18th Century Gown En Fourreau Back Tutorial

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Getting a nice looking en fourreau back is one of the most noticeable struggles when sewing an 18th century gown. Like it or not, you will be judged on the back! For most of the 18th century, the robe a l’anglaise, English gown, or English nightgown was cut with a one piece back. The back is then pleated onto the lining, usually in 4 pleats that taper in towards the waistline. These pleats must be hand tacked to the lining before the sides of the gown are sewn.

I recently made up two test dresses to fit two different patterns that are on the market right now. The first is Larkin & Smith English Gown:

Larkin and Smith English Gown Pattern

I have to say this pattern has THE BEST instructions I have ever seen in a pattern, historical or otherwise. It is like getting a workshop in a pattern!

The other pattern is Reconstructing History’s Open Robe Anglais pattern:

RH822 – OPEN ROBE ANGLAIS WITH POLONAISE OPTION

This pattern has some unique features that are not available in other 18th century costume patterns, such as the robings and bottom center fronts that nearly meet. This is PERFECT for early 18th century – 1740’s (think Outlander) and I don’t think there is any other pattern out there that has these features. The sleeves are also very wide, suitable for early 18th century. If you want to make a gown for 1750’s or 1760’s (or later) use a sleeve from a different pattern – I used JP Ryan’s English Nightgown as I already have that pattern fit to myself. Interestingly, the pleating template for this gown’s back is more suitable for 1770’s-1780’s and I will explain why in a moment, just stick with me here. It is hard to make one pattern to cover every little style change over the course of 80 years, so you have to know the style changes and know what time period you want to recreate, and mix and match patterns accordingly.

The pleating pattern from Larkin & Smith is spot on for mid 18th century.

Why?

My research in online images from museum costume collections (The Met Museum and Victoria & Albert primarily) and the opinions of many other experienced 18th century seamstresses is this: the width of the pleats for both the robe a l’anglaise / English Gown and robe a la francaise (Sacque Gown) became more narrow as the century progressed. This includes both the pleats in the back – en fourreau back and watteau pleats – and the pleats in the skirts. That said, the size of the skirt pleats is wider depending on how heavy the fabric is. Wool or heavy brocade is around an inch while chintz gowns are more like 3/4 inch and then thin silk taffeta gowns of the later 18th century can be as small as 1/4 inch. However, the fabrics also tended to get lighter as the century wore on, although much older fabric was also remade to update the look. So this trend isn’t 100% – it is just a guideline. Here are some illustrations:

Saques were pretty much out of style by the 1780's but were still worn for court functions.

Sacques were pretty much out of style by the 1780’s but were still worn for court functions well into the early 1800’s.

And here is a comparison for the English Gowns:

English gowns were in style for nearly the entire 18th century, with pleats and fabric weight getting lighter as the century wore on.

By the 1780’s some gowns were being made with separate gowns and skirts, often with a deep V in the center back. It is not easy to tell from a full length photo if the gown has very tiny pleats that face the CB, as the yellow example above has, or if the skirt and gown are separate pieces entirely:

Same yellow gown on the left compared to a gown with a separate bodice and skirt. Hard to tell!

But close up, they are not the same! You can see the seam coming down the center back of the purple stripe gown with no pleats.

Having done the research, on to the sewing!

The Red Dress was inspired by this:

Original red print gown from Victoria & Albert.

I just lucked into some dark red print cotton while shopping on Etsy one day, and decided to make this. The original is a wool/silk blend, but my dress is cotton. I used the Reconstructing History pattern for this because it has both the narrow center front and the one piece front – the shoulder strap is cut out with the front, and it only has one seam where it joins the back. There is less margin for fitting this way but I found it was pretty easy to fit just tweeking the back seams. I did not have enough fabric to make a petticoat, so the petticoat and stomacher are made from cream colored cotton matelasse.

For the second dress I used a dark purple fabric with a small woven stripe in it – it is a cotton / linen blend. In 18th century terms this fabric was known as fustian. I did have enough fabric for a petticoat front (the back being made from a similar colored linen) but I wore it first with a stomacher and petticoat made from linen embroidered with a pattern that imitates tambour embroidery.

The Larkin & Smith pattern instructions tell you to use pins to mark the pleats, and then remove the template without moving the pins, but I have used tailor’s chalk for marking these pleats for years without any problems. Just to be on the safe side, I put the line just slightly on the underside of the pleat, and overlap the second line enough to hide the chalk, if there is any left by the time I am done handling it. Use whichever method works best for you.

So the first thing I did was sew the center back seams per the pattern instructions, and then lay the pleating template from each on top, and marked the pleats. Then using my fingers, I finger press the fold line for each pleat.

Pinch, pinch those pleats in!

Here is one pleat pinned, one pinched.

Pin those bad boys down, just over the chalk lines!

Both purple and red gowns with all four pleats pinned down. The pleats on the red dress are VERY close together – only about 1/8 inch apart. This is a more narrow pleating style from the third quarter of the 18th century.

Once the pleats are all pinned in, it is time to fit to the back lining. You want to sew the back lining together at the center back, but not at the side seams or the shoulder strap. Line them up with the center backs together. It helps to stick a pin up inside the seams to match them perfectly, then pin in place.

Pinning with center back seams aligned.

Once they are pinned the next step is to “stitch in the ditch”, meaning sew the back and lining together through the center back seams. Sewing it this way will make the seam invisible. Do this before beginning to stitch the pleats down, or you risk having the lining shift on you.

Stitch in ditch is invisible on the front – use thread that matches your fabric.

Dark thread will show on the lining side.

Now we are ready for the real fun, sewing the pleats down! First smooth the lining down and pin it through both layers in a few places to prevent shifting. You can use a running stitch to secure the pleats, but I prefer to use a narrow prick stitch. I find it is nearly invisible if done carefully enough. If you are really accurate and not as worried about authenticity, you can machine top stitch the pleats down 1/16 of an inch from the edge. But I don’t recommend it. Stop stitching just below the waistline. This is indicated on the pattern(s).

To do the prick stitch, come up through from the back so you are just barely catching the edge of the pleat, and then go down just over the edge of the pleat:

Swing pleats with prick stitch.

Move down 1/8 of an inch, rinse, lather, and repeat. I do not tie off between each stitch. When the pleats are sewn down, they look like this on the inside:

Since the red dress pleats were only 1/8 apart, I sewed both pleats at the same time. This clearly shows how much wider the purple pleats are.

Next, trim the fabric along the top and sides so the match the lining. Cut a slightly upward sloping line for top of the skirt panel. Bigger side hoops or pads = more drastic upward slope. The length of the sides of your two skirt panels should match the length of the side back skirt panels. Your pocket slits will be in these seams.

Inside of gowns with pleats done.

Outside of gowns with pleats done.

Note: Only cut about 1/2 inch in along the bottom of each side of the lining. This will allow you to sew the side seams. Once the side seams are sewn, sew the skirt fronts to the skirt backs and put in the pocket slits. At that point, it is safe to trim the rest of the bottom lining, to just slightly under the back pleat on each side. Now you are ready to pleat the skirt and attach to the bodice!

Note 2: If I had this to do over, I would make the back of the red lining shorter below the waistline. This deep V would look great with a separate skirt and bodice, but the extreme slope of the back skirt top edge that resulted from this made it REALLY difficult to pleat nicely to the bodice. Note for next time!

I will try to get better photos of the completed dresses next time, but here are two photos of the completed gowns:

Purple Fustian Gown at Ft Ligonier Days with my good friend Sally (in a silk sacque jacket).

Red Print 1760’s Gown

Battle of the Stays: Contestant #2 Reconstructing History Front and Back Lacing Stays in Light Blue and Gold Brocade

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I also did a mock up of these stays, as they needed a bit of tweeking to fit me. I made them longer overall, and I had to do some fiddling to get the tabs somewhat even especially using the front lacing option. There are fewer pieces than the Larkin & Smith stays and none of them have curved 3D boning channels. That said, I assembled them exactly the same as the previous post.

For these stays I will be using reed boning. It is shown below on the right in comparison to a piece of synthetic whalebone:

Synthetic Whalebone vs Cane Boning

The boning is a little thicker than the synthetic whalebone and a little harder to slide into the boning channels. It does look interesting as it is rounder and has more texture. It will be interesting to see how it wears in comparison to the synthetic whalebone.

The difference in construction comes at the assembly stage. Sewing all of the pieces together using a hand whip stitch is a PITA! So for this pair, I decided to try it using the machine. So I lined up the pieces, front sides together, but instead of whip stitching I used a 3.5mm machine zig zag stitch – I like how this turned out! It is much more even than the hand whip stitch so it will be easier to cover with trim.

This is much easier with zig zag …

Binding is also somewhat simplified, at least for the top of the stays and stomacher – using the cane instead of the reed. The reed can be sewn through, using a strong enough needle and going very slowly:

Binding the stomacher by machine – the inside will be sewn down by hand. Don’t try this with synthetic whalebone!

Stomacher with binding, ready for hand finishing.

Let then hand sewing commence! At this posting, the stomacher and top binding is done. Binding the bottom, with all the tabs, takes forever but I will do my best to finish this while it is still 2016 and conclude the Battle of the Stays!

Adjustable Side Length Petticoat Tutorial

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As many costumers will tell you, looking at original garments is the best form of learning and inspiration there is. While studying 18th century gowns I found this really interesting example of an 18th century petticoat with adjustable sides. This will allow the petticoat to be worn with different sized hooped petticoats, side hoops, hip pads, or bum roll. Given than petticoats often due double duty with several different outfits, this is a really great feature. So I decided to figure out how to replicate this. Here is the original gown:

Blue Robe à la Française at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1760 – 1770

Bless whomever took these photos, they included a closeup of the construction details of the petticoat!

Blue Robe à la Française at The Metropolitan Museum of Art showing construction details of petticoat.

There are quite a few take aways from this photo:

They used blue linen for the upper part of the back panel – a great thing to do to save expensive fabric. This will not work for a later century dress worn retroussee (looped up in back) but it is a wonderful hack for gowns mid century or earlier.
The pocket slits are finished with a running stitch.
The waistband is narrow and fastens on the side with a hook and eye. Hooks and eyes were around in the 18th century (and indeed much earlier) but they are not the first thing we think of for 18th century petticoat closures. Most of us are accustomed to having them tie in the front and back. With 18th century originals one must always keep in mind that the Victorians loved to alter these garments and recycle them for fancy dress occasions, but blowing this up very large it doesn’t appear to me that the waistband has been altered. It looks like the back is made from the same linen as the back panel, and the front is made from the same silk that was used to trim the gown. It is likely there is an identical fastening on the other side, but we don’t know for sure from the picture.
The skirt in the front and back is sewn into the waistband, but the sides are narrow hemmed and have a drawstring. The change happens approximately where the skirt support meets the hip.
The drawstrings emerge from either side of the pocket slit.
After putting the petticoat on, the sides can be drawn in or let out to make them hem horizontal.

I planned two petticoats to be worn with several different mid century and later gowns, so they will be my guinea pigs in working out the details of this waist treatment. One is embroidered linen that looks like tambour, and the other is cotton matelasse. Cotton matelasse is a woven fabric with texture that is a pretty good fake for quilted fabric, so many of us use it to make “faux” quilted petticoats. I used the Charleston Oyster colorway, the maker is Pindler & Pindler, from The Online Fabric Store:

Pindler & Pindler Cotton Matelasse in Charleston Oyster

This type of fabric is also available from big box stores like Jo Ann Fabrics, but the patters are less elaborate and they tend to have some synthetic content. But I have used them before with perfectly acceptable results. The Pindler & Pindler is 100% cotton but is more expensive than Jo Ann’s.

You really don’t need a pattern to make a petticoat! The main measurement you need is how long you want the petticoat to be in front, which will of course depend on how tall you are (with shoes) and how long you want it to be. 18th Century petticoats can be anywhere from ankle length to mid calf. Work and everyday petticoats would be shorter than formal gown petticoats. To this measurement add the hem at the bottom (I used a 1 1/2″ hem) and 1/2″ seam allowance at the top, AND extra length for the sides and backs. I have found that 3″ is enough to accommodate the underpinnings I wear. So that is 35″ (my finished front length) plus 1.5″ hem plus .5″ seam allowance plus 3″ for the back is 40″. Unless the fabric is really narrow (less than 45″) I use 2 lengths of fabric, so I cut 2 panels of fabric 40″ long.

Next, fold the front panel in half and scoop out 3″ from the center front TOP, tapering to nothing at the sides. This keeps the pattern of the fabric straight along the hem.

Next, sew the two sides seams leaving about 8″ for the pocket slits on each side, and hem the bottom of the skirt. Now you have a big tube, all ready for pleating. Pleat the center front and center back to the approximate point where your skirt widening device (bum roll, hip pad, etc) meets your leg:

Using the perfect pleater to measure pleats. I love this thing!

Cotton matelasse skirt pleated.

Now sew the pleats down using the 1/2″ seam allowance:

Sew ‘um down!

Here is the linen petticoat with the pleats sewn down:

Linen petticoat with pleats sewn at 1/2″ seam allowance. Pardon cat foot.

And the rest of the cat ….

Big Mr Red kitty working hard.

Then I made a cut 1/2″ in right next to the pleated section. This will allow me to turn down the seam allowance and make a casing for the drawstrings on the sides:

Clip the seam allowance right next to the pleated section on each side. That is 4 clips per petticoat.

Next, fold the seam allowance for the side casings down and sew to create the casing for the drawstrings. Since my fabric is very thick, I zig-zagged the raw edges and just turned it down once. If your fabric is medium or light thickness you can turn down 1/4″ twice to make a neater casing.

Turn down seam allowance for drawstring casings.

Sew casing for drawstring.

Next I threaded some narrow 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon through each casing and stitched it down firmly where the casing ends and the waistband begins.

Inserting the drawstring.

Since I am using a 3/4″ linen tape for the wasitband, I trimmed the seam allowance down to 1/4″.

Trim that bad boy down to 1/4″.

Time to apply the waistband! If you are not using a finished tape, sew the waistband on normally. Since I am using the tape, I sewed the tape to the back side first, then the front, so that errant seam lines would not show on the front. This can also be applied by hand for a truly authentic finish.

Applying the cotton tape waistband.

I did not put a hook and eye on both sides, so the right side just has the waistband sewn in half where the casing begins.

Right side with no closure.

On the left side, I turned the ends of the casing in 1/4″ and sewed them together:

Fastening side of the waistband (left side) with raw ends turned under.

Completed left side fastening of waistband.

Finally, I sewed a hook and eye on the left side. Gathering up and tying the side casings, it looks like the original!

Completed closure, left side.

Thinking of Making A New Chemise This Year? Here’s A Great Tip!

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A mini-post for sure this is, but it is so smart I just had to post it! When making a chemise, drawers, or a dress from a very thin diaphanous fabric (think: voile) you need to use a French seam so that your garment seams don’t unravel. With very thin fabric the seams are often slightly visible from the outside and the French seam looks very neat. However they are a PITA. You first sew the seam wrong sides together, press, trim the seam allowance (hard to do evenly), fold the remaining seam allowance to the inside, and sew again. Then press, again!

Here is a great tip from the Martha Pullen newsletter than landed in my inbox this morning: serger enabled French seams!

Serger Settings:

Three-thread rolled hem
Stitch length: about 2.0
Differential feed: .7 to 1 (normal)

1) Place the fabrics wrong sides together and serge using a rolled hem (L=2.0) (fig. 1

2) Fold the fabrics, right sides together with the serged seam along the fold.

3) Using a straight stitch (L=2.0) by sewing machine (and a pintuck foot, edge joining foot or baby piping foot), stitch against the serged seam. (fig. 2). This stitch will enclose the serged seam between the two fabric layers creating a very small French seam. According to the foot being used, adjust the needle position as needed to stitch close to the serged seam.

Serged French Seams

No seam trimming! It goes without saying that the serger thread color needs to match your fabric – not a problem with white fabric!

For years I didn’t think I needed a serger for historical sewing, but they are actually wonderful for making ruffles (very even and VERY fast) and flat lining, among other things.

Battle of the Stays: Contestant # 1 Larkin & Smith Front and Back Lacing Stays in Red Silk Taffeta

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Larkin and Smith Front and Back Lacing Stays

For this pair of stays I did do a mockup – the style is very different from stays I have made in the past. I just did a single layer of cotton drill (canvas) with the front panel sewn in and lacing tape sewn to the back. The fit was overall pretty good.

The basic construction of these is as follows. For each piece, you trace it onto the fabric and cut AROUND the piece, leaving about an inch extra on all sides. Both the left and right sides are provided – even though they are mirror images – but this actually does help keep things straight. You need 2 layers of interlining fabric for each piece (that would be 4 layers if cutting without the left/right pieces) and one covering of fashion fabric for each piece (2 if cutting without left/right pieces). I cut them out 2 layers at a time, tracing onto the top layer only. Then you sew the boning channels, trim the interlining fabric, insert the bones, and press the cover fabric to the back. Tack the excess fabric down and the pieces are ready to be whip stitched together.

Here we go through all the steps on the first piece, the stomacher. The 2 layers of interlining and cover fabric have been roughly cut out – you can see the line that is the edge of the piece in the photo below. To determine where to sew the boning channels, I measured and drew a light pencil line down the very center on the back side. Since the boning channels will show on this pair of stays, I am using red thread but sewing from the back side of the interlining. It really helps to have a sewing machine where the bobbin and top side stitches both look equally nice when doing this!

Sewing boning channels on the back side of the stomacher.

In my stash of sewing machine feet I have an edge stitch foot that is exactly 3/8 inch from the center needle position. This is the perfect size for 1/4 inch boning. Still, always do a test channel on scrap fabric to make sure first. As you can see above, the edge of the foot runs along the previous channel. Fill the entire piece with boning channels. Now it is ready for boning:

Boning being inserted.

For this pair of stays I used a new product, synthetic whalebone. It is plastic boning created to imitate the whalebone used in original stays, and is available from Larkin and Smith. It can be cut with a pair of wire cutters – it is a bit stiff for scissors. I like that it is about as flat as a piece of metal boning, so it will not add much to your waist circumference. Here is a picture of a piece of the synthetic whalebone and a piece of cane boning:

Synthetic Whalebone vs Cane Boning

When all of the channels are boned, trim the interlining back to the cut lines.

Boning channels sewn, and interlining trimmed to cut lines. It is ready for the boning to be inserted.

Boning in, and interlining trimmed to cut lines.

Front view after boning .

After boning has been cut and inserted into all full width boning channels, the extra cover fabric is pressed to the inside, and then tacked down.

Cover fabric pressed to the back.

Viola! Ready to be bound and have the lining tacked in.

The same basic steps apply to the other pieces, with two unique differences. Both the side front and back pieces will have eyelets, so for these pieces, be sure to leave enough cover fabric to press inside over the entire eyelet area. The lining should not extend into the eyelets.

Here are the side fronts with that first channel unsewn – once that interlining is trimmed, I can fold it and sew.

I saved the first boning channel to be sewn after this strip of fabric was pressed to the inside. This helps hold the first bone in place. The edges of this piece will be hidden under the lining, which will come up to the line where the eyelets begin.

Side Front - leave enough cover fabric to press behind the channel for the eyelets.

Side Front with interlining cut along front edge – leave enough cover fabric to press behind the channel for the eyelets.

The other odd piece is the side back, which appears to be curved. What happens is when you insert straight boning into this piece, it causes the piece to flair out nicely over the hips. It was a little tricky to map out these boning channels. Here is how I did it, so that it looks like the illustration in the booklet.

Measure the center of the piece, and draw a light pencil line 3/16 inch on either side – so that the boning channel is running down the very center:

First channel drawn, each line 3/16 inch from the center.

Sew it with the cover fabric in place!

Next I measured how many 3/8 inch channels will fit along the narrow top of the piece, and marked the far edge boning lines to be sewn. These channels need to be curved, so marking this first curved seam line is important to getting the others sewn in:

Outside channel sewn.

Then I started sewing 3/8 channels along that curved line using my sewing machine foot as a guide.

Remainder of curved channels sewn.

All that remains is to sew straight channels from the bottom up to fill in the spaces on the bottom between the straight channel and the curved channels.

The eyelets for the lacing in the front and back I did per the post How To Make Machine Thread Eyelets.

Time for assembly. Whew!

How To Make Machine Thread Eyelets

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Metal eyelets did not appear until the second quarter of the 19th century – before that, eyelets were hand sewn with thread. Here is a great tutorial on making hand sewn thread eyelets.

However if you are like me, you are always looking for ways to use technology to make this easier and faster. I discovered this great accessory for my sewing machine that allows me to make thread eyelets. This product is for Husqvarna Viking but I would be surprised if similar accessories are not available for other sewing machine companies, especially more expensive brands like Babylock, Pfaff, etc.

Husqvarna Viking Eyelet Plate

Here is the eyelet plate installed on my Husqvarna Designer Diamond. It comes in 4mm and 6 mm sizes – I find the 4mm to be the best size for corset eyelets. When using the eyelet plate, the feed dogs must be lowered in the machine’s settings.

Eyelet plate installed and ready to go. Note you must remove the ankle or it will lower and prevent you from being able to turn the fabric.

Eyelet plate installed and ready to go. Note you may need to remove the ankle so that it does not prevent you from being able to turn the fabric. One of my machines works fine with the ankle on, the other does not. Go figure.

In a nutshell, you are going to set the machine to a basic zig zag stitch and then rotate the fabric around the eyelet plate as you sew. The width of the zig zag stitch can vary depending on how thick the fabric is. I always do a test eyelet on scrap fabric from the project first, but usually the stitch width is between 4 and 4.5mm.

First, mark the placements of your eyelets. This can be done with a regular ruler, or with an expanding ruler (one of my favorite tools):

Marking eyelet placement with an expanding ruler (it is also great for marking button placement).

For the examples I am using green thread on white fabric to make it easier to see, but in practice you would use thread to match the fabric.

Next, using an awl, work a hole in the fabric for the eyelet, just big enough to fit around the eyelet plate:

Hole made just large enough to fit around the eyelet plate on the machine.

Now begin sewing – slowly! I usually go around the hole quickly as a first pass, and then go around a second time more slowly to fill in. But in this example I just began sewing so that it is easier to see how the thread is sewn around the eyelet hole:

Rotate the fabric around the eyelet plate while sewing with a zig zag stitch.

Eyelet has been sewn all the way around.

Here are the front and back appearances of the eyelet:

Eyelet Front

Eyelet Back

Battle of the Stays: Contestant #4 JP Ryan Half Boned Green Silk Stays

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JP Ryan Half Boned Stays

After some deliberation I decided to cover this pair in green silk taffeta. I have enough for a matching petticoat which could be used as a colored undergarment set for a chemise a la reine, or be worn together over a nice chemise during the summer, or be worn as undergarments for gowns and jackets. I plan to embroider the hem of the petticoat with my embroidery machine, but that is a project for another time!

Now, on to the stays.

This pattern is interesting in that that front panel has 2 pieces for the cover and 1 piece for the lining. Here are all the pattern pieces for the main layer of the stays:

Main pattern pieces for JP Ryan Half Boned Stays.

And here are the front pieces – the 2 pieces for the main fabric and the 1 piece for the lining:

JP Ryan Half Boned Stays – Front Pieces and Front Lining Piece

After doing some measurements and checking some of the individual pieces I did not do a full mock up on these. Keep in mind that I have made many pairs of 18th century stays for myself over the years – if you do not have this much experience it is always better to do a full mock up.

This seems odd at first but actually they go together quite nicely. The 2 main pieces are stitched together and then are laid on top of the lining piece, and from then on they are treated as one piece. I cut the front cover using the lining piece to avoid extra seam lines. The other pieces I assembled and boned, then add the cover:

JP Ryan Half Boned Stays – side pieces boned and covered.

Since many of these boning channels are curved, I used spiral steel boning for them even though it is not historically correct. For the straight channels I used regular steel boning. I am not sure how well the synthetic whalebone will work for half boned stays.

Here is the assembled front with the first side pieces sewn on:

Front of JP Ryan Half Boned Stays sewn to Side Pieces

I put the eyelets in the back piece after attaching the cover but before assembly, using my eyelet plate. I wanted the look of handmade thread eyelets without the time it takes to hand sew them. See post Making Thread Eyelets By Machine.

Making Thread Eyelets by Machine

JP Ryan Half Boned Stays – back pieces with machine made thread eyelets and boning inserted.

The stays are now ready for binding, which has to be done by hand. They will be bound with bias strips of self fabric.

Psychedelic 1830’s Dress Completion and Debut

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The fabric has arrived! Time to begin cutting …

To get the period look with the fabric pattern cut on the diagonal for the fronts and backs, here is a picture of my favorite way to match patterns. Cut out the first piece, then lay it upside down and match the pattern. Then cut around it to get 2 pieces that are mirror images of each other:

Matching pattern on the diagonal

Here is the front sewn together with the matching diagonal pattern:

Bodice Front

The pattern piece for the fashion fabric front and back included extra for a gathered “bertha” type look – this fabric was too heavy for that design, and I did not feel like figuring out a pleating pattern. So I cut the bodice the same as the lining. To give it some character I finished the neckline with double piping (which is made the same way as single piping – just sew a second row of piping after the first.

Here is a great trick with piping – use a 1/2 inch metal stay as a guide to cut the piping strip so that it has exactly 1/2 seam allowance, making it easier to apply. You do need a rotary cutter to do this:

Using a 1/2 inch metal stay to cut piping seam allowance.

Despite buying special piping feet for my machine, I still find it easier to apply piping with a zipper foot:

Sewing piping to waist with a zipper foot – the 1/2 seam allowance makes it easy to line up.

I cut interlining for the sleeves out of black cotton organdy, which is thin but stiff and should help the sleeves to poof nicely.

Black cotton organdy sleeve interlining.

Black cotton organdy is stiff, thin, and not scratchy when worn.

When I tried on the bodice I found one alteration – the sides of the neckline were sticking up a bit, so I took in the shoulder seams 1/2 inch on the outside edge. The other issue I ran into was the sleeves, which I fully admit was my fault! I did not measure the circumference of the narrow part of the sleeve to make sure it would fit my tree trunk arms. When I tried it on I could not get them to close. But it was close, so I will explain how I unfucked the sleeves.

There was length to spare, so I trimmed 1 1/2 inches off the bottom of each sleeve eliminating 1 1/2 inches of not-fitting sleeve.

I reduce the seam allowances to 1/4 inch for the lower part of the sleeve, gradually easing back to the normal 1/2 inch where the full part of the sleeve is. This added 1/2 inch to the circumference and it just barely fit.

So to prevent gap-osis, I added a placket. The top side of the sleeve opening is finished with the piping in the sleeve seam:

Piping on sleeve opening.

The under side of the opening would normally be turned under and hemmed. But there was only 1/4 inch seam allowance there now. So I cut a piece of fabric the length of the sleeve opening by about 2 inches, folded it in half, and sewed it to the right side of the other sleeve opening, using 1/4 inch seam allowance:

Adding sleeve placket

The placket is then pressed flat outwards, so that the piping side of the sleeve opening covers it:

Sleeve with placket.

When closed, you cannot see the placket but it is there, anchoring things and preventing gaps:

Sleeve with opening closed.

Then I finished the bottoms of the sleeves with piping. 1830’s is all about piping. I piped the sleeve seams, the waistline, the neckline, and the armscye seams. The bodice closes with hooks and eyes in the back.

The skirt was easy – just cut 2 panels long enough for the hem plus 1/2 seam allowance at the top. The pattern also had a cutting guide for the top of the front skirt panel, to scoop it out and make the skirt slightly shorter in front. I find skirts always look better that way, so I took advantage of the template. I pleated the waist (using Clinton Pleat Maker) and sewed the skirt directly to the bodice, with piping in the seam, per the pattern instructions.

Here are some photos of the finished dress at our event, Christmas At the Village (Old Economy Village) on Dec 12, 2015. I wore the lace pelerine with it and a large black velvet Romantic era bonnet that I made last year. The weather was beautiful – it was almost too hot outside for the muff! Thank you to Janet for the photos!

OEV Christmas At the Village, Pittsburgh Historical Costume Society Outing in the Grainery

OEV Christmas At the Village, Pittsburgh Historical Costume Society Outing outside of Kitchen

Last Minute 1830’s Dress in Psychedelic Cotton Print – Planning and Mock Up

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Fabric has arrived! Now I can take a larger photo of it, to give a better idea of what it really looks like. This is oriented vertically to show what the pattern will look like once made up into the skirt:

Reproduction 1830’s Cotton Print, “Merchant’s Wife” line by Terry Thompson for RJR Fabrics

Last night I began the struggle of deciding the details. Really the first part boils down to two decisions:

Decision #1: Which pattern to use. I have two patterns:

Truly Victorian (TV455) 1830’s Romantic Era Dress

Period Impressions (440) 1830’s Day Dress and Pelerine

The Period Impressions pattern is more of the look I am going for, but the Truly Victorian patterns are much more professionally drafted and take less time to fit. I did a quick and dirty mockup of the Period Impressions pattern and the fit was quite off – the arm holes were waaaay too big and the neckline bunched up when the back was pinned closed. It would take time and possibly 2 additional mockups to fit it, so I decided to use the Truly Victorian pattern and alter it to look more like the Period Impressions. I will also make the pelerine from the Period Impressions pattern, but at a later date since I am pressed for time. For the first wearing I plan to wear a lace pelerine.

The primary issue with the Truly Victorian pattern is the waistline. The pattern has two possible waistlines – either at the natural waist or a pointed V. My understanding has always been that 1830’s dresses were slightly above the natural waistline. After looking at a lot of originals on Pinterest I came to the conclusion that the higher waistline is the early part of the decade – like 1830 – 1832, and after that the waistlines dropped to the natural waist as drafted in the pattern. Since my other two 1830’s dresses have high waistlines I think I will do this one with a more natural waistline. I want to wear a solid color dark belt with it to visually demarcate the place where the waist ends and the sleeves begin. I debated whether or not I should add a waistband, but the end decided to just leave it as a straight piped waistline. I shortened the waist 1/2 inch, and added 1/2 to the neckline in the back and on the sides (the front was fine). That is all I am changing on the pattern.

Decision #2 – Which Corset to Fit Over

If it were not for the fact that we are going English Country Dancing that night, it would be an easy decision. I would fit over a regular Victorian corset since I don’t actually have a waist. A waist is a terrible thing to waste, and I don’t have one without a good fitting corset. On the other hand, my regency corset made recently in Jennifer Rosbrugh’s Regency Corset class is correct for this era and it is so comfortable – it feels like pajamas! But the trade off is it does not provide any waist reduction. This is not an issue wearing Regency and other high waisted styles. I just hesitate to plan this dress in a way that I know I will be unhappy with in the end. So right now I am thinking of a compromise – fit with the Victorian corset laced more loosely than I normally wear it.

When I fitted the mockup I made an odd discovery! On Friday I went to a Civil War event and wore this same corset, a new one I made recently covered in pink silk (I love this corset BTW, and will feature it in an upcoming “battle of the corsets). Since I was expecting some fitting issues with my dress I laced it down as tightly as I dared in a relatively new corset, and still felt like a stuffed sausage in the dress. I barely got it hooked. My waist measured 35”. Fast forward to Sunday, when I put the corset on again and laced it so that it felt stable but not tight. I measured the waist – 34″! The only explanation I can think of is water retention. Maybe I will try taking a mild diuretic the morning before the next event.

On another tangent – as I looked at these gowns I was struck by the similarity in shape to the 1630’s. There are many periods of history where the basic silhouette is the same as another era (Regency/Edwardian, 1780s bustle / 1880s bustle) but I didn’t register this one until I was deep in the design phase of this project:

1830 vs 1630

Left Image: Dress 1832, American, made of cotton at Met Museum.

Right Image: Wenceslaus Hollar (European-born English artist, 1607-1677) Ornatus Muliebris Anglicanus; Print made by 1640. British Library.

Last Minute 1830’s Dress in Psychedelic Cotton Print

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We are planning an 1830’s Christmas event on Dec 12 for our costume group at Old Economy Village. Afterwards we are going English Country Dancing! Several ladies are making new dresses for this, and all the talk about fabrics has sucked me in. I have two 1830’s dresses and both are over 17 years old. I think it is time for a new one.

I started by looking over my Pinterest board for 1830’s. Also I saved a link from Samantha’s blog (Couture Courtesan) with a dress I really like from this period. It is more late 1820’s, but the basic design idea still applies:

Beautiful reproduction 1820s Dress by Couture Courtesan

What I like about this dress – the striped fabric, the bodice cut on the diagonal, and the trim around the bottom of the skirt. I really like the striped gowns – here are some originals:

Circa 1836 cotton dress, England. Via National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.

Dress 1832, American, made of cotton at Met Museum

So what fabric to buy? Nothing modest or matronly will do, I want to be as loud as the wallpaper in the Rapp House …

Rapp House wallpaper from Adelphi – YES you can have this in your living room too!!!

These prints are so ugly they’re beautiful! While looking for some fabric ideas for a friend, I blew 45 minutes on Sunday looking at Reproduction Fabrics and I found it: the loudest 1830’s print I think I have ever seen:

Reproduction 1830’s Cotton Print, “Merchant’s Wife” line by Terry Thompson for RJR Fabrics

I can make up this dress fast as a print that busy doesn’t really need any trim! I am thinking of wearing a lace pelerine with it, like this:

Wool dress, England 1836 – 1838 at Victoria and Albert Museum

This is the one I have – hopefully it will look good:

My lace pelerine

For the pattern, I have this great 1830’s pattern from Truly Victorian that I have not used yet:

Not sure how that pleated bertha collar will work with this fabric – we will have to wait and see!

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I don't design clothing, I design dreams – Ralph Lauren

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