Late Medieval Fashion Redressed

A curved-front seam fitting method for a bust-supportive dress

This photo-essay is intended to give you an overview of one way to drape fabric on a body to achieve a tight fit.

Meet Sheree
Meet Sheree

Meet Sheree. She’s my willing victim who also happens to get two finished cottes out of this experiment.

For this fitting, I decided to try something new. Rather than starting with 4 separate thin rectangular panels, (which is my typical method and one that is more historically supportable) I started with one solid piece of fabric with a hole cut out for her head. Please understand that this is a modern convenience, not to be construed as my interpretation of what historic tailors used. I used a blue linen fabric which will end up being the lining of her gown. Robin Netherton suggests trying this, and for both fittings I used the same lining material in order to do as ‘pure’ a comparison between them as possible


Initial pinning of side seams
Initial pinning of side seams

In order to get the grain of the fabric under control (i.e. straight in relation to the ground), I did some rough pinning from the armpits to below the waist. The cloth was not tight at this point.


Initial pinning of back seam
Initial pinning of back seam

I pinned the center-back seam, following the curve of Sheree’s spine. I fit to about three inches past the point at which her backside begins.


Trimming excess fabric
Trimming excess fabric

Before proceeding further, I trimmed down some of the excess around the edges. This will help with fabric manipulation as I progress.


Very loose so far
Very loose so far

At this point, the front is rather loose and gives no bust support.


Basting the back seam
Basting the back seam

Before tightening the fit any further, I do large basting stitches with strong thread along the center-back seam. This seam will not need much further adjustment, but if it does, you can always baste it again, on top of the existing stitches.


Basting the side seams
Basting the side seams

I also baste the side seams to give them some integrity as I will begin to tighten the fit along the center-front seam next.


Fit across the back is taking shape
Fit across the back is taking shape

The basted fitting is beginning to take shape along the sides and back seams. It is now prepared for tension from pulling the center-front portion in tighter.

Note that I cut the center-back seam open. When the basting comes out, there will now be two separate back panels.


Lying prone helps with fitting the front curved seam
Lying prone helps with fitting the front curved seam

The bust fitting is best achieved, to start, from a supine position. This idea is promoted by Robin Netherton, and after trying it, I have to agree.


Moving the girls where they need to be
Moving the girls where they need to be

Sheree adjusts her bust upward before I proceed to fit that area.


Pinching and pinning the front seam
Pinching and pinning the front seam

Starting from a few inches below the bottom of Sheree’s bust, I begin to pinch the fabric along the center-front line and pin the excess together from the bottom up.


Pinning tightly at bottom of bust
Pinning tightly at bottom of bust

My left finger indicates the line at which Sheree’s bust begins along the underside.

This point is important, because you will need to ensure that the fit from this point downwards for a few inches is very snug. If it is not tight enough, “downward creep” may occur.


Pinning the top of the center bust curve
Pinning the top of the center bust curve

Because I have already basted the fabric somewhat tightly on the side and back seams, I am forgoing pinning across the widest part of Sheree’s bust. I do pin the upper area, though, to allow the fabric to follow the curve.


Starting to support
Starting to support

This is what the fitting looks like at this point. I have removed the pins at the top of the center-front seam area, but that will be fitted again before the final pattern is achieved.

The final bust shape will change quite a bit when the armhole is shaped and sleeves are attached. The fitting of the sleeves can greatly affect the shape and feel of the bust support.


Rebesting the side seams tighter
Rebesting the side seams tighter

At this point, I begin to rebaste along the side seams to pull the fit tighter.There is some puckering and gathering which I decide should be corrected sooner than later.


Puckers smoothed out
Puckers smoothed out

I pull the fabric rather tight after taking out the existing basting stitches. I really have to watch the grain on the other vertical seams, but I manage to rebaste this side seam more smoothly.

You never thought you’d need finger muscles, eh?


Tight, smooth seams
Tight, smooth seams

The corrected side seam is rebasted and pulled as tight as possible while maintaining a vertically straight grain at the center of the panel pieces. For a diagram of what I mean, click here.

Always remember to recheck your other three vertical seams when you pull in the one you are currently working on.


Difference between rebasted side and uncorrected side
Difference between rebasted side and uncorrected side

See the difference between the left and the right sides? The left has been rebasted to pull the area under the bust as tightly across the ribcage as possible.

The front seam line is ruffling a little, which makes it look more off-grain than it is.


Both side seams rebasted
Both side seams rebasted

After the right side has been rebasted you can see that there’s a line of semi-support under the bust.

It doesn’t look very attractive yet, though, and so the next step is to adjust the shoulder seams to give some lift to the bust.


Trimming down the neckline
Trimming down the neckline

In preparation for adjusting the shoulder seams, I trim down the neckline a bit.


Basting the shoulder seams
Basting the shoulder seams

I pinch excess fabric along the shoulder seam line and then baste. You can pin and then baste, too.


Finding the top of the armhole seam
Finding the top of the armhole seam

Before adjusting the armhole, I ask Sheree to raise her arm up. I find the indented point at which her deltoid muscle meets her shoulder.

Keeping my finger on that point, I cut a gently rounded shape that is about 1/2 inch outside of that point.

The indentation will serve as the top of the armhole seam.


Armhole cut out
Armhole cut out

After the armhole has been cut down a bit, the bust drops a fraction. In this case, Sheree is still well-supported.

If the bust drops too much during your fitting, readjust the shoulder seams tighter.

NOTE: I accidentally cut the armhole too large during this fitting. In the final making of the gown, I had to piece the armhole to make it smaller. Try not to make that mistake. It IS easy to do, though.


Marking the seams
Marking the seams

Now that I have a fitting that is attractive, I use a marker to draw along the basting lines of each seam. These will serve to mark the final pattern.

Make sure you draw the basting line on both sides of each seam!

It helps to label each panel unobtrusively for quick reference later: Left, Right, Front, Back.


Opening the front seam
Opening the front seam

I cut open the front panel pieces and then separate the four panels by tearing out the basting stitches. The final pieces should be trimmed so that there is a uniform seam allowance on all sides. These lining pieces will be used as patterns to cut out the pieces of fashion fabric for the gown construction, so you want the seam allowance to be built-in and consistent.

This fitting took about one and a half hours but can take longer when first trying it.


Front piece pattern
Front piece pattern

The shape of a front panel piece in its finished state.

Every body will produce a unique set of panels. This should serve as a general guide, but if you don’t get this shape, there is no problem, as long as your final panels support your bust asthetically and practically.


Back piece pattern
Back piece pattern

The shape of a back panel piece in its finished state.

Note that the back of the armhole is less curved than the front. You may need to experiment with the shape of the armhole to fit the body properly.


Sheree in her garden, in the dress made from the pattern
Sheree in her garden, in the dress made from the pattern

The finished gown, made from slightly fulled wine wool twill and lined with the original blue linen used in the fitting, turned out well and looked pleasing on Sheree.

The flared sleeves were inspired by a number of versatile gowns seen in European art of the turn of the 15th century. A specific example can be found in “Story of Procis, Cephalus’
Beautiful Wife”, Boccaccio’s Decameron. Bibliothèque Nationale,
Paris. MS Fr 12420, f. 39v, circa 1400–1410. You can find it in
Chronicles of the Age of Chivalry, edited by Elizabeth Hallam.


Sheree posing as Procis
Sheree posing as Procis

Sheree poses here as Procis.

Another source for this sleeve treatment is a tapestry made in Alsace, currently in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremburg, circa 1400. Various women are wearing gowns with a flare at the wrist under their fancier overgowns. The book I found it in is The Medieval Art of Love by Michael Camille, p. 126-7.


Front view of lacing
Front view of lacing

The white of Sheree’s chemise shows through the eyelets in this gown. One way to correct this is to use a wider lace which fills the holes more completely.

This is the end of this photo-essay. Be sure to view the straight-front-seam photo-essay to compare the two methods and also take a look at the comparison page to see more pictures of the finished gown and to read Sheree’s and my assessments.


33 thoughts on “A curved-front seam fitting method for a bust-supportive dress”

  1. Lady Maridah du Gevaudan

    I am still a little lost on doing the sleeves but thank you so much for the tutorial. It has helped me make dresses I love and am both comfortable and stylish in.

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  3. Is there a reason to choose a curved front over straight front? Does body shape make a difference? Is one easier than the other? Does it depend what closures or neckline you want to do?

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  7. How would using a grande assiette sleeve (particularly in the feminine style seen in the Moy gown) affect the fitting/support?

    1. Hi, you can definitely use the grande assiette (Blois version, Moy version, late 15thc German version, etc.) in a bust supportive dress and have the support as solid as you would otherwise. It’s a matter of draping the grande assiette sleeves in addition to the bust fitting, all in one go. If you simply cut the large/deep armholes without also adding sleeves, the remaining fabric on the torso takes an inordinate amount of strain to continue supporting the bust (depending on size of bust, natch), and so it’s best to do both the torso and sleeve fitting together to get a balanced, snug fit all around the upper body. It’s more fiddly than draping for bust support with a traditional set-in sleeve armhole, but certainly doable. I’ve done grande assiette fittings on a few people through the years, and the resulting dresses (they sewed) looked great. I don’t have any pictures, alas.

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  10. I will add my thanks here as well – just completed this pattern for an everyday shirt-bra due to allergies, and it works wonderfully! The past is our greatest resource – thank you for sharing your work.

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    1. I don’t have a photo-essay for sleeves, alas. In the “Making a dress from your bust-supportive bodice pattern” article, there are instructions for flat-drafting sleeves based on measurements which I use myself when making these dresses. I show you the measurements for one-piece sleeves as well as sleeves with a triangular gore at the top. Your anatomy may determine which is better for you.

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    1. Where would I find the comparison page? There does not seem to be a link on this page or the straight front page…

      1. I added a direct link to make it easier, but this is found in the Articles section of my site. Thanks for bringing to my attention that there was no direct link.

      2. I added a direct link to make it easier, but this is found in the Articles section of my site. Thanks for bringing to my attention that there was no direct link.

    1. It is best done as a two-person project, but some people have had good results doing it themselves, carefully and patiently. It’s not easy to do all alone, but it’s not impossible either.

  15. Brittany Trujillo

    I have a question though I know you are probably busy. Have you ever had to go back and tailor a dress to fit due to weight loss/gain? and if so how challenging was it?

    1. Taking fabric out for weight loss is always easier than adding fabric in, but I’ve done both through the years. I concentrate on adding/removing fabric along the side seams of the torso and the sleeves. It’s fiddly work, but not too difficult if you are good with the concepts of using measurements and simple math to figure out the shape and location of the extra/reduced fabric. I take my new measurements, measure against the size of the dress (laid out flat), and then transfer that info to either the dress (when reducing) or to new fabric (when expanding). I’d consider it intermediate-level work, experience-wise. It’s too much to succinctly explain in a comment, but hopefully I’ve answered the question at its most basic level.

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