I always intended that my version of the Moy gown would have buttons on the sleeves, but when I first made it, I ran out of time. I've now gone back and made 50 fabric ball buttons.
There's good reference material for these in the Museum of London Textiles and Clothing book, but also a good tutorial on the web by Jennifer Carlson, and the photo collage at right shows what my buttons looked like at each of the main stages.
Showing posts with label Moy gown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moy gown. Show all posts
24 November 2012
01 March 2010
Moy gown: eyelets done, hemmed, and now for sleeves
I got some work on my Moy gown done while watching the Olympics, which means that it now has eyelets for the front opening (10 per side, 1 inch apart, arranged for spiral lacing). With the front closure done, I could check how it's hanging, so now the hem is also done. All that's left on the body is to turn under the neckline, and then it's time to finish the sleeves. The original has many tiny buttons for sleeve closures, and that's part of my plan for my version as well. That will have to wait though, because I want to wear this at Gulf Wars (about two weeks away), and that amount of handwork is just Not Going To Happen. So, as a temporary measure, the sleeves will be basted closed, with just some minimal finishing to prevent fraying, and I'll come back to the buttons at some point when I have more time.
21 February 2010
Moy gown facings
This is the front opening of my version of the Moy gown, ready for eyelets (a change from the original, which had buttons at front). I've done just a single turn under of the edge, covered with a silk grosgrain ribbon which I was eventually able to find at Wm. Booth Draper. The scrap at lower right shows at test eyelet (which turned out well) and a test buttonhole (which decidedly didn't). Looks like I'll need to practice those a bit before I get to the sleeves on this gown.
07 December 2009
Moy gown - fitting finished, moving towards permanent assembly
I've been working on the Moy gown in fits and spurts. I'm actually farther along than is shown at right - many of the seams are finished and flat-felled now, although others are still just basted. I've decided to use machine sewing for assembly, but hand sewing for flat-felling, since that will show through a bit on the front.
The picture is trying to show one of the key fitting adjustments that I needed to make on this dress. The gown has a really bizarre construction, centered around these huge four-sided gussets that go over the shoulder blade. It's like if you took the sleeve and square gusset from a tunic, and rotated it and pulled it back so the lower point of the gusset almost reaches your spine. Anyway, you start with an essentially rectangular sleeve - flat across the top, and it doesn't start to taper until about the elbow. However, the gusset, for the original example and I think for most people, will be longer across the top than it is along the side. Rather than matching the both corners of the top of the sleeve to the corners of the gusset, what you want to do is this. First, match the top corner of the sleeve to the top back corner of the gusset (upper left of gusset in photo). Pin/baste/sew this out to the gusset corner where the sides of the sleeves will meet. Now, match up the sleeve edges starting at the wrist, and work backwards up toward the gusset, trying to match evenly without stretching the top or bottom piece. Just before you reach the corner of the gusset, I recommend tacking the sides of the sleeve together for an inch or two (the rest is left open for buttons later). Now that everything is matched up at the corner, sew the remaining portion of the sleeve to the side of the gusset. You will have a bunch of extra fabric from the sleeve, but don't try to ease it to fit the gusset, just let it hang past the end and it will be trimmed off later (lower right of gusset in photo). As you attach the front of the sleeve to the body of the dress, you can gradually taper down the excess until it is down to your normal seam allowance (additional pictures).
Once I finish these last few seams, I should be ready to start working on the closures. I'd like to find some silk tabby tape to use as a facing and reinforce the buttonholes, like is shown in the MoL Textiles and Clothing book, but I haven't found anything that seems appropriate yet. I'm pretty sure that satin ribbon is not what I want, but I'm not finding much else right now.
The picture is trying to show one of the key fitting adjustments that I needed to make on this dress. The gown has a really bizarre construction, centered around these huge four-sided gussets that go over the shoulder blade. It's like if you took the sleeve and square gusset from a tunic, and rotated it and pulled it back so the lower point of the gusset almost reaches your spine. Anyway, you start with an essentially rectangular sleeve - flat across the top, and it doesn't start to taper until about the elbow. However, the gusset, for the original example and I think for most people, will be longer across the top than it is along the side. Rather than matching the both corners of the top of the sleeve to the corners of the gusset, what you want to do is this. First, match the top corner of the sleeve to the top back corner of the gusset (upper left of gusset in photo). Pin/baste/sew this out to the gusset corner where the sides of the sleeves will meet. Now, match up the sleeve edges starting at the wrist, and work backwards up toward the gusset, trying to match evenly without stretching the top or bottom piece. Just before you reach the corner of the gusset, I recommend tacking the sides of the sleeve together for an inch or two (the rest is left open for buttons later). Now that everything is matched up at the corner, sew the remaining portion of the sleeve to the side of the gusset. You will have a bunch of extra fabric from the sleeve, but don't try to ease it to fit the gusset, just let it hang past the end and it will be trimmed off later (lower right of gusset in photo). As you attach the front of the sleeve to the body of the dress, you can gradually taper down the excess until it is down to your normal seam allowance (additional pictures).
Once I finish these last few seams, I should be ready to start working on the closures. I'd like to find some silk tabby tape to use as a facing and reinforce the buttonholes, like is shown in the MoL Textiles and Clothing book, but I haven't found anything that seems appropriate yet. I'm pretty sure that satin ribbon is not what I want, but I'm not finding much else right now.
19 September 2009
Two left sleeves
Well, it doesn't look too impressive at this stage, but my Moy gown is now cut and (mostly) basted into shape. There's a lot left unfinished - I haven't slipped the front sleeve gores in, or the front or back skirt gores, and the seams are either temporary or only pinned so far.
Some of the apparent fitting problems here are artifacts; most of the pulling at the bust goes away with the appropriate (lack of) undergarments. That and I need to start the gores about an inch or two higher. The one thing that I will need to correct shows in the back - those pulls across the shoulder piece. The y-shaped shoulder piece is currently eased into the gusset in that section - I need to see whether the problem is just the pins, in which case it would lay flat once it's sewn and distributed more evenly. Otherwise I'll trim the piece down and eliminate the ease; the fabric has enough give that it doesn't seem to need it anyway.
As for the post title, I forgot to check whether my sleeves were right sides together before I cut the slit for the front gore, the one part of the piece that's asymmetrical. And of course, they were both facing up and I ended up with two identical left sleeves. I had plenty of extra fabric to cut another sleeve, but it's just a silly waste that could have been easily avoided.
Some of the apparent fitting problems here are artifacts; most of the pulling at the bust goes away with the appropriate (lack of) undergarments. That and I need to start the gores about an inch or two higher. The one thing that I will need to correct shows in the back - those pulls across the shoulder piece. The y-shaped shoulder piece is currently eased into the gusset in that section - I need to see whether the problem is just the pins, in which case it would lay flat once it's sewn and distributed more evenly. Otherwise I'll trim the piece down and eliminate the ease; the fabric has enough give that it doesn't seem to need it anyway.
As for the post title, I forgot to check whether my sleeves were right sides together before I cut the slit for the front gore, the one part of the piece that's asymmetrical. And of course, they were both facing up and I ended up with two identical left sleeves. I had plenty of extra fabric to cut another sleeve, but it's just a silly waste that could have been easily avoided.
14 September 2009
Small victories
The muslin for the Moy gown has been beaten into submission, more or less. After following the pattern instructions initially, to understand the spatial relationships of the pieces, it was easiest to make adjustments by ignoring them completely. I'll have to do most of the work again, since I wouldn't expect the wool twill I'm using for the real thing to behave the same way as cotton muslin, but I have a lot better idea of what needs to happen. The yoke/shoulder strap piece is one that I'll actually cut differently, as the initial one was much too long for me, but the others can mostly be massaged into place and trimmed down as needed.
09 September 2009
Problem child
I cut pieces and assembled a muslin for a Moy gown tonight. On one hand, I'm glad I didn't do this with 'real' fabric. On the other hand, I'm sorry I didn't just study the line drawings and then drape/draft from scratch, since that's probably what I'm going to be doing next. I might pick apart the muslin and see if the pieces are salvageable if I come at the assembly differently, but what I've got now fits so badly that I can't even see how to start adjusting it.
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