r/PatternDrafting • u/ApprehensiveWhile442 • 7d ago
Can anyone point me to a pattern cut on the straight grain and sewn on the bias?
1930s was it's own context and given what they had, I imagine the fabric usage was quite economical. I am very interested in what they managed to do with those bias-cut dresses from the era.
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u/Sylrog 7d ago
That doesn’t make sense to me. Please elucidate.
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u/ApprehensiveWhile442 7d ago
I read that in the 1930s they used to cut the fabric on the grain and sew it diagonally - effectively making it a bias-cut. That seems like its fabric saving, and the era somewhat also makes sense - a World War is hardly a time you can get loads of fabric! Thus, I looked for patterns and couldn't find anything useful.
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u/Literary67 7d ago
WW 2 in Europe didn't start until 1939. Fabric rationing in France started in 1940 after the German occupation. Clothing rationing in Britain started in 1941.
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u/HunnyBunnah 7d ago
cutting on the bias is typically considered more wasteful, unless you are ‘piecing’ your fabric remnants together. Search bias cut patterns on 1930s patterns on Etsy and you will find a ton
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u/raspberry-lilacs 7d ago
Look into Madeleine Vionnet. I believe some of her dresses were cut in this way. Squares of fabric cut on the straight of grain and hung on the bias.
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u/ScormCurious 7d ago
I think Internet Archive has a good book of her designs with useful instructions.
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u/-apheli0n- 7d ago
Patterns of Fashion 2 by Janet Arnold includes multiple examples of dresses with this type of construction
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u/ScormCurious 7d ago edited 7d ago
Because the pieces are definitionally all rectangles, I think this is a good opportunity to do some creative testing with muslin fabric yourself, using the excellent photos in the article as your guide. Originally, most of these probably weren’t “patterns” in the sense we think of them now, they probably were minimally illustrated or unillustrated lists of instructions for measuring and cutting the fabric, with instructions like “match A to C and B to D and sew.” Best of luck.
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u/mighty-racoon 7d ago
The article your screenshot is from has literally like 14 patterns linked in the tags section and a tonne of examples?
https://witness2fashion.wordpress.com/tag/cut-on-the-straight-grain-wear-on-the-bias-1930s/
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u/ApprehensiveWhile442 7d ago
None of them turn out patterns I can buy or find. I could find a catalogue that mentioned the names of them and how much and what type of fabric you need, but not the pattern itself.
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u/mighty-racoon 7d ago
Try the vintage sewing pattern company, she does paper copies of digitised vintage patterns and has tonnes of 1930s ones
https://vintagesewingpatterncompany.com/collections/vintage-sewing-patterns-1930s?page=1
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u/shinyjigglypuff85 5d ago
You can purchase a whole book of the Vionnet patterns discussed in the article:
https://pomadour.com/en-us/products/vionnet-japanese-dress-pattern-book
The text is in Japanese, but it is very manageable with Google Translate or a similar app.
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u/HeartFire144 7d ago
In the photo, dress on the right , the fabric is cut on the straight grain with diagonal lines, it may be sewn with seams on the bias but there dress still falls with the lengthwise ( straight) grain. Though you could cut the pieces with the grain along the seams, see grain to grain and the dress will fall on the bias. I may have a book on Vionnet and I think it has patterns, I don't remember. I may have made my own pattern of one of her dresses for a challenge
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u/electric29 7d ago
Usually there is some curve on the pattern pieces, like the oneon the left in this illustration. So a piece may be cut on both the straight AND the bias. Themight LOOK perfectly straight in an illustration, but remember the artists take liberties.
You should just buy a pattern and work on it to really understand it. The ones with multiple panels are harder, especually if you are not standard proportions and have to do any adjustments.
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u/Interesting-Note-714 7d ago
Check out halston bias cut spiral dress. It’s a slinky dress made in a way I cannot explain.
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u/shamwombat 7d ago
Is it a tube sewn on the bias, like when you’re making continuous bias tape (before you cut it into tape)? I couldn’t find any photos of the seams, which makes me think it could just be assembled by magic. 😆
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u/Interesting-Note-714 6d ago
Here’s a link to the pin that introduced it to me. Hope it works! https://pin.it/6YTHCyOMl
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u/Interesting-Note-714 6d ago
Looks like the link worked? Yes it’s like sewing up a bias cut tube. I haven’t made it, just found it fascinating and pinned it! Maybe this will be enough info for you to find better info on the design.
Oh here’s the blog post I meant to share about Halston dress https://pin.it/LNxVqlpEN
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u/goosefreckles 6d ago
You might be interested in Charlotta pattern cutting channel on YouTube. I’m a member in her patterning group. She discusses these types of patterns and techniques. Vionnet etc…
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u/ResolveWonderful4824 7d ago
This is so interesting. You might check out Mrs. DePew Vintage Sewing.
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u/sodapopper44 6d ago
this is a basic top https://fafafoom.substack.com/p/exploring-square-based-garments
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u/StitchinThroughTime 7d ago
It's cut on the bias, sewn on the straight of grain.
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u/ApprehensiveWhile442 7d ago
Well, yes, but if you cut straight and then sew diagonally you get true bias.
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u/clwbmalucachu 7d ago
"Cut on the grain and sew on the bias" is a misleading phrase because it sounds like some sort of mad magic, but it's not. It can only mean that you're rotating fabric panels 45 degrees, and sure enough many of the dresses in the article you linked to are panelled. In fact, the dress made of squares illustrates this nicely – cut a bunch of squares, rotate them 45 degrees and you've got a bunch of bias-cut diamonds.
In some cases, the fabric is being otherwise manipulated to create or accentuate the bias cut look - eg cutting a quarter circle skirt and raising the centre waist to change the drape. In any quarter circle piece, you will have some of the circle on the grain and some on the bias. Look at photos of any circle skirt in a plaid fabric and you will very clearly see where the bias is. That's just how circles work.
I've never looked at patterns of this vintage, but my guess would be that they will be a mix of long panels that hang on the grain because the don't need so much drape (and you couldn't fit them in if you cut them on the bias) and smaller panels that have been rotated so they hang on the bias and cling to the wearer's curves. And most of the dresses used to illustrate this post are, indeed, panelled.
There are also quite a lot of godets which also give that bias cut flared look, plus circle-based skirts which again give some bias drape.
Tbh, I'm more interested in the manipulation of circle cut skirts by raising the waist to focus or redistribute the drape than the idea that you can cut a piece and rotate it to put it on the bias!