Burnley and Trowbridge Gown Draping Workshop

Last Friday, Ashley and I indulged ourselves with a weekend of pretty dresses, playing with fabric, and good company for Burnley and Trowbridge's latest gown-draping workshop.  We've been eagerly anticipating the opportunity to do a gown workshop for literally years now, but they've typically been held in the summer when neither of our schedules would permit us to attend.  This year's fall offering was a most welcome surprise and we jumped at the chance to go.  We were also thrilled that our friend Laurie was able to join us for the weekend of fun!

The workshop was led by Colonial Williamsburg's mistress of the trades of millinery and mantua-making, Janea Whitacre.  Janea arrived Friday morning looking like she just walked out of - you guessed it - Meet Felicity, so of course the entire room of ladies sighed and oogled her "Felicity fabric" gown.  What little girl at heart can resist that print?  Especially when at least two of us (ahem) in the room could very legitimately blame Felicity for our life-long obsession with history and historical fashion?  :-)

Demonstrating the art of draping a sleeve.

Our first task, I was overjoyed to hear, would be learning to drape sleeves.  If you've read any of our previous "Threaded Bliss" posts, you know how much I struggle with sleeves, both patterning and setting them, and remedying that situation was one of the reasons I really wanted to take this workshop.  So here we are, diligently working on our sleeves...

Ashley cutting her sleeves out.

Me working on finishing my sleeves.

As you can see in the picture, Ashley chose to bring a gorgeous "bottle green" lightweight worsted for her gown. She's been saving it in her stash for a couple of years now, waiting to use it on the very first gown she'd make all by herself. I finally decided it was time to muster up the courage to cut into my stash of the CW reproduction print that's copied from the now infamous gown on pages 48 and 49 of What Clothes Reveal.  I'm so glad I saved it for a workshop rather than tackling it alone because Janea worked some serious miracles helping me figure out the ideal way to make this impossible print work.

Discussing options and techniques for constructing the gown's back pleats.

Saturday began with finishing up our gown backs that we started the afternoon before, and then we proceeded to draping the bodice fronts.  Janea took a slightly different approach to the order of things this time around, opting to have us only concentrate on the top half of our gowns first, to be sure we'd have plenty of time to get adequate help with the perennial trouble spot of fitting shoulders and sleeves before the end of the weekend (I was so glad to know I'm not the only one wary of sleeves!).  This is why you see the bottom parts of our gown bodices not yet looking "normal" in most of these pictures!

Draping buddies fitting bodice fronts to backs.

Double-checking back symmetry.

My gown as of Saturday afternoon!

Ashley doing my shoulder straps.

Photo very kindly taken and sent to us by Laurie.

Saturday evening, our homework was to work on shoulder straps and attaching our sleeves, so Ashley and I headed over to Laurie's hotel to see how far we could get.  More than slightly delirious from lack of sleep, that ended up not being very far at all...:-)...which was fine in the end because we had plenty of time the next morning to keep working and to get some extra help.  I still don't like sleeves, but I definitely feel much more confident about attacking them after all the guidance Janea gave on them throughout the weekend.  Laurie did a splendid job fitting mine, and I hope I was at least adequate in my efforts on hers!  :-)

Saturday's late-night homework attempts.

Sunday, our final day, was spent finishing up sleeves, shaping the bodice along the waistline, and pleating in the gown skirts.  Neither Ashley nor I got that far, but we left well equipped with everything we'd need to finish on our own.  Many of the ladies were nearly done with their gowns by the end of the day; I was so impressed by their speed throughout the weekend, and their work came out so lovely.

Finishing the waistline.

Ashley attaching shoulder straps.

Although it was an incredibly busy weekend, it was certainly a productive one, and we're both eagerly anticipating finishing our gowns for upcoming holiday events.  Stay tuned for the finished products!  Many thanks again to Mistress Janea and the lovely folks at Burnley and Trowbridge for hosting yet another fantastic workshop.  We're already looking forward to the next one!

Additional photos from the workshop can be found in our flickr set.

If you're interested in participating in an upcoming historical fashion workshop, keep checking Burnley and Trowbridge's facebook page for the latest list of offerings and soon-to-come spring updates!

Threaded Bliss

Blue and White Cotton Print Bedgown,
1750-1790

I've been meaning to make a bedgown for quite some time, for use at workshops and informal gatherings, but kept putting it off in favor of more "flashy" projects.  Last month, I just got one of those curious and pressing "must do it now before you lose the motivation" sewing project urges, so I went to the stash and rummaged around and pulled out one of last year's Colonial Williamsburg cotton prints and set to cutting.  It only took a couple of evenings to complete, and I love it!  I wore it for the first time the weekend before last for our Distaff Day and then again this past weekend at the Burnley and Trowbridge gown workshop, and it's so comfy!

The pattern: Sketched and cut directly onto the fabric, based on the ubiquitous 1769 Garsault pattern, which is all over the internet, but also featured in Norah Waugh's Cut of Women's Clothes, 1600-1930, pgs. 108-9.

M. Garsault, Description des Arts et Metiers, 1769.

 

Waugh translates Garsault's written instructions as follows:

"The bed-gown (manteau-de-lit).  This is cut from two or four lengths of material according to the width.  The sleeves are cut en chemise, that is, in one with the body; the squares cut from the sides of the gown are added to the sleeves to give extra length.  Figs. 8, 9, the back, is cut straight across the top and has an inverted pleat centre back.  The front, Figs. 7, 10, 11, has an extra piece on top, a, which is formed into a pleat and folded to fit the neck, c, Fig. 11.  An inverted pleat is set each side the waist, d, Fig. 10."

The only alterations I made to this description was to cut the bedgown from one length of cloth, so that there is no shoulder seam, as I did with my pink shortgown.  This necessitated the insertion of an extra rectangular piece into the neck to create the shawl collar.

Inspirations: The color choice for my cotton was selected based on this original blue block-printed cotton bedgown in the collection of the Manchester Gallery, dated 1760-1780.

Blue block-printed cotton bedgown, 1760-1780 (acc. no. 1972.110).

Image linked from the Manchester Art Gallery.

I also referred to some of the images catalogued on Karen's 18th Century Notebook page on bedgowns.

Construction details: This is an amazingly simple project.  Because it is made of a single length of cloth folded to create the shoulders, the only seams that require sewing are those that run the length of the arms and down the sides.  These are flat-felled.  I added pocket slits, which are partially concealed by the inverted box pleats at the hips.  Garsault does not specify whether or not his pattern includes them, but I almost think they have to be a given in a garment like this, whose shape and length really impede pocket access through anything but side slits.

Interior of the bedgown.

The center back of the bedgown has an inverted box pleat (similar to the one on the pink shortgown) sewn from the neckline to the waist to help control the fit of the upper part of the garment, while releasing excess fabric to fall over the petticoats.

A small rectangular piece of fabric is added to create the shawl collar, and all of the bedgown's edges are simply folded and finished with a standard hem stitch.

The rectangular piece added to the neckline to create the shawl collar.

Finally, two large rectangles of fabric are added to the ends of each of the sleeves to extend their length.  The seams are flat-felled to help protect from raveling, as I opted not to line or face the bedgown.  From images and extant examples, it appears that many bedgowns were either fully lined (some, it has been argued, might have even been reversible) or faced down the front and in the sleeves where these areas were frequently turned back to be exposed to view.

The sleeve extension.

The fabric: White cotton printed in blue in a scrolling floral striped sort of design, in simulation of a block-printed or early roller-printed fabric.  This is part of last year's collection of prints released by Colonial Williamsburg.

Finishing the look: Although a bedgown is an informal garment, it should always be worn over all of the proper 18th century undergarments (shift and stays and a couple of petticoats).  For Distaff Day and during the first day of the workshop, I paired it with a blue stuff petticoat that Ashley made a couple of years ago, which had, for whatever reason, gotten buried in the closet and never worn.  That makes me quite sad, since I think it's one of my new favorites now!  I love the way the fabric drapes and moves, and I am really kicking myself now for not buying enough to do an entire gown out of it.  That ought to teach me never to let the size of the stash (er..."fabric collection"...) frighten me off of buying something new to add to it!

To keep the bedgown closed, I tied a semi-sheer corded cotton apron over it.  Of course, this being attire for the workshop, I accessorized with my ever-handy and always trusty, friendly sidekicks, my pinball and reproduction scissors.

 

Additional photos can be found in this project's flickr set.

Fashions from Godey's Lady's Book, April 1853

It's that time again! As we mentioned in the first post in this series, we recently stumbled across a bound volume of Godey's Lady's Book from 1853. Once a month, I'll post the collection of fashion-related plates and articles that appeared in each monthly issue. You can find the previous months here.

I apologize in advance for the quality of the images. Although I have a scanner, I've discovered that there's no way I can preserve the integrity of the already fragile binding of the book and lay it flat. That means photos are the only options, and even those are difficult to achieve because of the tightly bound pages. I've done my best to ensure that everything is as clear and visible and undistorted as possible, but if there's something you really can't read or see and would like to have clarified, just let me know and I'll see what more I can do. I've set the images up so that if you click on them, they'll link you to their flickr page, where you'll be able to enlarge them all considerably and thus more easily read each one. Enjoy!

"Fig. 1st. - Dress of mousseline, printed in a disposition pattern, the corsage, sleeves, and upper part of the skirt being plain, and the flounces in wreaths of spring flowers, in bright and tasteful grouping.  The sleeves are quite short, and edges with a bright brocade ribbon to correspond with the heading of the flounces.  The waist is in full folds from the shoulder to the girdle, which is also of brocade ribbon.  Straw bonnet, with a wreath of sweetbriar inside the brim.

Fig. 2d. - Walking-dress of camel's hair cashmere, a white ground, with small French-blue figure, simply a knot of leaves.  Small white mantilla, edged with gold-colored figured ribbon.  Bonnet of white crape and silk mixed with straw-colored satin ribbon.  A fold of blonde falls inside the brim, and is caught by delicate field flowers of white and straw color."

A crochet lady's bonnet, "suitable for the seaside or
country," and a flower mat.  See full descriptions and instructions
in the second, third, and fourth images below.

Boy's tunic dress and...

...the pattern for it.

Several patterns for embroidery.

If you'd like to use or re-post or share these images, you're certainly welcome to do so. The only thing we ask is that credit is given where due: please provide a link back to this blog with the re-posted picture. Thanks!

Distaff Day

Today, the ladies of our regiment organized a Distaff Day to indulge ourselves in our most favorite feminine pursuits that often get neglected during campaign season: fabric and fashion!  Our technical theme was a muff-making workshop, but in the end, we spent most of our time working on in-progress projects instead, in between talking...and more talking...and drooling over costume books together...and playing with fabric...and talking...oh, and eating...:-)

Mistress J and Mistress R spent much of the day hard at work finishing their new silk mitts.  They will be gorgeous when finished, their stunning color combinations accented by some pretty impeccable decorative stitching.  I so want to make some mitts now!

Working on mitts and researching jacket styles.

Mistress W spent the day diligently stitching her new raspberry linen gown to near-completion.  I can't wait to see it finished; the color is to die for.  Mister I even joined us for part of the day to get some help beginning his new regimentals.

And I got Mistress B started on a new pumpkin-colored linen jacket, which will be her first jacket project sewn all by herself!  We spent the morning trying out various jacket styles on her and tweaking the pattern to her size, and then she managed to get everything cut before the conclusion of the day.

Gown and jacket in various states of coming-into-being.

To celebrate the completion of my new blue/green worsted stays (they only took me 18 months...stay tuned for a full Threaded Bliss post on them!), I wore them for the day to begin to break them in a bit.  In general, I'm pleased with how they turned out, though they might require a bit of tweaking still.  We'll see how they feel the next time I wear them.  I wore my new bedgown over them, and absolutely LOVE it...but of course, the down side to being the one taking the pictures is that I didn't get a single one of me to show off the bedgown!  So more on that the next time it gets worn.  :-)

Here's to a splendid day of lovely, heart-warming conversation and fun!  Many thanks, ladies, for the great pleasure of your company today, and especially to Mistress R for being our hostess!

Current Exhibit: "The Victorian Wardrobe Revealed, 1840-1900"

I had hoped to be able to make it to see this exhibit before it closed, which was why I delayed posting about it for so long.  Now, unfortunately, it looks like I won't be able to get myself out to Newport in time, so I thought I'd just post the details anyway in case they prove useful to someone else!

Photo linked from Bostonusa.com.

Newport Mansions and the Preservation Society of Newport, RI are currently staging an exhibition featuring "The Victorian Wardrobe Revealed, 1840-1900," which showcases some rarely-seen items from the Society's extensive costume and textiles collection.  This exhibit, set up inside Rosecliff, one of the famed Newport Mansions, features ten gowns or ensembles, a couple of evening capes, and some accessories.  The garments are arranged to demonstrate the evolution of the female silhouette over the course of the nineteenth century, and to document the changes that occurred in the production and manufacturing process of women's clothing in nineteenth-century America.

Included in the exhibit as one of its highlights is an 1898 black and white striped Worth afternoon ensemble.  As this article explains, the gown underwent more than 300 hours of conservation work to restore and even replace many of the white stripes in the skirt, which had been nearly destroyed by water damage.

Charles Frederick Worth 1898 afternoon dress.

Photo by Andrea Carneiro.  Linked from newportri.com.

Also featured is this stunning sapphire blue silk satin dinner dress, dated 1875.

Blue 1875 silk satin evening gown.

Photo by Andrea Carneiro.  Linked from newportri.com.

Entrance to the exhibit is included in admission to the Rosecliff mansion house.  The gowns will be on display until Friday 16 November 2012.

If anyone has gone to see this exhibit, I'd be very intrigued to hear all about what you saw!

A Fashionable "Silk Saturday" at Colonial Williamsburg

For those of you more interested in the pretties/costume side of last weekend, and less intrigued by the camp/military side of things, this post is for you!  Occassionally, the ladies of Colonial Williamsburg's Margaret Hunter shop treat themselves (and us visitors!) to a sumptuous display of silk creations on big event or reenactor weekends, and this past weekend was no exception.  "Silk Saturday" reigned in the shop, with the ladies, their shop display cases, and their counters draped in colorful, crisp arrays of shining silks of every variety and fashion.

Apprentice Sarah modeled a striped silk taffeta polonaise jacket and matching petticoat...

...while this young lady, adorned in a stunning pink poloanise gown edged with silk gauze trim, and a beribboned silk gauze cap, worked on her new stays across the room, catching the afternoon sunshine.

This blue/green striped silk gown (the construction process of which was profiled on the shop's facebook page) was displayed on the counter, it's amazing cuffs just begging to be admired.

Additional photos from this visit to the shop and from the Prelude to Victory weekend can be found in the weekend's flickr set.

Prelude to Victory 2012

Palace Green overtaken by Washington's troops.

We apologize for seeming so negligent of this blog lately.  We've both been swamped with work and other things, and haven't had much time at all to devote to sewing or attending events, let alone to blogging about them!  Last weekend, however, was the annual Prelude to Victory event at Colonial Williamsburg, and we certainly didn't want to miss out on that!

This is the first year our regiment was invited to take part in this event (we've done Under the Redcoat in our British persona in the past), so we were all thrilled to be there to help perpetuate the amazing programming that CW puts together yearly to commemorate the victory at Yorktown.

Washington's Generals review the troops behind the Courthouse.

Saturday was an absolutely stunning day with ideal weather that was warm, sunny, and with just enough of a breeze to keep us comfortable as we stood out in the sunshine around the fire, chatting with visitors and sharing the stories and experiences of our Revolutionary troops.  While the number of regiments in attendance was significantly less than we've typically experienced at Under the Redcoat, we all remarked amongst ourselves how much more engaged and enthusiastic and genuinely interested the guests were.  We had visitors walking into camp in a constant stream, nonstop, throughout the day, asking thoughtful questions about everything from the early American ancestors we represent to our own modern-day motivations and experiences as reenactors.  The children, as always, were a delight to watch, learning 18th-century games and even helping me with my dish washing after lunch!  Strange how chores suddenly become fun in another century...(parents, take note!).  :-)

Me in front of the Palace with our regiment's flag.  I don't

have any action shots from camp because, of course,

I couldn't whip out the camera with all the visitors around!

The special part of Saturday was getting to spend time (I only wish I had more of it!) with Virginia friends who were also in town for the weekend, and making the acquaintance of the lovely Miss Lauren and her mum.  It was so nice to meet you both! I was also able to make a trip to the milliner's shop...but more on that (complete with pretty pictures) in a subsequent post!

That evening, we were treated to a lovely dinner by CW.  This was most appreciated on many levels; as one of the ladies in our group put it, "It's so nice just to know I don't have to cook and clean up another meal today!"  This was followed by a dance, and we all enjoyed the chance to relax and unwind and get acquainted with some of the other visiting reenactors.  Many thanks to the PTV organizers and the folks at CW for making us feel so welcome and at home during the weekend.

Returning to camp at the end of the day.

Sunday's weather was on the complete opposite end of the spectrum; cold rain and dark skies replaced the sun and 80-something-degrees that we'd enjoyed the day before.  I was incredibly glad that I thought to throw my cloak into the car because it certainly came in handy as we scurried from building to building throughtout the day in the midst of downpours, or huddled around the fire trying to dry out chilled and soaking feet.  We are nothing if not dedicated!  Colonial Williamsburg was fantastic about the weather, though.  All of the programs went on as normal, and as the day went on, the rain subsided and the guests were still able to enjoy the drilling and demonstrations put on by our troops.

Chatting in camp after "public hours" on Saturday evening,
preparing to head to dinner.

The only trouble with being part of the programming for events like these is that you tend to have to  miss a good deal of what goes on outside of camp, so I apologize for not having more to share than my own camp-side experience and these few photos!  But aside from one minor mishap (what's a trip to CW without a visit to the ER for our group?! (yes, everyone is just fine now!)), the weekend was a splendid one and we're all very much hoping to be able to attend again next year!

Palace Green.

A few additional photos can be found in this event's flickr set.