1876 afternoon dress

I have not been posting much for a while, and the reason for that is that I have been busy hand sewing trim on the 1876 dress - not much to post about. But last Saturday I got a chance to use it my parents birthday party at a manor, so I increased speed a bit and managed to finish it in time - even one day ahead! Here is a post about the construction of the overskirt. There is not much to say about skirt and bodice construction, so here I will just post pictures of the result, taken at the beautiful Kohlswa Herrgård, a small manor close to where I grew up. Also I will give the facts about it as for HSM. 

As always, big thanks to Olof for patient and skill-full photographing! And please disregard that I am outside without hat and gloves - how improper of me!

Inside...

 And outside.

Close up of overskirt, back.

I just had to add some bows.

Crocheted trim with hand made tassels (I think I made about a hundred...)

With my parents. Yvonne wears her Gagnef, Dalecarlia, folk costume.

We also got a tour of the old orangery, which was remade into a suite, in a mixed modern/old-ish style. As decoration, I found an old book, which turned out to be from exactly the year my dress is pretending to be, 1876! It is a collection of magazines, with stories, travel reports, poems, and the like. Of course we had to take a picture of me reading something "contemporary".

I really like this dress! I feel elegant, and the train was not as annoying as I had imagined. (I still wouldn't wear this dress to any crowded event thou - even on this quiet event two people stepped on the train. We are obviously not used to there being trains on clothes nowadays...)

 HSM facts:

What is it?  1876 afternoon dress

The Challenge: no 5, Holes.
Why does it fit this challenge?  I admit to stretching it a bit here. There is a crocheted trim on the skirt, which is made in a lattice pattern, so there is holes, but they can hardly be said to be a prominent feature of this dress. The trim turned out to be more discreet than I would have preferred - I should have made it in a contrasting color, not the color of the fabric beneath.

There is also a "hole"  on the over skirt where the red fabric shows through - formed not by cutting but by the adjacent fabric pieces. I find that a interesting feature of this particular time period , how there are so many ways of making an over skirt.

What time is it? Will work for 1876-1879. It is typical for the transition between early bustle and natural form, with there being still some volume at the skirt in the back, but a slim front.

Fabric? Wool blend for skirt and bodice,  red polyester brocade upholstery fabrics for trim, small piece of cotton velvet for cuff, white cotton for neck and wrist "ruff".

Notions: metal buttons for cuffs. Hooks and eyes.


Pattern: Bodice is Truly Victorian Cuirass Bodice, modified to fit without a large bustle and with another neckline. Skirt is from Fashions of the Gilded Age. Overskirt draped by me. 

How historically accurate is it? Well, fabric should have been silk for a dress like this. For bodices closing at front like this one, buttons seems to have been used on the majority of garments at this time, not hooks and eyes like I used. I think the look is pretty good thou - the elements of trim (including the diagonal "sash" at the bodice) are taken from different fashion plates and combined.
The colour combination is not typical, but it existed. I have seen a few fashion plates with dark blue fabric and red trim, but it is not common. It seems to have been much more common to either use one base color and then a trim of a similar colour but lighter or darker shade (like dark and light blue), or a soft base color with a vibrant accent of another colour, like grey with red. I probably will do a separate post about the preferred colors of this time period later...

Total cost: something like 30-35 EUR. 

Hours to complete? A lot, I would guess 50+. The basic bodice and skirt would only have been a few hours each, but making and hand sewing on all the trim took a while. Just making all the tassels for the trim, and crocheting the trim, would have been 10+ hours. 

First worn? At my parents birthday celebration last Saturday. (no-one else was historically dressed, but I could not resist the chance to wear it at a festive occasion in a beautiful old manor.)

How did I research this? The skirt support has a post of its own. The dress: mainly by looking at fashion plates and photos of extant garments. I also found this post about the so called "parasol pockets" of 1875-1876, which most likely were just decorative. I will have to add a decorative pocket to my skirt sometime, I think.

1930's pants

 In between all the 1870's sewing that I am doing right now, I made myself finish something that will be useful more often than a trained gown, namely a pair of 1930's trousers that I will wear at work. (After all, I had promised myself to make more everyday clothes this year - it felt too stupid to make a something like a fourth 1880's dress and then complain about having nothing to wear for all the days were "normal" clothing is required. ) I have been having trouble finding well fitting pants for a long time, so when I found this pattern that seemed like they would fit my large thigh to waist ratio, I was more than happy to try it.

There is not too much to say about researching and construction of these pants - I followed a pattern, they fit, I love them! They also fit into the Historical Sew Monthly challenge "gender bender". In the picture, I am experimenting with the sailor style that seems to have been popular at the time.


The facts:

What the item is: 1930's Pants

Fabric/Materials: A wool/synthetic blend (as I found out when it melted when I ironed it...)

Pattern: Wearing History's Smooth Sailing 1930's trousers

Year: late 1930's I think.

Notions: Zipper, snap, silver wire for throwing together a belt fastening until I can find a real one

How historically accurate is it? I think the pattern is well researched and I followed the instructions. However, the pattern states that the fit is a bit adapted to suit a modern taste - they are less baggy at the back side than they would have been at the time. Here is a good blog post by Wearing History about the look and fit of early women's pants. I have no idea what fabrics typically was worn, but at least grey wool feels reasonable. Minus for plastic zipper and weird belt fastening.

Hours to complete: 2 h taping the home-printed e-pattern (ouch). Maybe 5 h actually making them? Surprisingly, they fit at first try except for waist size, but I guess the VERY wide trouser legs helps, as I have thighs that are large compared to the size of the rest of me...

First worn: I have been wearing these several times at the office, and I really like them. It feels like they have a retro style without feeling like wearing a costume to work. And they are really comfortable!

Total cost: Something like 180 kr, 19 eur, 22 $.

Early natural form skirt support - me-made

In my previous post, I wrote about my research of early natural form skirt supports.

This is what I ended up making. I will not go into details of how I made them, but just show the result, and the HSM facts.

As mentioned in the earlier post, I based my bustle and petticoat on these ones:

I chose to make the gathering in the form of a drawstring, because I then can let them out and use the petticoat for bustle dress if I want. I think I have read something on how women would convert their bustle fashion petticoats to the later slimmer fashion by adding a drawstring like that, but I am not sure where I read it. I used the same pattern as I will use for the skirt - Skirt with train from Francis Grimbles Fashion of the Gilded Age (this book is a  fantastic collection of period patterns and texts on the natural form era, but as it starts 1877, it could not entirely help me with the transitional fashions of 1876.) My petticoat closely reassembles the one made by Lisha Vidler at Yesterday's Thimble, and she made a very good tutorial (which I did not follow due to laziness), so for details on how to make one properly, look at her tutorial.

The bustle is just made up, without any attempt at period correctness or even neatness. I just made channels, and experimented with the length of each bone until I got the shape I wanted. This is the result:

 Worn with this one underneath:

The Historical Sew Monthly Facts:
Challenge: Protection

What is it? Petticoat (and bustle) for the transition between early bustle and natural form.

Why is it protection? The train of the petticoat will protect the skirt train from dirt from the ground.

Year? 1876. Will work for other years by adjusting the width of the back with the drawstring.

Pattern? I used the Skirt with train from the book Fashion of the Gilded Age by Frances Grimble, and added drawstrings in the back panel to adjust width, and the flounce. For bustle - none, just made it up.

Fabric? Bedsheets, plain cotton for flounce, and mysteroius white fabric from stash for bustle


Notions: tapes, synthetic whalebone for bustle




Time? Maybe 5 h for petticoat, 4 h for bustle. Plus lots of hours to figure out which model of petticoat and bustle to use.

Cost? Bedsheets from linen cupboard. 80 kr for the flounce fabric.

How historically correct is it? Petticoat is based on a period pattern, and pictures from ads from the time, so the look and shape is ok. Construction methods are not- I did whatever I felt was easiest, as I had not much inspiration/energy left for making after all the researching. Also, I am sure that someone affluent enough to wear a long train like this would have had fancier fabric than this in her petticoat. And there seems to be lace on almost all petticoat flounces I have seen, but I skipped that for cost reasons. 
Bustle is decent in the resulting shape, but no attempts are made at using historically accurate materials or construction methods.

First worn: just for photos, yet.

I learned a lot in figuring out these ones - a fun challenge!

Early natural form transitional skirt support

This is a quite long post. In short, it is about my research about what types of skirt supports and petticoats that could have been worn under a trained 1876 skirt - a transitional year between the very full skirts of early bustle era and the  narrow natural form.

How to get this shape of skirt, that is the question of this post.

Introduction

Somehow, my first historical sewing project of the year turned out to be an early natural form dress. Two months ago I did not even like natural form, but all it took to change my mind was an enthusiastic friend showing some pictures :-) As I want to do the transition between "late early bustle" and early natural form years, ca 1876, I have been thinking a lot about petticoats, crinolines and bustles. I could even go so far as saying I have been a bit obsessed by skirt supports lately... As usual for me, I concentrate on the fashion of those wealthy enough to follow the latest fashion.

Terminology:

Before I start properly, I will define some of the terms I intend to use. By structural support, I will be meaning any kind of skirt support that either has boning in it or serves only to add volume. This includes for example boned bustles small and large, crinolines, and the smaller ruffled horse-hair bustles. Petticoats on the other hand could add a quite considerable amount of support if they have ruffles, cording, tucks, is heavily starched, or some other trick used historically, but they are still basically a skirt. (Petticoats with built-in boned bustles will be structural support, for this post...)

The challenge

Transition periods in clothing are interesting but tricky. Nothing is as clear as for the typical dresses of an era.
For early bustle period, there is the typical bustle dress, and good patterns are available for bustles and petticoats. 

Day dress with the big bustle skirt 1870-72

1870's bustle (from the Met)

1870's bustle

For the narrower form of natural form, the only support needed would probably be a petticoat with lots of ruffles (and maybe a small tournure), or a slimmer bustle with small horse-hair ruffles 

1879 dresses from La Mode Illustre

1881 dresses from magazine "the Queen"

A slim 1882 petticoat with ruffles

Early 1880's horse-hair bustle skirt (from the Met)

 But in between? What happened to the bustle between these two extremes, as the skirt narrowed, and how fast did it happen? The shape I am aiming for is like in these fashion plates from 1876-1877.

Little addition at hips, quite a lot volume that needs support at knee height, and a train that needs some volume and protection. The question does not get easier by the fact that the choice of a structured skirt support (bustle, crinoline, ...) and choice of petticoat is by no means independent. For full blown bustle dress, you'd obviously need a bustle, but for smaller fashions, the same shape could most likely be achieved either with some structured support and a plainer petticoat, or by using petticoats with lots of volume.

Method 

In trying to figure this out, I have been reading blogs and webpages of other people making natural form underskirts, and I have been looking at fashion plates, advertisements from the period, and pictures of extant garments.

Other people's work

Searching and asking, I found some other people had been doing the same.
I will not put their pictures here, but follow the links to see their great work!
Historical Sewing made an 1876 trained and ruffled petticoat with corded ruffles, and made a good tutorial.
The Modern Mantua-Maker made a full set of underwear for first half of natural form era, including petticoat with ruffled train and a boned skirt support. 
There is the Truly Victorian 1879 Petticoat with Detachable Train.
And Yesterday's Thimble has a good tutorial for an 1876 Petticoat with train. 

Period options

 Looking mostly at advertisements from the time, I found a number of options, depending on how much support you need and where you need it (hip, thigh, knee or ankle height). 

Petticoats

Petticoats with more or less ruffles:

1876, from the Met

Petticoats From Demorest 1877-1878

Petticoats from Buttericks 1878

Trained Petticoat—Harpers Bazar, 1876

Bustles

1876 bustles from The Ladies's treasury

1876 petticoats and petticoats+corset cover, with built in bustle, from Le Moniteur De La Mode

Crinoline like type

A skirt support from a period source, reprinted in Fashion of the Gilded Age

A number of hoopskirts and tornures, 1883.

The latest picture is from 1883, a bit later than mine, but it is not improbable that this variations have been around earlier as well. At the least, it illustrates how many sorts of skirt supports that were available at the same time.

My conclusions

From reading other peoples work and looking at period information, I got the conclusion that just one petticoat would not be enough but that several probably could work. That meant that the choice was either to make at least two petticoats, both with lots of ruffles, or making a structured support and get away with a plainer petticoat, with only enough volume to hide the boning of the structured support. From what I could see from my advertisements, both options could be plausible. Comfort spoke for the second alternative. I find padding with petticoats to be a lot heavier and warmer than using a crinoline/bustle to get the same volume. Also, laziness did - I think it will take me less time and energy to make structured support+petticoat, than it would take to make several petticoats with lots of ruffles.

After way too much thinking (obsessing?), I chose to base my work on this one:

 It has some support all the way down, including some for the train, which means minimal need for petticoats with heaps of flounces. For petticoat, I chose a simple one with only one ruffle, and gathers in the back to control the amount of fabric. It is based on this one, and very similar to the one on Yesterdays Thimble:

I made mine with a longer train, to support and protect the train of my skirt. I decided I did not need the versatility of a floor-length petticoat with a separate button-on  train.

Limitations of this work

I have not read any text sources, only looked at photographs and pictures of structured supports and petticoats. This means that I have no period information on how thay were actually worn and which combination of support and petticoats that would have been common, only own conclusions. Also, I have never handled a petticoat properly made to give lots of support (for example a starched one with lots of ruffles and cording). Thus, I do not know for sure how much support they actually gives - I might be underestimating them.

In next post, there will be pictures of my bustle and petticoat!

Looking back at 2015

At the beginning of the new year, I will start classically by summing up the last year. Last was very productive for me sewing-wise. This was due to two things. The first was that I joined the Historical Sew Monthly (HSM), which meant a deadline each month. As I have only been sewing at vacations before, this meant that I got a lot more sewing done. The second thing was that I got in touch with some more historical sewing people here in Linköping. As sewing together is much more fun than being nerdy on my own, more people to sew with meant that I was inspired to keep up the speed in sewing. In all, I managed to get the first nine HSM challenges done. Then, my project did not fit the challenges.

So, what have I done? I started a new time period, Edwardian, with the practical 1905 outfit (that turned out to be not so practical, as the heavy underskirt pinched my stomach through the corset, the hat is large, and I could not dress myself as there was hooks and eyes at the back that I could not reach.) Still, I liked it. This project involved making an Edwardian corset (HSM challenge #1 foundations) and corset cover, an underskirt (HSM#3 Stashbusting), a skirt and a blouse (HSM #5 Practicality). 

For the turn of the century days I went to with some friends in August, I could not resist making a more upper class version, with a lace blouse (thrifted), reshaping the hat, and making a bolero and belt. I am really happy with the shape I managed to get by the use of lots of bust and hip padding.

Next big project was the 1860's afternoon dress from the book Patterns of Fashion - another new time period for me. Surprisingly, despite the large crinoline this turned out to be one of my most comfortable dresses. I modified my 16th century farthingale to get it more bell shaped instead of cone shaped. Then, there is the skirt, bodice, and undersleeves, and decorating the bonnet. (This was HSM #6 Out of your comfort zone)

In September, I started the last big project of the year - a ca 1880-1890 walking dress from a fashion plate. This will be a sneak peak, as I have not yet blogged it. As the dress neared finishing, I made the vest a bit steampunk by using large hook for fastening, as I was going to wear the dress at my Steampunk larp. I am currently making a period correct vest as well, so I can choose. This outfit consists of a skirt with soutache, and a coat with a false vest attached.

I also made some smaller stuff, to complement dresses I already had.
An over skirt and a new hat for the 1886 dress (This was HSM #2: Blue and #4 "War and Peace")

A "gröntröja", green bodice, for my mother's Gagnef folk costume. (HSM #8 "Heritage and Heirlooms")

Two Tudor caps, constructed in two different ways.  HSM #7 Accesorise.

Crazy stuff: A 18th century inspired dress in grocery store paper bags for a competition (sadly, I did not win anything...)

I also did a remake of the striped 1880's bodice, by adding a false vest and blouse. This way, it got a bit bigger (much needed!) and also a bit more fancy. I also added lots of trimming to the hat belonging to the same dress (HSM #9  Colour Challenge Brown).

After this year, I can confidently say that I have overcome my fear of making button-holes, after making a shirt and two bodices with buttons! I have also arranged a steampunk larp and a historical costume "fika", won a costume competition award, and been to at least five19th century markets or gatherings, so this have been a busy year for the historical costuming part of me! Plans for next year will come in next post.

Gröntröja for folk costume

For the "Heritage and Heirlooms" theme of Historical Sew Monthly in August, I decided I wanted to make a "gröntröja" for my mother, to wear with her folk costume from Gagnef in Dalecarlia.

The different folk costumes in Sweden have a very varying degree of historical accuracy. Some was recreated or even invented in the 1970's when folk costume went popular, and is only loosely based on some remaining piece of clothing. In other regions "local costume" (as opposed to more generic fashionable dress) lived on very strong, so the folk costumes from these regions are much closer to what someone in say the late 19th century would have worn. The Gagnef costume is an example of this more historical type of folk costume. Therefore, I wanted to make this gröntröja, but more as a piece of historical clothing than as modern folk costume. Gröntröja means something like "green bodice". It was worn when a warmer outer layer was needed, and was worn only for big festive occasions such as weddings.

I based my gröntröja on a gröntröja from one in a museum, from late 19th century. I did try to make it look about right, but I have not tried to recreate it exactly.

 And the heritage? My grandmothers grandmother lived in Gagnef, and she was wearing the traditional dress all her life.

In these pictures, my mother wear the gröntröja with her modern folk costume. I suspect that the length of the skirt is an example of something that was modernized when the traditional dress was made into folk costume, but I still think that it is a beautiful costume.

close up of embroidery

The facts for HSM:

What the item is: a gröntröja ("green bodice") for folk costume from Gagnef, Dalecarlia, Sweden.

The Challenge: #8: Heirlooms and Heritage

Fabric: way too coarse wool, cotton for lining

Pattern: none, based on a standard bodice block and adapted

Year: late 19th century

Notions: Hooks and eyes, poly thread

How historically accurate is it? 80% perhaps? The cut is ok, and the constructions is like what I could see on the photograph of the garment I based this on. Also, machine embroidery is correct for this garment :-) But the polyester thread and the cotton lining is not right, and the fabric is way too coarse (I did not feel like paying something like 800 kr/meter (100 $/meter) for fine quality wool).

Hours to complete: Not less than 10 h.

First worn: for photo session last Saturday.

Total cost: Maybe 150 kr?

Why is it heritage and heirloom? My grandmothers grandmother lived in Gagnef, and she was wearing the traditional dress all her life.