Stewart Girl's Dress pt. 2 : Testing the idea

As a continuation from my first entry on this topic, I made up some samples to illustrate the sewing problem. (Click on the images for a better view).

This is how the pattern might look. I suspect the slit would be similar to a dart. The top of the slit is angled upward. I left the bottom of the slit on grain, but it probably should angle down too, making it a true dart, and not a slit.








This is how the sample looks sewn. The yellow arrows indicate the direction of sewing each dart if sewn with a 4/5 spool industrial serger with a shirring arm (my sample is not, so this is an approximation). At the end of each dart is a flat spot because of the physical limitation of the foot and shirring arm getting in the way. Even with my straight stitch machine you can see similar problems. On the left, a pretty little tuck and dimple show up. On the right, the flat spot is more pronounced because the gathers can not start at the end of the dart opening. I also ended up with an open seam where I failed to catch one side. I could easily see these sewing errors occur in an industrial setting.

I suspect there may be more to the pattern than I am thinking.

Stewart Girl's Dress Patent of 1922

From the USPTO comes a patent filing for a girl's dress in 1922. The claim made by Gladys Matson Stewart is for the ornamental design of the dress, which I found rather difficult to see. Perhaps the ribbon belt? I guess the claim depends on the definition of ornamental design and I find her claim rather dubious. Perhaps if she filed the claim on the basis of how the dress is constructed, then perhaps her claim may be more legitimate. The design of the dress is structural and also very intriguing. I would like to sit down with designer and see how she constructed it. The gather details on the upper skirt sides would be especially difficult to sew in an industrial setting. I have tried in the past to come up with an easy way to do it, but haven't yet. The pattern itself is rather easy to create, its the construction that is the challenge.

The difficulty would be in getting the gathers to start right at the end of the slit and have them evenly distributed across the length of it. The next difficulty is overcasting or serging the seam so there are no raw edges while avoiding unsightly tucks. There is a physical/space limitation in inserting the skirt piece under a gather foot on a sewing machine. The detail would almost certainly require some kind of hand manipulation and would be too expensive for modern manufacturing.

The gather detail on the skirt would not be very attractive on an adult woman unless done in a certain way. It would add weight and attention to an area that most women choose not to emphasize. But a girl's dress could certainly get away with it. As a design idea, the detail could show up in lots of different ways and locations on a piece of clothing. The only road block is coming up with an easy mass construction technique.

Tag Board for pattern making

I have needed to order tag board (manila folder paper for patterns) for a while. Up till now I haven't needed very much. My patterns are small and a large, heavy roll of the stuff seemed excessive. I think I have found a reasonable alternative until I need larger quantities.

I did a search for tag board among the big box office supply houses. Sure enough I found one that sold it in large pieces (24 x 36) in a box of 100 sheets. The pieces are big enough that I can cut out quite a few pieces at one time and still have left overs. I further economize by not cutting out square or rectangular pieces. Technically, every pattern piece should be cut out of tag board and if I were to send them to a contractor, I would. Square/Rectangular pieces are cut using cutting guides & charts. I have a cutting guide for sleeve cuffs and skirts indicating the dimensions for each size, for example.