Bibliography

Bibliography

Chaucer, G (2005) The Canterbury Tales. London: Penguin Books Ltd.

Cunnington, P and Willet, C (n.d.) Handbook of English Medieval Costume. London: Faber and Faber Ltd.

DE COURTAIS, G. (2006). Women's hats, headdresses, and hairstyles: with 453 illustrations, medieval to modern. Mineola, N.Y., Dover Publications

Guy, J (1999) Medieval Life. UK: Ticktock Publishing Ltd.

HARTLEY, D., & KELLY, F. M. (2003). Medieval costume and how to recreate it. Mineola, N.Y., Dover Publications.

HOUSTON, M. G. (1996). Medieval costume in England and France the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. New York, NY, Dover Publ.

HUNNISETT, J. (1995). Period Costume for Stage & Screen; Patterns for Women's Dress, Medieval-1500: Ill. : Bib. [S.l.], Players Press, Us.

Laver, J (1969) A Concise History of Costume. Norwich: Jarrold and Sons Ltd.

Medieval Design. Medieval Re-enacment Equipment (2008) Glasses. [Online]. Available From: http://www.medievaldesign.com/eng-contatti.asp. [Accesed 16th November 2012].

Mortimer, I (2009) The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England. London: Vintage Books.

NORRIS, H. (1999). Medieval costume and fashion. Mineola, N.Y., Dover Publications.

Reader's Digest, 2010. The New Complete Guide to Sewing: Step-by-Step Techniques for Making Clothes and Home Accessories Updated Edition with All-New Projects and Simplicity Patterns (Reader's Digest). Updated Edition. Readers Digest.

Serraillier, I (1967) Chaucer and his World. London: The Camelot Press Ltd.

SceneOne (2012) The Canterbury Tales. [Online]. Available From: http://www.sceneone.biz/content/canterbury-tales [10th November 2012]

Scott, M (n.d.) Medieval Dress and Fashion. UK: The British Library.

Stalley, R (1999) Early Medieval Architecture. UK: Oxford University Press.

THURSFIELD, S. (2001). The Medieval tailor's assistant: making common garments, 1200-1500. Carlton, Bedford, U.K., Ruth Bean.

Aldrich, W, 2008. Metric Pattern Cutting for Women's Wear. 5 Edition. Wiley-Blackwell.

Evaluation

During The Canterbury Tales my skills and abilities as a costume maker have been pushed to new boundaries where both my technical and construction skills have been heavily challenged. Taking on board the pointers from my last assessment, I asked to make the costume for The Wife of Bath, who is quite a big and bolshie character and well known within the play. The fabrics used on her costume were ones, which I had yet to work with, and were quite rich in texture.

From a technical perspective I faced the challenges of trying to turn my actress from a size 12 to a size 16-18 UK dress size with a 36G bust.  This meant making an understructure that wouldn’t show through the top material. I experimented with certain paddings for both and drew the conclusion a padded bra and bum pad would work best. The padded bra worked well and though the wadding had to be checked before the garments were worn it gave the actress a rather impressive bust.  The bum pad extended the skirt out to give the required shape and as it was hidden by the bloomers they were not visible to the eye.  I also had to experiment with pleating to make the skirt more full and accommodate the additional understructure.  Before this project I found pleats a nightmare, as I could never make them even. However after the first calico sample I found a technique that worked and allowed me to improve on the technique. These experiments have been to my advantage and though took time to do; I found that I have a greater knowledge of the technical process of construction.

Another major challenge was working with a designer, tutor and outside lecturers. I have had to adapt to creating the vision of the designer as well as following the decisions of the lecturers. During the final stages of the show I found my skirts train had to be cut, though the designer originally wanted the train, it was hindering the actress during a scene. The lecturer cut the skirt and though originally upset that this had happened, once the reason had been explained I came to the understanding that it doesn’t matter if the production was in house or in the West End, within the industry this can happen.  You have a duty to keep the actress safe and the garment must not hinder them.

Although this is my most successful project to date, there are some parts I would change.  The finishing’s on the tunic were to a satisfactory standard, however now that I have a greater understanding of the richer materials I would change the application process.  In future I shall baste the fur down first and then hand stitch it down securely.  As well as this the modesty panel on the tunic could have less tacks, which would allow the fabric to be more free flow. 

Overall I am pleased with how I have developed under this project and the final garments. As a result of this I have grown in confidence and feel I am more competent within the construction of garments.  I would like the opportunity in the future to advance my skills and try different techniques and resources, enabling the ability to individualise each costume, making them unique.

ITS SHOW TIME

The performances for The Canterbury tales have been happening over the past few days to a well earn success. Today I got the opportunity to help as part of the crew and dress the actors/actresses. Before this though came heavy duty ironing and cleaning. I must admit that the long coat for the Man of Law was a challenge due to the length of it. I ended up having to get a spare table to hold half the weight of the coat whilst I ironed the other half and vice versa. The actors had a mixture of nerves and excitement due to the fact it was there last show. Once everyone was put through make up the dressing began. On the whole everyone was pretty self sufficient and due to tech rehearsals and dress parade knew how to dress themselves. Katie, Lucy and I only had to do the lacing up of dresses and some tweaking on a few just to get garments to lay right. The team ethic was there right from the start, everyone worked together to get the actors on set as quickly as possible and ready for warm up

The show was truly an amazing performance and well worth the time and effort everyone put in. It was beautiful how the costumes were finally realised in an actual space and fitted in with the time period perfectly.

The Wife of Bath actress, Diana played the part to great success, big, bolshie and most importantly acted the worldly woman. The padding on the actress worked well and her bust on stage was extremely impressive. It fitted well with the character and the tunic draped nicely over it to emphasise the curves.

I was extremely happy about seeing something the group had worked so hard on come to life. It really made the performance special for all of us.

This has made me realise I would like to work on female wear for my final major project. Working with Diana has really opened my eyes to what I can create with a little imagination and a very good designer.

Warm Up

final push

The past few days have been the final push for the production The Canterbury Tales. After the dress parade I only had a few notes 

• Turn around belt so the lacing is at the front. (twist around the belt)
• Give the costume a more worn look. 
• The bloomers appear french, cover lace. (Katie to look at this issue)
• Bigger purse.
• Deal with the puckering issue around the hem of the tunic
• Add fur to the cuffs of the velvet sleeve.

Remaking the purse so it was larger seemed quite simple, however once laid out I stumbled over a few roadblocks. The remnants of the fabric were not enough to complete the bag to the required size. So to conquer this I took the size of the bag which to be originally made, deducted 1.5cm around the entire circle and sewed some of the remnants towards the top of the bag to help give the required shape. Once the pattern was cut out I double turned the hem and slip stitched it securely down. I found that double turning the fabric helps to stop the inevitable fraying.  I placed the eyelets 2-2.5 cm apart to keep the rustic hand made appeal to the bag.

The puckering issue became my worse nightmare which I took several hours to try and rectify. When I finally thought I found a solution I found the velvet puckered. Mandy, our lecture was kind enough to show me a way around the puckering which involved ironing the binding into small pleats and then securing using slip stitch. 

The fur worked out to be the trickiest part of the costume so far as there was no way of stopping the fraying of fur going everywhere. I found the best way to tackle this was using a lint brush to get rid of the excess fluff and then use a large tack running stitch around the cuffs. This is a material I must admit I'm not to keen on working with, this is due to the application process which though secure I'm not to pleased with as there is a very faint line running across the CF line where the edges meet. 

Thankfully as everything goes in threes one thing has happily gone well which is the second point of giving the costume a more worn look. This came naturally through the constant use of the garment during dress rehearsals and tech runs. Diana was very helpful in making sure the velvet on the garment was ruffled on stage and through the use of her movements the material lost its new fluffy look and started adapting to a more matt finish. 

Over all I feel the costume has finally come together. The components work well and Diana looks the complete portrayal of Lauren's designs. The real test shall be when it appears on stage. Saturday shall hopefully be a truly wonderful day where everything shall come together. 

roses are red

Today I have helped to make some roses for a hair crown which shall be used on several of the actresses. Following the instructions from the link below we used a variety of materials from bias binding to silk noile to create the flowers. Though fiddly at first, I soon got used to folding them and securing the bottoms. After an hour I worked out at the pace I was working at I could produce 25 an hour.

http://www.burdastyle.com/projects/valentines-bouquet/instructions/1

The over all results of the roses varied. The bias binding roses held there shape and could be easily folded and manipulated whilst still maintaining the rose's shape. However the silk noiles  roses were more sensitive to the handling and frayed whilst being pulled through the centre to secure. The combination of the two however give quite a rustic approach to the head dress which is what the designer envisioned. For future reference however I would try and find a way to contain the fraying such as using a fray stopper or a glue. This would allow the manipulation process towards the end to be more successful and produce a cleaner finish.

Dress parade

Today was the day which most makers do worry about, Dress Parade. This is where each of our costumes are reviewed and discussed between the designer, director and lecturer. Our actor/actress in there costume and ourselves stand in front of the 'panel' where they check and review the costume and then as a maker we receive notes which need to be applied to the costumes before performance. What we found was that the actors and actresses were just as nervous as we were and found they needed lots of water to combat the heat from the costumes.

I couldn't of asked for more from Diana, Wife of Bath. She was fantastic as when dealing with the underclothes she wasn't fussy and allowed me to do my job correcting parts of the garment. as well as this we had an issue with the modesty scarf and I had to tack the scarf onto the garment whilst she was wearing it as the original tacks were placed incorrectly.

I only received a few notes from the dress parade which were:

• Turn around belt so the lacing is at the front. 
• Give the costume a more worn look. 
• The bloomers appear french, cover lace. 
• Bigger purse.
• Deal with the puckering issue around the hem of the tunic
• Add fur to the cuffs of the velvet sleeve.

The bloomers are sourced so I am unable to do any alterations to these, so Katie has stated she shall try and either source another pair or find a way of tucking the lace up inside the elastic. The belt thankfully doesn't need to be altered though by twisting it around we do loose the belt loop. Lauren is happy with this though and has said we may attack the purse through an eyelet like they would have during the time period. 

Front

Back

A bit of planning:

A new purse will have to be made during this evening so that it shall not cut into the small amount of studio time that is left tomorrow. Adding the fur to the cuffs has been scheduled for tomorrow morning between 8am and 10.30am as Mandy (the classes lecturer) has agreed to help me with the puckering issue which is happening around the tunics hem after 10.30am. At 1.30 we have to dress the cast for a dress run through however we shall receive the costumes back at 11pm so we can continue the additions.  The morning of the 7th shall consist of adding the modesty fabric to the top of the tunic as well as button hole stitching the eyelets. 

Its all prepared

The neckline of the tunic has been an issue from the start, however to support the actresses bust a channel shall be placed around the boat shaped neckline which shall have black leather thronging running through. This can be pulled on and secured at the front by a simple bow. The cut of the neckline has been duplicated to the right side from the left hand side which was cut on the actress to the correct length. This has also been neatened up and turned to make the channel for the neckline. The real challenge was the facings around the neckline and the strait cut down the centre front. From the newly cut neckline I placed a cut down to the safety pin which was placed during the fittings and then cut a 5mm into the corners to create the square, this was ironed into place. Due to it being square cut the facing had to mimic this, so using the facing instructions I placed the facings where the eyelet were to be inserted and again used stay flex to maintain the materials strength. Eyelets were inserted and these shall be bound after the dress fitting.

Once the tunic was complete, the flat binding process which was used on the skirt was applied to the tunics edges. An issue which crept up was the edges of the tunic constantly puckered and created a ruffled effect. Im slightly worried about this and though the designer has said I may ruffle the bottoms slightly, it doesn't give the effect that ties in with the character who is proud of the clothes she wears. This will hopefully be addressed at the dress parade and a way to rectify this shall surface.

Finally the tunic's sides were gathered up to the safety pin mark and hand stitched together for security.

The capes for the kings have also been draped and finished. On a male mannequin I took the fabric and using the historical referencing I paced gathers on and around the neckline. This shall make the capes float around when the actor moves across the table. The cape which lays on the shoulder had to have uneven plating placed in to take the shape of the shoulder. These were turned over twice and slip stitched secure as well as bound with bias binding over the top of  the pleating and then used as a tie around the neck.

Monday is the dress parade so this weekend shall consist of going over the garments and making sure everything is ready.

Tunic, the last stages.

Keeping to the blocking, now that the skirt is finished the treat of my time shall be dedicated to the tunic. Below are the following notes which need to be taken into account whilst making the tunic and altering it to the specifications of the designer:

Before alteration

• Only lace the sides of the tunic slightly to create shape.  (follow pins)
• Under sleeves need to be let out 3 cm each
• Top sleeve needs to be shortened by 10cm
• Fit of the sleeve is now correct
• Lower sleeve must length must come down to the hand. Lace up the sides for a tight fit.
• Lower the neckline more to a boat neck shape, mimic cut of left side.
• Centre front cut open to placed pin
• Add channel around the neckline and put a cord through to slightly gather.
• Add draped shawl around the collar area and tack in place.  
• Add brown leather thronging to the lace up arms, tunic sides, centre front gap and belt. (Being sourced)
• Belt size, 85cm with lace up back. (re-make as this is being replaced with real leather)

Under sleeve once sewn up

I began the afternoon by dealing with the sleeves. It was decided that the under sleeves needed to be let out by 3cm as well as changing part of the structure. My tutor gave the advice that if I cut the sleeve in half and create the top half from lightweight calico and the lower half from the sleeve material, the actress will have more freedom to move as well as dealing with the issue of the bulkiness at the armhole. I slit the side seam of the sleeve and opened out the sleeve so it was a flat block again. Using the original paper pattern as a guide I traced off the top section of the sleeve and placed this onto the lightweight calico. Once the top section was cut out I replaced the first half of the sleeve with this (place see above) and created a central seam which is to be overlocked in the same coloured thread as the lower half of the sleeve. Another part of the lower sleeves were the facings which had to be placed at the bottom of the under sleeves. This is so the eye's for the lacings may be inserted and not tear when being tugged on. The fundamental studies folder was used again and by following the instructions for facings each side of the sleeve was reinforced so that each eyelet can be tugged and not tear the fabric. Just to keep on the side of caution I also placed stay flex inside the facing to give extra support. I was concerned that even though the adjustments had been made and the sleeve corrected, the actress would still have issues with movement, so to rectify this issue and put my demons to rest, Katie, the Canterbury Tales supervisor took me down to the rehearsal room. The actress was unavailable at the time and due to wanting to keep a professional demeanour we decided that as I had the same measurements par one where i was 1cm out we could conduct a quick arm fitting on me and then check later on placing the sleeve on the actress. Once this was sewn on I continued to sew the side seam back together to create a final full sleeve. This along with the shortened velvet sleeve (which now sits at the elbow) were sewn back into the arm holes and bound using bias binding 

Quick arm fitting

The neckline of the tunic has been an issue from the start, however to support the actresses bust a channel shall be placed around the boat shaped neckline which shall have black leather thronging running through. This can be pulled on and secured at the front. The cut of the neckline has been duplicated to the right side from the left hand side which was cut on the actress to the correct length. This has also been neatened up and turned to make the channel for the neckline.

Tomorrow shall be the day where I tackle the front of the tunic's neckline and the opening. Working to a shallow square neckline shall be something I have not yet experienced and a challenge which will take a bit more time. However once this is complete  the tunic shall be ready for the final additions which shall be placed on at the dress parade.

Day 2

Day two on the skirt and the most tricky part of all, making sure that the hem line is equal and in even proportion. Using the balance line of 24cm from the ground I levelled out the skirts hem on the front panel, as in places it was an inch longer and in others the correct length from the ground. I also used the balance line to even out the train at the back two panels, the left hand side needed to be shortened by 3cm.

Another learning curve was how to flat bind. I am used to working with a bound edge or using bias binding to create a decorative addition to the garment so this was quite new for me. Instructions on how to do this shall be placed on another page and in my workbook.  This was tricky at first as trying to get the binding to lay flat around the back train was tricky however I learnt you can stretch the binding out and use an iron to help shape it. Once this was mastered the flat areas of the skirt were quick and sufficiently applied. 

After four weeks the skirt is finally finished. All that is left is for it to pass inspection at the dress parade and for my actress to check she is comfortable in the skirt. 

Below is the final skirt, once again thanks to bryony for modelling for me. 

The alteration stretch, day one

The final hurdle has now set in for the show. This week is the intensive week where everything needs to get finished ready for the dress parade. The dress parade is a bit like and inspection for the costume, making sure the costume designer, director and our course leader approve of our costumes and if not what parts need to be changed.  This is so that all last minuet things may be sorted before the performance.

However before the dress parade comes the alterations and amendments which were needed from the second fittings. Today has been all about the skirt and following the fitting amendments sheet which included:

• Remove one pleat either side of the CB line
• Make sure a secure fastening is fitted as actress is being dragged across the table.
• Hem line must be 24cm from balance line draping down into the train
• Bias tape hem line
• Overlock all seams in the same colour as fabric

Removing one pleat either side of the CB line was quite simplistic to begin with, however as I no longer had any more cotton/wool blend fabric so I had to try and take a certain amount out of the waistband to accommodate the extra amount of fabric. It concerned me that by doing this the finishing of the skirt would be inadequate and that I had not left enough which could be turned under and slipstitched. However a 0.5 cm allowance was left at each end so this could, with a lot of heavy pressing from a hot iron, hold a flat edge long enough to secure each end with a solid slip stitch. Normally a slip stitch only uses a single thread and used to bind fabrics together, however I decided to double up the threads to add to the security. The waistband will be the most heavily used part of the skirt structure, it will take the physical restraint when the actress is dragged across the table, as well as from the extended movement and physical activities required within The Canterbury Tales. This being said I also added extra stitches to the fastenings, especially the hook and bars as these will be holding the entire garment up. The second bar has been moved 3mm outwards to allow extra room for the actress, this can be hidden underneath the tunic so if there is an issue during the performance it may be resolved and hidden. All of the seams were overlocked once the waistband was corrected. Using the same pink threads that were used for sewing the garment each seam was overlocked together. Once this was done I found out a very useful piece of information from my lecturer. When overlocking, always overlock each side of the seam separately and not together. This is so that when the garment is ironed the seam shall lay flat. She has said to leave the seams now they have been done as in this instance it shall not effect the garment. However in future I shall take her advice and work all my seams so they are flat. 

After a very long day dealing with the alterations, I decided that in the best interests of the garment to work on the balance line the second day of working instead of cramming everything in to one and making mistakes.