How much ease is there
over the bust in a bliaut?
I was going to go with the patterns in the files and the one on the Janecourt site (spelling?) but have no
idea how much ease to allow over the bust. My Elizabethan
shift has six inches and that seems to be about
right for a shift but 12th century is a little earlier than I’m used to and I think the bliaut fits tighter so you get those lovely lines over the abdomen.
Any help from those of you who have made the lovely gowns in the photo section would be greatly
appreciated. I wear a 38DD bra but hope the
gussets will help with mobility through
the shoulders.
~ Cassandra / Cascio Michael
Message #920, March 18, 2003
My approach to getting
this right is to, A) cut on the bias so you get some stretch in the fabric, and
B) allow more than enough over the bust and adjust it with side lacing.
~ Rowena le Sarjent / Belinda Sibly
Message #921, March 18, 2003
Marguerie has a newer version of this handout on her website:
http://jauncourt.i8.com/ — link broken
I’m not entirely sure I understand what you mean about ease. I’m only a moderate size (Australian 14B, I think this equates to about an American 18-20, moderate cup size), Anyway, the medium to large gussets on this style of dress accommodated all of the horizontal bulk of my breasts. (I believe Marguerie’s version specifies making the width of the fabric that of your girth at the breasts plus seam allowances) The vertical bulk only required a small amount of extra length between underarm and waist – most of the extra fabric here was to create a wrinkled effect.
No curving shaping of the seams is required with this pattern, although using fabrics that stretch and shape themselves to you (e.g. wool, linen) rather than cotton will really help make a dress that falls nicely. (my cotton drill dresses fall like old sacks. But after a bit of shopping around i found sources of linen that were cheaper than the floor price of the cotton, so long as I didn’t mind the limited colour range)
I highly recommend making a mock-up of the dress first – an old sheet or tablecloth works nicely for fabric (remember you only need to make a mock up to about knee height and with only one full sleeve, so you can use less fabric). Lacing straps make it easier to change the width of the garment quickly. (and without trying out the lacing, you’ll have no idea of how it really fits).
Not that a mock up is necessary to make this kind of dress, but it will enable you to get a tighter or more comfortable fit without re-sewing, re-cutting etc. any pieces, and teach you a lot about the mechanics of this kind of dress. (you can really work on getting the chest tight, while leaving room for the busts in a mock-up, without worrying about messing up your fabric).
Don’t forget to try on your mock-up over the kind of underdress and bust support (or lack thereof) you intend to wear it over normally. On the finished garment, using some kind of strengthening on the seams in the chest area (e.g. double seams, French seams, whatever..) may be a very good idea.
I’ll stop writing for now, and see from your next questions which bits of the above I’ve explained most poorly.
~ Teffania Tukerton / Tiffany Brown
Message #922, March 18, 2003
For what it’s worth, just so we’re imagining the same sizes of people here…
I’m pretty sure that US 38DD is an Aus 14-16DD. Aus dress size 14 is actually a US 12
~ Emma / Margaret Rendell
Message #923, March 18, 2003
A 38DD bra translates to a US size XL or 16-18 depending on the snugness of the cut. A 40DD (that would be me) is a 18 or 20 or a very forgiving XL. Of course a lot depends on how the rest of the measurements go.
~ Morgaine
Message #926, March 19, 2003
Thanks everyone for
the information on ease. Ease is the inch or so of fabric over a body area so you can
move without splitting any seams. I’ve got a
mock up in progress out of cotton but
have some nice raw silk in red laid aside
for the actual garment. This is a smooth
silk that was originally raspberry pink but overdyed beautifully. I thought I would make my own trim by embroidering on fabric bands as I don’t weave
and don’t have time to learn right now. Thanks
again.
~ Cassandra / Cascio Michael
Message #935, March 20, 2003
Marguerie (of the bliaut handout) here, checking in
late to a conversation, as usual.
Even
though it looks like you have been given the answers you need, I’m going to stick my big nose in anyway. Ignore if you don’t need any
help 🙂
Okay, in this case, you don’t really need modern
ease. The bliaut is supposed to be cut so
it’s really tight- like a refaire bodice, or a corset is cut tight – and to give some support to the body. It’s laced
in to fit, and any fitting ease is allowed by
the lacing.
My gowns allow between 6″ and 1″ of
variation in fit, depending on how tight
the laces are pulled. FWIW, I’m a US 14-16, with a 38D bust (AFTER losing 60 lbs and a baby – and I started
wearing these before the weight loss),
the body of the gowns is cut to my underbust measure, and I use small gussets in my sleeves mostly to fit the tube-shaped upper sleeve to my biceps.
[Your fabric] sounds beautiful. However, unless
you are really fast at embroidery, or are
only planning a little bit of ornament, weaving your bands may actually go faster (even if you are just learning).
This is from experience. My embroidered
bands are still on the stretcher bars, 2 years
later – I’m working four separate ones simultaneously, and I’m SLOW. Really slow. 🙂
~ Marguerie de Jauncourt / Maura Folsom
Message #936, March 20, 2003