Independence Day! The culmination of several projects

This post initially was going to be about HSF #13 - Lace and Lacing, but at the last minute I decided not to use lace to create sleeve engageantes or a fichu and instead use crushed voile, so my project no longer applied to that challenge.  Oh well.

The good news is that I was able to finish (mostly - for wearing once at least) the fichu (still needs hemming - that'll be my "White" challenge entry) and the engageantes - and trim a hat - in time for the Fourth of July.  Definitely was productive over my vacation: I even cut and pinned the rest of the 1865 evening bodice (more on that in a separate post).

I had also purchased a pair of American Duchess' historically clocked stockings (white with black) to go with the Kensingtons I'd gotten last year.  So, with the addition of the finished sleeves, a hat, and a fichu, my 1775 ensemble was pretty much complete (minus shoe buckles; I'll make those later - I have some ideas for making them using a wider florist's wire (so the wire itself is easy to work with yet holds its shape) and "forging" the twisted-together pieces together using flat pliers... not a good description, but you'll see later).

Without further ado... the full ensemble (hairstyle is NOT accurate to 1775; it was hot and I didn't want to fuss with it and then have it collapse in the humidity as it tends to do for anything fancy):

And, of course, no costume ensemble is complete without a cat's seal of approval (aka, cat fuzz over everything)... or showing off the shoes and stockings :-)  I'll have to take the stockings in a little, because I have small feet, but otherwise they are a dream to wear - even on a 90-degree day.

Here's the "making-of" part about the engageants, fichu, hat, and "padding" (not used/worn in the pictures)...

DONE! HSF #9: Floral... Indienne anglaise en fourreau

Ta-Da!!  La robe, c'est finie!!! 

       

And I now have a record for the fastest other-than-a-skirt-only project I've ever made.

The Challenge:  #9: Flora and Fauna

Fabric: Indienne floral/stripe print (cotton) - an old tablecloth made from curtains (third iteration of this fabric now), approx. 80" diameter (2 yd, 8 in / 3m), printed in the '70s or early '80s and found in attic; white linen lining - 40" width, approx. 1 yd (from stash)

Pattern: Patterns of Fashion's c.1770-80 The Gallery of English Costume floral stripe with quilted petticoat; construction following Katherine's anglaise en fourreau (wonderful tutorial)

Year: 1770-80

Notions: poly thread (cream, red (since I ran out of the cream), white (for hooks/eyes)), 11 hook/eye pairs

How historically accurate is it? I'm not an expert at appraising accuracy since this is my first project, but I'd give it about an 85% accuracy.  The main detractor is the curve of the hem of the gown since I used the edge of the tablecloth to conserve fabric (and sewing time), and as the tablecloth was round, that meant that the front edge was also round instead of hanging straight to the floor; it looks like it's worn à la polonaise as a result (with a bit of a train), though it isn't actually polonaised.  It was entirely hand sewn except for the hem (original to the tablecloth), since machines and I don't get alone.  The pattern is accurate to Patterns of Fashion except for the hem curve, the fabric is cotton with a linen bodice lining.  Another detractor is that the thread I used was a poly blend (from stash).

Hours to complete:  14-16 or so; I started on April 27, finished May 6 at 11:54pm (that still counts, right?). 

First worn: Not yet, but perhaps to Colony House's Fourth of July celebration this year.

Total cost: 100% from stash/attic, so $0... but if counting what it cost at the time... the curtains were probably $30-40 back in the day; the linen was $6/yd the hooks/eyes were most of a set, so $3 when I bought them, thread (used two and a bit 110yd/100m spools) was $2/spool... $45-55 total 

Inspirations... primarily, the illustrations of the gown in Patterns of Fashion and this one (p.6 of the PDF): Blue silk brocade Robe à l'anglaise (1770-85) ... plus several gowns from the Met - Robe à l'anglaise (1784), Robe à l'anglaise (1750-75), Robe à l'anglaise (1785-89) - and the Colonial Williamsburg eMuseum (it's not letting me link at the moment, will post those later).

Had a really fun time making this... especially with the deadline.  It was definitely a challenge due to the limited material and the fact that some of it was (rather heavily) faded (one side of the skirt front, and one side of the back).  The most time consuming parts were the en fourreau pleats, the skirt pleats, and the front center trim (had to piece each striped "strip" from at least two if not three pieces of fabric to make the pattern match - often with millimeters to spare).  For posts on each part of the construction, click on the 'red stripe floral indienne' label.

...and, take a bow (curtsey) :-)

HSF... the indienne adventure continues...

So, I spent a few hours sewing the gown over the past few days, and was able to finish it at 11:54 (or :56)pm on May 6, so technically within the deadline.

Here's a few more progress photos...

First, pinning and then sewing the en fourreau back (THAT was a challenge, to get the stripes right, since as it turned out I had sewed about an inch too much toward the center on one side and hadn't lined the pleats up properly for the skirt when I first sewed that, so it was a tad lopsided).  It still looks fine, but one of the side stripe pleats (I'll let you guess which one) has a significantly narrower fold to it than the other.

...on the dress form the next day

Then, deciding whether to sew two stripes of self-trim down the center to break up the bodice at all... and, once I did decide to do it, figuring out HOW I was going to do it since I didn't have two strips of stripe that were the same size AND the same pattern for symmetry.  (That's the problem with making something from a tablecloth, I suppose.)  So, each stripe is pieced together from at least two (the one on my left is three) pieces (some of them small/weird angles for sewing) other pieces of stripe.  It worked better than I thought, actually, though it took longer to first pin and then sew.  

Pinned on the dress form - somehow managed to get it to shut this time...  And added the cranberry petticoat I'd made for that anglaise...

Can you tell where the seams are on the stripes?  

When I pinned and sewed it, I left about 1/8" over the front fabric (which in turn was 1/8" further than the lining) to cover the hooks/eyes and have a flat (yet fully closed) opening.  I also was on the last yard of cream thread when I was sewing these on, so had to switch to a red to sew the inner edges of the trim... not ideal, but better (I think) than pure white.  Then I sewed 11 pairs of hooks/eyes, evenly spaced, to the front center closure.

On the dress form...

DONE!!  Final photos wearing it, and official write-up for HSF in the next post... :-)

HSF floral tablecloth anglaise progress (or, a race against time)

So, I left off on Monday with just the lining sewn together and the skirt and back pinned on.

Well, I'm almost done, as of tonight.  Not bad. :-)

After sewing the skirt on later Monday night, the gown graced my dress form until Wednesday night, when I cut and pinned the bodice front, a small bit of robing on the shoulder, and the sleeves onto the dress.  Used up a full box and a half of pins doing that, so pinning the en fourreau back in place will have to wait until I've sewn everything else (which I'll do tomorrow).  It took a while, too... since I wanted to get the pattern to match perfectly on the front, with the stripe going over the shoulders the same way, too.

Here's a few progress photos...

The last of the fabric; just enough for the bodice fronts and two sleeves.
That pile of fabric at the top (left on the fabric) is the skirt as it's attached to the bodice lining (white), in case you were wondering. 

One reason that I might actually be done with this on time: the tablecloth's edges were already hemmed, which I am shamelessly taking advantage of for my sleeve edges and bodice edges and skirt hem.

I pinned the sleeves in first before pinning the bodice fronts on.  Not sure how period that is, but it seemed to work really well.  I think the sleeves for this one may have come out better than for the cranberry...

Modeled on the dress form... The bodice doesn't close because the dress form isn't wearing the stays...

I'll take a better picture later, in better light, I promise.

So far, not bad for a second first attempt; not great, but not bad.

I'm really enjoying this project... especially the challenge of using the tablecloth. I've heard tell of 'curtain-alongs' - has anyone else ever done a 'tablecloth-along'?

It's also interesting because the fabric is so old (older than me by at least 10 years if not more) that it is stiff and almost brittle in places (which made the pleating kinda fun since it didn't want to un-learn a pleat).  Quite the different experience than the cranberry that had newer fabric which was also a tad thinner.  If I can find some more time this summer, I may just go hunting around in the attic again to try and find the curtains and make a petticoat to go with the overgown.  At this rate, though, since I'll be taking another class this summer and still working, not sure I'll have the time... So, I will prolly wear it with either the cranberry petticoat or else will need to make a plain off-white one (since the fabric is no longer a true white, but has yellowed a bit - thankfully evenly).

Next steps... 1) sew everything that's pinned; 2) pin and sew the en fourreau back; 3) if have time (and fabric), make engageants for sleeves (perhaps?).  So close, but not quite there yet :-)

A new challenge - Historical Sew Fortnightly (or, in which I have sewing ADD and start yet another project)

So, instead of finishing the neckline ruffle / trim on the cranberry anglaise this week, I decided to take a break and work on something else - something other than the quilted petticoat (finished) and linen chemise (also finished) that were finished last week.  

On Friday, I stumbled across a reference to a Historical Sew Fortnightly that fit quite well with my project list this year... 

(From 'The Dreamstress') :

"#9: Flora and Fauna – due May 6.  Textiles and the natural world are inextricably linked.  Until very recently, all textiles were made from flora (linen, raime, hemp) or fauna (wool, silk, fur), and dyed with flora and fauna.  Flora and fauna also influenced the decoration of textiles, from Elizabethan floral embroidery, to Regency beetle-wing dresses, to Edwardian bird-trimmed hats.  Celebrate the natural world (hopefully without killing any birds) with a flora and/or fauna inspired garment."

I saw that and thought: flora or fauna inspired garment, decoration of textiles, historical  - sounds like a good fit for the indienne-esque tablecloth that I was going to make into an anglaise en fourreau (something of a muslin).  Just moves that up the timetable a little, and means that the cranberry will be done mid-May instead.

Problem: the challenge is due May 6... which leaves me all of ten days (actually less given my schedule) to sew it.  

If I succeed, that'll be the fastest I've ever created anything more complex than a simple skirt. 

So, here goes...  Ready, set...!