HSF #11 - squares, triangles, rectangles... an 1860s chemise

In my previous post, I mentioned that I had found an 1860s chemise that (with a couple very minor - yet reasonable - alterations) could fit the requirements for making a project with (at most) one curved edge and whose fabric pieces are only squares, rectangles, and triangles.

Here is a real chemise that is closest to what I want to do, it's at the Met Museum: click here.

Here is an almost exact rendition (minus the small sleeves) of my chemise (no, I did not use this pattern, I used the picture of it as a visual reference): click here (it's the top one).

Another reference (1850s, but not unreasonable that a lady could have used the same style chemise for the 1860s and removed the sleeves): http://demodecouture.com/projects/eugenie/research.html

I do understand that this won't be an "exact" replication (in pattern/style) as an actual chemise that I found an image of, but given the silhouette, neckline, and construction style, it's not unreasonable.  I studied a variety of chemises from the 1850s-1870s (mostly through YWU articles on Victorian clothing/layers that I had downloaded a while ago, and also the Met Museum, as well as various bloggers' photos - such as Démodé Couture's, Katherine C-G's 1865 chemise, and one the Dreamstress had posted about).  In that study, I found a lot of commonalities in the 'body' of the chemise, and definite variety in the necklines and how they were added to the body - especially for evening gown chemises.  Since I won't be wearing it by itself, and it shouldn't be visible under the gown, it'll do.

I'm also making a short pair of drawers out of the same material.  I'll trim the legs with ruffles for weight and to extend the length.

Without further ado...


The drawers (pinned): two rectangles folded in half and sewn together; will use a drawstring at the waist (currently, they're almost half again as wide as they need to be, but I made them loose for comfort).

The "body" of the chemise - a single rectangle of fabric, again significantly wider than it needs to be to fit, folded in half and with sleeve gussets added (triangles) at top for underarm protection:

Detail of the gusset:

Rough pin/placement of the yoke, essentially a single long rectangle of fabric folded in half and sewn into a tube that can generously fit around my shoulders with some to spare (will end up tucking or cutting off the excess, but I figured that more is better since I'll be mostly draping-pinning this to make it fit).  I will use a few tucks/gathers for shaping (hopefully that's not cheating for this challenge?) when attaching the body of the chemise to the yoke so that it is more fitted at the top and doesn't bunch in odd places when the corset and then evening bodice are worn.