Star Trek Voyager Uniform

This summer have been much hiking and biking (including a very nice trip to the Swedish "High Coast", Höga kusten), and not so much sewing. I have made one project thou: something I have wanted for a long time, namely an uniform from Star Trek Voyager. I have watched the 7 seasons twice, and am a huge fan of Captain Janeway. (I also like the cybernetic, hive-mid Borg of the series a lot, but cosplaying them would be a significantly larger challenge! )

Photo by Iza Palm

The uniform is made from a black jumpsuit which I already had, which I picked apart and remade. Just getting rid of the pockets took several hours, as they were very sturdily attached ( it was a work-wear overall, after all, not a cosy lying-in-the-sofa Onesie/Onepiece...). The main changes was to make it a lot slimmer, and putting on the colored yoke. I removed the sleeves, shortened it at them waist, and then using my standard bodice patter for a template of how much smaller the bodice needed to be. Then I recut the sleeve holes and sleeves, put on the yoke on sleeves and bodice, and attached the sleeves again. All in all, I think re-modelling it took just as long as starting from scratch would have done, but it felt easier to start with something and just pin it in until it fit, rather than cutting toiles and trying. 

I also made a combadge from plastic which I cut and painted. For rank pips, my husband found perfect magnets, the right size and very strong. I also had to make a deviation from what they wear in the series: the uniform has no pockets, and they almost never wear bags, as the spaceship is so sofisticated that there is no need for money or keys. My world however requires me to keep keys and money and phone (that communication badge is still not working…), so I added a hip bag.

Photo by Iza Palm, cropped and lightened a bit to show more details.

I like the result, and compared to the 1880’s dresses which needs corset and bustle and underskirt, it almost feels like cheating to have a costume this comfortable. Now I just needs to make up more excuses to wear it! Also, I would like try my hands with make-up, and paint on Jadzia Dax' markings and cosplay her.

Dual fandoms - Star Trek and Doctor Who! Here you can see the added hip bag. 

The facts:
What is it? A uniform from the science fiction series Start Trek Voyager

Fabric? A remade jumpsuit of very sturdy cotton, and some polyester for the blue-green yoke.

Notions: Metallic zipper, a communicatior badge made from plastic, rank pips (strong magnets).

Pattern: I used my basic bodice pattern as a guide for the bodice. The pattern for the yoke is the same as I used for my Star Trek jacket.

How historically accurate screen accurate is it? It looks decent, but I have not cared whether the construction methods are the same as in the films, or not. My jumpsuit has a waist seem that is not in the series ones, and some seams in the back are different as well. Also, the "real" uniforms used wool twill, which would be almost impossible for me even to find, so I used cotton/polyester instead. I think the overall look is good thou.

Total cost: 8 Euro for the zipper and magnets, 10 Euro for the blue-green fabric (I only needed like 20 cm of the 1 m I bought, but the rest is probably not useful for anything else.)

Hours to complete? A guess is 10 h for the jumpsuit and almost 2 for the combadge and fiddling with rank pips.  

First worn? At the NärCon cosplay and game convention here in Linköping a few weeks ago.

How did I research this? Looking at pictuers, and reading the very good (but very long) costume analysis by a pattern company who apperarantly have done their homework well (found on this page).

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.

Constructing the 1876 overskirt

As I started my 1876 dress, I was a bit baffled by the overskirts. They seemed so elaborate and they all looked quite different - how to start? As I started, it turned out to be not so difficult after all. Here is how my overskirt looked step by step as I added pieces to the overskirt. 

The finished dress will get a post of its own soon, with lots of pictures from photo session at Kohlswa Herrgård, a manor close to where I grew up.

Of course, the real process was way more messy than it looks here, with cutting toile pieces, and experimenting with both them and the actual pieces. This is the pieces I ended up using. 

The front overskirt is almost rectangular, with just small darts at waist.  

And for the back, three smaller pieces.

First, the not quite finished bodice and skirt, without any overskirt pieces.

With front overskirt added:

Added the blue back pieces: 

And with the red: 

I then decided it looked too flat and well ordered while the overskirts of the time seemed more draped and gathered. I tried to add some more gathers. Experimenting out at my dress form:

Finally, it ended up like this (a sneak peak from the photo session). I would have preferred it even more draped,  but the blue was too soft and the red too stiff, so this is what I ended up will. I am pretty satisfied anyway. (I just had to add some bows as well, and there might be even more bows added the next time I use it... )

 

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!

1888-1890 walking dress

In Oktober, I posted that I had started a 1880-1890 walking dress based on a fashion plate. (Actually, the plate is not dated, but by the looks it has to be something like these years.) I managed to finish it in time for a the first intended wearing, a steampunk larp, but that also meant that I made a slightly steampunked version of the vest. Now I have made the more historically accurate (HA) vest I originally intended, so now I consider it finished. I posted about the finished skirt here.

This dress consists of a skirt with soutache embroidery, and a coat-like overdress with an attached false vest. Under, I wear a shirt and kind of tie. (And of course chemise, corset and bustle.) (I will probably make a better shirt sometime, but here I borrowed a modern shirt for the steam punk larp, and my Edwardian shirt for the photo session.)

Sometime, I might get around to describe how I adapted the standard bodice pattern to a coat-like overdress, but this time I will just put up lot of pictures.

A closer look with the HA vest:

I made a welted watch pocket, just as on the fashion plate! That was fiddly, and meant I had to do the scary thing of cutting a hole in the front and hoping I would not mess it up... But it turned out ok, and I like the look of it even while it is not nearly perfect.

 Then, in its steam punk version:

At the larp, with Stempunky Mystical Machines.

 

And the HSM facts:

 Challenge #1 2016: Procrastination

What the item is: ca 1888-1890 walking dress. 

Fabric: A soft blue polyester  fabric with some stretch, flat lined with old cotton sheets. Polyester velvet for collar, lapels and revers.
Pattern: I started with the Truly Victorian 1885 Cuirass Bodice to get the general shape, but then I changed the front totally, added a collar, and added a skirt to the bodice, so there is not much left of the original pattern. Truly Victorian 1885 Four-Gore Underskirt for the skirt.

 Year: 1888-1890  I would guess.
Notions: Soutache braid. Hooks and eyes for closure of the HA vest, those large hooks for closure of the steam punk vest (taken from all those useless key bands you get now and then as a student).
How historically accurate is it? The look and shape of it is pretty good, but construction methods is mostly made up as I went along. Materials is all wrong.

 Hours to complete: lost count. Something like 5 h for the soutache on skirt and a few more hours to sew the skirt. I think the soutache on the HA vest took 3 h. Maybe 5 h for constructing and testing the pattern for the coat/overdress. I would say, in total something like 25-30 h??
First worn: Steampunk version:  for my larp in last October and for my 30:th birthday masquerade. HA version: not yet except for photos.
Total cost: maybe something like 60-80 Euro?

Procrastinated for how long: Not so long, actually. I made it with its steam punk vest in October, but it took until January to get started on the HA vest.