To get from feral tape double, to a useable pattern, we need to civilize it. I start by cutting it apart at the seams lines, and further removal of excess at armholes and below the waistline.
Once I have the pieces in question laid out, I take a good look at them and play with them before I go any further. The feral tape doubles are lumpy, often with odd bulges and creases that could either be artificial constructs of the tape, OR they could be directly related to the body in question. For this reason, it’s absolutely best to try to civilize it as soon as you can after taping.
Lay the pattern piece flat on thick paper. I don’t use fabric to make patterns because fabric stretches. It warps and shifts, and the point of a pattern is to stay the same.
Smooth it out, watching how the edges of the shapeshift as you press on it. Very often, regardless of the effort taken to avoid it, there is an outward bulge in the tape at the bosom or upper back. It’s normal. You haven’t failed.
Press down on the bulge. Do the edges of the pattern shift when you do? If they don’t, then you’re very likely going to be fine just smooshing it flat and drawing around the edge. If pressing down on the bulge makes the edges of the piece move, then you need to handle the piece differently.
To deal with the remaining bulges, we will have to cut the duct tape double and overlap the cut edges. When working with the curves over the bust, you will want to try to cut into the 3-D curve from the center front, parallel to the waistline, to fix it first to avoid having to redraft the curve of the neckline. Make a cut into your pattern into the bulge from the edge. Start with the cut going roughly to the center of the bulge. Press on it again. Does the cut edge spread apart? If so, cut further. Once cut to the point of laying flat, overlap the cut edges to remove the 3-D bulge.
In many cases, simply cutting into/through the bulge and overlapping the curved edges on the interior so the pattern piece lies flat is the easiest and best way to convert the curved tape to flat paper.
Remember that when you remove the curve, you are removing interior volume. That means you are displacing body volume, usually upwards. Be aware of this, especially in the bosom area. For example, if you overlap the cut edges in the bosom bulge by a total of an inch, you will want to raise the neckline in the front by an inch at least to help keep the Venetian silhouette that does not show cleavage.
Remember – This is not a final pattern. This is a proto pattern.
This gets us a pattern we can mock up in a way that accurately reflects the support from the finished garment. It is NOT a failure to need to make more alterations to your pattern. This method replaces several fittings, but any pattern should be mocked up the first time you use it.
You can always cut away from your proto pattern with ease. It’s much more of a pain to add back stiffened fabric.
It’s a good idea to remove an inch from your pattern pieces at the lacing sides to begin with. It’s very irritating to get a test lacing system set up only to find that it’s too big and you have to remove your lacing strips and recreate them. Gowns tend to “settle ” and stretch a bit as they are worn, so a gown made too close exactly to the pattern is very likely going to be too big when finished.
Make sure your center front and back seams are straight up and down. This corresponds with the grain of the fabric. We want the center front and back on the straight of grain.
With 1490s bodices, you’ll often find that the sides where you lace are super short. You can add a bit of functional length by removing 1/8 of an inch at the waist and adding 1/8 inch at the underarm. It’s a negligible difference in sizing, but it makes the lacing edge a little longer. That in turn gives you more chest support and makes the gown more comfortable. Pressure applied to the body in point areas hurts. The more you can spread out the pressure and compression, the more comfortable it will be.
Do not add seam allowances.
No, really. It’s ok. No panicking.
Trust the process. In this method, there are no seam allowances made in the bodice pattern.
Many thanks to Angelina Caramon for allowing us to use her duct tape civilization process for this blog post!
Photo credit to Raffaella Di Contino
Illustrations by Morgan Staghold.