Unlike the first checkerboard I made for Ludwig, I had no help in drafting the pattern. I referenced the pieces and measurements I had for Ludwig and the measurements I had for myself and went from there and then fell back on some basic math!
I figured out what my waist measurement needed to be and how long my total skirt length would be and worked from that measurement.
I determined the initial radius based on the circumference of my waist plus some ease.
I determined the second circumference based on my initial radius plus the 15inches of skirt in the first counter change.
I did the same to find the bottom circumference of my skirt
I then took the circumferences and found out how much of that circumference would be taken up by each of my 24 panels.
I then laid out a very long piece of paper and used a compass to make 3 quarter circles, one with a radius of 10.5, one with a raise of 25.5, and one with a radius of 30.5. I used my flexible tape measure to measure along the curve to each of the circumferences divided by 24 (number of color changes). I then used a straight edge to take the best line I could for those three points. I then used those guides to cut my pieces, adding half inch seam allowance on all sides.
For the sleeves, I took the measure of my armscye and ease and divided that by my counter changes to determine the measurement of the top of the trapezoid. The overall height was determined by how far I wanted the first counterchange to come down. The width of the bottom of the top trapezoid and the width of the top of the bottom trapezoid was determined by how much I wanted the sleeves to bell out. That same rate of change was employed to determine the bottom width of the bottom trapezoid as well.
While period usage of fabric would utilize naps running whichever way allowed for the most complete usage of fabric, my modern sensibilities dictate that my nap must always run the same way. The following were my 2 cutting layouts for the 2 colors of velveteen which had different widths.
To start sewing the skirt, I sewed all the upper skirt pieces to all the lower skirt pieces. I clipped my seam allowances using the guide below as one side of the seam was a concave curve, and one side of the seam was a convex curve. Once clipped, pressed these open.
Once I had all my upper and lower panels joined, I started assembling them into identical panels of 4. To achieve CRISP and PRECISE corners, I would line up the counter change and sew from about 1 inch above the counter change down to the bottom of the panel. I would then verify my corner was perfect. If it was not, I would rip it out and do it again. This part was a bit squirrely as one side was straight-of-grain and the other side was on the bias. By joining bias to straight-of-grain, I helped minimize stretch on the bias as the straight-of-grain stablized the seam. Once it was verified to be perfect, I would flip the whole piece over and sew from the the point where I started to the top of the panel. I then pressed these seams open.
Once I had 12 identical panels, I cut my lining. I used a black cotton sateen as lining. I cut my lining mostly the same as each panel but with an extra half inch on the side of the wedge that was lined up to the straight of the grain. I then flat-lined each of the panels. Once each of the panels was flat-lined, I used the same technique of starting just above the counter change to sew the panels together. I then used the extra half inch on the straight-of-grain edge to hand flat fell the skirt seams so they were nice and tidy. I did this all the way around until I had a complete circle.
To finish the bottom edge of the skirt, I used narrow single-fold bias tape. I machine-sewed it down on the first pass, folded it under, and hand-sewed it to just the lining.
At this point, I realized my skirt had become a touch too big from 3 compounding factors: I added too much ease in the original plan, my seam allowances had been a touch too narrow, and I had lost about 20 lbs. To correct this, I popped open the top 8 or 9 inches of the panels and resewed them with a tapering seam allowance that tapered in about 8-10mm at the top. This brought in the skirt enough that it was no longer sloppy and huge on my waist.
The body of the garment is made up of a front and back plate. Each plate is 6 strips of each color. I sewed one red and purple together and then flat-lined those in the black cotton sateen. Once each of the double strips was lined, I marked where the seam needed to be on the bottom to match the skirt panels, and then marked where strips needed to be at the top to have everything even on the shoulders. I pinned and drew a line along that axis and then sewed them together, pressed them open for the time being and repeated the process across both the front and back plate.
The sleeves outers were assembled similarly to the skirt but lined differently. The sleeves were 4 panels of each color around (16 pieces each sleeve). I sewed all the tops and bottoms together, clipped and pressed open, then sewed the complete length to another complete length with the opposite counter change. I repeated this until I had 2 half sleeves. I then cut my linings. I finished the remaining 2 sleeve seams and then repeated those on the linings. I bag-lined the sleeves so the inside of the sleeve bell would be as unmarred as possible.
With the body plates inside out, and the sleeves inside out, my foster Laurel Vittoria, helped me fit the neckline, shoulders, and set in sleeves. Safety pins were used to prevent the pins from both stabbing me and from slipping out of the many layers.
The first step was to establish the shoulders and neckline. We worked each side a little at a time to help keep them even and not have everything tight on one side and not have enough fabric on the other.
The sleeves went in next. We attempted to line up the sleeve counter change at the apex of the shoulder with a color change at the shoulder.
Once everything was pinned up, I took it home and used a LONG basting stitch in an obnoxious blue on my machine to set everything, check fit, and color line-ups before sewing everything down with normal-length stitches in black.
The neckline was bound in narrow single-fold bias tape. It was machine-sewn down on the first pass, then hand-sewn to just the lining on the inside.
At this point, I attached the bodice to the skirt. I had excellent luck with the back skirt counter changes lining up with the bodice stripes. I had less excellent luck with the front.
I have learned a lot of lessons in this project. I need to finish all bodice seams prior to the fitting of the neck and sleeves. I need to be a little more stringent about ensuring my seam allowances are the right size, a few millimeters multiplied by 12 or 24 strips will add up quickly.
