This is a really nice looking edge finish. It’s decorative and fully sealed. It shows up all throughout the ages – sixteenth century ruffs, smocks and chemises of all eras, even on modern blankets (of all things). It’s also a great utility stitch – milliners use it to whip wire down to buckram hat brims.
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This is a very basic embroidery technique that will serve you well. It’s sometimes called a french knot or a bullion knot. It’s a nice decorative touch. It’s also the absolute fastest way to tie off a thread when you’re sewing – just make the knot on the inside of the garment instead of the outside, and bury the threads!
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This is a wonderful trick I learned in a millinery class. It’s one of those silly things that someone shows you and you wonder why you never thought of that…. It’s simply the fastest way to tie a knot at the end of your sewing thread. I mean, right at the end, every time, without the knot slipping off the end of the thread.
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File this under, “Now that you mention it, it’s completely obvious…” Princess seams are long shaping seams often seen in women’s dresses. They create shape in a garment with curves that model the form of the body, particularly in the area between the bust and hip, and the area between the shoulder and bust. To work properly, these seams must run over the fullness of the breast.
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If you do sixteenth century costume, you probably love Holbein and Hilliard. You love/hate/generally-have-a-complex-emotional-relationship-with Bruegel. (Really, Pieter? You’re going to show me all those seams and still make the dress as hopelessly dowdy as possible? What’s with the hate, man?) You might not know Gerard David. His name doesn’t get bandied about in costume circles as much as some others, and that’s just a gosh darned shame. Because, truly, if you’re interested in the transitional styles between medieval and Tudor, Gerard is a fellow you need to know…
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Buy the set and save! You get both the Lizzle pattern and the Vicksie pattern, and you save a few bucks buying them both at once. Come on, you know you want to… ;)
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Lizzle is a 16″ cloth doll with legs. She’s been designed to do two things: be corseted, and go together quickly. She exists to show off the historical dolly-patterns I’ve been working on – including how they change the size and shape of the torso!
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I’ve spent the last couple days jimmying around with my pattern for a cloth doll with legs, and now I have a doll pattern that goes together almost entirely on the machine! Yay! While I was fooling with the pattern, I decided to make her figure slightly more, well, you know, realistic.
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Vicksie is a 16″ cloth doll who has been designed to work with the dolly historical patterns I’ve been working on. Since she doesn’t have legs, she’s pretty easy to sew up. Also, if you fill her with sand, she makes a dandy door-stop!
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So I’ve been on this doll kick lately, but I’m still a pattern-maker at heart and for me the best way to understand the proportions of little dolly-bodies is to make little dolly-bodies and play with the pieces until I get something that feels right. (No, really, you can tell if a pattern is right while you’re still cutting it. If it’s awkward to cut, it’s going to be awkward to sew.) I’m finalizing patterns, but here’s some preview pics….
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