side lacing without slits

[kareina]

Sometime back I helped Harlequin with their new costumes for the Abbey Medieval Festival, and in the course of the project wound up trying something new for the side lacing on one of the bliauts. Their singer is more buxom than I, so I couldn't use my normal technique of doing the body rectangle as wide as the shoulder points and then remove enough fabric to make it fit the sides and lace shut. So instead I used the sort of side-gore that is shaped rather like a rocket--a triangular peak in the armpit, a rectangle down the sides, widening to triangle skirt gores at the base. (I got this style of gore from a Pictish stone (thanks eithni! I can't find my copy of the photo at the moment :-( but it shows three men in tunics, with three different skirt gores clearly visible, and this style is one of them. No idea if they'd still be using it in the 12th century or not, but it is a good way of both having the body rectangle only as wide as the shoulders, and having the fabric reach all the way around the body.)

I had first thought that we'd just slit the sides and lace them shut, particularly as I created the side-gores by



so one side would be slit already. However, when it came time to assemble the gown, we decided it would be easier to sew the two halves together first, and then attach it to the dress as a single piece.

So rather than unpicking the side seam and slitting the center of the side without a center seam, we decided to try something different. We had those seams on either side of the the gore, so I sewed down some extra fabric, edges folded in to keep it from fraying, to those seams, leaving lacing gaps.




This turned out to be very effective. The spacing between the two side seams was perfect to bring them in to just about meet in the middle, and it was quick and easy to do.

(note: this photo isn't properly laced--it was taken the first time she tried it on, late in the day, when we were in a hurry to be done and let her get to her next appointment, and rather than fixing one end of the lacing to the top and then weaving a single end down we put it through the top loop, then folded the lace in half and threaded both ends through every hole, just as a quick test to see if it was working, but I haven't had a second chance to get another photo).

Comments

This _is_ Cool

[erica-j-stark.livejournal.com]

Especially in reference to the technique some folks on the 12th cent. garb list were speculating about- of using tacked-on cords instead of eyelet holes to hold the side lacing.

Now I want to try it out...

Re: This _is_ Cool

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I can't document it, it was just a solution to a problem encountered while doing the project which seemed logical to me, given what I know of period construction. When you try it, post photos and let me know how it works.