How to Scale Up a Diagram

Since I received Janet Arnold's books for my birthday, I've started scaling up some of the patterns so I can actually use them. They're all on a diagram, and each tiny square = 1''. Of course, I doubt I'll ever get around to making some of these things, but I like to hang on to the finished patterns.

Many ladies like to go to a print shop and print the patterns up to scale, but I've been doing mine at home. It takes a bit of time, but not a lot, and it isn't that hard. The books themselves suggest to draw out a grid on paper and then transfer it, but I tried that and it takes forever just to draw out the grid! I think I spent an hour using that method just for the front bodice piece. The method below is my own.

You will need:

-A fairly large quilting mat.
-A long ruler; I use a quilting ruler that is 18''x3''. A yardstick could potentially work, but a normal 12'' ruler would be too short.
-A roll of see-through plastic tablecloth; the kind that is used for parties and cut to the table size, then thrown away afterwords. It is imperative that it is see-through, that is what makes this process so easy!*
-A couple weights, or anything heavy that happens to be nearby (a candle, the Bible, a mug of coffee, which wasn't a good idea....)
-A permanent marker, and a normal old pen
-The pattern you wish to scale up!

My adorable dog, who likes to supervise.

*Now I am going to talk about how much I love this stuff. I bought a big roll at Zurchers for around $10, and it is the best thing ever! Not only can it be manipulated like fabric on a dress form, but it is see-through, which is a great advantage in doing scaling work. It also stores better than paper, which creases and rips. This doesn't really rip, but it can stretch if pulled too much. I actually tried to sew with it like a mock up, but the feed-dogs on my machine didn't like that.

Before I begin, there are certain pieces which I don't bother with. Usually, this means skirts, especially if they are just rectangles sewn together. Even if it has a train or the like, I know that it probably wouldn't be the right length anyway, so I just go ahead and mark the circumference and occasionally length of the skirt somewhere on one of the other pattern pieces.  Complicated draping on bustle skirts might be the main exception, or some of the really fitted skirts in the 2nd volume.

To start, spread out your plastic roll onto the mat and put a couple weights on the corners. Match up the edge of the plastic so that it doesn't butt up directly to that line but a little past it.

If there are any straight lines on the grain of the fabric, like center front or back, start there and use your ruler to keep it neat. You'll work off of this line. Use the normal pen, because later we'll use the permanent marker to darken the final lines. The particular pattern I'm scaling today is a 1770-1780 bodice. Most of the dress in the 1700's are pretty easy, because the very front is straight. However, the front on this one isn't on the grain, so I'm going to start on the bottom.

To draw the rest of the confusing curves, there are a couple different ways to do it. 1, mark it slowly square by square, or 2, mark dots every so often and connect them with a smooth curve. Below, I'm doing a little of both at the same time.

I usually pay attention on the grid to where the lines go through the square. Mentally, I'll mark it either as 1/4'', a hair to either side of that, or right from corner to corner, etc. Take advantage of the little dots within each square inch on the mat.

Here, I've come to where I'd rather not mark out every single line, so carefully counting out the squares I made a reference point at center front. I'm just going to 'wing it', so to speak. Isn't my way of drafting great? Maybe that's why I have to spend so much time mocking up...

Good enough, says the sewing demon within me.

On all the lines that are straight, but aren't on the grain, I like to work completely around it until the end, and then use the ruler to connect them.

Outline the finished product in permanent marker so that any lines that you may have had to fiddle with to get straight don't mess you up later.

Remember, the Janet Arnold patterns don't have seam allowances included, so when cutting out the pattern to store, allow a couple inches all the way around for some flat drafting. Of course, I should take my own advice, since I messed up and there wasn't any on the side seam in the end. Don't forget to also add grain arrows to keep it all neat! To store them, pin all the pieces together and date them so they don't get mixed up.

Birthday Gifts, and Other Stuff

My 17th birthday was last week, and all kinds of good things happened!

Let me just say, my family knows me well.....

It's a good thing I got these, because I considered checking them out from the library and reporting them 'lost'.....

Camille bought me this beautiful brooch; it's called a micro-mosaic. They are period, but I'm afraid to say that silver was not particularly popular during the mid 19th-century. No matter; there's no way I'm not wearing this beauty with my white dress!

My parents totally surprised me by taking me to the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. It isn't really a festival, and not all of it is actually Shakespeare, but they put on amazing musicals in an outdoor amphitheater. It was really neat, and I was completely surprised. Especially when we got lost and ended up in a neighborhood on the edge of the desert, and I still didn't know where we were going.

Unfortunately, pictures during the performance were prohibited, but the singing in particular was phenomonal. And yes, we saw the Secret Garden. In comparison with the book, not my favorite rendition as they chose to focus more on the father and his grief in his deceased wife than between Mary and Colin in the garden, but still very enjoyable.

And....look what finally arrived! It took a little under two weeks.

It looks like a small amount all folded up, but it is beautiful! I started on the bonnet right away, which is made of the turquoise. Out of the two fabrics, the turquoise is my favorite. Photos don't do it justice, because it has a greenish-iridescence I wasn't expecting. It's quite a bit darker than in the pictures. The red doesn't have that same quality. 

The texture also wasn't what I was expecting; it isn't quite as slippery as I thought it would be. Then again, I've only worked with polyester stuff, which is terrible in that respect. On the fabric website, which is http://bangkokthaisilk.com/, they mention to order extra fabric to allow for some error in the fabric. I didn't think much of it, but there are a couple flaws. Not purposeful, like in dupioni, and they don't show very well. I would never avoid ordering from them again, and I don't plan on cutting around them because of how small they are. It's a little above my finger, in between the stitching lines, which are the casings for the boning in the bonnet.

Last thought: it doesn't fray nearly as much as dupioni. That is what it's lined with, and it's driving me crazy. Touch it, and it frays.

Inspiration for #7: Accesories

It was a little overwhelming, trying to decide exactly what I would do, because I am in need of basically every kind of accesory out there. My new, higher fashion white sheer has absolutely nothing to go with it. I have no shoes, gloves, bonnet, belt, purse, hankerchief, earrings, brooch, etc. etc. I could go on, but will spare you. Because of wearing only white, everyone thinks I'm getting married.

So, I kind of just picked one and ran with it. Bonnet. There. That's good. A friend of mine drafted a pattern for a drawn bonnet, which is just a style of bonnet that has canes sewn in to draw up the fabric to shape. Using actual cane isn't high on my priority list, so I'll be using plastic boning. Don't gag on me, I know, but it still works and no one will know...except you.

I have a partially completed drawn bonnet, but decided to recycle the bones from it because I didn't care for the color (cream).

Hours and hours I spent, looking over colors and trying to decide what color scheme to go for. It was agonizing, and anyone who knows me will know how terribly indecisive I am. I finally settled on turquoise and red, although afterwards I wondered if I should have been better about picking colors directly across the color wheel.

The turquoise is for the bonnet, and the red is for another upcoming project...

I haven't decided yet (again) on how exactly I'll decorate it, but I have no idea how much fabric I'll have left over. All I know is that it will only lace up the back, and not the front and back, because there are only so many eyelets I will willingly agree to handsew.

Now, the excruciating wait until the fabric arrives from Thailand....

Corset Cover

There is one part of my white dress which I did not show any of, and that was the corset cover. There are a couple options for lining something made of sheer, and those are usually a half-high lining that can be either semi-attached or fully detached. The only reason I opted for a fully detached lining was for easier washing purposes. It's funny; my grandma thought I had sewn a new outfit, until I said some about all this being only my undergarments...

Detached lining, corset cover, they're all the same, other than all the picture's I've seen of corset covers they are usually pretty fancy. I left the cover until after the dress was done, which only left me a couple days to finish it. It's about as plain as it can be, but the fit is pretty good.

I bought the higher-grade muslin at Joanns thinking that would help the quality of the overall garment; I was sorely mistaken. I am not happy at all with the fabric, which feels exactly like the same $1 a yard stuff that I only use for mockups.
The first version of this corset cover had piped armscye's, but they were too tight. So I ripped off the piping and enlarged the armscye and sewed the sleeve back on without the piping. Shame on me, I know, but no one will ever see it.

Overall, I like the it, and it functions all right, but it is in need of some boning. Sometimes, it doesn't want to stay down, and will ride up after a while and cause funny lumps under the dress. This particular detached lining will probably eventually be replaced by a nicer, maybe fancier, one.

Updated Old Brown Dress

You remember this dress? This was the first dress I made for Camille. The fabric is really heavy, and I have no idea why she wanted long sleeves in the first place. Because most of the Civil War events are in the summer, she gets really hot.

Well, after making this dress, which has short sleeves, the brown dress got laid aside. Now, the plaid dress is faded beyond all reason from multiple washings.

I am in love with the yoked bodice, and didn't want to see it not getting used, soooo....

Now it looks even better than before! Plus, she has her new stays on. I ripped the old sleeves off and lopped off the length, instead of using new fabric. I don't know why, but I felt the urge to hand sew the whole sleeve. 

Some hair flipping action:

And then she didn't want to take it off. 

This will be her second year owning this dress, and I'm really excited about how it's holding up, and how it currently fits.

Historical Sew Monthly Challenge #6: Out of Your Comfort Zone

It seemed like the obvious choice for this particular sewing challenge, but I chose to make corded stays for an older girl. The reason it is out of my comfort zone: after seeing the disastrous results over time from a poorly constructed corset, I was nervous to make another one. And, I have never made anything with cording before, unless piping on a garment counts.

Cording is the act of sewing tiny channels into the clothing, and then running cord (more like what you might picture as kitchen string) through them. It stiffens in place of boning, or other supporting method like quilting. I also think it makes the finished product easier to wash.

If you've ever seen the tutorials for a duct-tape double, I used something a little like that for the pattern. Not taping the whole body, and then cutting the whole thing vertically into strips for the corset pattern. It worked really well, and then I just did a basic draft for the straps.

When looking at it, it almost looks like one of those earlier 19th century stays because it has no separating front busk, but the originals from that era come down considerably more. By the mid-19th century, only girls wore straps on their stays (or corsets, its the same type of garment). Next time, I think I will put in a separating front because it is a pain just to get it over her head.

She's the cutest :)

What the item is (and why it was out of your comfort zone): Corded stays (or work corset) for older girl; new cording techniques being used, + a couple hand stitched eyelets.


The Challenge: Out of Your Comfort Zone

Fabric: 1 1/2 yards cotton sateen (the whole thing wasn't used)

Pattern: My own.

Year: Mid-19th century

Notions: Thread, cording, grommets

How historically accurate is it? I have no idea. Maybe 70%; that's just a random number thrown out there.

Hours to complete:  Around 12-14. 

First worn: For pictures

Total cost: About $15; I only had to pay for the fabric and grommet refills.

All in all, I really liked working with the sateen better than cotton twill, mostly because of the soft, lightweight feel. I'm not sure how it'll hold up long-term, but I suspect she'll grow out of it in a couple years anyway.

I also plan on removing the very back cording, the row that's right between the grommets. It likes to collapse (but not so bad on the finished product as I thought), so I thought I would replace it with steel boning. I was trying really hard not to spend too much on this project because of future projects, and shipping from corsetmaking.com is expensive, even for two measly little bones. I'm waiting until I need more supplies from there before ordering. I also have yet to buy any real lacing stuff, but the cording works even if it isn't glamorous.

She's really pleased that she no longer looks 'fluffy' with a dress on; wearing a chemise without a corset on over it does tend to make you a little puffier than usual.

And, just because.....

A Little Bit About Visual Perception

There are plenty of thoughts on corsets; everyone is, I suppose, entitled to their own opinions, but fact should rule over fiction, and not much truth about the matter is used.

The truth about corsets...wait, let me rephrase that...the truth about fashion in the past is visual perception. Corsets were not only part of life, but the way they work is not often thought of much. When lacing a corset, it pulls evenly. This means that corset actually pull you into a round shape. Everyone knows that, normally, the waist is sort of oval shaped, making you flat in the front and very small from the side. When pulled into a round shape, it makes you small in the front, but from the side it may make you appear larger. Sadly, I have no diagrams to describe how this works, but you get the idea.

It should be acknowledged by everyone that people were healthier and naturally smaller back then. I'm not going to say that everyone was skinny, because that is most certainly not true. Corsets are part of what make you appear smaller.

The clothes worn on top also play a huge part as to how we percieve them. Take this picture for example. I love this picture, because it throws people way off all the time on Pinterest. 

To use the visual perception example: she wears large skirts, which makes the waist they sit on look very small. Large sleeves also contribute. But the trim is key: notice how the trim on the front makes her look wide at the shoulders, then tapers down into a tiny point. This draws attention to that point, thus creating a 'wow, look at that waist!' moment. In reality, you can see her waist is not actually a part of that point, but the trim makes it look so.

Another fact about corsets: you cannot eat very much while wearing one. Your stomach simply doesn't have space for 'extra', so you basically can only eat the amount that your body needs. I've had it happen; I'll try to eat the amount that I normally do while wearing a corset, and major stomach aches quickly ensue. That is basically the best diet in the world!

Now, this girl, I would say, is sort of 'normal' sized, or appears so because the trim does not 'point' as well as the last one, although in our standards, she is fairly small.

Now, this image  (the one below) has quite a few theories, mainly why she is photographed from the back. I can't think of a reason why not to, with such a beautiful dress and hair. Several suggestions were in mourning, or post-mortem. After the post-mortem theory, one lady commented suggesting that maybe she died of 'small waist syndrome, or lack of oxygen'. I got a laugh, although computers do not convey the tone in which the original is speaking. This lady is also very small compared to modern standards, but I wouldn't say unusually so. Her skirts, very full worn over a hoop, lend the slendering effect I've already mentioned.