Madeleine Vionnet’s dresses were cut in a way that followed the natural lines of the female figure, had movement and was balanced. She achieved this by her masterful understanding of fabric and how it behaves on grain and on the bias. In an attempt to master the bias or at least gain a deeper understanding, I decided I needed to train like a Jedi. In Star Wars, Yoda tells Luke Skywalker, “Do or not do, there is no try.”

In order to master something you have to practice the skill over and over until it becomes second nature. Since I have only made a few Vionnet garments, I knew it was time to take it up a notch. One of the most intriguing dresses to me in Betty Kirke’s book* and the Vionnet pattern book by Bunka* is Pattern 14, also known as the Vionnet Décolleté (1932).

There are three key technical elements to this dress, which I felt I needed to master.

1. Anatomical Cut
2. Bias Sewn to Straight of Grain
3. Harmonious Ripples at the Hem

Anatomical Cut

Vionnet would often cut away fabric where a dart might be necessary or pieced a garment together so that the seam line wrapped around the body and followed the anatomical lines of the figure. In other words, she did not always use typical side seams but placed seams along natural uninterrupted contours of the body.

I modified the dress pattern 14 in the Bunka pattern book to create a top for fun. It was also an exercise in determining the best placement of the ‘anatomical’ lines for me. The top actually fits me great (much better than it does my dress form). I love the style lines of this garment especially how it cuts in and emphasizes the shoulder blades at the back.

The front has a high neckline but cuts inward at the shoulder area, eliminating the need for a dart, hence the nickname Vionnet décolleté .

Using the Bunka pattern pieces for the bodice as a guide, this is the pattern I created for my top.

Another unique cutting aspect about this garment is that the neckline and armholes fall on the lengthwise and crosswise grains in contrast to a typical design where the neckline and armholes fall on the bias. This makes these areas more stable and gives the body of the garment more stretch and movement.

When I made this top, I fit it to my body. I determined where I needed to cut more and where I needed to cut less. Much like if I was fitting a normal bodice and deciding where to take in excess fabric with darts, instead I was deciding where I needed to cut the excess so that the bodice would lie smoothly across my chest and back. You can see in the picture of the front pattern above, how I altered the style lines along the underarm, neck, and shoulder to accommodate my shape. I needed it higher under the arm and more ease at the shoulder line.

For those of you who may want to make this dress, keep in mind the bodice of the Bunka pattern, which is sized for about a 32/34 bust, will need to be graded and tweaked to fit varying body types. You shouldn’t be afraid to play with the design lines until you achieve a more flattering fit. It does help that the fabric is cut on the bias which allows for some stretch and forgiveness.

Draping this might be a better option than using the Bunka pattern if you have a dress form that is similar to your body. I’m pretty certain Vionnet draped it instead of using a flat pattern. You would tape the style lines on the dress form and drape your muslin on the bias and then trace the design lines onto your muslin to create the pattern.

Bias Sewn to Straight of Grain

Sewing bias to straight of grain is generally avoided in dressmaking. Most of the time, Vionnet made sure her seams were straight of grain to straight of grain, or bias to bias. This was a new one for me. The front of the skirt, which is one quadrant of a circle, is placed on the fabric with one seam on the crosswise grain and one seam placed on the lengthwise grain. These front seams join the back of the skirt, which is half of a circle and the seams are both on the bias.

Vionnet could break rules of dressmaking because she knew how to control the fabric. Kirke stated that Vionnet would weight the fabric and stretch it along the bias prior to cutting the skirt. This weighting would force the stretch out of the bias so there would not be an issue sewing it to the non-stretchy straight of grains.

I used a method for stretching the fabric suggested by Sandra Ericson, previously of Center for Pattern Design and mentioned in the book Bias Blueprint. Prior to cutting the skirt, I hung a length of fabric from one corner with a hook, and weighed the opposite corner diagonal to it with a lead fishing weight. I left the fabric like this for a week, and then moved the hook to the other side and weighted the end diagonal to it for another week.

Once the fabric had stretched. I pressed it and cut the pattern according to the directional grain line. This pre-stretching of the fabric combined with another element should help the garment maintain an even hem over time.

Harmonious Ripples

I discussed the concept of a balanced hem in my post Vionnet and the Golden Skirt. In circular cut skirts, you have to deal with the issue of hang-out and uneven ripples along the hemline.

This hangout is not so much an issue for bias garments that are asymmetrical and not circular. For instance, a simple straight nightgown, skirt, or camisole just has a front and a back and the hem is mostly bias and therefore the stretching that occurs should be about the same. You can construct the garment without pre-stretching the fabric.

I still let my “non-circular” bias garments hang for a few days after construction. This just allows the hem to relax some before sewing. If there is stretch, it is usually minor and I trim the excess before hemming. If however, the bias garment has symmetrical seams, such as at center front or center back, stretching the fabric before cutting the pattern is a good idea for ensuring an even hem and balanced seams. You can also stretch the fabric as you sew the seams. Mr. Charles Kleibecker often did this for his symmetrical bias dresses.

With a circular cut skirt, you have a hem that has various angles of bias, lengthwise grain, and crosswise grain converging at the hem. Thus, there is a lot of variability in the stretching that occurs at the hem.

Vionnet figured out the way to preserve even ripples along the hem was to control the shape at the waistline. They were directly related. You have to control the amount of stretch that occurs and doesn’t occur along the waistline. In other words, the waist will be shaped differently along true bias than the straight of grain. Less is cut away along true bias where there is the most stretch and more is cut away along the straight of grain where there is no stretch. The skirt should then fall from the waist more evenly and produce harmonious ripples.

She had various methods for shaping the waist to control the hem. In skirt 18, she used a spiral yoke at the waist, in dress 12, she used different angled slashes at the waist, in dress 21 she used godets (see Betty Kirke’s book for more detail).

In this dress, Vionnet shaped the front waist yoke and slashed the back of the skirt at true bias.

In Kirke’s pattern rendering there is a slight curve at the edge of the front yoke panel that connects the front bodice and front skirt. I suspect the curved wedge is to ensure the skirt whose center front falls on the bias will have even ripples at the hem.

However, if you look at the Bunka pattern, there is no curve there.

My theory is that a curve will be necessary to prevent future hang-out and ensure even ripples. I drew a red dotted line where I think the cut away for shaping the yoke should be.

Here is the dress constructed out of silk charmeuse (19 mm). I have basted the skirt to the completed bodice, and I am letting it hang-out to stretch some more before truing and sewing the seams permanently. As a side note, thread tracing seamlines and some hand sewing are absolutely necessary for constructing this dress.

Check back soon and visit my gallery page, where I will showcase the completed dress, hopefully with harmonious ripples. Now go do!

*Sources

Draping Art and Craftsmanship in Fashion Design by Annette Duburg and Roxt van der Tol, ArtEZ Press, d’jonge Hond Publishers, The Netherlands, 2008.

Madeleine Vionnet by Betty Kirke, Chronicle Books LLC, San Francisco, 1998.

Vionnet by Bunka Fashion College, Japan, 2009.

Bias Cut Blueprints by Julianne Bramson and Susan Lenahan, Fashion in Harmony, San Francisco, 2014.