garment cutting for workshops

I promised a list of the books on garment cutting brought in already for the workshops Auckland Libraries​ (Waitakere Central Library Henderson​)
These are some of my favourites

Guide to dressmaking
by J. Henry Symonds, , 1876
https://archive.org/details/guidetodressmaki00symo
(full illustratiosn for stitches and trimmings)

The science and geometry of dress
by Mrs. Louisa L. Jackson, 1876
https://archive.org/details/sciencegeometryo02jack

Ladies’ cutting made easy
Thomas Hiram Holding,1885
https://books.google.co.nz/books/about/Ladies_cutting_made_easy.html?id=GC8BAAAAQAAJ&redir_esc=y
(lots of variations on dresses very clear illustrations, diagrams take a bit of care)

A Concise Treatise on Ladies and Misses’ Tight-fitting Garments:
by M. Kaempfer, 1886 (Moschcowitz Brothers)
https://books.google.co.nz/books/about/A_Concise_Treatise_on_Ladies_and_Misses.html?id=Tqimbul_qxkC&redir_esc=y
(This is mostly of the Princess Dress style- this iwll be covered in the bodice workshop as they rely on a good bodice foundation)

Directions for cutting garments with the Davis improved square
by Myra A. Davis, 1888
https://archive.org/details/directionsforcut00davi

The national garment cutter book of diagrams.
by Goldsberry & Doran, 1888
https://archive.org/details/nationalgarment00gold
(Chock full of very easy to follow diagrams- these look modern!)

Instruction on Leola M. Head’s self teaching system of cutting ..
by Leola M. Head, 1889
https://archive.org/details/instructiononleo00head

Instruction book of Bisbee’s American tailor system of dress cutting
by F.S. Bisbee,1895
https://archive.org/details/instructionbooko00bisb

Casneau’s guide for artistic dress cutting and making
by Mrs. Alice A. Casneau, 1895
https://archive.org/details/casneausguidefor00casn
Very long book with photogravure polates of the garment in progress. It makes it very simple to understand the various engraved diagrams.)

The Kintzel dress cutting system, 1896
by A. G. Kintzel,1896
https://archive.org/details/kintzeldresscutt00kint

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Current plans

So my first workshop went really well. I need to make getting the follow up notes a priority oer the next few days. I may do that today even though i am a day behind in general.

I’ve also decided I have enough lovely projects finished that I can concentrate on the ones I want to, not feel obliged to.

Early Historic:

Immediately

Cleves Gown– actual Anne of Cleves gown. I basically need to finish the sleeves (all the sleeves) and then she is finished.

Cleves research– I thought I just had a confusing mess of information, but I have the hook to work from. It’s time to get that just published.

As time permits

Silver Spanish Frock of Doom- I really need some good silver ribbon to isolate the braid in place and I need to get lining and other aspects sorted.

Spanish research– while tidying I realised I have gotten so far along with this as to be ready to edit. So again really just getting that hook to getting it in publishable format.

 

Late historic

immediately

Workshop guides– follow up material for the skirts, and get the sleeves guide up asap. I have a lot of graphic creation to do for these. And while the skirt diagrams were all paths I will have to draw arms for this and also torsos for the next. Then use paths to make them nice graphics for the web.

As Time Permits:

 

The Mina– I am still so much in pain with my separated rib that a corset or corset like support is out of the question for a while. And the silk is unforgiving. I need a perfectly fitted bodice not just through the narrow part but over the bust and shoulders. I cna’t just hazard a guess.

Gored stays– I really need a nice corset again. I have had epic fail with patterns and fabric so this is very much a case of holding fire until I get the right fabric. Also as per Mina my rib is still healing- it could take a year!

The Sunburst– I knew I’d known of this dress for a ridiculous length of time but yes. She is in Payne’s 1st edition! So literally one of the very first books I read as a teen. I so wish she’s been able to have taken a pattern as I suspect the gown is much too fragile now.

Sheer princess– it’s the middle of winter so this can be put off to summer 🙂 But there is a manual that is just the go to for these so I can take my time

Blue managers dress– I need the waterfall drape made lighter- the only fabric that will suit the cotton is a cotton sateen or very very very light velveteen.

Mantua- I could do this with the wool of 12m. There is more than enough and the Kimberly gown is one of my faves. Also two patterns for it 🙂 But there is one I have a pattern for that I keep hoping to do with my pale plue taffeta. It is 100% dead dino though.

Francaise– this is the other thing I could do with my taffeta. With smocked robings as per the Kyoto one.

Black and white day dress overhaul– literally washing and restoring. It has been washed but I should really wash again to remove every last trace of dye transfer and soot.

Garment drafting tools- I have a card copy of one, but I really want a Thompsons. So that means a lot of work in graphics to separate out the elements. I’d like to eventually get them milled in acrylic so if one of them works I’ll be doing just that 🙂

 

Recreations:

Immediately:

 Padme light blue- Currently plotting the placement of the stamped design on the cape. Two stamps (mirrored) and then said stamps used reversed. So. A bit fun.

Amazon references- I really am so excited by how many people want to be amazons so I will keep doing collections of elements. But it is also graphic work intensive so each one takes a day.

Ahsoka– Totally stalled because it was such an expensive process of casting. Those sharp angles and my shoulders do not match up easily!

As time permits:

Maleficent– horns. I really want my horns to be just so. So 3d modelling as well as sculpting clay. The texture is still difficult to do with free tools so it may be a case of finding a new program.

Hippolyta– I’m taking time. I know she is going to appear in other movies and I suspect this version is still going to be The One.

Freya silver robe– this is very much of the I know exactly how to make it but I really need tools outside of my access but also found a solution to other issues so as soon as enough material appears it’s all go 🙂

Marie Antoinette– I am totally buying all the silver work versus making them because I am not a team of 20 stitchers 😉

Missy– I have the wool and I know what i need and it should be a nice project with lovely materials.

 

I may wind up being able to do more of these. But for now I have to get on to those immediate project. Like today 🙂 Today shall be writing and graphic. I need the heater on for my hands so staying in one room is most cost effective.

back in sort of normal mode.

Not going to lie it takes more than half a week to actually do a day of teaching so I am still in tidy up mode. The next one is going to be stupid fun: fitted sleeve making with a near perfect sleeve and also GIGOT SLEEVES OF DOOM! My 1830s dress has epic sleeves of doom that are pleated to make the super cute shape 🙂 I hope I have photos from before the pleating…. And like last time I’ll have class resources available the day before.

I also have to do a few more variations on the basic skirt cutting. I cut intuitively but it comes from having that practice and so know that a cm here o r there in some places makes no matter. But not everyone can visualise that. Or they just need some practice to make that connection 🙂

Also I know how to teach the waterfall drapery properly!!!!! Woo! So I’ll have to get some chalk and a nice big piece of paper.

But yeah I have to tidy today. SO to the second coffee before getting on to tidying and then a spot of sewing and some

Amazons- Hippolyta 1

There was a little query as to whether the costumes really were leather and these insane hi res images confirm it ? I’ve seen most of these promos before but these are in such high quality they need to be seen in full ? No new images for other amazons but for the royal family it’s fantastic!

http://getyourcomicon.co.uk/news/45-new-wonder-woman-photos-released/

So for Hippolyta I grabbed a few details to explore the cutting of the leather.

First here are two egde treatments. The gold painted leather has been cleanly cut with potentially a swivel knife. The inner bronze toned edge has been cut and then an edge beveler used to cut the edge on a 45 degree angle. This appears to have had no further treatment before the paint and sealer. It also appears to cut into a tooled design right on the edge. This tooling can be seen on the edges of the gold as well.

There is also a fantatsic use of texture tools! The body of each piece has a scattered stone texture. It could even be replicated using a piece of scoria in place of a standard tool (especially on a foam based project.) For my Leia Barge Bikini I made my own texture tool for clay by taking impressions of different rocks in polymer clay and baking them. I still have them and used them on my Turian sculpt!

For leather metal tools offer best practice and safety. While damp (not soaking) tooling leather will take an impression even of fingernails but can be unpredictable based on individuals. It may even be possible to lay the damp leather over a rocky surface face down and a small amount of pressure from behind will suffice.

There are so many different edge treatments in this small section that I had to number them.

1- clean cut edge, possibly a little  sanding once painted and sealed- not the slightly paler section towards the bottom left of that same piece.

2- clean cut then very lightly edge beveled. This is much more subtle than the waist section in the previous photo. This was done before dyeing and sealing as the colour is rich right through the edge.

3- clean cut edge with a tool mark! As mentioned the leather is very easy mark when tooling and this looks like the edge of the swivel knife went beyond the cut. But there are a few other similar marks further up the edge so it may be intentional to match the hand creafted effect.

4- clean cut then another use of the edge beveler. Slightly heavier and definitely done before the gold paint and sealer. The tooled edge also looks like a simple stop or border stamp but I haven’t been able to identify which.

5- zig zag join! The skirt panels are so long as to need to be pieced. This appears to be a waxed/coated thread.

6- the skirt leather is laminated to what looks like the same textured leather. The cut edges go right through the pattern so it is likely these were hides that had been textured and treated before they were used. It is possible to find hide with a pattern like this with belly scale patterns, it will be difficult to get an exact match (working backwards through makers for the production can often lead back to suppliers of materials.)

7- the lamination continues on the belt hanging panel. The designs are tiled on a support leather that is of similar density.

8- the belt appears to be a mix of leather with a cast centre design. It is possible the belt and the chest plate are cast from originals that were made from leather. It seems unlikely that the department responsible for working the leather would share tools with the props department but it is possible to treat and cast from an existing piece. This is all speculation on my part based on having worked on long running tv series here and straight up being nosey! And I was very lucky to have been allowed to see behind the scenes at Weta when they had a quiet moment many years ago.

I would suggest that if the same tools used for leather were to be used on clay for sculpting that a layer of plastic such as used for sandwhich bags is used between to soften the edges. Or careful use of a primer and buffing to soften edges before molding.

Final note, her battle cloak is a suede or faux swede as opposed to the boiled wool of her cloak used elsewhere.

 

Now this I am going to make. I have the boot base…

Meanwhile there are 54 Amazons aside from the royal family to organise into folders (some with character names some I need to watch carefully for in the end credits) so I am going to take a break and make some skirt diagrams for different measurements for handouts on Saturday.

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Amazon Costumes- Diana gold training

There was a little query as to whether the costumes really were leather and these insane hi res images confirm it 🙂

http://getyourcomicon.co.uk/news/45-new-wonder-woman-photos-released/

I’ve seen most of these promos before but these are in such high quality they need to be seen in full 🙂 No new images for other amazons but for the royal family it’s fantastic!

This photo shows the two textures of leather- the strapping has a stone effect- well the opposite- the raised areas are the lines. It looks to have been painted to a warm reddish brown (the inner surface appears to be the original neutral tone) and gold was buffed in to the texture filling the areas between the raised design but only lightly over the raised edges.

The main body is also leather as can be seen by observing the edges which have been trimmed by hand (edge beveler) and probably fininshed with an edge paint in gold (edge paint seals the raw edges, this may be just a heavy gold paint.) The surface of the body appears to have a natural finish and is painted into those waves! This is especially noticeable near the dip at the upper  centre front where there are creases from stress on the leather but no shadows cast by the “texture.”

The edges are clearly visible here and are defined with gold paint. The skirt is a very soft suede with a very soft snakeskin print in a clear gloss that appears to have been applied while the skirt was pleated initially.

So this is great for me 🙂 I love working with leather. It is possible to do at home with very safe products that are durable. The originals were steamed on the forms and at home you have to be very careful to work with each piece in warm-hot water (just hot enough to stand- so no risk of burning self) but the leather will be very malleable so you really do have to know exactly the order you are working in and probably stick with doing the front then the back so as to be able to work with gravity (mannequin lying flat versus upright.)

(screenshots from 4K trailers online.)

Sandals from the same set of publicity stills.

 

My Blood Dragon armour was made using wetformed letaher too, and yes, I know from experience gravity will peel your hard work off the form while you work on another part!

I will not make this costume. I will not make this costume. I will not make this costume.

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Amazon Army Armour- assembly of skirts

My sincerest thanks to all the amazons who have shared their photos of their experiences on set. It is truly inspiring and very much appreciated The Amazons mean so much to so many, so thank you.

My previous post separated the three types of armour worn by the bulk of the Amazon Army. This post is to try and describe the different elements of the skirts, as well as can be observed.

These are my my own observations, I look forward to being proved wrong by the Art book!

A lot of the amour has very strong ties to the Hoplite style we are familiar with- especially as viewed through Hollywood. And as such it is great fun finding these echos and individual twists on it!

 

Skirts

A spin on the Pteruges of Greek armor! The short skirts with very clean cut straps are replaced with long skirt that has very irregular edges. Still made from leather and with an interwoven belt.

The skirt straps are woven leather made in one piece with the lower layer of what is the equivalent of a “mitra.” This suggests the horizontal straps are shaped to fit the curve of hips.

 

(@aliciavelabailey @brookeence @jennypacey🙂

(via @maylingng🙂

The following photo snippets show the leather straps are a vege tanned leather dyed and weathered. The ends flare slowly then taper to a jagged point. The original colour of the leather can be seen on the inner waist of the first photo. This also shows the hide is fairly thick and the woven sections to appear to be flattened (malleted while wet?)

(Photos from Sarah Smith-@yoga_ballroomgirl and Jade V Lewis-@jadevlewis)

The woven section is 4-6 rows deep below the line of the belt with between 1-2  rows behind the belt. The vertical straps seem to number about 28-30. To get to this number there appear to be 4-5 each side front, and 9-10 each side back, then a few for the sides. The straps appear to be close to an inch across at the top widening to 2 1/2″ at the bottom. This is a very rough estimation based on average distance between knuckles on a thumb.

The surface is semi gloss suggesting standard finishing techniques with a sealer/oils.

Via Jade V Lewis (@jadevlewis -Thank you so much for these amazing views!)

 

The backs of the skirts appear to simply overlap. The rigidity of the leather, especially traditionally wetformed leather apparently made to fit the curve of hips, probably helped hold them in place.

It appears the left side at least is one continual piece of leather from the back, to the sides, through the “mitra” at he front and around to the back again.

This can be seen in hi res images from http://getyourcomicon.co.uk/news/45-new-wonder-woman-photos-released/

These photos show the skirts can overlap left or right.

The hip level belt appears to be cast so that the plates are semi-rigid and the gaps between offer  more flex (this may affected somewhat due to being mounted to the very dense woven skirts) The belt plaques appear to be about as dense and flexible as leather of a similar weight.

The pattern of shapes appears to be symmetric and follow this order:

Inverted decorated inverted V (/\) at centre front then a rhomoid (/_/) then a trapezoid (/_\), another rhomboid, an irregular pentagon that is longer than the rest of the plaques, and finally a narrow rectangle shape that is used for lacing (three holes per side.) There is a gap that is able to be seen even in group shots. The following is from a behind the scenes featurette.

There are V shaped belts on the left side of the skirts. These appear to be a different leather to the skirts and is a more yellow tinted brown. There are variations in this piece as some are worn alone while most have either a matching piece on the right or a second V shaped belt with snake scale/fish scale plate over the top (the direction is towards the pointed end of the belts.)

 

The “mitra” follows two distinct types. The first is a simple layer of matching leather following much the same shape as the lower layer with concentric rings of thing strips of leather woven through. The pattern can be easily observed in the photos at the top of this post.

The second type is very complex and several layers thick. The first layer appears to be the piece of leather that is continuous with the strapping skirts. It appears to be split vertically through the centre. It is not possible to tell as of yet whether this split extends to the top edge.

The following photo attempts to show the additional layers through use of colours.

Via Sarah Smith- @yoga_ballroomgirl

The top two layers of Y (inverted) and W shapes are indicated in pink and purple- these appear to wrap around to the back in photos from the side but it is difficult to ascertain where these wrap to. There is another Y (inverted) shape as indicated in blue that also seems to wrap behind. There are two vertical strips to the outer edges indicated in green. The next layer is indicated in yellow and is of three gently flared sections. The final layer which I believe to be continuous with the strapping is obscured in this photo but can be easily seen in the photos of Mayling Ng in the previous sections.

 

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Amazon Army Armour- Part one- all types

My sincerest thanks to all the amazons who have shared their photos of their experiences on set. It is truly inspiring and very much appreciated The Amazons mean so much to so many, so thank you.

(My next post will break down the various elements and how they are made and worn.)

Type 1 | Type 2 | Type 3 | Queen’s Guard

 

 

 

 

@joliestanford | @gingersophie😐 @jacquileepryce

Type 1

With thanks to all the amazons who have shared their experiences: (@madeleinevallbeijner) EGERIA, (@samanthawjo) EUOBOEA, (@maylingng) ORANA, (@Brookeence): Brooke Ence PENTHISELEA, (@andreavasiliou), (@erin.bostock), (@armstrong_georgie), (@jadelye1), (@joliestanford), (@oliviadeanne)

 

Chest plate: metallic yellow to silvery gold, occasionally darkened silver. Left bust only, two short darts to define the bust. Leather strapping at neck and lower bust.

Torso: bronze-green tinted leather look, multiple vertical panels, over bust shape where exposed.

Skirts: Woven strips in varigated colour from tan to nearly maroon.

Centre skirt piece: woven in a WW formation, occasionally sold with a series of thin concentric rings woven through. All supported by a wider solid piece.

Shoulder: left side only, series of four connected leather look pieces.

Belts: standard belt with silver plaques, solid leather and segmented/scaled silver straps form v shapes over hips- varied.

Headpieces: standard silver tiara, optional helmet (captains)

Greaves: standard segmented gold tinted pieces on rigid leather half greaves.

Boots: riders wear additional thigh high covering, otherwise below the knee. Standard diamond style plates on the arches. Wedge heels. Plates on back of heels.

Bracers: standard issue.

Type 2

 

With thanks to all the amazons who have shared their experiences: (@Alicia Vela-Bailey), (@belle_williams17), (@charliefye), (@gingersophie), (@jadevlewis), (@jazzieefizzle), (@lucyjaynemurrayuk), (@yoga_ballroomgirl)

Chest plate:  metallic yellow to silvery gold, occasionally darkened silver. Full upper torso. Front plate with deep >< shapes cut into the upper side. Leather straps vertically span the space of the cut outs. Single sharply curved darts to define bust. Front overlaps back plate at side back. Round neck. Back plate matches.

Torso: green tinted leather look, tiled pattern to form a long W at centre front. Thin vertical gold toned segments at centre front.

Skirts: Woven strips in variegated colour from tan to nearly maroon.

Centre skirt piece: woven in a WW formation, occasionally sold with a series of thin concentric rings woven through.  All supported by a wider solid piece.

Shoulder: cupped shapes, double layered attacked to chest plate via metal strap at top of shoulder. Right shoulder absent in archers.

Belts: standard belt with silver plaques, solid leather and segmented/scaled silver straps form v shapes over hips- varied.

Headpieces: standard silver tiara, optional helmet (captains)

Greaves: standard segmented gold tinted pieces on rigid leather half greaves.

Boots: riders wear additional thigh high covering, otherwise below the knee. Standard diamond style plates on the arches. Wedge heels.

Bracers: standard issue.

Type 3

With thanks to all the amazons who have shared their experiences: (@jacquileepryce) NIOBE, (@harijamespt) TRIGONA, (@caitlindechelle), (@duncanc03), (@jennypacey), (@sofit_morganjacobsen), (@moeshash), (@tpowellstunts)

Chest plate: metallic yellow to silvery gold, occasionally darkened silver. Full upper torso covered. Sectioned at neck-arm, neck to centre front, center front angling down over busts to side back. Front overlaps back plate at side back. Square neck. Back plate matches.

Torso: dark reddish brown, variegated leather look, narrow inverted V chevron strips. Segmented metallic decoration down centre front.

Skirts: woven strips in variegated colour from tan to nearly maroon.

Centre skirt piece: woven in a WW formation, occasionally sold with a series of thin concentric rings woven through.  All supported by a wider solid piece.

Shoulder:  cupped shapes, double layered attacked to chest plate via metal strap at top of shoulder. .

Belts: standard belt with silver plaques, solid leather and segmented/scaled silver straps form v shapes over hips- varied.

Headpieces: standard silver tiara, optional helmet (captains)

Greaves: standard segmented gold tinted pieces on rigid leaher half greaves.

Boots: riders wear additional thigh high covering, otherwise below the knee. Standard diamond style plates on the arches. Wedge heels.

Bracers: standard issue.

 

Queen’s Guard:

With thanks to all the amazons who have shared their experiences: (@hayleyjanewarnes) AELLA, (@doutzen)VENELIA, (@caitlinburles), (@jemma_moore), (@sashabowen)

(Thanks to Jemma Moore:  @sashabowen @doutzen (Hipplyta double) @naprous@hayleyjanewarnes @jemma_moore@caitlinburles)

Chest plate: chevron panels in leather, side panels tinted metallic silvery-purple to gold. Shallow v neckline.

Torso: dark purple, narrow chevron panels that match the chest plate

Skirts: four panels (centre front, sides and back) flat leather with slightly smaller panels in strips of leather with leather things holding them vertically.

Shoulder: multi layered attached to shoulder through narrow straps.

Belts: double layers- uppermost contiues CF to CB while lower meets join in cf and side skirt plates.

Headpieces: Helmets with fins (twisted leather in place of horse hair for crests), faceplates.

Greaves: Smooth ans likely cast froma  rigid urethane due to smoothness of surface and fine detail work.

Boots: Thigh high with sewn bands on a slight incline towards the outer thigh.

Bracers: standard issue.

 

Throne Room Amazons

 

 

 

 

 

 

(@lisalovenkongsli)

(@bettyadewoleofficial)

(@maxineshivling)

(@micanicols)

(@oooootasebastian)

(@prg_fit)

(@shem__1)

(@iamtenika)

(@the_devilshorsemen)

(@xynnia)

(@daniellelews)

(@kattreyasmith)

(@ninastunts)

(@annavstephenson)

(@camillaroholm)

(@carlymikes)

(@carolinewinberg)

(@daniellelewis)

 (@eleanormatsuura)

(@enci_fulop)

(@ganabayarsaikhan)

 

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Amazon references

Been fighting a few updating issues with my PC so getting to my blog has been a struggle for about a week. In that time I’ve been trying to grab all the amazonian behind the scenes of Wonder Woman as the costumes really fascinate me! There is not only a clear aesthetic but there seem to be rules about what can be mixed and matched.

I just need a good connection again to be able to get all those references in one place.

In the meantime I have two places for putting the images in easy to find locations:

(I’m sorry for anyone who doesn’t have a pinterest account)

And specifically on The Replica Prop Forum
Home DC Costumes and Props > Wonder Woman= Amazons of all kinds > Wonder Woman= Amazons of all kinds

So far spotted three kinds of chestplate, three kinds of torso support, one kind of skirt, two groin plate patterns. On top of the totally different Queen’s Guard.

Now that my connection seems a little better (woo) I’ll see if I can sort them out.

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