Pattern Drafting Workshop

This past weekend I participated in a pattern drafting workshop hosted by Kay Gnagey, of Originals by Kay.

I already have a basic bodice pattern that Kay drafted and fitted for me from a number of years ago. It was been one of the greatest helps in sewing period clothing. Knowing how a bodice should fit on me correctly - where the waist should fall, how snug it should be - helps you avoid all the pitfalls of sewing from a commercial pattern. Of course, there is nothing wrong with using a well documented commercial pattern as long as you know how it should fit you, which usually means shortening the waist and making the bodice tighter.

The goal of this workshop was to take your basic bodice pattern and learn how to adjust it through cutting and shifting so you could make other bodice styles.

We started with the basic gathered bodice, then moved onto creating a false-seamed back. Next we drafted low body linings. A low body lining is not worn as a bodice (the top fashion fabric), but can be used to line a sheer dress or a regular jewel necked dress for coolness. We drafted the sheer bodice pattern that would be worn over the low body lining.

The next day we made infant body patterns. An infant body has a lower neckline, gathers, and a waistband. What made it exciting for me as an adult it that it can be worn in a sheer with a self-fabric fichu or peleraine (or one made of white organdy). This introduces a whole new way to stay cool in the hottest days of summer! It can also be used for evening.

To complete the options, we drafted a fichu pattern to wear with the infant body and learned how to modify it for a peleraine.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Mid-Nineteenth Century Lady's Nightcap

Image
I decided I needed a lady's nightcap.  Not a fancy ornamental day cap, but a practical one that could stand washing, ironing, and wearing.  My criteria were that it be historically accurate,  that it would cover my ears and keep me warm, and that it not twist around or fall off while I was sleeping.  I sleep cold; when we camp out at a reenactment, I will wear a knit cap to sleep during the cold weather.  At the end of March we are going to participate in an immersion event, which is where everything must be as accurate as possible at all times, 24/7 (or in this case, 24/3).  We will be staying in an antique log cabin, so there is no heating other than the fireplace.  It's been a cold, windy winter with an over abundance of snow, so I wanted to make sure I stayed warm at night. In July 1859, Peterson's Magazine  (akin to Good Housekeeping or Better Homes and Gardens ) published a pattern for a lady's nightcap.  A number of reenactors have made it up and there
Read more
Image
Chocolate Cream Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge #2 - Culinary Vices! The Challenge :   Culinary Vices (January 15 - January 28)   Some foods are really, really naughty. Globs of butter, lashings of sugar and syrup, decadent chocolate and wine. Bring out your naughty, indecorous side with foods associated with all the bad things, in the best ways. Being a child of the twentieth century, I know what I consider to be decadent (chocolate!  whipped cream!  rich creaminess!) and being a student of the nineteenth century, I know that my tastes do not necessarily align with theirs.  Many of their desserts are not as sweet and naturally, few rely on refrigeration - I do qualify "few," because there are desserts, such as ice cream, which require chilling. Boiled puddings there are aplenty on both shores of the Atlantic Ocean, as well as cakes like our fruit and pound cakes.   Mrs. Isabella Beeton That type of dessert didn't strike me as decadent.  I needed
Read more

Oiled Linen

Image
So, why would you want to make oiled linen? At reenactments I usually portray the president of a local Soldiers' Aid Society. I like bringing a display to engage the spectators and help them understand some of the items that were collected and sent to the armies. I also find that I learn a lot when I research and then recreate period items. The Annual Report, Issues 1-4, of the U.S. Christian Commission issues directions for packing supplies to be shipped. It mentions, "Stone jars of jellies should be corked and firmly bound with oiled linen or leather over the cork...." The Kentucky Housewife , by Lettice Byran, a cookbook published in 1839 suggests that many jars of food, especially pickles, be covered with leather. While I had already used leather as a cover for many of my jars, I wanted to add oiled linen for variety. First, I had to make oiled linen. Researching oiled linen, I learned that it was used in window panes as a substitute for glass, as an early umbrell
Read more