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 ...

Fabric swatches from Renaissance.

So, a while back I received the swatches I asked for from Renaissance Fabrics: spring green, peacock blue, copper, and gold-purple.

Life and fabric samples and broadcloth.

I'm on Day 2 of my New and Awesome Job (please don't let the honeymoon end!), so reality has unfortunately taken its toll on my frequent blogging and research.  That being said, I'm currently juggling a few things at once in my 18thc. life, most of it revolving around textiles and free fabric swatches and deciding what to tackle next.

Currently, I have 5 swatches of linen from Fabrics-store.com laying on the table next to me. They are in 5 different weights: 3.5 oz, 5.3 oz, 6 oz, 7.1 oz, and 8 oz. All are bleached white. I am looking into linen lining for my yellow silk gown that needs to be made, and instead of going, "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo!" and picking a weight without feeling it or knowing what I'm doing, I decided to order the free samples from this online store and feel them alongside the lining currently in my printed cotton gown. I think with the silk I can go a bit lighter in terms of weight, and probably needed something a bit more substantial in the cotton--for the next cotton gown (chintz, please!), I'll do that. The 3.8 is definitely too light; it has a looser weave with thin threads, probably not the best linen. However, it is soft and feels nice between my fingers. I could see using this for a shift if I couldn't/didn't want to shell out the money for really good linen. Right now, I'm leaning towards the 5.3 or 6 oz, though the 6 is rather slubby, and not as soft. The 7.1 and 8 oz are not even on my radar, they're really heavy and almost canvas-like.

With the help of my more experienced friends, I'm getting closer to making a choice about wool broadcloth for a short cloak. I don't want to do a light or scarlet red; I'm looking toward other colors that aren't as frequently seen on reenactors, though I do have my eye on a claret! The colors I'm looking at are black, light purple, 2 dark greens, and the claret. The black is an 80/20 wool/cashmere, so I'm asking around about that mixture. I need something more on the heavy side as it gets cold up here and I'm planning on doing 2 events during the beginning of winter!

One of the ordered samples, gold-purple.

Third, I have silk samples on the way from Renaissance Fabrics. You can get 4 free samples from them, and I'd like to make a decision on silk sooner rather than later for my dress gown for the ball in January. The taffetas are both shot and not shot, so I'm looking forward to seeing those soon. Renaissance has very affordable prices (taffeta is $17/yard), and some of the colors look really pretty. Including the gold-purple, I ordered samples of copper, peacock blue, and ice blue.

Online window shopping.

Money is tight for many of us, and I am no exception. One of my favorite pastimes is to browse online fabric stores for items within my budget for future reference as well as for textiles which I would never be able to buy unless I a.) hit the lottery, b.) married very well, or c.) suddenly came into a high-paying position or inheritance. I've struck out on all three so far, so I'm stuck to window shopping.

Have you heard of Design Diva Fabrics? My source for all things textile knowledge told me about this whacky site. It's whacky in that they are ALWAYS running sales, and those sales change by the minute. Yes, you can go look at a fabric, refresh the page, and the price has changed. It's totally bizarre, but so much fun to browse! The prices range from what we consider normal for such things as taffeta all the way up to the most outrageous lampas--we're talking close to $1000 for a yard. Pick your jaw up off the floor now!

Currently, Design Diva is having a sale--80-90% off sale. Supposedly, there are new taffetas and dupionis (please reenactors, don't ever use that stuff) from such names as Scalamandre, Pierre Frey and Vervain for as low as $10/yd. You got my attention, I will certainly browse around your crazy website for fabrics that I cannot buy just yet. In addition, there is a "site-wide sale up to 65% off." So ... yeah. I'm tellin' ya, you can't make this stuff up! Totally bizarre.

So I went looking for stuff that's $10/yd. I haven't found much yet, but what I did find was a lovely medium-weight silk taffeta by Scalamandre for $15/yd (retail is $242.60/yd, they sell it for $99.99/yd):

I think that would make a lovely sacque for a ball. I'm still not 100% on weights, though, so it may be too heavy as a medium. But, it would be lovely as something!

My favorite color combination is purple and yellow. Any shade of purple and any shade of yellow is all right with me. My dressage saddle bag is purple with yellow trim, I have purple polo wraps and yellow polo wraps for my horses (somewhere ...), I wear purple constantly ... I'm a fan. So, I love this Vervain shot taffeta in purple and gold, on sale for $22.50/yd (retail is $332.60/yd, DDF sells it for $149.99/yd):

Another sacque for another ball. Or just a sacque in undress. Hell, I just want to make a gown from it!

This looks very, very familiar to me ... completely out of my reach at $90/yd but I feel like I've worn it before ...

Yep, I have worn it before!

What's your "if money was no object" fabric that you would love to get your hands on?

The makings of a stash.

Miss Hallie has been clearing out some of her fabric stash, and I couldn't help but jump headfirst into it. What better way to get some great fabrics that have already been vetted for accuracy and authenticity? I love looking at the fabrics when she posts them, even if I don't buy any of it, because it gives me an image to compare when I'm browsing around fabric sites (especially printed/painted and embroidered/brocade/damask textiles). I've not yet made the leap into purchasing something exquisitely expensive (like a $35/yd damask), and I would sure as anything have Hallie look at it first, but it's nice to have something from her to start my stash.

What did I end up with? A beautiful, golden yellow silk taffeta. It's not shot, but it almost seems to change from a yellow to a deeper, golden yellow. It's absolutely lovely. There was only 5.5 yards, so it will be a practice silk gown that I will use for a runaway impression. It will also double as a simple silk undress/informal/day dress. I plan on quilting a petticoat for it, as well as using other colors of silk for plain petticoats. Every time I walk by it, I have to reach out and touch it (I also do this when I'm shopping for modern clothes). Good thing I'm getting into fabrics, eh?

And since we're talking about silk, I came across an interesting article courtesy of the Tufts Museum Studies blog: conservation scientists at the Smithsonian Institution have developed a technique to date silk items! It's a very interesting article, and the technique only uses one millimeter of silk to give a range of 50-100 years. If the textile has been stored in museum-quality environments, it is even more accurate. Well-dated and documented textiles and garments were used in the study, including a 1740s man's coat from the Museum of the City of New York. Yay science!