Elizabethan gown hemming basics

Six Days Away!!!!

I am officially 6 days away from the Minnesota Renaissance Festival Trip. I'm afraid that finishing the dress cut into my blogging time. I can sew ten times faster if I'm not taking pictures of each step. Thus, I missed the tutorial on how to make a partlet and the under sleeves. I will do my best to make another set after the fair and put on the information; however the Lynn McMaster's pattern for the Partlet is really easy to follow.

Here is the finished dress: I still have to tack on the jewelry and hooks and eyes here or there, but for the most part it is done. Yay!!! The billament trim, the sleeve pull backs, the hat pin, and the necklace are both from Sapphire and Sage Jewelry. Rhonda is an absolute marvel and I highly recommend her work.

A Hem.....

As promised here is my short tutorial on hemming. I suppose it all begins with a good friend to help you. It is important that you don't guess on your hemming. Because of the farthingale and especially the bum roll, (see Simplicity Pattern 8881) your dress does not hang the same way that a normal dress hangs. Thus it is important for you to actually put on the dress (If you are the one wearing it) and have the hem figured for your body.

The Pitfalls:

Too low a hem: There is a tendency for people who make beautiful renaissance dresses to lower the hem to the ground level. Frankly this is how it should be. The Hem should just brush the floor so you glide across like on a cloud. Unfortunately this means that you will pick up every speck of dirt, leaf, branch, blade of grass, wood chip, and dust particle in the fair... not to mention the garbage. To put it simply, if your hem touches the ground at a renaissance fair you will end up with a very dirty skirt.

Too high a hem:There is an old costumer adage. If you are on a stage hem low. If you are on eye level, hem high... but not too high. Those who have ruined a dress due to the pitfall above sometimes over hem and end up with a six inch gap between the ground and their hem. This isn't a good combination either. First of all, you can see your shoes and ANKLES!!!

For the record ankles at this time period are far worse to show than your cleavage. So what's the right hem? I hem to the bottom of the netting on my farthingale. If you have no netting it is about three inches above the ground. From a spectator's standpoint your skirt will have the appearance of brushing the ground, without sweeping up the garbage in the fair.

Hem the underskirt.... then the over skirt: At times you will see this around the fair. This is my worst nightmare. In fact, I'm worried about it on the dress I'm making. However, there comes a time when you just have to trust your hemming buddy. In general you want to hem your over skirt a bit longer than your underskirt. Only by a half inch or so.... unless you are a pirate wench. :)

The Process:

Get Up High: I actually stand on a very sturdy coffee table, but in a pinch I've stood on a step stool as well. This is for the ease of your hemming buddy. It's a pain for them to sit all bunched over and being up high gives them a better perspective on the hem being straight.

What to Wear: You want to wear all of your costume. Not just all of the undergarments, you need to wear your bodice as well. Why? Because each piece of clothing effects how the garment hangs. When you add the bodice, make sure it is where you want the bodice to be. If you have not put in your hooks and eyes yet, have your hemming buddy do a double check to make sure that the skirt waist band is covered by the bodice. You should not see the skirt waist band at all. Also, make sure you wear the shoes that you will wear at the fair!!! This is very important! Every shoe makes you stand a different way.

How to stand: I know this is an odd topic. It's not really. After years in a costume shop, I have learned that where the arms are, makes a difference in the hem. So how do you stand? Stand straight, look forward not down, keep your arms to your side as much as possible.

Don'ts: DO NOT: hold your hands in the singer position. (cupped hands at your waist line) DO NOT: put your hands on your hips. (This will raise your shoulders and cause you to push down the sides of the dress. DO NOT: Bring your hands together in the front or the back. (This tilts the dress and will make the hem off in the front or the back)

Keep your eyes ahead:

Did I mention to look straight ahead? It is really difficult to do this, because this is your baby and you want the hem to lie right. At this point you will just have to trust your buddy. :) Looking down, tilts the dress slightly forward which will make your hem slightly higher in the front than in the back.

Hemming Buddy Duties:

The Hemming Buddy's job is to fold the hem so you have an even line all around the base of the dress. I prefer that my hem is folded under. That way I don't have to remove pins in order to hem the skirt. I always go back and add another row of pins to keep me sane while I am hemming.

Hem the underskirt then the over skirt. I actually flip the over skirt over my neck and shoulders for the underskirt hemming. Yes, this will make the underskirt slightly higher than the over skirt, but as I mentioned above, this is a preferable look.

Iron:

Once you have been pinned and you carefully remove the dress, you can hem your skirt and underskirt. My first duty when I hem is to press around the base of the pinned hem. I do this for two reasons. 1) If a pin falls out, I have a ironed crease to show me where the hem was supposed to go. 2) It is actually easier to hem the dress when you have ironed down the dress edge.

Machine or Hand Stitch:

There is a stitch on the sewing machine that hems your garment. It requires you to sew on the salvage of the hem and the needle jumps over to the folded back dress and picks up one stitch. In general I prefer the machine stitch, but I know that my over skirt is way too heavy for the machine at this point so I'm going to hem the good old fashioned way- by hand.

Remember the bottom of your dress is wider than the top of your dress, thus you will have extra fabric you have to deal with. This is done with neat folds in the hem. You need to be careful making the folds so they don't do damage to the line of the dress. Take your time and experiment.

The hem stitch I use is to pick up the fold of the hem with a needle using a whip stitch, then pick up a 1/2 centimeter piece of the main dress, I jump an 1/2 inch and repeat the process.

When you are finished it is important to iron down your hem again. Here are two pictures. it is obvious when you see the dress which has not been pressed after hemming.

Before:









After:










I will post pictures after the fair.

I still have a few things to do before I leave. I need to finish tacking the jewelry to the bodice. I need to put the hooks and eyes on the bodice and skirt to make sure they stay in place.

That's it! Thanks for visiting. If you have any questions I'd be happy to answer. :)

Cheers!

Katherine

How to do a French Seam and finishing an Elizabethan underskirt without a waistband

Excuse me...Who owns this seam?:

While the creation of the French Seam is relatively obscure, the name however implies we know where the French Seam originated... that is unless you speak French. The sewing technique known as the French Seam in England is known as the Couture Anglaise in France. Thus- The English call it a French Seam and the French call it the English Seam. It seems that no one or everyone wanted to take credit for this tidy little stitch.

The French seam is a couture seam finish used in high-end clothing and is one of the most beautiful seams for any type of fabric—not just silks. It completely conceals raw edges and is sometimes used on the outside of garments. Since it ultimately has many layers, it is best used with lightweight and sheer silks such as three-ply or four-ply silk or silk crepe, crepe de Chine, charmeuse, chiffon, and georgette; however I use it any time I do not want a raw edge to appear.

It is very useful if you do not have lining. Since I do not want to line my underskirt, which would be about as pointless as lining a slip, I regularly use the French Seam to make the underskirt as well finished as the rest.

French Seams for Beginners...

To make a French seam, start by pinning the fabric with the wrong sides (the side of the fabric you don't want to be viewed) facing each other. Sew a seam 3/8 inch from the raw edge. At this point you should have a seam and raw edge on the side of the fabric that you want people to see.

It is my personal opinion that the seam should be clipped at this point, though many seamstresses disagree. I dislike raw edges and I tend to catch the raw edge in my second seam, so I use my pinking sheers to clip the fabric to 1/4 of an inch.

To make your life easier... I suggest ironing the pinked edges to the right or the left of the seam. Don't press open. This can cause problems. You want to press the raw edges together. It will give you a crisper line with which to work.

Second step: With right sides (the fabric you want to face out) together, fold the fabric along the seamline, sandwiching the raw edge seam created above. Manipulate the fabric between your fingers to bring the stitching of the seam to the very edge.




Keeping in mind that you have clipped the now covered raw edge of the first seam down to 1/4 inch, sew a second seam, encasing the pinked raw edge. Press the seam to one side; then press again from the right side of the garment.

This stitch, makes a lovely seam from both the inside and the outside of the garment.







The Underskirt for Simplicity Pattern 8881

The process for sewing the underskirt for 8881 is really well outlined by the actual instructions. Basically you have your front section and six side and back panels. The side and back panels all have the same lower part and differ only in a small section near the waist.

Using the French Seam I put the skirt together in this order. (Sorry I forgot to take pictures of most of the steps.)
1. If I have a lace overlay for the underskirt, I top stich it to the front skirt panel.
2. French Seam the Back Side, and Side pieces together.

To make my life easier, I sew the side pieces together, then attach it to the front panel using French Seams. When I first started making this dress, I would sew all the tops to the bottoms and I'd get them mixed up. Now, once I have a panel finished, I attach it to the skirt and save myself some anxiety.

3. French Seam the back sections together and sew the center back seam leaving 6-8 inches for an opening. ( At this point I leave the opening raw, and I'll come back to it later.)

4. French Seam the back to the skirt.

I do not use the waist band! For me, having the underskirt and the overskirt separate is a lesson in patience and dexterity. As you walk in a farthingale, your skirts tend to slip a bit- especially the underskirt, since it is not attached to the bodice. Last year I made the underskirt complete then attached the waistbands. It was bulky and messy. This year I'm doing away with the underskirt waistband. (I'll explain more below. For now let's deal with the raw edge opening)

It is perhaps not my most professional method of handling skirt openings. My intital instinct is to put in a zipper, but there is the danger in the SCA patrol catching sight of it. Thus, I usually opt to do a simple roll stitch where the skirt parts in the back. It will be covered by your overskirt and as you can see in the picture, I hand basted the underskirt opening down, so it won't get in the way of the overskirt. (Red dots in the picture below)




Doing a roll stitch is easy. Fold the fabric 1/4 inch. Now fold it 1/4 inch again and top stitch. Done!




Finishing the Skirt Without the Waistband:

To attach my waistbandless underskirt to my overskirt, I first baste stitched a 1'' seam around the top of the skirt. Pulling the thread I gathered the skirt opening until it matched the measurements of my overskirt.

Just like when I attached my overskirt to the waistband, I found the center of my underskirt and pinned it to the center front of my overskirt waistband.

I matched up the outside edges with the edges of my waistband. (Note: I did line these up about 1/2 of an inch from the outside edge of the waist band to hide any white showing) Pinnning the gathered underskirt in place, took a little patience, but in the end it looked lovely.

Because my sewing machine is already shuddering due to the bulk in the overskirt, I opted to whip stitch the underskirt in place. I did this for a second reason: The underskirt is usually the part of the dress which needs to be replaced first. By whip stitching the underskirt to the overskirt it makes it easily switched when the hem of the underskirt becomes worn.

A whip stich is when you loop the thread catching the top and the bottom of the fabric you are attaching. It doesn't look pretty, but it is hidden and ultimately (for me) forgivable. :)

At last the skirt has been sewn together; however the longest journey is still ahead. Now that the skirt is finished, hemming must occur. It's important that you have your hoop, bumroll, and both skirts completed before you hem. It is also a very good idea to have your bodice completed and that you wear the shoes you are going to wear to the fair on during the hemming process.

I'll talk about Hemming in my next blog entry in more detail.

As of right now my trip to the MRF is now a month away...

Skirt to do:

• Grommets,
• Hemming,
• Adornments for underskirt

Remaining items:
Bodice:

• Move corseting loops for new waist size (Yay)
• Add fabric cover
• Add Jewelry

Hat
Partlet

Of Pins and Blood:

Deja Vous:

With the lining completed it's time to turn my attention to the actual outer fabric of the dress.

Just like with the lining, I start my process by ironing on the interfacing, sewing the front to the front sides, sewing the back to the back sides, and finishing up with the side seams and the shoulder seams. When I finish, the outer fabric should match the lining perfectly. If I'm off by even a half inch, I go back and figure where I deviated from the lining.

Next, I move to pressing out the seams. To minimize the bulk in the dress, I've picked up the habit of trimming my seams before I press them. Using this technique keeps the sides of the bodice straight and stops the rounding of the seams that can sometimes happen if you leave the full 5/8ths seam allowance between the outer fabric and the lining.

Sewing the Porcupine:

Some people wonder what I mean about sewing a porcupine. The answer: This term comes from my numerous blood letting experiences that happen when I unite the outer fabric and the lining. The huge quantity of pins required for these steps alone make your bodice a rather formidable opponent.

Unlike sewing many garments, on a renaissance bodice, you want to pin the good sides facing out. I've found that by matching the inner seams of the bodice- (pinning them together) and then going back and pinning the rest of the fabric you get a better look to the bodice. Because I don't like slip in my sewing, I usually put my pins 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches apart.

I also prefer to do the base of my bodice first. This goes against many of my mentors. (In fact, I may be hunted down by one of my Shakespearean Festival costume shop supervisors if they ever find out about this blog- Sorry Sharon.) To support my inclination, I've found that the bottom edge of your bodice is extremely important to the line of your dress. Because the neckline can be adapted in so many ways, it is my opinion it is better to have the bottom perfect.

In sewing the main fabric and the lining together, I try to keep the seams fairly narrow. I also sew the armseye at this time. It usually isn't called for by the pattern instructions, but again I hate slipping. If arm holes are sewn, then I don't have to worry about anything pulling out of place and having problems later on when I'm inserting the sleeve.

Once again with Bias:

Now that both the main fabric and the lining have been seamed together, it's time to deal with any ugly lines. My first job is to cut off any excess lining, interfacing, or main fabric. I'm using a double fold 1/4 inch bias tape. I like the look of the thinner line, but it is difficult to manage and requires more blood loss due to the numerous pins required to tack it down successfully.

I've found that putting on bias is easier if I place the bodice on the dressmaker's dummy. that way I can account for any pull or corners in pinning down front edge of the bias tape. Stitching on the fold, I go around the entire bodice.

Once I sew the bias to my outer fabric, I fold the bias around the edge of my garment and whip stitch the bias onto the lining. I try to keep my stitches as even as possible. Curves and corners are tricky. I like to fold in the middle first then do the sides. This doesn't always make the prettiest corners, but it does help with the twisting that can sometimes happen if you try to continuously stitch around the entire bodice. (I'm still working on this technique.) The end result should be a finished edge around the perimeter of your bodice.

Making a bodice a corset:

Most bodices require a under-corset to keep the shape of the garment. I didn't like the bulk that this creates. From what I have seen, most Renaissance costumes add a good ten to twenty pounds just by the added bulk of the under garments. I know this is not very SCA of me, but I've modified the bodice to lace up more like a corset. It also gives the garment a very nice back and thins the wearer.

Using the Joann's craft picture hangers (see my supplies list) I place them about 3/4 of an inch apart and tack them down. To minimize the irritation and chafing of the metal, I'll top these hangers with a piece of outer dress fabric once I've cut out my sleeves and skirt. Since I'll be using scrap fabric, I'll come back to this later in my blog.

I tack down the picture hangers using the holes provided as well as the edges of the triangular hanger itself. I put both sides on the lining of the fabric. This way when the lacing pulls the hangers together the fabric overlaps. I'll sew hooks and eyes on the outer fabric giving a smooth back illusion to the garment. I would do it right now, but my fingers are bruised and blistered from doing all the hand work for the bias. I'll finish this up in a couple of days. :)

Fixing problems:

There is only one way to explain this step- I put on the bodice and take a look at it in the mirror. I like to ask myself- are the lines right? Am I getting bulges in the side seams? Do I like the neckline? and Will the neckline work for what I am trying to do?

Trying it on, I've found that I like everything about the bodice, but the neck is a bit low for the inspiration picture.


With that in mind, I added a piece of the red fabric to the upper edge of the bodice- by cutting a piece of fabric double wide of what I needed plus 5/8ths inch; folded it and ironed it, pinned it in place, and seamed as close to the bias tape as I could. The result I think is lovely...





To do list:

1. Adding the fabric over the corseting,
2. Hooks and eyes on the bodice back

I must say, I have a bodice that I really like. In order to let my fingers heal a bit, and ration out my fabric yardage, I'll be working on the overskirt and underskirt next.

Of Bodice Linings...

With plan in hand and supplies gathered I am starting on my dress...

In case someone who does not normally make garb as a past time is reading this blog, I'll explain how much is required for this to happen:

On average the supplies needed for a renaissance dress are:

• At lease 7 yards of fabric for the gown itself. (That is a modest amount) Total each of my dresses have taken around 12-14 yards depending on the detail work required.
• 9-12 yards of plastic boning,
• 3 yards of fusible interfacing,
• Grommets and grommet pliers
• Hooks and eyes,
  
• Three sets of scissors (Heavy duty for cutting boning and wire, craft scissors for cutting paper and other non-fabric items, and my fabric scissors)
• Two seam rippers. One at the sewing machine, and one by the couch where I hole up when I make a major mistake.
• Bobbins, thread (black, white, and matching the color(s) of the gown.
• I have both the thin regular fabric pins, but I also buy the more heavy duty/ oddly cheaper thick long pins that work so well with drapery fabrics.
• Last but not least is the oddest item in my arsenal of dress making supplies: Three packages of Joann's Craft Essentials Silver Photo Hangers: I use them for my bodice lacings. I'll explain it in a later blog. It's quite innovative- (I don't know what I'll do when they stop selling these things.)

Enough preparation: Let's sew!

Starting out the process I cut out all of the bodice in fabric, lining, and because I like to make sure that my dress has the right shape and holds up to wear well, interfacing.

Because I'm using Simplicity Pattern 8881 as my base, I lay down the pattern on the fold. The pattern calls for the center front of the bodice to be cut and seamed down the center. I personally don't like seams down my front, so I cut my bodice on the fold. I also want it a bit wider than the patter shows, because I'm going for a more Tudor look to my neckline. So, I allow it a bit more width, and I'm also cutting it a bit lower so I can give it a "v" shape rather than the rounded tip. If you would like to keep it narrow, simply cut on the fold and take out the seam allowance provided by the pattern.

For each piece of the bodice I will need: Two of my main fabric (except for the center front), four lining (only two for the center front), and six of the interfacing (only three for the center front)

As you can see I'm cutting my pattern bigger than needed. I'm adding a bit more room to add the lacing that I will explain later in the process. I'm also dropping the bottom of the pattern by about an inch and a half- the reason for this is, I have used this pattern before and found that it rides a bit high on the skirt. The correct Renaissance style should not show any of the waistband, thus I am adding to the length to fix this problem.

Next Step: Interfacing

Taking a hot iron, I fuse the interfacing to my lining and outside fabric. Be careful when you are doing this so you don't accidentally fuse to the wrong side of the fabric.

To alleviate this problem, I pin the pieces of interfacing together when I cut them out double thick. Then I use the interfacing to determine which way the lining should lay on the ironing board, turn the lining over and press. I finish up with my main fabric, thus if there are any problems I haven't ruined my expensive fabric.

Time to adapt the pattern. As I said earlier, I wanted to change the front of this gown to match the style of the dress in my inspiration picture: It has a slightly rounded front. I also wanted a "V" shaped point at the bottom of the dress to go along with my Tudor derived style. Folding the center front, I pulled the bodice pattern from 2589. (Of course it won't fit perfectly, but it does give me the correct angle for the point and has a nice curve to the top.) Laying it atop my center front, I clipped the interfaced fabric to fit my needs.

The remaining parts of the bodice do not need to be adapted at this time. The sections of the center front that I adapted do not really change the seams so I'll be fine with these few modifications.

Next step. Pinning the lining together interfacing to interfacing, I sewed around each of the pieces leaving the top of the center front open and the bottoms of the other pieces open so I can add the boning.

Starting at the center line of the center front, I sew a single seam in the lining. This will be my marker for the boning channels. Using the foot of my sewing machine as a guide, I make 1/2 inch apart seams across to either end of the bodice front.

I step away from the pattern instructions for a second. I've found that if you sew in the front side before you add the channels for the boning you will get a better fit. Matching the marks, I sew the center front and the front side together. Going back, I add the channels in the places required by pattern 8881. Next, I follow the pattern instructions for the back and the back sides. Last I seam the sides together, followed by the shoulders.

Usually at this time, I make any adaptations I need to with the size of the bodice. In general Simplicity patterns tend to run a size large, thus I add a tuck under the armseye and another tuck in the back in order to get the best fit possible.

Clipping my seams, I press the lining of the garment flat. Next I add the boning. Using my craft scissors I clip the ends into a "U" shape. This will make it more comfortable and will lessen the likelyhood of the boning ripping through your fabric.

I prefer to measure the boning by sliding it into the channel until it fits snuggly, then clip the other end. I've found that this makes for less waste.

It's also important to remember the boning up against the side seams. Having boning in these locations will make sure that your bodice doesn't buckle in these places and look bulky.

Your finished piece will bend a bit in the middle. this is to be expected and will stop happening after you attach the main fabric and/or wear the garment for the first time.

Now that I have made the required changes to the bodice, I can work with the main fabric without experimenting and ruining the fabric.