reducing bulk in seams

This is a bit of a long post!

One thing I find challenging in building period costumes is how to deal with multiple layers and the resulting bulk in seams.

In this mock up of a doublet I had to figure out how to deal with the bulk of seam allowances that could end up in the armhole.
How much bulk is too much- when does it get difficult to sew and more important irritating to wear? Lets talk about the armholes first.
We have the body of the doublet which is a sturdy cotton duck with velvet flat mounted over it. The doublet will also have a lining in it. Three layers in the body armhole.

There is a long under sleeve that will be in velvet. It needs to be flat mounted on a lightweight cotton to keep it stable, as it will get trim. There will be a lining in the sleeve as well. Three layers in the under sleeve.

The small puff sleeve goes over top of the long sleeve and it will remain unattached on its bottom edge-
This puff consists of a base shape in cotton, onto which we sewed a few rows of gathered netting to create the rounded shape. Over the netting, there is a gathered layer of fabric- lets call that the pouf.
Then, over the pouf are panes, each of which consist of a base layer of cotton silesia, then a piece of fusible cut to the finished size of the pane. The velvet will get flat mounted on top of this. Each pane will have a trim applied to the long edges, and then each pane will be lined.

So that is two layers for the base and pouf, then panes have silesia, velvet, and lining, plus trim.

So that is a lot of fabric into an armhole.

I went on a bit of a search at work and saw a number of different techniques dealing with this issue. On some ladies garments with paned sleeves, the panes were bound off with one continuous binding, and the binding was hand sewn to the outside of the armhole. This kept quite a flat profile to the top of the sleeve as the panes do not have to curve up and over.

I liked that but thought it might be not strong enough for this costume, but it did give me an idea!




Here is my idea sample:

What I did was cut a piece of bias and sew the panes to it by machine. I then wrapped the bias around the seam allowance of the panes and stitched it down.

Turn this around and lay it over the sleeve and you get this:

So, now I have eliminated all the bulk inherent in the panes from going into the armhole. Yay! 

The bias was cut from the same material as the pouf, so the binding will just disappear. The bias is stitched to the sleeve base along the sewing line. This does not mean that sewing this sleeve in will be made any easier, because it must be carefully stitched right up against the edge of the binding, but it does eliminate bulk.

The view from the bottom- all the component layers are caught together and bound off in matching velvet.

Just a look at the sleeve from the side. 

and lastly, a fitting photo before all this was figured out! 

doublet sleeves with slashes

Do you ever wonder about how fashions develop and why they are popular and what keeps trends going? I do. I especially wonder if in the future some poor costume maker is going to have to recreate the style of trousers worn by guys today, the sagging ones hanging on with no visible means of support, and wonder why it was popular. By then of course the deep meaning of it will have been analysed and discussed and theories made and so on, and it will all make some kind of sense.

I relate this line of thinking in some ways to the fashions of the past which we are now trying to interpret for the stage. Now, we are not trying for academically historical accuracy, but theatrical interpretation and one of the things we have been working on it slashed garments.
I am not going to go into the history behind it here as you may Google to your heart's content and read all about it. 
What we have to do is interpret what the designer is after.

We want a slashed look and there are a few options to making that happen.
First, you could cut slashes or holes in the fashion fabric and have a coloured lining beneath that which shows through the holes you have made. The downside is that it can look a little flat.

Second, you could have fullness in the coloured under layer so the coloured fabric poufs out through the cuts in the outer fabric. A more interesting look.

So, can we manipulate the coloured fabric to show through the cuts consistently over six months of wearing and dry cleaning and still have it looking good to be used over and over again? Yes, we can. There are probably endless possibilities or at least quite a few, but here is one that we used this year.

We have a pair of suede sleeves with slashes.  The good thing about leather/suede is that we do not have to finish the cut edges of the slashes as leather isn't about to fray. The slashes were cut first, using  small chisel and a pair of scissors. The chisel gets the cut started and you finish the cut with the scissors. The slashes are shaped, not just straight cuts.








There will be lines of narrow trim running vertically between the columns of slashes.

This gave me the idea to use those lines to attach the pouf fabric on the inside of the sleeve.
This is our sample.
You can see that the suede has been painted down. The original colour is in the middle. We also showed the designer the two different colours of silk that she was interested in using. We used the more yellow version on the right.

The pouf fabric was cut on the bias and arranged in place on the back of the sleeve. Once we were satisfied with the amount of fabric coming through the slashes, it was basted in place and then machine stitched to hold it permanently. The silk fabric was stitched in, then narrow trim was zigged on, covering the previous line of stitching.

After that, the lining was inserted into the sleeve as usual. I don't think that the poufs will require any further stitching to hold them, but while the sleeve is flat we could have stitched a tack at the ends of the slashes.

I think that was quite successful and it has the advantage of not being bulky.

Suits: the finishing details

Well, we are reaching the finishing stage for our suits. I thought I would share a few photos of the finishing details here.

Marking the lapel buttonhole, ready to go to the machine. You can see the way the under collar has been hand stitched onto the jacket and how the collar end has been finished

Here is a view of the inside of the back neck. I cut two piece top collars nowadays because a lot of the fabrics we use don't respond to being stretched and shrunk. This one actually is a stretch wool! A challenge to work with, but if carefully handled you get results like this.

A close up of the finished jacket front.

Here is a view of the top collar of a linen jacket, nicely matching at the centre back. This one had top stitching details on the patch pockets and the front edges.

Front view

Back view.















                                                             



Here is a silk, linen and wool windowpane check jacket with a notch collar and patch pockets.
This one turned out very nicely. I am not sure how well it will stand up to wear and tear, but for now it looks great.

This one needs a final press and we don't have a stand that shows it well. Wait! did I forget to put the lapel buttonholes in?
No, I think they're in, just very subtle. DB in a tone on tone stripe wool. I guess I will check the jacket tomorrow just to be sure.

This one is one of the last minute additions, in the fitting it went from a two button to three ( good thing we hadn't taped off the roll line and had the front edge still basted! ) a ticket pocket was also added at that time. This is a black wool tone on tone herringbone stripe. These shoulders have a flatter look that the other jackets, the seam allowances have been pressed open at the shoulder/crown of the sleeve, to give less shoulder expression. They have just a little sleeve head of soft lambswool instead of a canvas sleevehead.










Tomorrow, we have to get the last jacket wearable for Tuesday, finish a couple pairs of trousers and get back to finishing our doublets and robes which need to be loaded out by Friday. It will be another busy week, and I am looking forward to the deadlines being over!

Not only suits being made

 Well, things have been very busy at work and we are not just making suits, we have some period costumes to put together or refurbish from stock.
These are some of the costumes we've been working on.
A pair of suede trunk-hose. These are built on a fitted under base of twill. This year we are trying a few new techniques for putting these together. The lower leg or canion of suede is flat mounted onto the twill pieces before the legs are put together.   We constructed the fly completely into the under trouser, which allows us to construct the upper suede pouf separately. The pouf is attached to the thigh first, then brought up and attached to the waistline before the waist band is sewn on.
 The centre front opening in the suede is faced back to the fly notch with a cotton twill tape, and that will then be slip stitched to the fly opening of the under trouser at the end. We figured that by doing it this way, we can remove the pouf if required, make changes to its size, add under structure if needs be without too much trouble. So far so good.
We are also making a doublet that has suede sleeves. These are in cowhide and have decorative ridges sewn down the top and under sleeve. We were able to create a similar look on the seams themselves by stitching a regular seam , pushing all the seam allowance to one side then top stitching a quarter of an inch away- like flat felling- then opening up the original stitch line so creating a similar ridge effect. Luckily we have access to boots and shoemakers and their equipment, because the last seam had to be done on the post bed machine. It makes top stitching inside the tube of the sleeve possible.

Lastly, what is a season without a large robe? It seems I get one every year. Last year was the velvet robe completely lined in fur. This year we have a large scale silk damask, lined in silk duppioni. What isn't in the photos is the waist length capelet of the same fabric lined in....you guessed it, fur.

It is time consuming and sometimes stressful cutting out these large garments. Often I have made a pattern and done a toile fitting without knowing what the fabric will be. So without knowing the fabric width or the size of the repeat, I often have to alter the pattern to fit the yardage I get. 

Anyway, I guessed pretty close as I didn't have to modify the pattern, but it takes a good amount of time to lay out the pieces and make sure that the pattern placement overall is good and the pattern matches at the sides, and that you will have enough yardage overall. Garments like this have to be cut in a one way layout as there is a definite up and down to the pattern. This produces a lot of waste as you cannot top and tail the layout. I also lose a half vertical repeat when I cut the yardage so I can lay the fabric right sides together to cut. This fabric is meant for drapery so it is woven with a half of the pattern ending right at the selvedge edge. I prefer to not use the selvedge as my seam allowance, so I lose then lose a half repeat horizontally, as I lay the centre front and centre back in the middle of the next pattern repeat from the edge. Hope that makes sense.......

Under the cape is an under gown of red velvet brocade with a really nice hand. It is a little bit tricky sewing it together and trying to match the pattern as the velvet pile comes and goes along the seam. I think it is easier to sew plain velvet.
The trick according to Denise is triple rows of pinning. One row of pinning on the sewing line and a row either side to prevent shifting. Oh, and using the narrow velvet foot on the machine. Even then it can be a challenge!


This will be fit tomorrow, so I will try to get a photo of it all together next time.

year end thoughts and photos

Year end? Where did the time go?

I had planned on doing some posting while I was guiding Lela through drafting and fitting body coats, but it fell by the wayside due to her mother's illness and subsequent passing. We did get through quite a lot of drafting and fitting but I didn't have the wherewithal to document it as I have done in the past.

These are a few of the last things we've been working on- the tailcoats with the Ballet gusseted sleeves- they don't hang as cleanly as a regular sleeve it is true but you can raise your arms! The fitting I did last week was for these checked trousers with a dark grey jacket. I don't know why I like the checked trousers so much, but I do! I guess they feel rather cheery and they stand out compared to the more sombre grey suits that we had been making.

On Friday, we collectively decided that it was time to put down the shears and needles for a break before Christmas. I have 76 buttonholes to do (by machine of course) so I got all those marked and basted and ready, planning on getting over to my colleague's place to have them done when I was just hit by fatigue and I gave in to it. They can wait until the New Year. I just need a break, so I am taking one, since it has been a very busy year so far.

I wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2013!

ballet

Just popping by to let you know I am still working on those ballet costumes!

Just to prove it, here's a nice gusset in a ballet sleeve. It is basically the same concept as my regular grown on gusset for a two piece sleeve, just with more range of motion. I had a great talk with my colleague Evan before I started this project as he has oodles of experience cutting for ballet. I took his advice to heart and I have been very happy with the results. Thanks Evan!

In case you were wondering, the under sleeve gusset is basically as high as the top of the sleeve head

Now we just have to get the two extra costumes done that were added and soon they will be ready to be shipped.

I'll be back soon.

more coat cuff progress

I was going to say that these coat cuffs were finished but they are not quite done yet. They are attached to the sleeve and the sleeve is in the coat so we have made progress but they still need their decorative buttons.

Obviously at some point, historically speaking, this cuff style was literally buttoned up onto the sleeve with functioning buttons and holes. A practical solution that grew out of the fashion for display and ornamentation.

Often we will make sham buttonholes out of trim and the button will be sewn on the cuff to make it look as though they were really buttoned on. This time the buttons will be sewn onto the border of plain blue, but we often will tack them through to the sleeve at the front so that the cuff has some support and to keep it from falling down.

We have managed to make everything wearable for the tech dress rehearsal, but we have a lot of finishing yet to do.

It is nice though to be backstage when the actors first get a chance to see each other in these elaboarate costumes. They were thrilled and we were too.

Rundschau sleeve drafting

Today I tried drafting the Rundschau sleeves for the coat draft.

Thoughts:

It is a very straight sleeve, and when drafted out according to the instructions, very wide. The hem proportion in the draft is quite small especially in comparison to the width at and above the elbow.

In the instructions they calculate 1/4 of the Ad in two different points. Point C and F in the picture on the right.

I took that to be the armhole width from the body pattern but it wasn't specific as to whether that meant just the basic armhole width proportion of 1/8 chest plus 3.5 cm, or 1/8 chest plus 3.5, plus 2cm more, which is what you use in the drafting of the body.

Hmmm...

I decided to take it as just the proportion (which I suspect is wrong) and when I pinned it into the jacket it did look too long.

The photo on the left (above) is the first try at it - very wide -and the photo above in the middle is a modification of the calculation for the width.

So, in the first I used 1/2 armscye measurement plus 1 cm and in the second 1/2 armscye minus .5 cm. The wider sleeve ended up having 6 cm of ease in it- as compared to the armhole- which I felt is way too much (that can depend on the fabric, style, and making up methods) The narrower version had a more reasonable 3 cm. Maybe using 1/2 armscye would be best.

Of course it is impossible to shape a muslin sleeve, so here it is pinned into the jacket as is.

I'd prefer a narrower elbow, and an altogether shaplier sleeve, but to take out another cm at the front at the elbow level might be a problem. The forearm seam here is displaced towards the undersleeve (as in most modern sleeves) which limits the shaping you can put into the pattern unless you are able to work the fabric with the iron.

The other option is to increase the sleeve hem circumference at the front, which I think would improve the shape in general- don't you think it is a bit too straight and abrupt there?

You can see that the back sleeve seam is too long, so I think the calculation of 1/8 chest + 3.5 + 2 is better and that decreases the back seam length by .75cm by dropping point C circled above.

That also raises point F slightly if the calculation is consistent.

I guess that means another try.

a quartet of sleeve shapes

A short interlude from the Olympic costuming.

A quartet of sleeve shapes to show you today- I think these are the reason I feel swamped and am working overtime.

The challenge was to make Renaissance type period sleeves "cubist" in effect, so in the places where you might see a soft gathered puff of fabric around the elbow for instance, we want to achieve more geometric shapes. These are some of the preliminary thoughts in three dimensions- I didn't take pics of the accompanying patterns- that was thoughtless of me- I'll try to find time to do that. The workings of my brain these days feels rather disconnected.

We've named them, from left to right: the lantern, the pentagon, the hamster wheel and the wheel of cheese.

The hamster wheel: This one is a faceted 8 sided shape- pick an outside dimension that you want 22", calculate the vertical dimension lets say 6 1/2 " as well as the size of the openings at either end- one is 40 cm and one is 34 cm (based on the size of the support sleeve above and below the elbow)

Okay, I know I mix my measuring systems around- I use metric and imperial freely to suit my purpose - usually depends on whether I am dividing or not.

Draw up the base shape that is repeated eight times, cut in some horrible nylon stuff, stitch together and hold the shape out with riglene nylon boning. I think it could be less sloppy looking if it had been sewn a bit differently. The riglene really needs to be machine sewn to hold the shape out. Sewing them can be a bit of a trial and error process. ("oh, but don't forget we have a tight budget") Budgets are another story in themselves, I won't go there.

The pentagon- similar process- a central panel with the circumference and height chosen, marked off in five equal sides, then shaped in above and below into an offset circle so that the bulk of the shape was on the outside of the arm (negligible effect). The shaping above and below the central panel- is a five sided funnel which I figured out really easily on the day but it totally eludes me today.

Stitch in rigilene along the central panel, bending it at the facets. We ended up using this one on the costume and we put a circle of rigilene inside the pentagon of riglene to ensure it will never collapse.

We also needed to keep in mind that the fabric coverings will need to be ever so slightly bigger so they float just on the shape; too tight and it will distort the shape, too loose and it will look sloppy.

The lantern. This started with a piece of 2" grosgrain for the central panel, with basically two funnel shapes attached to it. One side of the funnel is long and the other is shorter because i didn't like it and I cut it off which made the hole bigger- but I needed it to be a certain size, so I put in small tucks by eye to reduce the size, then sewed on the twill to hold it there. Sometimes the things that go wrong initially can lead you to shapes you hadn't thought of originally. I like this shape.

The cheese wheel- this is similar to the lantern except that the central panel is wider and the "funnels" attached to them are flat. They are just circles of the required circumference to attach to the central panel, with off set circular holes of the required dimensions for the size above and below the elbow. Not successful really.

These are just the little shapes around the elbow- there are different shapes above and below these which make for a huge amount of pattern making, and cutting- probably 3 to 4 times the usual required for a costume.

Sleeve experiments

This year I will get to experiment with some odd sleeve shapes.

Asymmetrical outfits and sleeves with darting of the sleeve head in order to create angular shapes. The fashion fabrics for this are varied-some heavy (15 oz wool) and some tissue thin. It will be a challenge, no doubt.

I start with a basic one piece sleeve block that I can develop the other shapes from. In some cases I will need a two piece sleeve pattern for an inner sleeve, plus patterns generated for cuffs/fore arm pieces, a one piece pattern for the upper arm as well as patterns for panes.

I start out expanding my pattern by slashing and spreading for the volume I think a sleeve will need but it usually takes a trial in muslin to really see the relationship between the paper and the resulting muslin toile.

I also have to figure out how to support the shape- whether the fabric needs backing or some kind of netting on an under sleeve or both. The sleeve in the upper photo is backed onto a Nylon fabric that was used for shirt collars at one time. It also has a hoop of rigilene stitched in to keep the circumference held out. The sleeve in the lower photo is washed muslin stitch fused with stitch witchery to craft felt, also with a rigilene support.

sleeve pattern pieces

Just how many pattern pieces for a paned sleeve? I usually start with a basic one piece sleeve block. I then usually create a two piece sleeve and gusset from that so I have one ready.

A cuff or forearm pattern
A base under sleeve for the upper arm. This will keep the sleeve the correct length. It has a little ease where it joins to the forearm or cuff piece. It will also be a support for any netting we may use to keep the outer fabric in the shape we like.


A basic upper sleeve pattern reduced below the elbow to fit the forearm piece.
This will used to develop the panes. I lengthened this pattern an amount I thought would be suitable, then drew in the panes. You need to allow some space between the panes on the pattern because they tend to acquire a bit of bulk as they are lined and bound, and you want them to fit after you've done all that work. I then traced the basic panes onto another sheet of paper and shaped them. The reason we don't leave them as straight panels is that they look awful like that. All patterns should have graceful lines, and straight lines rarely belong on the body. Straight lines tend to look flat, uninteresting and sometimes after sewing, hollowed out or concave. If you need a straight line look, you are better off starting with a slight convex shape in your pattern. (rigidity, straight lines, overuse of rulers = my pet peeves.)


Lastly, a large pattern for the upper puff that is seen through the panes.

sleeves and gussets

More about sleeves.
Have you ever noticed that a poor guy wearing his suit cannot lift his arm up without the sleeve cutting into his upper arm and then dragging the whole jacket up too?
Well maybe it's not one of your everyday things to notice, but take a look sometime at how restricting a modern jacket is.



The armholes are cut really low for one thing and the sleeves have a very high depth of crown.
This combination conspires to constrict.

The worst time we have is when commercial jackets are purchased- especially for a dance show - and then we get the lovely job of trying to do something about the restrictive fitting of the sleeves.Yuck! We usually end up cutting a separate gusset and then opening up the underarm to sew it in. Tedious work to be sure. (It usually entails cutting up a spare jacket too!)
When we need to have movement in a suit sleeve we are more likely to construct a "grown-on" gusset sleeve like the pattern in the picture above. Along with a higher cut armhole, this allows for raising your arm, yet for the most part when the arm is at rest in a natural position you don't notice it. The gusset starts on the top sleeve just about where the arm naturally meets the body, and continues on the undersleeve, eventually joining in along the original undersleeve line.
It looks strange but it works.

sleeves

Sleeves.
Sleeves are the bane of some people's existence, or maybe it's armholes.....
I find them fascinating-they can be many different shapes and they can be challenging or simple.
I have a number of drafting techniques I use for sleeves depending on the garment. These will be the sleeves for the doublet in the previous posts. I decided not to do a "period sleeve" per se, but adapt a general sleeve technique for my purpose. I started with drafting a one piece sleeve block, and I use the Natalie Bray basic technique for women's sleeves to do this.
(I generally tend to adapt patterning techniques to suit my purposes and generally, women's sleeve pattern basics and manipulations are what is required for many men's period sleeve shapes.)


Then I make a two piece sleeve from that. This gives me a front seam that is quite forward unlike a tailored suit sleeve which has the front seam lower or more under the arm.
This will be the sleeve base.


This is the "puff" and the lower forearm pattern that will go on top of the sleeve base. The upper section will gather or pleat into the lower close fitting section. This sleeve will be able to be buttoned closed from top to bottom along the front seam. In the sketch, the forearm section is closed and the puff is open to display the shirt underneath. Except that there is no shirt proper-I've been asked to fake the shirt underneath. OK. That just complicates things, but ok. There will also be a lace decorative cuff that will look as though it is a shirt cuff that turns up over the hem of the doublet sleeve.













The complications I can see are:
I think that I need the sleeve base to control the extra length that is gained in making the puff sleeve.
The forearm section is quite fitted, and will have to unbutton a bit for the actor to put his hand in and out
The decorative cuff doesn't open at the same place as the doublet sleeve.
The sleeve base also needs to undo for putting the garment on and off. I don't want it to fasten at the front because then there will be closures on top of closures.

The inner sleeve base could open at the back seam, and the decorative cuff could attach to it. Maybe.

I think we'll make it up in the real fabric leave lots of seam allowances in case of designer changes and see what transpires. I don't know if I've made it big enough, or if I've allowed enough extra length in the puff along the front seam either....
We'll see.