch in the colors, trims, details, etc with colored pencil. You can also do this with Photoshop or Paint if you're handy with those. With the books that you have now, she should be able to do the same thing with the drawings and photos in there.
Yep, still there -
http://westwood.fortunecity.com/lingerie/779/tools/dialadress.html
Thanks. With this and a couple crayons and we are in buisness. Actually with the graphic's program my wife has she should be able to "fill" it with cloth samples to get a good idea how well things go together.
Thanks for the recommondation on tracing the patterns to use also. I'll give that a try too.
Drac
Quote from: Drac on September 07, 2011, 12:32:55 PM
Yep, still there -
http://westwood.fortunecity.com/lingerie/779/tools/dialadress.html
Thanks. With this and a couple crayons and we are in buisness. Actually with the graphic's program my wife has she should be able to "fill" it with cloth samples to get a good idea how well things go together.
Thanks for the recommondation on tracing the patterns to use also. I'll give that a try too.
Drac
OOO that's nifty! Drac, did you get the other tabs to work? I can only get Bodice to do things and can't get the others to load.
Let me guess, you use Mozilla ;D
It only works with IE.
Drac
Quote from: Drac on September 07, 2011, 07:12:45 PM
Let me guess, you use Mozilla ;D
It only works with IE.
Drac
Safari on a Mac. :) IE not an option LOL. But that's good to know, I can make hubby pull it up on his PC!
I use Mozilla at home so it took me a while to figure out what was up. Bit annoying since I haven't even setup IE on my laptop.
Glad you have a work around.
Drac
Quote from: isabelladangelo on September 02, 2011, 06:24:01 PM
Patterns of Fashion -or anything by Janet Arnold- is sort of the bible for Historical Costuming in many ways. Tudor Tailor is sort of the Patterns of Fashion for Dummies version. :-) I looked at it when I was told I "had" to get that book and realized there was nothing new in it.
Wow! Isabella,
They say that everyone has an opinion, I guess yours is that.....however? Let's just take a peek at Ms. Arnold's books which only speak about what she looked at in the books, the extant pieces. She does not except in the Wardrobe, ever go into the whys and wherefores of the common person. She is a fantastic academic, and I adore her things. But to state that Tudor Tailor is but a rip off and a poor one? Or by your words? Janet Arnold for dummies?!
Ms. Arnold does not speak about fabrics except what she saw in front of her- with a noted exception to Wardrobe and off her Majesties Back. The PoFs are more academic than the Tudor Tailor, which had hoped to correct misinformation that had been circulating for 40 or so years. Ninya and Jane speak about the 2nd hand marketing of clothing, and set the record straight about Henrician Clothing. None of this was spoken about in any of Ms. Arnold's tomes.
The fabric accounts, coloring and correct use of the English Fitted Gown, which heretofore had been called something completely different, and the best misinformation hopefully corrected is the misuse of the Bumroll by many!!! It was not shown in any account until the French Farthingale or Wheeled Farthingale in the 1580's. If anything could help the costumer? It should be that and the stopping one can only hope of using the term "Chemise" when speaking about an English Shift or Smock. Of course I have seen their costumes/clothing in person at Kentwell, in Museums and here in the states when they brought their Tudor Talks to the West Coast. I also have every book that I have been able to attain from Ms. Arnold, however, I learned more in the 4 hours we all spent together than I had learned in any book, group, classroom, and university workshop.
To the Original Poster:
You can purchase Tudor Tailor Patterns, from their site, they are on this waxy paper and do well on a light box, I do not cut my pattern but instead make a duplicate of my size with drafting paper.
Also, did you pick up Ms. Arnold's newest book? The one on Camisas and Smocks? There are color pictures that are very good! I can't wait to make one of them with blue silks embroidered all through it! and Inset lace as well!
Cilean