Inside the Navy Wool Habit

As I mentioned in my last post, the habit jacket and waistcoat are patterned from J.P. Ryan's riding habit pattern. Fitting this habit was one of the classes I took at Costume College this year. The jacket is barely changed, with only some modification to the lapels. The waistcoats use the pattern as a base, and are modified from there, for style.

The Countess of Provence Gown

In the last couple months, I've had a chance to finish up some things that have been languishing on the "almost finished" pile. When I have no deadline, I have a terrible habit of getting 99% of the way through a project... and then stopping. I have no idea why! And there a garment will sit, and sit, and sit.

On the bright side, this means that when I finally get around to resuming, the project is almost done!

My most recent ensemble to be completed is a similar gown to the one worn by Marie Josephine of Savoy, Countess of Provence, in the following portrait. I love the gown. I love pretty much anything white. And that cap, pouf, whatever it is... is just wild!

Painting by Alexander Kucharsky, circa 1790.

The Remade Chintz Gown

This dress started life back in 2012. I wore it for a 4th of July Parade. It was fun, but it was also all kinds of wrong. Machine sewn, modern pattern, petticoat too short, weird cotton lining, zig zag stitching, panniers.... Yikes. I mean, the list went on. I was never, ever going to wear that dress again.

But, the fabric was worth saving. A lovely, printed cotton chintz.

In 2014 I decided to rip it all apart and reuse the material. I'm embarrassed to say it took three years to get around to finishing it. 

So, apart came every seam, and eventually it became a dress again. A better dress. I reassembled the pieces, reshaping and refitting where necessary and hand stitching them back together as one would construct a gown using 18th century methods. 

I also remade the petticoat. Luckily, I still had fabric left over and was able to recut the whole thing. I saved the old petticoat to use for something else someday. Long sleeves maybe...

 

So bottom line, it's not a new concept, but always buy the best fabric you can. Even if you're skills and knowledge aren't up to it at the time, there is always the future!

Well, it started as a square...

For April's Historical Sew Monthly's challenge (circles, squares and rectangles), I decided a finishing up a fichu was a good (and easy) idea. And it went toward finishing with one of my current outfits. I like using the challenges as inspiration to get things finished that I have left lying around.

It all started easily enough as a nice square, but because of the body and crispness of the silk gauze,  when it was doubled and put around my neck, it was like huuuuuuuge. Way too much of a good thing. So, I cut it in half, and then kept trying on and trimming until it looked ok. It ended up resembling one of the shaped-neckline kerchiefs, like this one, from the Manchester Art Gallery.

Adventures in Draping

Headless got a makeover! 

I've had the same dress form for about ten years. She was really getting sad and broken, so I finally ordered a new one. While waiting for it,  I had the brilliant idea to experiment and take the duct tape mannequin concept to new lengths. 

Draping 18th century garments on yourself is hard. Really hard. Draping on a dress form only goes so far. Patterns are great, but it's still not really the experience of draping.

So, I put on my stays and enlisted my very jet lagged mom (thanks, mom!) to wrap me up in duct tape.

The Polonaise and Some New Accessories

On Friday I had the good fortune of finding out my local group was doing a timeline event this weekend. Super short notice, but as I have been out of town for everything since last October, I was thrilled to have an excuse to get dressed up. And the timeline events are especially fun because you can represent any era you wish to talk about. Those are WWII tents behind me!

I haven't sewn anything new in months, but I did have quite a few things that have never been worn out, so I thought this was the perfect excuse. I wore my new polonaise jacket/petticoat outfit, my Christmas-present-to-myself Sarah Juniper shoes, a black silk bonnet made from the Larkin & Smith pattern, and I also brought out my linen/chintz mitts to protect from the sun. It was hot!

I mostly finished this Polonaise last year. I still want to trim it. That'll happen someday! It's very lightweight cotton with a woven stripe. The bodice is cut so the lining and front section are fitted to the body, but the fashion fabric layer comes away from the body, in the polonaise style, where the back seams let out into pleats.  

I also accessorized with a voile apron, a breast knot, my trusty sun-battling umbrella and a kerchief and cap I bought on my last trip to Virginia.

I always think the pile left from undressing is so pretty! 

And the shoes!! I have wanted to order a pair of Sarah Juniper shoes for years. I always thought it would be so complex and tedious, since Ms. Juniper is in England, but actually it was very easy. I just traced my feet, filled out her paperwork and sent the paper and fabric to her.

In no time at all, they came in the mail and they are beautiful! These are dark green glazed wool. Super comfy! And they look great with my American Duchess buckles.

Stitch, stitch, stitch... Ahh...

What a nice feeling. I missed sewing!

My husband and I have been fixing up a house and we've been staying there for about a month now. It's been totally fun, but I started to really, really miss my sewing room. I finally went and got some UFO's to work on.

Most of last year was spent in the 19th and 20th centuries, so, it's been a while since I've been in the 1700's, and I really missed it!

I took some time today to get moving on my chintz dress remake. It's coming along!

The sleeves are pinned and ready to be attached and the shoulders fitted. The fronts are basted and ready to be stitched, and the skirt panels are hemmed, ready to be stitched to the bodice. They still have the pleats from before, so hopefully I can easily adjust them to fit the remade bodice. 

Is it bad that I kind of hate the fabric now? It's a little too... bold? I dunno... I will finish it, though!

Inside the Robe de Madras

While I finish up some accessories to complete the look, I thought I'd share some of the inside of this dress. After all, the guts are my favorite part. I always look forward to seeing the insides of garments. Reproductions and originals.

The dress is mostly hand sewn. I only cheated on the long skirt seams. I have this weird, skewed view of hand sewing vs. machine, depending on the era. For 18th century, I enjoy hand sewing every centimeter. I revel in it. For mid 19th and forward, I mostly do machine, though I have been doing more and more by hand for convenience (yes, I just said that - I love hand sewing, both for the results and the process of it). 

For early 19th, it kind of falls in the middle. I don't reenact the era, so authenticity is for my enjoyment/education alone. I really enjoy sewing the fun bodice/hem seams, but get a little bored on the long skirt seams. I don't know, when 90% of the dress is done by hand, maybe I should just suck it up and get my running stitch on for those skirt panels... 

I will say, for 18th and early 19th, there are seams that are simply impossible to do by machine. 

Ah, here was a new one. On my other dresses of this era, I have just pinned the closures. On this dress I tried something different and did hooks on one side and eyelets on the other. I have not seen this in an extant dress, but it worked out great. The hooks go into the eyelets and the front is then very smooth under the bib. Also, having eyelets instead of metal loops doesn't cause the same pulling that can happen where the loops are stitched on. I like it. I'll have to look into seeing if hooks were even used for this at all. And hey, if not, I can always remove the hooks and just finish up that side with eyelets.

On a side note, that one layer of linen, at the front, is surprisingly strong! I tried on the dress without stays, after I had finished it, and the bodice really holds you up! It gives me ideas for a new, lighter, bust support, instead of my short stays, depending on the dress, of course.

The dress was based on the fashion plate of the same name. The pattern was draped over my Museo del Traje dress I wore to last years Jane Austen Evening. I love the fit of that dress. I only had to change the back closure to a bib front for this dress.

And my favorite part of any patterned fabric: the matching. 

I'm not kidding. I totally love doing this. It's like a puzzle! I love me some symmetry :)

HSF #15: The Great Outdoors

For this challenge I knocked an 18th century habit shirt off my to-do list. Yay!

The Challenge: #15, The Great Outdoors

Fabric: Handkerchief weight linen

Pattern: Kannik's Korner men's shirt 1750-1800, modified for a ladies' shirt, using information from Cunnington's "History of Underclothes."

Year: Later 18th century

Notions: 60/2 linen thread, 16/2 linen thread for buttons, cotton tape for waistband.

How historically accurate is it? As close as possible.

Hours to complete: Took about four days, sewing in the afternoons and evenings.

First worn: Not yet!

Total cost: The linen cost $22/yd, but I'm not sure how much I ended up using. Maybe a yard or so.

...

The shirt was very simple, if time consuming, to make. Tiny stitches! The instructions on the Kannick's Korner pattern were very helpful. I also referenced the man's shirt in "Costume Close Up." I will probably add ruffles to the shirt when I decide on what particular habit to make. 

Shirt construction is so interesting! With all the little reinforcements and gussets. Very fun to put together.

I chose thread buttons for the collar so they would be soft under the cravat. Next up, a cravat, I guess.

I thread a tape through a channel on the back hem, putting eyelets in the ends of the channel.

I love a good button hole :)

I'm really jazzed about my sleeve links! I copied Georgian examples with bits from the jewelry section and some "paste" buttons. There's currently some on eBay that inspired me. I don't know, for sure, if ladies wore sleeve links with habit shirts, but I know they wore them on shift's sleeves and I know habit shirts were basically like men's shirts, so I figured why not!

The sleeve links were so easy to make. I'll be keeping an eye out for good buttons from now on. Oh the possibilities! 

A black silk bonnet, a cotton polonaise and redoing my chintz gown.

I've been spending the last week getting old, half-finished projects out of the bags and boxes they invariably end up in, and finaly finishing them up. Yay me!

Last night was a good one.

I had purchased Hallie Larkin's 18th century bonnet kit a while back, started it, and somewhere along the line, got frustrated attaching the brim to the caul, so I chucked it aside. Last night I pulled it out and had it finished in about an hour and a half. I really don't remember what had been frustrating me so much...

I think I put it together correctly. I'm not really the poster child for following pattern directions, but it looks pretty good. I think I might add a nice big bow to the front. I just have to round up some more black taffeta for that.

Another project that is almost finished is a summery, cotton polonaise I started last year. The jacket and petticoat are basically finished now. All I have left is to add trim. But at least now it's pretty much wearable, if a little boring.

It looks very sad and limp on the dress form :( I'll have to take better pictures of it when it's all trimmed up.

And lastly for today, I made a cotton chintz gown a few years ago. I love the fabric, but my knowledge of historical sewing has advanced since then, and I could never see myself wearing it again and being happy in it. So... I took it apart!

The pattern was J.P. Ryan's anglaise. The pieces still work (and the fabric was too valuable to toss), so I will be resewing them and refitting where necessary, to make it both a better fitting garment and a more historically accurate one. Yay! 

Reusing fabric and updating style... Quite in the 18th century spirit, I'd say :)

Has anyone else ever redone a garment like this?

The Little Black Spencer

The last project I finished, in 2013, was this little black spencer. I have finally had a chance to wear it and take pictures. I originally made it for a tea, back in January, which I didn't end up going to.

Yesterday, I walked in a Parade, with our local history group, for Independence day. The outfit had absolutely nothing to do with the fourth of July, but then again, we had Romans walking with us too, so who cares!? Just an excuse to wear something new!

I paired the jacket with my gown I made for the Halloween ball last year, a fichu to keep the sun off, kid gloves, American Duchess boots, and a black velour hat and scalloped, pink silk purse, which I had also made for the tea. I was pretty much going for this fashion plate. 

The parade stepped off at 8:30 and it was already sweltering! Though, I must admit, a velvet bonnet and a black wool jacket were probably not the most ideal choices... Ah well, the rest of me was cool. So, for the weather, I also carried a parasol and fan, which helped. Majorly. And since we were walking down the street, I pinned up my very white dress, so it wouldn't get a very black hem. 

One of these days, I'll have to get around to making a shorter dress from this era. But, I must say, the long, frivolous ones are just so much fun.

I hope everyone else had a lovely holiday. Cheers to a fun rest of the weekend, all!

New petticoats for HSF #3 and #4.

Happy March everyone! I got delayed on posting challenge #3, so why not post about the projects together?

For challenge three, Pink, I did up an 18th century petticoat of pink check silk. It's not tremendously exciting by itself, but I have future plans for a frilly little caraco to match. I already have fly fringe for it in the works! 

The Challenge: Pink

Fabric: Pink check silk

Pattern: None, just took measurements from a previously made petticoat that fits.

Year: Later 18th century

Notions: Linen tape for waistband.

How historically accurate is it? Appropriate fabric. Appropriate stitches and pattern, to the best of my knowlege.

Hours to complete: I didn't keep track :(

First worn: Not yet

Total cost: The fabric was about $20/yd.

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For the fourth challenge, Under It All, I finished up an early 1900's petticoat that I started last year. It's based on the Truly Victorian Circle Skirt pattern, with an extra flounce at the bottom. The flounce and skirt are stiffened with tucks at the hem, to help hold the fabric away from the feet, and support the over skirt.

The Challenge: Under it All

Fabric: White cotton broadcloth

Pattern: Truly Victorian's Circle Skirt Pattern

Year: 1900, give or take. I planned it for 1900-1905, but I suppose the shape could be used for 1890's, too.

Notions: Ribbon, insertion, cotton tape for waist band.

How historically accurate is it? I would think it's fairly accurate to the era. The ribbon is probably poly, though...

Hours to complete: I am so bad at keeping track of this!

First worn: Not yet

Total cost: I think the fabric was anywhere from $4 - $8 for a yard. Everything else, I had.

HSF #2: Innovation. The side saddle safety apron.

In beginning to ride side saddle, a whole new world of tack and appointments has been opened to me. Prior to this, not much thought went in to what a lady wore when riding aside, except that it was a skirt.

The ladies riding habit started with a skirt, when ladies would basically wear just clothes to ride, as opposed to a riding "outfit," or habit. I think we can thank those proper and fashionable Victorians for evolving an outfit worn when riding, to a designated riding outfit. 

A lady out riding in her redingote. Fashionable clothing for riding,
but not only worn for riding. Pretty much cut the same as every other dress.

As the century progressed, the riding habit began to look
more and more like what one might think of when "riding habit"
is mentioned.

Sisi of Austria, who was an avid hunter.

Sisi, again. When off the horse, there's a
lot of fabric to keep track of.

In the later part of the century, the shaped riding skirt came into fashion, allowing space for the right knee and a level hem when mounted. No more were skirts billowing around everywhere, hanging at all different lengths, but this meant that on the ground, the skirt hung absurdly long in the front. Here we start to see the skirt being buttoned up to walk.

An 1875 riding habit from the Met.

So, the knee pocket, and way of buttoning the skirt up when walking become the fashion toward the end of the century. The riding skirts begin to lose fabric, as fashions progress, and the more tailored look of the riding habit is seen. A good pattern for this style is Truly Victorian's riding habit skirt pattern, which illustrates the knee pocket nicely.

Two ladies in riding clothes, circa 1880.

Ah, but there was still a problem. A nasty one.

In the event of a fall, a lady could easily get tangled up in the saddle and be dragged and injured, or worse. So, around the turn of the century, the riding safety apron comes about. It is basically an apron that covers your legs when mounted, and wraps around your exposed lower limbs when on the ground. 

The snap fastener also plays into this. Not only is there less fabric to be tangled, but often the aprons were fastened with snaps. In the event of a fall, where the fabric got stuck on the saddle, the skirt would come apart and the rider would be free. And to save her the added embarrassment of walking the field in her drawers, the rider would wear matching breeches under the skirt. And a side note, this is the same reason why western shirts started having those pearl snaps.

Below are a few pictures from Alice M. Hayes' book, The Horsewoman (1903).

The apron, when mounted, looks like a skirt.

From behind, it's just an apron.

And wrapped up, it both covers the legs and
keeps the skirt from dragging.

The riding apron is still worn today, when a lady rides aside. It is both traditional and safe. The style changed a bit over the first part of the century, losing and gaining fabric, and the hem changed with fashion. The "golden age" of hunting side saddle ended with the second World War, and it's style has changed very little since then. 

For HSF: Innovation, I chose to recreate a safety apron. It's all done, save for the buttons, which I haven't decided on yet. Horn or fabric? Hmm… It does close with snaps, so it is basically finished, as all but one button is just cosmetic. I chose navy wool, as navy or black is the appropriate choice for a formal habit. The wool is a medium weight plain weave, which is what I had, so I chose it. Same for the contrasting lining - I had it. Ideally, a habit would be made of a sturdier wool, like whipcord, cavalry twill or melton, which would stand up to the rigors of hunting. As I live in Las Vegas, and I'm not hunting the English countryside (bucket list!!), I'm thinking this is just fine. Maybe I need a Raj era linen habit for summer here… Hmm…

As for the pattern, I browsed many. I even scaled up some 1912 patterns. I had a modern, Suitability apron pattern on hand that I went with. It got a bit of a bad rap with reviews, with users claiming too many darts and too much fabric, but I found it fit me well, with little alterations. I didn't really follow the directions, which is so me, but I don't have any complaints yet, though there were a heck of a lot of darts! Well, and I chose snaps instead of velcro.

The Challenge: Innovation

Fabric: Navy wool lined with checked cotton

Pattern: Suitability's riding apron pattern

Year: Eh, anywhere from 1900 to present. Wide range, I know. The bodice/jacket worn with it would really determine the year.

Notions: Snap fasteners

How historically accurate is it? Oo this question always gets me. I tried to be as true to when these came about, in the early 20th century, as possible. But without a lot of experience wearing these aprons, I went very basic.

Hours to complete: I didn't keep track. Took a few good days, though I did hand sew the whole thing. Not to be snazzy, or anything. Just that I traveled with it and hand sewing is much more portable.

First worn: Not yet. Off to the barn!

Total cost: Less than $5 for the fasteners. Everything else was stash.

And here are some pictures. It is a bizarre arrangement of fabric, until it's on a horse.

From the front, fastened up.

From behind.

And this is why it buttons up...

From the near side, or left side, one would see this.
Like my fake knee chair? It makes more sense like this.

From the offside, you see this.
The flap at the bottom fastens around the right leg,
keeping everything in place. Some aprons replace this
with an elastic loop.

I have accumulated many, many more examples of these aprons, as well as other side saddle bits and habits, over on a Pinterest board. Check it out!

And just for kicks…