Please, don't try this at home...I have no clue what I'm doing.

[martelvonc]

I made my sleeveless Luttrell Psalter gown for Pennsic. Problem is, I made it too big. I over estimated the size of my bits, and my height. Yes, I did indeed measure my a fore mentioned bits, and measured the fabric. I have no idea what went wrong.

Tonight I took the darn thing apart and took in the shoulders and shortened it. I still like it for a first effort. I will still be able to wear it and enjoy it after I fix it. This means extra work but it is not a disaster.

The next plan is to remake it in linen and in wool. This is once I get the bugs worked out of the pattern. How can something so simple be so hard? Oh yea, I forgot, I'm not a costumer...*face*palm*.

I will freely admit I suck at making a pattern. Give me a pattern and I can sew the heck out of it. But designing my own? Not so much.

In my little world I do have flashes of brilliance - I made the apron for this outfit, "boom" like that. No thought and it came out right the first time. The gown? Truly a labor of love. Heavy on the labor...

Comments

[melaniesuzanne.livejournal.com]

I was blown away by your apron. Really and truly.

(I wish I had an "I'm not worthy!" kind of icon.) :)

[martelvonc.livejournal.com]

You want one? I can teach you. It's a very easy and inexpensive project. Maybe that's why all the peasants had them in the 14th century! :-)

[melaniesuzanne.livejournal.com]

You are *such* the joyous enabler! =)

[martelvonc.livejournal.com]

Enablers-R-Us! It's what I do!

[the-cheese-lady.livejournal.com]

You and me both! Simplicity, Vogue, and McCalls patterns - no problem. Coming up with something from my own head - not a chance.

Thank goodness for historic reenactment clothing sites, reconstructing history, and an apprentice-sister who *is* a costumer. I don't know how it happened but Etaine is almost exactly the same size as I am, and sells the clothing that she no longer wears. I can't wait for a winter event where I can wear my new/used wool germans. :)

[martelvonc.livejournal.com]

I agree, I am a pattern buyer unless someone takes pity on me and help me make a muslin pattern. I can modify an already existing pattern but the shapes mistify me.

[albreda.livejournal.com]

Funny, I have issues with regular patterns (Kass' excepted, of course) because they are usually just so DUMB.

May I ask what your current pattern looks like for this garment??

[martelvonc.livejournal.com]

Do not laugh....because this is what the over-dress actually is....

a rectangle for the front and back, and the triangles for the side gores. Using a straight up rectangle for the main body made the shoulders too wide. I needed to angle this in to narrow up the shoulders.

[jaine-parr.livejournal.com]

It takes a lot of practice and "La Bombola" garments to learn patternmaking. I started in Junior High making my own tote bags. I moved up through simple rubbed off patterns from clothing I already owned, to adapting existing patterns to create costumes. Then I had the advantage of working in G Street, surrounded by folks who were both struggling successful in making their own patterns. Back then, there were videos to rent that taught skills, from Nancy's Notions, Sandra Betzina and others. Now, there are TV shows on HGTV that cover some sewing. Most are too crafty to be practical, but there is the occasional garment fitting one that helps a lot in patternmaking.

Oh! I forgot the classes I took in making custom knitted garments using a knitting machine. I got a lot of training in measuring a person for a sloper during that class. Yeah, a rectangle is not usually right for a torso. You've got to use a quadrilateral instead. And if a woman is really curvy, it will hang funny. At that point, you have to decide which part of her you will fit and which parts get lower priority.

[martelvonc.livejournal.com]

Yes, the part from the waist to the shoulders has to be an isosceles trapezoid, a least for my shape.