Patterns and Toiles
Taking patterns of historic dress and making toiles is a complex and timeconsuming process which you will need to practise in order to perfect. However, it is well worth the effort as it is an excellent way to reduce the number of times a garment needs to be tried on when customizing a mannequin for display. Creating a toile that is an exact replica of a garment, including the lining and all the fashionable details, can take several weeks to complete. However, creating a simple toile, to be used for assessing how a garment will fit when adding padding to a mannequin or bust form, is much quicker, often taking less than a day. A toile of the bodice or even a particular part of the bodice is all that is needed. Using a toile for the first two or three fittings will significantly reduce the number of times you need to try on the original garment.
To be of any use a toile must accurately:
• Represent the size and construction of the garment.
• Include any special features that may restrict your ability to fit the garment on to its display form.
When making toiles:
• Make sure the garment is safely supported with tissue paper rolls and puffs1 while the measurements for the pattern are being taken.
• A successful toile is entirely dependent on the accuracy of the measurements used to create it. Correctly replicating the positions of the straight grain on each part of the garment is the only way to ensure the toile will fulfil its role as garment substitute.
• Correctly positioning the straight grain on each pattern piece is essential for a successful toile.
• Developing a ‘light touch’ when taking measurements, or draping fabric inside an historic garment to take a pattern, is another essential skill to perfect. Never push down onto the garment as this could crush fragile layers of fabric or delicate surface decoration underneath.
Figure 7.1 ‘Fashion toile’ for a ‘ready-to-wear’ dress to be sold in standard retail sizes. Although a full pattern is needed for the centre front skirt panel for speed of production, the bodice and skirt patterns can be reversed for left and right sides requiring only single pattern pieces. © Author. Photography Peter Greenland.
Toiles created for constructing mannequins to display dress are the exact opposite of ‘toiles’ in their original fashion context. The garment already exists and a body needs to be created to fit inside. This type of toile is a copy of the original garment but made in a simple fabric of the same weight as the original, usually cotton. It accurately captures all the details affecting size and fit, but omits purely decorative features. It is constructed from a pattern made by taking many exact measurements from the garment.
A toile of the whole garment is often not necessary when it is being used to customize a mannequin. As well as the bust, waist and hip measurements, the style details that affect the way that the garment fits are often all that is needed. The most important aspect is to ensure that the toile captures all the construction details in the garment, which will influence its ability to be dressed on a bust form or mannequin. If, for example, a garment has a very small back or side opening, it may only be necessary to make a toile of the bodice and the part of the skirt that includes the opening. The important feature here is whether the opening in the garment is wide enough to allow it to fit over the shoulders and bust of the chosen display form. Having a toile of the bodice and the section of the skirt with the opening will decide this. If the bodice is long and tightly fitted over the hips, the toile should include the hip section also. Long straight dresses with tight skirts can sometimes be deceptive. The narrowest part of the skirt may not be at the hem. Some long straight skirts from the 1990s, with a split at the side or back, are very tight at knee level or at the top of the split. The same can be said for some long fishtail skirts. The toile will need to extend as far as the narrowest circumference of the skirt in order to ensure that the garment will fit over the shoulders, bust and hips of the mannequin. The width of a narrow skirt is also a very important consideration if you are using a mannequin with legs. If the mannequin pose is too exaggerated with a wide stance the skirt may not fit over the legs.
It is not always necessary to make a toile of the whole bodice of the garment. Sometimes a toile of a small area is all that is needed. For the blue dress, c.1855–58 (see figure 7.2) the fit of the bust and waist could be assessed by measurements but the most important fitting details were the width and slope of the shoulders. Ensuring the shoulders of the mannequin were the correct angle to smoothly support the garment yoke was essential for a good display. A toile of the ‘V-shaped’ yoke helped to ensure a successful result (see figure 7.3).
Figure 7.2 This dress, c.1855–58, only required a toile of the yoke to check the fit around the neck and the angle of the shoulders is correct. © The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, England.
Figure 7.3 Toile of the yoke to help create the correct shoulder angle on the mannequin. © Author.