> So, let's drop the unsupported assumption that "medieval people preferred > to put bias against grain." As far as I'm concerned, there's ABSOLUTELY > NOTHING WRONG with putting bias to bias in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Wasn't the golden gown made from four shaped pieces? The side seams at least were cut on a slope. While it too is from rather far north in Europe it does show there was at least one gown that was cut with the sides on angles. Regardless of how fitted it was, there will still be the same stretching on those skirt seams. > (This probably changed by the 16th c. and different needs involved in > skirt construction.) While there are other different needs for tairloring in general, none of the skirts in PoF or the Alcega book bother about straight to bias. The only instances where this happens seems to be in shirt construction and the farthingale pattern of Alcega. In the shirt patterns I can see why it's helpful. Difficult to explain though;) Basically helpful in cutting without waste and getting an even hem. What you do see is a lot of piecing straight to straight to extend pieces (and then smaller pieces cut from whatever fabric is there) but the skirt shapes are generally cut on a slant at the sides so you get slant to slant in the side seams. Straight to straight usually in the back seams (or the back is cut on the fold etc.) I've never had a problem with the stretching of those seams. If I have a train it's often not noticeable if the seams stretch a bit and if I've got a skirt that clears the ground then I will leave it to hang for a while and clip it to shape after. Usually I have fabrics that are woven firmly enough so as not to worry. Later 19thC skirts through often go straight to slant. I suspect this has a lot to do with aesthetic appeal as you can see it looks neater when you have stripes;) There is a perfect example of it in PoF 2 of the early 1870s. michaela de bruce http://glittersweet.com -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.3.4/299 - Release Date: 31/03/2006 _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
