18thc. Gown Workshop Recap

I'm still working on my post about the "Mercy Bradford" cloak at Pilgrim Hall, but watermarking the photos is taking a while when real life gets in the way! Instead, while fresh in my mind, I'll give a recap of the gown workshop I attended this weekend put on by The Hive at Minute Man National Historical Park.

This was the second gown workshop I've been to that was put on by Hive instructors Miss Hallie and Miss Stephanie. The first one I went to was back in July 2011, when I did my printed cotton gown. I was wholly unprepared for that one; they are not kidding when they say it is a very intense weekend! Back in July I knew nothing, had really never sewn anything, and was a ball of anxiety. I know a little bit more now, and though I am not as close to completion as some of my workshop peers, I have no anxiety at all, whether about the workshop or my gown. I'm still pretty darn slow at sewing, but that will speed up with practice.

So, for the first time, I worked with silk. I had purchased this goooorgeous yellow silk taffeta from Hallie when she was clearing out some of her stash, and it's a great silk for a beginner to work with. It's not slippery, it takes a finger press really well, and it's just plain ol' pretty. The first time I pulled it out at the workshop there were some gasps, and lots of, "It's like a ray of sunshine!" comments. My silk doesn't hold a candle to the drooooooool-worthy red silk damask another participant brought; no one wanted to stand too close to it for fear of drooling on it. Seriously!

I think one of my favorite parts about these workshops is drooling over everyone's fabric (in addition to getting to handle an extant gown that is used for study). I'm becoming a fabric whore and as someone who is very tactile, working with textiles is just a pleasurable experience (when I go clothes shopping, I have to touch every. single. thing.). Everyone is always willing to chat about where they got it, how much they paid, "Of course you can touch it!" One lady had a really nice ivory linen and looks so good on her.

The way this workshop was run was different than last July, as Hallie and Steph are always learning something new and what works and doesn't work in terms of workshop flow. In July, we started with sleeves and over the course of the first day, we were fit to a pattern this. This time around, all of the fittings were done prior to the workshop, and sleeves were homework. I really liked this format better; by the time day 1 is complete, you feel confident enough to go home and make your sleeves. When day 2 rolls around, all that's left is to attach the sleeves and gown skirts; after that, you're done (unless you didn't hem, then you have to hem the skirts). Things may change for the next workshop, but I really enjoyed it this way!

So, where am I on my gown? Well, not quite as close as my fellow "mantuamakers" but WAY ahead of where I was last July. When I left the workshop for the second day in July, I only had the center back panel done. It was lined, with the en fourreau pleats stitched down, and ... that was it. This time around, I have all of that PLUS the two front bodices on! The lining still needs to be whipped in but that's an easy step. I have one sleeve done and am working on the next. First, though, I need to finish my stays.

All in all, I cannot recommend this type of workshop enough. Every item you sew should teach you something, and I've come away with more knowledge than I did the last time. I am comfortable enough with starting another gown on my own (I know, can you believe it?!). Most importantly, it seems to have finally stuck in my head that it's just fabric. There was no anxiety this weekend (well, there was, due to a dog medical emergency but it was completely unrelated to the workshop), and if I keep stressing myself out over this stuff, it's not going to be fun anymore. It took me nearly all day to cut out the pieces out for my printed cotton--and I had 11 yards of it, so if I made a mistake, no biggie, right?--but my yellow silk, that I had only 5.5 yards of, one hour. That is a mega improvement! My title of "Queen of Anxiety" is quickly leaving me, and I couldn't be more proud of that one single accomplishment.

My new mantra is "Keep Calm and Carry On." I will keep calm, and carry on, in all situations. Now, I must go sew my stays, as that gun to my head is getting awfully close ...

A (better) stomacher.

My printed cotton is positively lovely, but it is very lightweight and tends to get a bit mushy and stretchy (especially when I'm warm). This is very apparent over my front-lacing stays, as seen in this photo from the first time I wore it:

Very wrinkly and buckling.

This could also have been because the stomacher above isn't finished; I'd only attached the fashion fabric to the linen on the top and bottom and not the sides (ran out of time at 2 am). Plus, the linen I was using was just crappy stuff from Joann's that I'd bought to make a practice workbag. But, I decided it would be best to do two layers for strength, and I needed to be in the gown for a photo shoot on Friday anyway, so Thursday I ripped out the stitches and cut a second piece of linen.

The fashion fabric pinned to the layers of linen.

I cut the second piece of linen smaller all around, so when I folded the fashion fabric and outer layer of linen inward to sew together, it would be nestled between them. The fashion fabric already felt like it couldn't stretch and warp as much just when it was pinned, and as I sewed it together I found this to be true.

The three layers together, before cutting the second piece smaller.

I used the same stitch on the stomacher as I did when hemming my sleeves; I believe it's the overhand stitch (could also be the underhand, ha!). It was rather easy, I just had to be careful and ease any bubbles in.

The back stitches and the front.

It came out really well, and when I pinned the stomacher to my stays on Friday, I was very happy with how it laid very nicely over the lacing! Now if only I could get my gown on correctly every single time ...

2am realizations.

The beginnings of some juicy raspberries.

I have been working diligently away on the embroidery. I am really so in love with embroidering, it's very zen and soothing. Saturday night, I ended up staying up until 2 am because I had no concept of time while embroidering! It goes by really quickly though, and I wasn't even tired. I had to force myself to put it down and go to bed.

Finished berries.

However, at 2 am I had the realization that I have been embroidering on the wrong side of the linen since the start. I noticed this when looking at the berries on the linen and on the color code; they were reversed on the linen from the color code. Flipping over the linen, the black ink could still be seen ... and I felt like an idiot! I wasn't ripping all of my hard work out, and in any case, no one will see the pocket. So I know for my next one, don't do it on the side with the ink!

Progress!

When this pocket is completed, I'll be buying a second pocket kit in the same style (the Salem). My biggest concern with getting closest to the end of the embroidery is putting the pieces together. I'm sure it will be fine, but from reading the instructions over I'm already confused! One at a time, one at a time.

My list of things to complete/begin is ever-growing, especially since I'm now planning on attending a ball in early January, so I'll be making a formal silk gown for that. My yellow silk gown is a practice attempt for silk, and I consider this more formal gown a practice gown for the summer garden party in 2012. But there's still a lot to do!

• Finish rewhipping a small section of the lining down in my cotton gown
• Sew and hem the pumpkin petticoat from its basted state
• Finish pleating the back panels of the cotton petticoat, then join the front and back and hem it
• Buy wool broadcloth to make a short cloak for an event on Nov. 19
• Pick out silk and linen lining for January's gown
• Buy linen lining for the yellow silk gown
• Make sleeve flounces
• Make panniers and a hip roll to keep the pannier steady
• Make silk mitts
• Maybe a new, fine linen shift with lace edging on the neck?

So much to do, but thankfully it's all fun stuff!

Lucy Locket lost her pocket!

I am not Lucy Locket nor have I lost my pocket, but I have started embroidering!

Yesterday I worked on a communal quilted petticoat at the historic crafts/trades day, so I didn't bring the pocket kit out at all. This winter I definitely want to quilt one; just a simple diamond pattern to start, but eventually I'd like to quilt the pink petticoat from the MFA Boston I posted about a few weekends ago. Mrs. S. already has the pattern for it, and is even working on it for herself! But that is a long ways off, I need to get better first. :)

This morning I started working on my pocket, and I'm finding it to be just as relaxing and zen-like as quilting. It's much easier then I thought, too (getting the wool through the narrow eye of the provided needle is tough, but a little beeswax fixes that). The stitch diagrams included in the instruction packet are very easy to follow!

Here's some photos of a stem stitch to outline a leaf and a filled leaf with a satin stitch. I'm trying to be economical with my wool, like a New Englander would have in the 18thc., and keep it neat on both the right and wrong sides.

I'll continue to post about it as I work on it!

100%.

That's me. In my gown. At the North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts. It is complete, and I am in love with it.

What a weekend! Part 2 of 2.

That mound of sewing I was talking about yesterday ... oy. Though I'm nearly complete with what needs to be done, it still was stressful and intense and I can't lie, I thought there was a chance I'd be borrowing a gown for this weekend.

Luckily, I have a fabulous support system and I'm really on my way to completing my very first gown.

After the photo shoot, I donned my stays, pulled out my gown and we set straight to work. I though I was almost done; but those damned sleeves! My sleeve pattern ended up having to be redone, the sleeves that I'd backstitched in were taken off, and we found out that one of the back pleats needed to be resewn as well. At first, it was believed that we didn't actually need to take the sleeves off; I'd accidentally caught a bit of the fashion fabric while backstitching the left sleeve in, so cutting that thread should solve the problem. Right?

No.

In the eleventh hour of Saturday, the sleeves came off, and with a new pattern I cut them from my remaining yards of fashion fabric. If you've been keeping track, that would be pair number three of sleeves. Then, I accidentally made two left sleeves, so I had to redo one. Three-and-a-half. The theme of Saturday was, "Thank God I bought eleven yards of fabric!"

The skirts are pleated and basted in, but one part needs to be reworked, then I have to stitch them down in a spaced backstitch. I've already backstitched the sleeves in, both on the bottom as well as on the top, both under and over the robings. The lining is whipped down to the front of the bodice. Friday, I'm going back down to Hallie's and we're hemming the sleeves, making cuffs, and putting the back turn down on the top back of the bodice. I also need to hem the gown before then.

In addition, I have one-half of a petticoat, with a second that needs to be made, and I still have to make my linen work bag with embroidery. I would really like to get to the embroidery since it will be practice for embroidering my pocket. I'm borrowing a cap and neck handkerchief, but eventually will be making my own.

Phew. That's a lotta work! But I'm up to the challenge, and looking forward to it. I've already decided that my next gown is going to be a runaway impression; I had so much fun portraying a runaway that it would be neat to research my own for that specific event, though my main impression is middling class. Plus, runaway ads are excellent research, and I'll get to make other pieces of clothing with it, as they usually took a number of things with them.

And big huge bonus: Hallie has an extra dressform that will become mine! I've been working on the flat, and had I been working on a form, I probably could have recognized that something wasn't working and stopped. So that makes me extra excited for making more garments.

Maybe I'm more mathematical than I thought.

I'm pleating my printed cotton petticoat right now, and it's kind of awesome! I found it a bit difficult to do on the skirt panels for my gown, but with a flat, very straight-forward piece of fabric, it's really rather easy to do.

That may change when I have to do them backwards on the back panel, though!

I had to piece together the petticoat as my fabric was only about 46 inches wide. This makes it more accurate and authentic, as looms back in the 18thc. were much, much smaller then modern ones. 60 inches of fabric may make it really easy, but maybe consider buying smaller pieces of fabric or chopping up the larger fabrics to make it accurate!

The center front box pleat.
I made it about 4 inches.

The seam where I had to
piece together the petticoat.

These are my photographs. Please do not take or use them without permission.

Embroiderers of the 18thc.

My quick and dirty search into slate frames, scroll frames, screws, and general embroidery in the 18thc. proved to be very interesting.

No, really! I'm not an embroiderer, so researching something I know hardly anything about was really neat. In the past, I had picked it up with silly cross stitch kits and kits with round hoops and Disney characters on them. But that's contemporary, and really all I had to do was follow the instructions and the color guide. Thinking about it now, it's all very similar to what I'll be doing on my practice workbag and the pocket. But at the same time, it's also different.

The light at the end of the tunnel.

My apologies to my readers for my absence yesterday! It was a day filled with driving, sewing, and working on my printed cotton gown. I wanted to blog about it last night, but I fear that a second glass of wine did me in (oops).

The end is nigh for my first 18thc. creation! It is so amazing to think how close I am to completing it (and sort of freaking out because I don't want it to end!), when in the beginning I was a panicked mess and truly thought I would never finish. Mind you, this gown is the first thing I've ever created--yeah, you heard that right, I've never sewn. Really, truly, never sewn from start to finish. Hemming, sewing holes? Who hasn't done that? I had no idea the stitches I was doing, I just knew to thread the needle and go. And now, I know many different names of stitches, and the gown is almost done!

Currently, the gown has the skirt panels pleated and basted, and they are basted to the bodice on both sides, and ... the sleeves are on! They have been backstitched into the armscye and when I get together with Hallie next weekend, they will be completed (holy crap!). I have instructions on how to piece together my petticoat--the printed cotton is only about 46" wide, so there will be a few panels--as well as how to make a petticoat with wider fabric, which I will be ordering. I'm also making a practice linen workbag to hold all of my sewing notions and tools, and after that will move on to making a silk one. For the historic crafts day I'll be borrowing a cap and neck handkerchief, but plan on making those as soon as I can. I will probably need to borrow an apron, too. There's lots to do but I still have time.

The following weekend is a colonial faire and muster that I'll be attending with a friend, but after that I will have about a month until another event, so I figure my cap, apron, and handkerchief can wait until then. There is no shame in borrowing what you need but don't have!

Photos of the gown to come soon, as well as my bit of research on embroidery!

Lastly--I'm suddenly up to 8 readers! Hi there, and thanks for following my journey!

Sew alone, but don't measure.

There is a reason why there are such things as dress forms and models and assistants. Thankfully, it doesn't really matter to me, because it's a $30 cotton shift that I needed in a pinch. It had a drawstring neck and sleeves that were too long, also with drawstrings to make a ruffle. Those don't exist anymore. But the neck may be too big and the sleeves too short. And I'm okay with it! I can make a neck handkerchief, and the gown sleeves will be fine. I won't have this shift forever, instead I consider it a practice garment. Yes I'll have to wear it, but I'm not walking around reenactments in my 18thc. undies! It's been a fun experiment, and I've proved to myself that I can do this. Woohoo!

A quick fly-by: Something to look forward to!

It's shaped! (Pardon the messy desk)

Just a quick little post about something I finally got around to last night: shaping my hat! After I post my embroidery research, I'll show the process I did to shape it. Super easy to do, and it was dry by this morning. All it needs now is some simple trim around the crown and maybe some ties--I'll be using hatpins with it (see that piece of white next to my now-defunct Borders card? It's holding 3 hatpins!), so I may not add ties. It also depends on if I bought enough silk ribbon!

Screwed! ... sort of.

Remember yesterday's post, about those scroll frames at A.C. Moore that could pass for period?

Well ... maybe not.

It looks like my initial thoughts about them not having screws were wrong. They do in fact have screws. And wing nuts. Those are definitely not 18thc. I still bought it, because what the heck, right? I am not going down without a fight!

I may be able to get them to work without the screws. I'm going to test a thought I had while thinking about them grocery shopping (usually, all of my best thinking is done in the shower). I think, if I can tie the dowels together in a tight X shape, they could work.

Is that 18thc.? I don't know. Before I do that, my next move is to try and find 18thc. drawings/engravings/paintings of people with a slate frame and see how the dowels were held together; my research yesterday said that one of the books on my library list, 18th Century Embroidery Techniques by Gail Marsh, has engravings of women working at slate frames. I also may find that if I can hold them together with something else--not necessarily a screw, or a tie, but maybe another dowel?--that could pass for period. I can't just try and hide the screws, as I'm going to need to get to the back of the embroidery, and lifting it up would expose the wing nuts.

This is an unexpected but welcome challenge. I may not know a lot about slate frames and embroidery now, but I'll know a little more when I'm finished. And that is really, really cool, and a big bonus to being a serious reenactor. I believe that learning never stops, it should never stop, and why not learn at least a little bit about something new?

Ready? Set? Go!

Modern things for the 18thc.

So, after I posted yesterday about my new pocket kit, I read the included instructions, and my heart sank a wee bit. To be able to sew this in a period correct manner (i.e. while in my kit at the historic crafts day), I would need a slate frame. Otherwise, doing it at home on a round hoop is acceptable. Well, I have round hoops (I bought them as a cheap screen-printing method and never used them for that purpose), but what the heck is a slate frame?!

The short answer is it's a type of frame for holding the fabric with tight tension so that the work is done cleanly and precisely. From my quick Google search, it's a fairly advanced and serious method of embroidery (check out the crazy threads!). I am no advanced needleworker, so it seems a bit hardcore for me to order an expensive slate frame for a little pocket. Realistically, how many pockets will I be making? I don't think more than a couple. They're rather expensive, too, and I can't justify the costs (plus shipping) to get one for a single pocket. Then, I had a thought:

What about a modern equivalent that would pass for period?

It makes sense. We modern people do have to use modern accoutrements occasionally in our reenacting, and sometimes we are surprised that a modern thing could pass for 18thc. It doesn't even have to come from a specialty sutler. So, I set out on a quick search before nixing the pocket embroidery anywhere but at home.

If you looked at the link above, it's actually a scroll frame dressed like a slate frame. Hmm, okay. So, I looked for scroll frames at the commercial arts & crafts stores, and hit the motherload on A.C. Moore's site. Most are definitely out of the question, as they include lights and big honkin' screws. But there were a few that caught my eye, and as far as I could tell from the photos there were no screws, and no sewing or tacking down to the frame (which may make it not-period, but we'll see). The scroll frame I looked at is here, and I'll post the photo below.

The dowels have slits in them to keep the fabric taut. I'll have to measure my working space on the pocket to see if 4"x8" is enough, but they also have other sizes if it's bigger.

So, my embroidery-inclined readers, could this pass for period? Or am I doomed to just embroider this pocket at home?

Wm. Booth delivers!!

Finally, after waiting what seemed like an eternity (it was 9 days), my bag of goodies from Wm. Booth, Draper arrived in the mail today. Like a kid in a candy store, I ripped into the yellow package to reveal my spoils ...

One pocket kit by my friends Hallie and Sam Larkin
(Sam illustrated these kits from extant examples),
remnant burgundy ribbon for garters & a cap,
silk thread, and 1/2 inch ribbon for my straw hat.

I'm saving the pocket kit for the Minute Man National Historical Park's open house and historic craft day, but I just had to open it up and see all the goodies inside.

The colors are way off, the threads are beautiful!

Methinks I need to find an appropriate basket to carry this all in! Any recommendations, dear readers?

A New Project in the Works!

I am quite excited to announce my involvement in an enormous undertaking of research, garment creation, and sewing, to culminate in a garden party and muster day next summer, at the Minute Man National Historical Park! It's the perfect opportunity to really be "stuck" in the 18th century, and immerse myself in truly learning the techniques of period sewing (not to mention, be able to use the years of research methodology classes and examine primary sources!).

I'm the newcomer in all of this (sewing-wise, that is), so my hope is that I'll remind others what it's like to be a neophyte again, maybe a teeny bit over their head, and also to inspire other newcomers to just take the plunge! I'm finding, and I've been told, that breaking into this hobby is hard for a woman; I hope that after this project is completed, a few more will join the ranks.

The project is called the "Crazy Concord Chicks" and you can read all about it on our blog. There are 10+ people in this project, and we all have our own standalone pages that get pushed to the main blog. My section is the "Younger Set," with another young lady. We're thinking we need to be the "little rich girls" that get dressed up and sort of emulate the "HEYDAY! Is this my DAUGHTER ANNE!" satire.

And have no fear, this fledgling blog is not going anywhere. I'll be crossposting from the Crazy Concord Chicks, as well as documenting the process for whatever gown I end up choosing. Lots of work, yes, but this is going to be so much fun!

"HEYDAY! Is this my DAUGHTER ANNE!" linked from "A Catalogue of 18th-Century British Mezzotint Satires in North American Collections." By F.E. Adams, 1773. Found in two collections: New York Public Library (B1970.3.970) and Lewis Walpole Library (779.10.11.1).

Ready, set, SLEEVES! Part 2

The sleeve has been cut out of the fashion fabric and is ready to be put together.

Ready, set, SLEEVES! Part 1

A few days ago, I finally got around to redoing the sleeves for my first ever 18th century gown. I'm now 99% done with them; all that's left is to hem them (and add cuffs, but that's an embellishment, so I'm not counting them). I'm going to wait to do that, though, until after they are attached to the bodice. They are still a bit big on me, but I'm actually okay with that, because then I'll have room to move with poof-y shift sleeves in them.

Below the jump is part 1 of the process with the left sleeve. This is fairly picture heavy and a bit long, so my apologies (and why I split it up)!

All in the sleeves.

For a beginner, setting sleeves into the armscye of a gown is tricky business. Or, so I've been told, as the gown I'm currently working on has no sleeves attached. This is due to my lack of confidence as a new sewer, the fact that I have to have every stitch perfectly in its place (hi, I'm a neurotic perfectionist, nice to meet you), I'm more of a tortoise than a hare in my work, and that I panicked--a lot--over the course of a weekend gown workshop. Had I not sat up until 12:30/1 am, frantically texting friends that had a clue about what I was doing and searching the internet for help, and instead just sewed, well, my gown would have been a heckuva lot closer to complete than it is now. Coupling that with the fact that I was going on vacation a few days after the workshop and probably wouldn't touch the gown until after I got back, not much has been done to it. But this is good news, because now I can document the steps completed and those that are forthcoming, both in the name of research and so that in the future, I will know what the heck I'm doing.