Cutting an early medieval dress for the figure of a lower and middle class woman? Without the need to somehow stand out or replicate a particular grave?
What will you see here? A photographed sewing process with insights for absolute beginners.
Why? Because there are meadows full of ill-fitting dresses, made of unfashionable fabric and weave that is not suitable for the period we are reconstructing. With Dagfari.net you can be better and do it very quickly and spectacularly!
I confess that to cut and sew a thick wool sleeping dress for two winter events a year, in a WM finish (i.e. machine sewn to a watchable minimum, only visible seams by hand), was therefore a beginner's purgatory. I'll certainly still consider looking around to see how much the costume girls in LH sew for and that we should wear them on our hands and give them all the money you have ? I never want to do that again. Neither does my mom or the other 3 seamstresses we had on the phone for two days :)
ℹ️ For those who have just discovered us, I recommend reading the previous articles to avoid the misconception that we are giving advice and taking something out of context :) On the blog you will already find a reflection and recommendations on how to universally solve your new costume and therefore become a wonderful authentic poor man or simple man, artisan, bourgeois.
We create these articles in our spare time and their aim is to help those of you who:
a) they know that they want to redo the whole costume and they don't know how, so that "it won't apply again in a week" - Yes, it's a new hobby and it's constantly evolving. On the other hand - if it hadn't changed, we'd still be doing vikings in leggings and my mother's boots, covered in ?rabbit, like 25 years ago - who hasn't seen it, doesn't know ?
b) they are just starting and nothing from the group errands will fit them and the commanders want to dress their newcomers in a "working" and cheap costume
c) they put away the flashy never finished costumes because of the rising standards and just go for the coolness, which nobody can say anything about for the next x years, be it a Northerner or a Slav
d) they got fat on everything and now they need a cheap solution
So we try to write the text as for a complete layman and if you have ever sewn anything, the recommendations on material choice in the previous articles will be enough for you, from then on you will have it in the palm of your hand and you don't need this article.
As an aside, we have also used a ruler to first show how one might lay out a pattern on a fabric that is a standard 50 yard yard that you buy from your usual retailers.
But surely you know what they say, the Vikings didn't have a wide loom so the fabric was about 60cm wide. When I look at that and imagine how many people in the poorer and middle class who would have had just enough fabric to have no leftovers, it suggests that 50 - 60 cm width as the most common. ❤️
We really enjoy every cut that artfully shows the stitching of pieces from just such critical dimensions. It makes for great poorer made-to-measure costumes. And it's wonderful to show such variety to the public at early medieval events. We're not having a reunion of dead jarls and princes.
So there must have been a wider condition. Stretching an escape here and there on a sixty-foot width is surely even easier than sending a sloop on cloth for nobles (sometimes with a belly) over a metre ⬅️➡️ here and there ? That's just for today's musings and possible debate over a honeypot and here we go.
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In the text - what are we measuring?
1. height from shoulder to ankle - get a helper
2. circumference around the clenched fist
3. from shoulder to armpit
4. shoulder width (measure across the back, it's wider)
5. length of arm from shoulder joint
(women with a pronounced pear body type, be careful and measure the hips as the widest point and not the shoulders)
In the first picture, we're guiding you to measure certain parts. The measurements I'm writing for the fabric are for my figure (165 cm) and I purposely made them a little wider because this dress will be for sleeping and I want it loose, possibly so that it can be layered over several layers of underwear. It will easily fit chests of 120. The next one I sew up, I'll cut 5 cm off the basic waistband across the body and drive wedges if needed.
I've outlined three basic necklines and recommend making them so that in the event of a sudden breastfeeding you can pull up in theory feeding device *wink wink, because that's how early medieval dresses for still pregnant women were designed. Do you have a waist? No one will ever know about it again ? Muahahaha?
✂️ First, unfold the washed fabric and think about where to cut what. Draw the totals on paper, measure twice, cut once. Add 1 - 2 cm to each measurement for the foundation and with wool especially allow for additional shrinkage. This cut can also be made from linen. We have already talked about this. Ideal for underdresses ?
0️⃣ - our cutting target
1️⃣ - how much will be needed approx.
2️⃣ - from a 3 metre piece of fabric, you cut the centre of the dress in one piece and don't have to sew a seam at the shoulders - this could be annoying if you wear a loom or ladders and you'll have this on all your dresses. Then for more complicated cuts, you can sew at the shoulder blades and such, but that's a taller girl for me - check with your seamstress.
3️⃣ - use the measurements from the first picture to create a suitable sleeve width ( if you have fabric that has a different reverse and face, make some sort of mark on everything that will be inside, we've paired that too)
4️⃣ - pin the first part ♦️podpážďovce - it doesn't have to be on the dress but you probably won't be able to lift your arms or you'll have to make the dress too big - it adds a lot of question marks for beginners but it's very practical and comfortable, try it, you have to keep turning towards the middle and keep thinking about where to pin the opposite corner - a toggle secures it ?
5️⃣ - you don't have to sew the sleeves together, just take them off, because you end up cutting them (14) so that the front of the sleeve is tighter and you don't have to keep rolling up the sleeves
6️⃣ - neck - a chastely narrow neckline with a subtle clasp is not only desirable, but also practical - you don't have a permanently burnt neck, and necklines so wide you wouldn't know what the front is are long outdated. Remember that our drnohryz would still be working, especially outdoors, and any unprotected piece of leather may not be entirely worthwhile in an era without disinfection
7️⃣ - we only cut out 14 cm, with only 1 cm in the middle of the middle strip on the back part, the rest of the oval is forward.
8️⃣ - Count on the fact that what you will hem or tuck in at the neck will actually expand and your dress will have a mostly slit neckline (in our case about 15 cm), don't worry, it will be enough and it looks great!
9️⃣ - stitching - use a thread that is thin and extra fastening and mating so that it can be pulled apart, or pins. Don't regret any "tacking", chalk marking and buying the flanges, you will avoid mating... 3 times... almost the whole dress...
1️⃣0️⃣ - The basic would be - sleeve sewn on, sewn on, centered with the neckline
1️⃣1️⃣ - here come the wedges. If you want to slap the fabric and have leftovers, you can cut out giant ⚠️ triangles, we definitely favor two-piece wedges. Oh and most importantly - no different colour wedges, you're doing early medieval. If you want to break up the monochrome of your costume, get contrasting patches ?
You will definitely try the dress many times. Sew the wedges on by sewing them in the middle and then sewing them on from the bottom, and when you sew them on, they will stop somewhere. Ideally you stop atin the case of a diamond-shaped insert in the armpit. If it's further away, you cut the tips off. Or you will have (tall skinny girls) on this your first attempt from the bottom wedges, then a couple of inches width of the basic dimension and then only the diamond sleeve. Not ideal advice for this - you don't do it by cut, you do it by body type. Because those gussets will force the width up if you're anything over 90 - 60 - 90. For the second and third dresses, you'll already know which wedge height suits you and your body.
1️⃣2️⃣ - the triangles make an isosceles larger triangle
1️⃣3️⃣ - it would seem to be nicer, but there will be no points on the dress, aren't you an elf
1️⃣4️⃣ - the finale will conclude with a partner marking the standing figure by trimming the bottom of the dress and stitching the sleeves with pins so that you are still comfortable and can raise your arms high without the dress pulling up.
I'll want the dress long, and I'll keep muttering that it's dew-stained - but would a woman of our position be out at night? Or wouldn't she want them muddy and snowy in the winter when she goes to feed? Think about what your character actually does.If you design them to be the only ones you'll wear in the summer, ankle length and a little over doesn't matter at all.
Since I have chosen a very thick wool in twill weave, I will hem the neckline with an authentic stitch according to the findings (and I won't add the centimetre - it would make the neckline a little bit spread out), in a neutral colour of wool yarn, no colourful embroidery unsuitable for ordinary work clothes. I think I'll cover the deep neckline with my favourite baby square left over from cutting (see the first sketch and the second sketch, where it's the red ?cube). Or a slightly contrasting fabric from the range of those recommended, perhaps from my partner's dress, to match ?
I'll close with an omegas buckle and or a button suitablefor this dress - bone, antler, fabric or for the not totally poor - metal or plain tiny glass, which will act as the only embellishment.
☝️ The shoulders will be dropped, yes, but if you've measured and made it to measure, it should be just below the shoulders. Someone will pick it up a little to show that the breasts are still there, but please don't dress it up like an over-the-top medieval dress..
Our tip - accessorise the dress with an apron around the waist or a front belt (cloth). Attach these with a fabric cord, a simple thin tablet weaving (solid colour is top), or a finger knitted cord, or perhaps a lucette. Avoid leather belts, they are not the right early medieval thing for women ?
As far as sewing is concerned - we leave it up to each person whether they choose the way of sewing completely by hand or sew specific pieces of the costume partly by machine and the visible seams by hand. What is visible should be by hand❗always, the rest is up to your feeling and the time and effort/finances you want to put into it. We don't want to say , "back to the trees, let's machine sew". But if you just want to go to a selection event and a new tunic is the only thing between you and that? Bzm bzm on the machine and off I go, sleeves and bottom hemmed in the car on the way, right?
This article is for informational purposes only, but we would be happy if you use something from it to improve your equipment and let us know about it as well ?
Thanks for sharing and recommending! We're in this together and want to get better :)
Translated automatically by deepl.com - if something is really incomprehensible, we will be happy to translate it for you.
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