mala_14 | Entries tagged with 1780 yellow linen blend gown

I never really posted much about the white voile round gown that I made last year. I ended up really liking it. I decided to make it as an English gown, with the pleats on the back extending into the skirts (en fourreau is the term most costumers use). It looks good, but I accidentally made a mistake with it and had the pleats sewn down to the bottom of the lining, which meant that I couldn't turn the lining edge in at the bottom to sandwich in the top of the skirts. So I ended up adding a piece to the lining at the bottom of the CB to fix it and it's very unobtrusive. Problem solved! And I took a couple quick pictures of the back pleats yesterday night because I happened to have a little bit of time on my hands, outside and inside.

It's too bad I don't have more occasions to wear it. It's such a great dress for summer and 18th century pastoral-ness.

The real reason I was taking pictures was because I realized I didn't end up taking any of my final bodice pattern, even though I took pictures of the fitting process. I find it's always helpful to see what other people's pattern shapes look like and how they work. (A reminder that this was originally diagram XXII from 1775-1780 in Cut of Women's Clothes by Norah Waugh.) So here are some pics with my quilting ruler for scale. The first has all the bodice pieces, including a 1-piece back and a 2-piece back. (I used the 1-piece for this gown and the 2-piece for my yellow gown). I'm actually planning to make a couple more small adjustments to the angle around the back shoulder and to the strap to get a more accurate look for c.1780. The second pic is of the sleeve, but the 3 small pleats at the top of the sleevehead aren't marked. All arrows are places where things need to be extended a bit. If it needed to be smaller, I just cut into the paper pattern itself, which is why the lines are a bit wonky compared to the actual outline of the pattern pieces.

I'm too lazy to put pictures into this post, but click on the links to see all the entries tagged. I actually made a pretty decent amount of things this year and I also actually like all of them, more or less, so this year was definitely a win on the sewing front.

First up, it took me all the way until April to finally finish something, but I did: charcoal pants to wear to a conference that I was going to in Texas. The fit is not good, but it's not terrible either. Fitting bifurcated garments still eludes me because, to quote myself, "Crotches are weird, man."
In early May, I had finally finished my pink linen 1780 stays, which I had started in April. They're boned with reed and really comfortable to wear. I was happy with the fit and how they ended up looking, especially with the narrow binding. They're still not lined, and they probably never will be, whatever. ;p
Another UFO that I finished up was a quilted petticoat. This was a great multi-use undergarment, because I wore it under my 1840s dress and under my 1780s stuff. It's awesome. Adds a nice amount of loft in the skirts and keeps them off the legs. It was just some pre-fab quilting stuff from Joann that I bound at the hem and the pleated top.
I made a white striped 1845 dress in about 2 weeks start to finish. I was so impressed with myself. Of course, I neglected pretty much everything else in that time, but whatever, I made a dress and now have a good bodice base for that era. It turned out pretty well, but it totally needs a different corset with a higher bust point, and then I'll have to adjust the darts in the lining, but that shouldn't be a problem whenever that time comes. It needs accessories too. And for me to not drop blackberry juice on it when I'm wearing it.
I finished up another UFO: a fichu. A very useful accessory for the wardrobe, but not very exciting. Although I did tambour embroidery on it when I first started it many years ago.
I painted two silk fans in 18th century style but with dog portraits as gifts. It was a fun project and a nice change from the sewing.
I made a super cute and twee corset cover 1870.
My 1870 sheer dress might be my favourite out fit of the year, consisting of a bodice, overskirt, and peplum. It's ruffly and trimmed with lace and currently in need of repairs. I used my 1840s bodice as a starting point to make a new 1870 bodice block, which was used for this and my corset cover.
I made a feather/down stuffed bumpad out of an IKEA pillow. Feathers EVERYWHERE!
To go over it, I made a white linen-rayon 18th century petticoat.
And to go over all that for my trip to Virginia and DC, I made a pale yellow linen-rayon 1780 gown. I wore it to Colonial Williamsburg, where I had a wonderful stay! I got a good pattern base for this, although I want to make some important changes to it at the back so that the sleeves are set in deeper and the back is narrower, but it fits and the look is acceptable.
I also made a white voile (my 3rd white cotton dress of the year!) 1780s roundgown with en fourreau back to wear to The Lady Detalle's birthday tea. For some reason I didn't take any detail pics after I I finished it, but got some great pics at the tea taken by quincy134 . I really like the back pleats on this. I had made some very slight alterations to the fit of the pattern I used for the yellow gown and some worked (like getting a better fit in the back) and some didn't (like having the neckline dip too low and showing the very top of my stays).
I made a silk organza 1780s cap to top everything off. I didn't entirely finish it for my trip and had to temporarily sew part of the caul the band, but it is done now.
After all that summer sewing I needed a break. But I knit up a pair of legwarmers for elizabeth_mn and had fun dyeing them from off-white to pink. Made out of worsted-weight wool, they were a quick and soothing project during a stressful time.
I also cut out and started sewing a silk 1920s slip, but that will be my UFO going into 2019.

My goals for 2018 were:

keep on trying new things with sewing, new techniques, new materials, etc.
get a couple of solid bodice patterns figured out, ones that fit really nicely and that I can just use whenever I want to make something from that era
get some 18th century things made, especially finishing up these stays and other undergarments and making some gowns and millinery to go over them
make some modern clothes, preferably of a professional-looking nature for when I have to look like a grown up

I think I was pretty successful with most of these. I tried out new eras that involved different techniques and styles as well as new materials like reed. I also made bodice blocks for 1840s, 1870, and 1780s that aren't perfect, but that fit well and only need small adjustments to be right. I definitely made some 18th century undergarments, gowns, and millinery (cap and fichu!). The one I fell down on the most was the modern clothes. Just made a pair of mediocre pants. I'm hoping that getting to this blazer soon will help out.

Plans for 2019:

keep on upping my sewing game by trying new techniques (like tailoring!), improving fit, and making accessories for outfits
make some modern clothes
get some good pictures to document all my hard work
let go of plans and lists and make what I'm feeling at the time to help with productivity (but no creating UFOs! gotta finish things!)
use the stash (it's starting to get out of hand)

I recently spent several days in the DC area and engaged in costume shenanigans. I stayed with the lovely Lady Detalle and we headed off to Colonial Williamsburg for a whirlwind 24 hours. We stayed overnight in the adorable Moody Kitchen. I never actually finished my cap, even though I was working on it on the plane and in the car. I still had about a third of the caul to whipstitch to the band. She had the genius idea of just running stitching it for now and it worked fabulously!

We got dressed once we arrived and really only had time to check out the millinery shop and a couple of the stores before they closed. I scoped out what I wanted to buy the following day. The Lady Detalle bought some butter toffee peanuts for me to try. I thought that I didn't like peanuts, except for Chinese ones (which are smaller and drier than regular ones), but it turns out I just don't like regular old not-very-good ones. These Virginia peanuts are AWESOME! I ended up getting a big can to take home. :D

Wandering around was nice, but really hot. Got some pics in front of the Governor's Palace. We probably also show up in a bunch of random people's pictures too. That was an expected thing when walking around in costume.

Dinner was at Christiana Campbell's Tavern, which specializes in seafood. I had the crab cakes. YUM! Also, the sweet potato muffins and spoon bread were really tasty. The spoon bread is something they're known for. It's not really like bread, more like a cross between grits and Yorkshire pudding. The atmosphere in the tavern was really nice and so was our server. I loved the giant napkins (1 yard by 1 yard). Super convenient for covering up costumes.

The next day we weren't in costume. That made it easier to get around and be touristy. Breakfast was at a nearby spot called Aromas in regular Williamsburg, where I had strawberry crepes. The exhibit in the Dewitt Wallace Museum was all about printed textiles, so there were lots of neat prints, embroideries, and such. I also wanted almost all of the furniture and dishes on display in the museum.

After the museum, we wandered about some more. I bought a bunch of cool stuff (see a future post for details). Before heading out of Williamsburg we stopped at the Blue Talon for lunch. It was divine! We had their award-winning mac and cheese, a yummy dish called Brandade (to try something new), and a salad (to be healthy!). What a lovely end to my time in Williamsburg!

As promised, a couple of quick bathroom pics of the dress-in-progress from my fitting. You can see that there's some wrinkling at the back under the arm and at the waist, but I'm thinking that the waist wrinkling should go away once a skirt is attached and if I have my petticoats and rump a bit higher up.

Left to do: sew tops of sleeves and shoulder straps, hem sleeves, pleat and attach skirt, hem skirt, finish bodice at waist.

I have all the machine assembly done on the bodice, which is good because I am thiiiiiiis close to being out of white cotton thread. I need to go to the store tomorrow and pick some up as well as some straight pins that don't have plastic heads. I drafted this bodice to meet edge-to-edge and then use hooks and eyes for the closure, but I'm thinking that because the fabric is a bit stretchier (and I can do slightly smaller seam allowances at the front edge), I might end up pinning it closed. For those of you who have done 18th century, do you have any preference or advice?

I sewed the seams sort of like the jacket seams in Costume Close-Up, but with all the layers being sewn at once (lining layers right sides together and outer fabric right sides together) leaving about an inch open at either end. Then finishing those inch openings with just lining sewn together and just outer fabric sewn together. This allows me to have all the seam allowances enclosed, but also leaves the edges able to turn into each other. Most other methods seem to be based on hand-sewing techniques. There was no way I was hand-sewing this thing, so I jiggered it this way. I also did that cool thing where you sew the sleeve together, lining and outer fabric, all with one seam and then turn it and you magically end up with a lined sleeve with all the seam allowances encased. Did the same weird thing with leaving the hem edge open for an inch, etc. Some pictures of the front, the inside back, and the outside back:

For reference, this pattern is from Cut of Women's Clothes by Norah Waugh, diagram XXII from 1775-1780. I managed to enlarge the pattern this afternoon and then did the mock-up stage this evening. It took 2 bodice mock-ups and 2 sleeve mock-ups to get to a good enough stage (where everything fits well and just tiny tweaks are needed that don't warrant another mock-up). Somehow my bodice fronts were way to small at the bust and the back didn't curve in enough at the waist and the waist wasn't short enough. But I managed to get that almost all sorted out with mock-up 2. I can also lift my arms in this! Not as high as one might like, but high enough to touch my head. Pictures:

Things that still need fixing in these pictures: making the elbow dart start a little lower down, alter the angle of the side-back piece where it meets the strap, get rid of the wrinkles in the bodice at the back under the arm by scooping the armscye out a little more there, lower the neckline a bit, and alter the back seamlines a little for aesthetic reasons. Also, it would be good if I had a shift that didn't peak out at the neckline.

Thoughts/notes on fitting:

On sleeves: I shorted the height of the sleeve head by 1 inch because it seemed excessively tall compared to sleeves from the same era in Janet Arnold. I think this helped get a nicer fit over the shoulder. The pleats are pretty small, like 1/4" in depth, which is a look that I like, and they start almost right at the back strap seam. Wrinkles under the arm at the back are needed for movement. The armscye should hit pretty far out at the front and get narrow at the back.
On the bodice: The front seam really needs to be curved to accommodate the skirts. Same with the back, dramatic curve out from the waist to sit smoothly over the rump. The bottom of the sides needs to hit at the waist to avoid wrinkling (I kept needing to move this up to accommodate my short underarm-to-waist measure), then it curves down at front and back.