Rectangular Constructed Tunic or Gown Lady Francesca Carletti, 2016

Transcription

1 Rectangular Constructed Tunic or Gown Lady Francesca Carletti, 2016 For a recap of instructions, go to my rectangular constructed underdress/ What is Rectangular Construction? A method of garment construction use pieces that are all cut out as rectangles or triangles, etc. The idea is that in the past, fabric would have been expensive. This method allows for the best use of the fabric with very little wasted! You can utilize this method to make many garments Tunics, gowns, pants, hoods, etc Bias: the diagonal/stretchy part of the fabric Grain or Warp & Weft: the straight parts of the fabric Selvage: the machined edge What to always do: 1. Prep your fabric if it is linen or cotton, I usually wash and dry it the same as I would after wearing it. Be sure to Iron out wrinkles, you want it flat for cutting. Wool can be a bit trickier, most times I do not pre wash wool and only spot clean it after wearing it, check the instructions for your fabric. 2. Trim selvages and make sure all edges are straight (see #3) 3. Cut/rip along the grain of the fabric This can be done by, yes, ripping the fabric! It will naturally tear along the grain of the fabric, creating a straight edge. Another method is to pull out a thread of the fabric, and cut along where the thread was pulled out. 4. Don t forget to add Seam Allowances & Ease Seam allowance is usually 3/4 1/2, Ease is how loose you want the garment. (see a note about ease below) 5. Trim Gores Trim the bias side of the Gore to be the same length as the straight side of the gore. This will help avoid strange points in the hem later. 6. Sew Straight Straight & Straight Bias, Never Bias Bias Sewing bias bias will allow the seam to stretch and sag over time. Sometimes reinforcing the seam with hand stitching will help, but it s best avoided.

2 *A note about Ease and Seam Allowance Ease is essentially how loose you want the garment from your skin tight body measurement. For example, your flexed bicep measurement is 16. It might be a good idea to add ½ 1 of ease besides the seam allowance. This would give you a cut measurement of: 16 +½ SA+½ SA+1 ease= 18 cut width for your sleeve. Note that you are adding the seam allowance twice, once for each side! The finished sleeve would be 17 at the bicep. It all depends on how stretchy the fabric is and the fit you re going for. Now be careful about adding ease, one inch goes along way! If you think you d like more than a few inches, it might better to add in another gore, gusset, etc to make up the difference. This way the seams will still be hitting the right places. Where to not add ease: shoulder seam and collar/neckline. These places need the finished seam to hit a certain spot for correct fit. Try to think about the finished product and where seams will end up. Styles: 1. Drop Shoulder: Uses the widest body measurement for shoulder measurement. Easiest to cut out, simply one rectangle for the body piece. The sleeves are then cut shorter. With this style you need to make sure the gusset or sleeve is enough to allow for full range of motion in the arm. There is usually some bulkiness in the underarm with this style, but many men prefer this look. 2. Mock Set In Sleeve: Helps keep the shoulder seam at the shoulder points when the body measurement is larger than the shoulder measurement. Gives best fit and range of motion in arm. This is the style I use most often since it helps tailor the garment slightly. (Shown in diagram) 3. Front and Back Gores: Add additional gores to the front and back. Helps give more flare to the bottom. There are many extant garments with these additional gores. Placement of the gores can be higher or lower giving different silhouettes.

3 Measurements: Shoulder a. Shoulder point to shoulder point + SA = **Body b. Largest part of body /2 (halved) => + SA = Body Length c. Shoulder to hem + SA = **Sleeve Width d. Bicep + ease + SA = Gore Length e. Bottom of gusset to hem + SA = Gore Width f. Desired hem flare /4 (divided among 4 pieces)=> + SA = **Sleeve Cuff g. Desired cuff width + SA = Gusset Width h. d e = Sleeve Length i. Shoulder point to cuff + SA = ** Piece will be cut out on a fold at the top Cutting and Layout I usually cut the body piece first. How the fabric is folded and cut depends on the length of the garment. If it is shorter you may be able to fold the fabric lengthwise. If it s longer, you may need to fold the fabric widthwise. If you don t have enough fabric for either of these, you can cut out two rectangular pieces and add in SA for a shoulder seam. You can also take in the body piece for the mock set in sleeve. Cut the top of the body on either side at a diagonal, from the shoulder point to the top of the gore, minus SA so you are adding in fabric to account for the SA. All other pieces can be arranged after the main body piece is cut out. Try to utilize the most of your fabric. Keep in mind the pieces that have a fold or that need two cut out: Sleeves & gussets. To cut out the 4 gores, start with one rectangular piece, cut it in half straight, then cut the two pieces on the diagonal (see diagram). Don t forget to trim the gore bottoms! For the neckline/collar, start small! Measure your desired width of the neckline, but keep it close to the sides of you neck. Now, minus SA, and that will be where you cut to. Do the same for the front and back, keeping it small at first, and subtracting SA from the measurement each time. For example I want my neckline to hit 3 down from my neck in the front, so I would cut it out at 2.5, have ½ SA, and a finished neckline at 3. Any time you re cutting a piece out of fabric, add SA to measurement. Any time you re cutting into a piece such as neckline, subtract SA from measurement.

4 Assembly Start assembly by sewing the gusset to the sleeve. Then sew the length of the sleeve. Sew the gusset and sleeve to the body. Sew the gore straight edges together. Sew the gore sides to the body. My preference is to sew my seams on the machine and then hand finish the neckline, cuffs, hems, and seam finishes.

5 Seam Finishes There are many options for finishing seams. First of all, it can all be done on the sewing machine. I tend to try to finish my seams by hand, it adds that more period feel to it. For earlier period garments, you can use decorative seam finishes (some folks feel this is an anachronism and not period, but some feel it is accurate and period. There are extant examples of colored thread used on garments, hats and hoods, etc). Below are some seam finishing styles, most can be done on the sewing machine or by hand. Flat Felled Seam Open Seam French Seam (Eileen, 2015) (Eileen, 2015) (Eileen, 2015) Elizabethan Seam (finish seam edges and then join pieces) (Eileen, 2015) (Mellin, 2007) Sources Lady Sidney Eileen of Starkhafn (2015) Medieval Hand Stitching and Finishing Techniques content/uploads/2015/04/handstitches.pdf Laura Mellin (2007) The Elizabethan Seam All other images/diagrams are original works of the author: Lady Francesca Carletti (2016)