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Quick Instructional: A Child’s Sacque Jacket
Following some questions from a Sewing Academy member over on Facebook, I’ve done up a quick project on altering a basic bodice (such as the Sewing Academy–Historic Moments 250 basic bodice) to create a waist or hip-length sacque jacket. In a firmly-woven but light-weight wool, this makes a great extender garment on cooler evenings or for use indoors over a short-sleeved dress. Made with a silk lining, it can be a nice warm piece for wear into the later fall.
You might choose to use silk or fine wool. Open sleeves and shaped coat sleeves are common, or you might see a simple straight sleeve for very working class, utility styles.
These images were found on an image search and I do not know owners for attribution… if you know, please email me and share!
Making a jacket from a bodice pattern does require some adjustment to the basic bodice pieces, but can be accomplished by any determined sewist! Along the way, you’ll learn to switch from a back closure to front closure, how to lift and enlarge an armscye, and how to create a generous waist edge to rest gently over full skirts. Find the printable PDF here: Child Sacque Jacket
Spring Updates!
Hello all!
Thanks for your patience as we’ve worked through famine (supply delays on books and pattern sheets), frost (150 days with no temps above 20*F) and floods (literally–3″ cheery spring bursting through my basement wall and sinkholes in the front yard!)…
Couple it with persistent email issues, and I’ve been frustrated along with my favorite customers and costumers. (If you’ve not had a response from me, please do use elizabethstewartclark at hotmail as I do want to help!)
I’m working on filling the backorders from supply delays, resending digital orders whose links didn’t automatically reach purchasers, and getting back on track with everything. And I’m happy to report, my ugly masonry fix to the basement is ugly, but holding firm! (and we’ll deal with the city and their sinkholes in May…)
Looking forward to a productive and lighter spring–what’s on your project list?
Zoom Codes Heading Out Tonight–Mar 8
Thanks to all who have registered! We’re going to have a great time Saturday morning. I’ll be sending out Zoom codes tonight, so check your inbox in the morning!
(There’ve been enough requests that we’ll repeat this session on a weekday evening soon, as well as adding a few more fun sessions!)
Zoom Workshop with Elizabeth Stewart Clark
Hi friends! Saturday 13 March, I’ll be doing a Zoom live workshop on clothing for interpretive goals. Whether you’re a museum professional, a volunteer at a historic house, or a living history hobbyist, this will be a fun session to get you thinking on all the ways you can use your clothing options as tools to share your story.
Registration is live now! Click through to learn more!
In Praise of Tidying Up
It will likely shock a goodly portion of the readership to learn that I do not, in fact, have a sewing room or studio, and haven’t had for about 15 years. I have a storage area for all of my supplies, and I work portably around our home according to my space needs and the needs of the family (we homeschool this way as well).
(We do have plots in perpetration mode for finishing out the back half of the garage as a studio for me, but that’s a 2021-22 thing.)
My storage spaces were spread out through our “Dungeon”–a partial basement area of our cottage–and that arrangement was making me more and more annoyed daily for the last few months. That sparked, as it is wont to do, Liz Tidy-Up Mode, in which I spent one afternoon and regrouped everything I own, pulling items for donation, sorting tools and supplies into coherent categories, condensing storage, and taking stock in advance of a fresh start for a new year.
If something with extra legs bites me, it’s my own fault. Good gravy, chaos.
Chaos Understair: Can’t find anything without 30 minutes of restacking and peering and generalized Unpleasant Mutterings.
Stuff spread across the whole basement and house.
All my own doing, but with some assorted help from other family members who need to borrow bits now and then.
Fabrics all amok and askew.
Personal wardrobe mixed with family wardrobe.
Accessories strewn flagrantly.
Current and outgrown family wardrobe tossed thither and yon.
Note Water Tumbler: Hydration is Important!
Understair After:
Three bins of family wardrobe, outgrown items removed.
One bin of items for the history site; one bin of works in progress.
One of cotton prints; two of wools, plus a few silks; one of doll cuts; three of doll bits and bodies.
Room for two machines. Nothing on the floor. Two layers deep, but not three.
Three bins of fabric culled for donation. Supplies and tools all sorted and untangled.
And, shocker: CREATIVITY RESTORED.
It’s not a given that creatives dwell in chaos. A great many of us thrive when we have tidy, organized spaces to work with (if not IN, in my case… being portable as I am.)
As we round out the year, are you feeling overwhelmed by your supplies or stash? May I encourage you to consider a good de-stash and tidy up?
1: Gather your hoard from all corners of your dwelling.
2: Sort according to type and use.
3: Consider what you want to carry forward with you; release the rest with gratitude and blessing.
4: Sort it out and see if you need to update your storage options; I freed up a half-dozen storage bins and put it all back into fewer containers, without crammage, and was joyful.
5: Keep a list handy for the creative ideas that will inevitably smack your brain pan in the middle of all of this.
6: Rejoice in the wrapping up of projects, the start of new, and all the possibilities that exist in this wonderful world!
Quality Standards
Recently, I was contacted by someone who bought children’s clothing items from a maker who publicizes themselves as “historically accurate” and holds forth as an authority. Normally, I’d be celebrating both things, because that’s just what we need: makers who have authoritative knowledge and apply it with historical techniques, to the benefit of their customers!
However, the reality was… very frustrating.
Non-period fabric print, poor techniques done very ill indeed, bad cutting that led to impossible fit, poor construction in any era… it was a mess, and there’s little avenue for rectifying or remodeling, unfortunately–there is no additional fabric, and the maker will not remake it or give a refund.j
All that is very negative.
But I prefer to be positive!
So, let’s talk a little about historical qualities in dressmaking, as seen in extant garments and recommended by period primary sources! These are things you can strive for in your own work, and ought to demand from anyone purporting to be a professional.
Choose a Good Fabric.
It’s a basic thing. Period clothing should use period fabric. Not sorta-kinda. Not “if you squint.” Not low-standards almost. Actual period prints are available. There’s no excuse for fobbing off non-period fabric on anyone, ever. It can be a simple plaid, a lovely print cotton, a solid fine wool, a gorgeous smooth silk… there are so many options, at all price points, there’s just no reason to settle for less than good.
Stitching Should Be Tidy and Not Puckered.
Take your time, whether by hand or by machine, and make sure the stitching is not so tight that it puckers the work. This won’t press out, so don’t equivocate: just unstitch as needed, and make the stitching even and smooth.
If you work by machine, make sure you use quality thread, a fresh needle every project or every 4-8 hours of stitching time, and adjust your machine tension properly.
If you work by hand, it can be helpful to pin the dominant-hand side of your work to provide a bit of tension, securing it to the arm of a couch or chair, or clamping it to the edge of your work table. This lets you work more efficiently, and get a more even, regular stitch as well. Check back for a project tutorial for making your own sewing brick!
Secure Threads in a Period Manner.
Period sewing guides suggest a small backstitch knot by hand for securing threads, as well as leaving a tail long enough to form a knot by hand, close to the work. You can do the same.
Period machines cannot reverse stitch. So, don’t do that, particularly on elements that are visible when worn, such as hems. Instead, leave a thread tail, draw both threads to the wrong side of the work, and secure them with a little, tidy square knot, then trim neatly.
This prevents sections of overlapped, wonky stitching where you stopped and started, makes taking out the stitching for future remodels much easier, and removes one glaring modern tell from your wardrobe.
Trim Threads As You Go.
Seriously. Just do it. Trim things neatly, as you go. Right after you finish a seam, secure the threads and trim them neatly! Once the threads start to be crossed over by other seams, you’ll find it much harder to trim them precisely, and you put your finished work at risk of stray snips. Trim as you go, and you skip all this risk!
Press As You Go.
Never not press.
Finger press, at the least, to help crease and open things. But a bit of a hot iron will smooth and set seams beautifully, aid in even stitching for tucks and hems, and create a much nicer, non-bulky finish in nearly any portion of a garment.
Even if a garment is stored wadded in a corner, the difference in pressing during construction versus not pressing during construction is visible and enduring.
Hems and Tucks Should Be Even.
There’s a magical invention called a hem gauge. Or a ruler. Or a yardstick. Or a measuring tape. Or a piece of card with some lines inked on. Or a 3×5″ index card folded up to suit. Or your thumb width.
All of these can be used to make accurate, even measurements for turning up hems, and for marking tucks.
While examples of very uneven hems and tucks can be found in extant items, that’s not the norm, nor should it be an expected part of reproduction sewing. Basic tools will make it very simple to get a nice result.
Tucks for Growth Adjustment Are Done AFTER the Skirt Panels are Joined Up.
Growth tucks have to be adjustable and easily removed to actually function as growth tucks. So, they need to be done in the right point of the construction process, which is: seam skirt panels; set hem; work tucks; measure for balance; hem skirt placket; set fullness. If a skirt is only partially seamed, then the tucks and hem made, these are no longer easy to adjust, and there’s a lumpy, thick seam somewhere on the skirt. Ungainly and non-functional is a lousy way to live.
Do it the period way, and you get all the goodies, none of the fuss.
Take Care to Actually Catch Down the Facing.
It’s understandable that you might miss a section of facing edge if you’re sewing down the waist by machine. Instead, work by hand as they did in the period, and pay attention… or be dedicated to repairing your stitching precisely if you miss by machine.
Repairing means not backstitching to secure, as it will be horrifically visible on the outside of the garment. The stitching must be picked out, threads drawn both to the wrong side, knotted by hand to secure them, then the new stitching placed to precisely intersect with the last threaded hole, and the drawing-knotting process repeated. On the right side, this will mean there is no visible break or overlap in the stitching. It should be evenly distant from the seam, too, not wobbling and crossing everywhere.
Honestly, whether you’re sewing for your own household, for friends, or for a customer, it’s often a lot more time-effective to fell in facings by hand. You get a no-bulk finish the first time, and have total control over stitch placement, for a much nicer finish in general, and a lot less fussing. It’s also much easier to remodel the waistband in the future!
Plan for Fastening (Circumferences & Finishing).
If your wrist measures 6″ and you cut a wristband 6″ long, it will be 2″ too short to fasten at all. You must always allow 1/4″ on each edge to turn in for finishing, plus an extra allowance to have the band overlap and close, plus a bit for wearing ease… so a band for a 6″ wrist will usually need to be cut about 8.5-9″ long in order to be functional when finished entirely: 7″ for wrist and ease, 1/2″ for turning in the ends, and 1″ to 1-1/2″ for overlap and closure.
The same concept applies to waistbands: a band that finishes 28″ will fit a waist measuring 26″. With buttoned closures, the entirety of the buttonhole needs to be overlapped with the buttoning end, so the skirts don’t gape open in the placket; the button will sit a bit back from the end of its band or facing, not right on the edge.
Buttonholes need to be worked through two layers of fabric. Make all facings and bands deep and wide enough to fit the entire buttonhole plus at least 1/4″ before and after it. Period buttonholes are handmade, and “face their stress”–horizontal holes for anything closing a circumference of the body (bodice, waistbands, wrists), and vertical for anything suspending vertically (primarily buttonholes that suspend a child’s petticoat from an underwaist or stays, not typically done for adult clothing.)
Plan for Fastening (Number of Closures).
You’ll want more closures, versus fewer, generally. For bodice fastenings, whether child or adult, plan a button or hook position at the neck and waist, and distributed every 1″ to 1-1/2″ on center between. If there is a yoke, plan for one fastener at the top, and one at the bottom, and if the length between is greater than 3″, one or more in the middle, too–and spaced evenly down the rest of the garment bodice!
Hook placement is far more variable, as the hooks are hidden, and can be arranged entirely for figure needs, versus regular spacing.
Closing Thoughts
I was gutted to not be able to offer much hope to this particular person; the “period seller” took their funds on a garment that was in no way up to basic standards for period sewing or professional sewing. I was only able to confirm the buyer’s sad summary, and offer some assistance to help them get their child dressed well and comfortably.
If we have well-educated buyers, we can expect the general tide of historical sewing standards to rise. If we are working on our own sewing, we can patiently and with determination improve our own work to better match that of the era. We have nothing to lose by wanting better!
Forum Glitches
Friends, we’re having some server issues with the Sewing Academy @ Home Forum, so it’s not operable just now… we’re working on the problem, and will have the forum back up asap!
Where To Find My Work, Authorized And Free Of Charge
Dear friends: I received an email Tuesday that indicates Citizen’s Companion will once again re-issue my copyrighted work in the Women’s and Children’s Back to Basics special editions, without my permission or copyright transfer, and indeed, without asking me to contribute research updates or clarifications. (The Women’s and Children’s content has significant components that were given my by-line in the original run of the issues, and additional significant content that the editor and I agreed would be published without a by-line, but which are still my work.)
It seems the prior publisher grossly misrepresented the extent of their rights to my work, which had only ever been submitted with First North American Serial rights ONLY, all other rights retained by me, including the right to include my work in re-prints or digital archives. Thus, the current publisher feels they “bought” rights to my work for former editors of Citizen’s Companion, responded with such when I last contacted them about please ceasing to contravene my intellectual property rights, and it appears they will choose to stand upon that. It is not accurate, but there we are. Some folks lack ethics.
I’ve notified the current Citizen’s Companion staff several times that I do not intend to grant republication rights–and certainly not without updating the information, which is in some cases nearly 20 years old!–but the response has been less-than-encouraging for intellectual property rights. It seems they will yet again contravene my rights as an author and researcher.
However, you need not participate in such trampling, and I can offer my original and updated files in my self-archive, for free:
As always, you can find the up-to-date versions of my published work, FREE OF CHARGE, on my website, www.thesewingacademy.com , the only fully-authorized, legal repository of my own archived and updated work.
(Additionally, the staff of Citizen’s Companion persists in calling citizen-oriented vendors “sutlers”—please join me in squashing the mis-use of historical terms. Citizen-oriented makers and vendors are not sutlers. I know, it’s a small thing in the grand scheme of a publication that does not hold to a higher standard of ethics with intellectual property rights, but still. Words Mean Things.)
Fellow researchers and writers, please be sure you limit your publication efforts to self-publishing, self-archiving, or ethical publishers who operate with a simple, clear writer’s agreement. No independent writer should be handing over “all rights” to anyone, much less to a publisher that does not pay for the work. Things to consider: First North American Serial Rights that revert fully back to the author on publication; reprint rights on request only; limited or no digital archive/publication rights (outside of short teaser excerpts to advertise the periodical, perhaps); no compendium, compilation, or other omnibus publication without permission… as the creator of your own work, you have rights to it that are created with the work itself. Don’t sell yourself cheap, and don’t work with unethical publishers, full stop. It’s not worth the years-long hassle.
Yes, there are legal options. I’ve used several, and the current Citizen’s Companion publisher has a larger budget than I do defend their assumption of rights to very outdated research the magazine published up to two decades ago in some cases.
So I’m using MY right to update my own work, and share it here, free of charge. No subscription needed, no ads, no ethical issues.
An end-run around people who have less-than-stellar track records in the hobby community is rather a lot of fun. We need the cardio, right?
Hit the Compendium and the blog topic archives to your right–get my current, updated stuff, free.
A Sweet New Dolly
Sometimes, projects take forever.
Sometimes, it’s a worthwhile wait.
If you look at the menu header, you’ll notice a new section: Dolls!
We’re exploring some great new options in bringing patterns to you, and have added a brand new doll pattern to test the waters: Great Auntie Maude’s Little Cloth Girl, available as a downloadable PDF pattern, straight to your inbox!
She’s 13″ tall, sized to be a nice little girl of 10-13 years alongside Great Auntie Maude’s Cloth Lady Doll. Her wardrobe is girlish and sweet, from a little tulip-sleeve chemise, to comfortable little-girl drawers, a multitude of petticoat options, and beautiful mix-and-match bodice options. (Our photo shoot was done in her blue print dress with a gathered-to-fit bodice, and frilled slim sleeves.)
She also has an absolutely adorable little schoolgirl apron, a basque jacket, and a sewn bonnet in cool cottons for summer sunbonnets, or in fine wools or silks for winter use. You can also have fun with new-sew shawls!
We hope you’ll enjoy this new pattern option! If you’ve been on the wait-list for a print copy of this new doll, those are headed out this coming Monday… but if you’re up for doll sewing RIGHT NOW, click through to purchase your own copy and get sewing immediately!
Next on the slate: Great Auntie Maude’s original Lady Cloth Doll in PDF download, and then a china doll pattern just right for experimenting in miniature dress design–with her own dress-form, so you don’t have to own our china dolls to make and display all your work!
Beyond Sewing: Designing an Impression
I think in some ways, despite my actual years, I’m about a great-grandma in living history years. This may be one of those articles where you just sit back and enjoy the Granny Rant. But, hopefully it may be useful!
One of the frequent discussions that comes up is whether or not an individual needs a highly detailed persona (with associated worksheets, family trees, and character notes that would put any world-building novelist to shame).
There’s a certain amount of impression context and background you do need, just to make sure your material culture details (wardrobe, tools, etc) are consistent with what you’re trying to communicate.
But, you may not need a full backstory, ever.
Here’s what I mean:
When I first got really serious about matching my impressions to documented information, we were looking at Western Immigration as our most available event scenarios. We’re here in the West, most branches of my family had come out before Oregon Statehood. (David’s family is half Gulf South, one-quarter pre-Rev New England, one-quarter 20th century emigration from South Africa and Scotland.)
So I started with the most obvious resources: Trails era (1843-1865 for my interest era) diaries and letter compilations, advice to emigrants available in republished volumes like The Prairie Traveler, and family history documents.
With all of that, and being a Very Indoor Cat, myself, the people who most spoke to me from the past were Reluctant Immigrants: those who were going West under duress, for a variety of reasons. My first impression or person with full documentation was just that:
West Under Duress: A Woman Abroad and Quite Cranky About It, Thanks.
I didn’t need a name. I didn’t have to know my religion, generally, save for the times I was doing really early stuff and needed to be Methodist for the mission set-ups. I didn’t have a birthdate. I was crabby about being pulled away from family, but I didn’t do backstory for any of them, either. My conversations with visitors concerned our preparations, my annoyance with my Very Cheerful Emigrant Husband, and at least one Cheerful Emigrant female companion, my worries and fears, my desires for what I’d have in Oregon,
And even without any detailed backstory, because I had the words and lives of actual emigrants in my brain, I was fine.
Over time, with more research, I began to appreciate the notes and opinions of more Cheerful Emigrants, and began to develop an additional impressions:
West With Some Tolerance: A Woman Doing Her Best.
For this impression, I still talked about fears and worries, preparations, hopes for the future. I drew in more about the conditions Back Home that motivated the move. I was cautiously optimistic.
Now, 24 years in, I can be Reluctant, Tolerant, Enthusiastic, Tired, Broke-Down, Mormon, Methodist, Merchant, or Entertaining Emigrant. I can also share any of that information in second or third person, as well as first.
I still don’t have a name, birthdate, or Emotionally Scarring Backstory. My husband is usually off “finding better grazing for the stock.” He doesn’t have a name, either.
If I need a new persona to suit a new event scenario, I just research some, add those details and notes, and off we go. I *can* add a name if needed, but it’s usually (shocker) Elizabeth or some variant thereof. All of my surnames are bog-common in the 19th century, so I can pick any of those at will. I typically stick with a range of working class roles, and have never owned a ballgown (though I’ve been known to participate in a waltz, two-step, or polka. Oh, how I love a polka! Oh, how my knees do NOT love a polka!)
So that’s one way to go… Documented Generic, with Added Specifics As Needed. It’s highly flexible, suits first, second, or third person equally well, and grows and adapts as I grow and learn.
An Update on the Unauthorized Use Debacle
A response from the editor of Citizen’s Companion:
I appreciate your message, and am sorry you feel as if we have done something egregiously wrong. We have our lawyers looking at the issue now. As I’m sure you know, the material re-published was submitted to The Citizens’ Companion prior to the year 2000 when Lakeway Publishers legally purchased the publication and all its content. It is my understanding that agreement stated all purchased content fell under the copyright of the former TCC publishers and therefore, we can reproduce as we see fit. Out of respect for you, and also Carolann Schmitt (a graduate student contacted me about her content), I will not reprint your articles without permission. Your legal issue, I believe is with the entity that sold the publications to us with the rights to republish all material previously submitted to and used by them. We would appreciate no further libel, public or private, concerning our company. Again, I apologize for the misunderstanding and hope you can appreciate our position. Thank You, Jessie Greene
So, there’s that.
Here’s the thing about libel: statements have to be untrue. And at no point have I made untrue statements.
I’m glad the editor is going to not continue to trample my legal rights in the future.
The article is still up on their website, however.
Basic upshot from my perspective: research moves forward. Why anyone would want to republish un-updated information from nearly TWO DECADES ago is beyond me–even with permission!
If you want the most updated information I can share, check here. We’ll update for free.
Authorized Content Versus Illegal Use
Hunt Hill Wrapped Up!
My, oh, my! What a great weekend! Just got back from the Hunt Hill Sewing Academy Retreat, hosted by the Living History Society of Minnesota, and already looking for a future date to do it all again!
Do you remember watching Hailey Mills in “The Parent Trap”, and feeling a bit more than pea-green with envy over that classic sleep-away camp? Hunt Hill was full of Hailey Moments for me. And when I have Hailey Moments, I get parenthetical, so be fore-warned…
In the gorgeous gloaming looking from Long Dorm toward the main house, dining hall, and library… image by E. Connolly
We were lodged comfortably in Long Dorm–which was far better than any dorm I’ve slept in! Rooms with two twin beds (cute-and-sturdy vintage metal bedsteads, comfy modern mattress), desk and chair, dresser and mirror, and plentiful closet space… real hardwood floors throughout, charming tongue-and-groove ceilings, and the style of window that made me dredge up my How To Wind Rope On A Cleat training, from back when I was The Worst Campfire Girl in the History of Ever. (Seriously. I was very bad at it. But I remember the ropes thing!)
Shared modern cold-water bathrooms inside the dorm, plus a spacious shower house (with great hot water! Midnight cell-phone-“candle”-lit shower bliss!), verdant green spaces outdoors (ten miles of hiking trails! botany! wildlife!), a gorgeous lake, classic camp dining hall (cloth napkin cubbies! endless lemonade! oilcloth on the tables! real chairs!), fantastic meals catered in (just… unnph… good), and loads of time to work and visit… it was a grand weekend.
In among telling scandalous stories and terrible jokes and some pretty high-quality harmonized singing to our working soundtrack (seriously, we were very good!) and full-moon canoe tours and late night campfires (with s’mores, of course!) we also got a lot of work done:
- SEVEN corsets fitted, cut, and constructed, plus boning schemes plotted and grommets set, and almost all by ladies with no previous corset-making experiences
- SIX bodice drapings and testing, plus sleeve style testing–and the difference between a made-for-you pattern and a generic pattern is simply delightful!
- TWO sets slippers patterned, tested, and started (choosing the embellishments was the hard part!)
- TWO chemises drafted, cut, and constructed
- ONE pair drawers ditto
- ONE ballgown bertha designed, draped, and constructed (gorgeous bias pleats in silk… yum!)
- Multiple small UFOs finished up and checked off the project list (with accompanying applause!)
- Copious belly-rubs and ear-scritches for the resident Canine Sewing Academy Mascot, Idgie (who is a sweetie, and had nice things to say about everyone there).
The opportunity to brainstorm with so many like-minded living history enthusiasts was a delight, and with a few newbies in the mix, too, off to a grand start in their history adventures.
As one who was indeed The Worst Campfire Girl in the History of Ever, I have to say it was my best camp experience of my life, so far… to be topped only by the next Retreat at Hunt Hill!
Working With Patterns: What Should You Expect?
Library of Congress, Augusta Field. Augusta is an Original. So are you. So should your pattern be.
Well-made historic patterns can be a big help in getting dressed for the mid-century. They can offer excellent historic geometry, useful and illustrated construction techniques, notes on extant garments with the same features, and textile suggestions to help make your wardrobe project the closest neighbor to what the Original Cast might have worn.
But, even a great historic pattern has limitations (and the lesser-quality ones can be a really stinker to work with; more on those later.) What can you expect to need to change when using a good historic pattern?
Those who have been in workshops with me can attest to this mantra: Always Make a Muslin Test. Always. Never Not Make a Muslin Test. Just Make One. You Need To. Yes, Even You. Make a Muslin. Always. Always Make a Muslin Test.
Because here’s the honest truth: you’re going to need to change things.
The human form has endless and marvelous variations. Not all women are slender in the same way; not all women are fat in the same way. Bodies are not symmetrical. People with the same circumferences will need radically different sizes. People with the same bra size will need radically different darts. No pattern-maker, no matter how amazing, can anticipate what your unique body is going to need.
So, you’re going to need to start with a good base, and then alter it to be YOUR best base, the one that meets all of your figure’s actual needs.
And the best way to do that without cussing or crying or panic attacks is to work out the changes in cheap ugly sheets from the thrift store, not your carefully-researched, saved-for, wonderful cotton, wool, or silk!
Make a muslin of your excellent historic pattern base (chosen for size by your bust or high bust measure for most patterns, or using the unique sizing instructions for Truly Victorian patterns), and expect to need to refine or alter things like:
Overall Length: a too-long bodice causes wrinkles and ripples and all manner of oddness. Sometimes taking off 1/2″ will be the perfect solution to every other fitting issue. Sometimes it’s just one piece of your unique figure puzzle. Sometimes, you need to add length to the pattern, and that’s fine, too!
Length In Specific Places: you may be shorter-than-charts or longer-than-charts from the shoulder to the bust point, or from bust to waist. You can alter your test muslin to suit. It’s allowed.
Circumferences & Widths: you will have different width needs than other people. You’re allowed, and can expect, to change a few things by altering the depth or position of seams, taking extra width out of the shoulder or front bodice, and other such changes. If you’re a very slender person, who falls below the minimum measurements for the pattern, expect that you’ll be folding out some overall width right down through the shoulder and bust of each piece, and taking deeper seams, too. It’s all fixable at the muslin stage!
Darts & Seams: anticipate changing the precise length, shape, depth, and position of darts, to mold the bodice to your actual body. And anticipate that you probably have a very distinct right and left fitting need, too; most people do, though some are symmetrical enough that they can cut a bodice “double”–that is, in a double-layer of fabric to get both fronts in the same shape, and one back on a fold. You may not be able to do that, and that’s okay, and normal.
Armscyes: you may need a different depth, width, shape, or position of armscye than the pattern lays out. This is normal, too. If you need to make significant changes, you may also have to mess with some test sleeves to correct the shape of the sleeve cape.
Necklines: depth, width, shape, and position–sensing a trend? We all wear our bones in different places. If your bodice is built to suit your bones and flesh, you’ll be comfortable and look comfortable, too.
Okay, so what if you got a stinker of a pattern?
I mentioned above that it’s easiest to start with well-drafted patterns from makers who are good at period geometry, and good at historic technique instruction. Not every pattern meets that threshold.
Even if you got a stinker of a pattern (and I’m sorry that happened… I’ll do an article soon on which meet my own threshold for use), you’re going to be making a muslin, so most of the weirdness can be fixed. It’s just going to take more work. It’s work done once, though–when you have your fitted base fine-tuned to look well on your historically-corseted body, you will use that as your permanent pattern. You can transfer it to sturdy paper, with notes and markings and dates, and make pretty much everything from it!
What if your pattern’s instructions are also stinkers?
That happens. It’s one of the reason quite a few people end up buying The Dressmaker’s Guide, actually–because they can use the techniques in conjunction with any published pattern, no matter the quality of the pattern’s notes. You can find some helps and hints in the articles in the Compendium as well.
Now, repeat after me:
Always, Always, Always Make a Muslin Test! You have official permission to make a good pattern better by fitting it to your actual, in-real-life body, and you should!
Evaluating Published Patterns, Or…
… How To Tell If Your Resources Pretty Much Suck Eggs.
So, this post comes from a kind of crabby place. Normally, I am not a crabby person. I do, however, get frustrated when people, in good faith, get hold of resources that are not only less-than-helpful, but put them in a really cruddy spot with wasted fabric and effort and time.
Can you spot all the Red Flags in this image?
Here’s a short list of things that set of my Red Flags with regards to a woman’s mid-19th century dress pattern:
Scanty Yardage: With 45″ fabric, and bishop sleeves, a fabric yardage note of 4.5 yards for an adult dress is Not Much. That’s a skimpy skirt (not gauge-able), and while some very petite ladies may be able to get a lower working class “skimpy” dress from it, the average-build woman cannot, if she wants to look like someone from the mid-19th century, and not like an extra from The Beverly Hillbillies.
Over-Yardage: The pattern includes bishop sleeves, which don’t require a lining. But three yards of lining is quite a lot for lining a basic bodice. More Red Flags that this dress pattern may have some oddness.
Yardage Why? The note calling for a half-yard of 45″ wide white cloth and interfacing leaves a lot of questions: no notes on whether that’s a half-yard of white cloth that will be used as interfacing, or if you need a half-yard of each, and if so, what kind of interfacing, and if interfacing, why? Mid-century dresses didn’t use modern interfacing. I’m about to the point that I can start a fancy drill team with all these Red Flags.
No Yardage At All? Apparently, if you use 60″ wide cloth, you magically need zero fabric for lining?
Sizing It Up: Another Red Flag shows up bright and clear on this sizing chart, in the neckline circumference. Women do not get larger on a photocopy scale. As sizing goes up, necks do not get progressively larger by another inch and a half each size. This tells me the drafter/grader doesn’t really get human anatomy or growth or fatness, and that signals the potential for vast sizing re-do work.
Bad Notions: Things like buttons need to be customized to suit the purposes of the dress. While a high-fashion gown might use larger buttons (often silk-covered or the really sexy complicated ones woven over a mold), a “work dress” for an average-height woman tends to need more than 8 huge buttons down the front. Eight buttons can work for my 10yo, who is 4.5 feet tall, if I’m using period spacing and sizing, so right off the bat, I know that the pattern recommendations are not going to look well on me: I’m over a foot taller! The pattern doesn’t upgrade the button total for the taller/longer bodices. That means, the larger the size, the more I’m going to look like a Borrower, not a denizen of the 19th century.
And no period dress needs huge hooks and eyes to fasten the skirt and bodice together. That’s not how the Original Cast did it, and recommending it in a pattern belies a basic lack of research into actual garments of the era. There are going to be Problems with the way the bodice and skirt are finished at the waist, and how the fullness is handled, guaranteed; lack of research in one area transmits to many areas.
And piping: Your dress pattern should recommend it, but if they have “two packages piping” on the list, run away post-haste and buy a different pattern, because again: basic lack of research into actual garments of the era. Mid-century piping is self-fabric, and about 1/4 the size of purchased poly-cotton bias piping. If the list tells you to plan an extra yard to make self-piping, run away post-haste; this displays a lack of understanding regarding layout, fabric usage, and scrap piecing so very basic to mid-century dressmaking.
And fat thread: No, you don’t need heavy quilting or button or upholstery thread to sew a 19th century dress. The originals used regular sewing cotton. We can, too. No need for overkill. And designers that recommend overkill either haven’t looked at enough originals, or have had their designs monkeyed with by modern publishers (as is the case of the work of two designers I know… they turned in good stuff, and then it got messed with. Growl. Not the designers’ fault in that case.)
This bit of crabbiness is all based on just the back of a pattern envelope. I’m expecting further travesty on the inside–on-line reviews note that the pattern doesn’t include any illustrations. The person trying to use this pattern is reasonably frustrated, and rightly so.
In a few weeks, we’ll be sharing some independent resource reviews of items for mid-century, and I’ll have more to say on the matter, I’m sure. For the meantime, keep this in mind: sometimes, when you’re struggling to make a project work, it isn’t your fault.
I’m going to slap in some Sousa, and march around waving this pile of Red Flags for a bit…
