Bias Cut Blueprints: a Geometric Method for Clothing Design and Construction

When they say 'Blueprint', I think I am understanding that it's a way to understand the Bias. That it does, but not much more than reading a number of articles from Threads as well as the book which is mentioned as a source in this one, the excellent: Vionnet by Betty Kirke. What it does do is document a limited application of how to take your personal measurements and turn a length of fabric into a bias tube that will fit your measurements. And it does go through a few finishes that are preferable on a bias garment.After that, I found the book uninspirational and the design sense dated. I was shocked that it was published less than 10 years ago when the garments pictured are easily from the 80's or 90's. The most beautiful thing you could possibly make with the techniques in this book is the dress pictured on the cover, which was done for a competition by one of authors, and very eye catchy because of the color and simplicity. It is fitted somewhat. Everything else in the book looks shapeless in comparison. They show how to use a tube for a cowl top, a tube skirt (with a simple elastic waistband), and inserting godets into the bias tube for a more varied skirt. Someone else mentioned this as well...one idea over and over. Unfortunately, there is no direction for any real inspired bias dressmaking such as how to handle when the tube doesn't conform to the smaller dimensions of the human body...i.e. the shoulder taper or the waist. For the armhole, they simple say, 'do a dart if there's a gap'. Duh, a gap in the armhole is easily said, but in execution, a dart in a bias direction is often a recipe for disaster. It was how to deal with these 'disasters' in bias sewing that I was looking for in this book and it fails to do that. I was hoping it would fill in the hands-on methodology of the studies of Vionnet's work, but perhaps that's asking for how Einstein's calculations on relativity LOL.

I am a clothing historian by profession and my favourite time period is the Art Deco Age of the 1920s and 30s. So it shouldn't be any surprise that I love bias-cut garments and worship the genius Madeleine Vionnet.But this book... Oh my word! It is WONDERFUL! As a historian, I'd long appreciated the beauty of bias-cut garments. But I am not a professional seamstress, and I was always under the impression that bias-cut garments were difficult to sew. So although I wanted to wear these beautiful dresses, I never attempted to make any because sewing on the bias intimidated me.And they are intimidating... at least, they are the way we try to sew them -- cutting on the bias and sewing bias seam to bias seam. Madeleine Vionnet didn't do anything so complicated. She cut on the straight and sewed on the straight but turned her garments 45° so they hung on the bias. How we sew bias clothing now is the same as how we sew straight-cut garments. We just turn the pattern 45°. But this makes cutting complicated and error-ridden and sewing a complete pain in the arse. In the vernacular of today: ur doin it wrong!What Vionnet did was so simple, so basic that it was revolutionary. Yet strangely, 75 years after her salon closed its doors, we have forgotten this simplicity. This elegance has completely passed from our lives. Yet we long to have it back.The look of bias-cut garments is extraordinary. They cling without showing your bulges. They float and swirl around your body and yet have weight. They are somehow magical. No one wearing a bias-cut garment could help but be charmed by the way it feels. And no one observing a bias-cut garment could resist its poise and elegance.And thanks to Julianne Bramson and Susan Lenahan, we ALL can have bias-cut garments in our wardrobes today!Get this book! You will not regret it.

All I can say is Hallelujah! What a well written and well organized book. Thank you, thank you Julianne and Susan, I have been waiting for a book like this for quite some time. What I appreciate most is this book does not "talk down" to you. It assumes you are capable and have a willingness to learn. I value the effort put into explaining bias and its bugaboos , even more than the wonderful patterns offered in the book. As an aside I must say the cover does not do justice to the wonderful garments contained within the pages of this book.I own the english copy of Madeline Vionnet's glorious book and was delighted to find so many references to Vionnet and her techniques.The book covers an explanation of bias, constructing bias tubes and how to determine the yardage for such, has beginning patterns and exercises, graduates to more complex designs, gives variations on the patterns, and my personal favorite, covers FITTING of the this very different way of construction. I am in love with this book, and am uber glad I discovered it before it went out of print. If you are interested in learning bias construction look no further, find a copy of this book. My only frustration with bias sewing is how the hems flair a bit. I will be hoping to come up with a way to keep hems a little more tame. If anyone has the answer, I am all ears.

This book is attractively presented, and is easy to dip in to, but also carries a great deal of interesting information which clearly bears much closer, more intensive study. It also carries patterns/instructions for several different bias-cut garments. I am looking forward to having more time soon for further evaluation of the book and, especially, of the patterns.I will update this review later when I have made up one or more of the patterns; at that point I hope to be able to upgrade to five stars.

This book contains everything you need to know for successful garments cut on the bias, I'm looking forward to trying out the techniques in this book. I've tried to cut silk chiffon on the bias before, and although I got a wearable garment it was far from perfect. This book gives me confidence to try again!

Something to get your teeth into, and not as daunting as it first appears. Definitely a book of fun to try.

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