Gwen's indecent muslin part 1

It is ages since the last post! So lots to catch up on.

Experiments were done, the Marie sleeve shown on the Gloucester wedding dress was rather fiddly but effective, why the sleeve top is done in two sections I can't see, having two raw edges gathered onto a narrow band did get a bit much, but perhaps the scale just made things worse! I wanted something easy to calculate so just measured off the pattern in centimetres and drew out inches, perhaps more pain at this stage would mean less pain later. The sleeve head is huge against the bodice, there is no stiffener in mine but still stands out quite rigidly, but the real thing can't have been easy to wear, but then contemporary wedding dresses tend to be exaggerations, so was this the same?

I sent a speculative email to Gloucester museum service and had such an open, enthusiastic response – I can go down to work from the original garment! Just short of 400 mile round trip to see a dress, why am I so excited by the thought! Hope to arrange to visit by the end of the month!

The main reason for the delay in posting was another good idea. I don't really like Gwendoline's party frock so have begun another, an ambitious project – a low cut crossover bodice of muslin mounted onto a lining with a round skirt. I wanted something a little more sexy and fitted like the Lawrence portrait shows to see if this will show of Gwen's shape better. Of course it couldn't be done simply so I wanted the lining to hold the form and the top layer to be gathered on the front to give a more romantic wispy effect. The bulk of the bodice is done and the skirt is tacked in place, gathered at the back with some gathering at the front under the bust darts.

This does help the skirt to hang well in the round but looks boxy at the waist line so it will be untacked and eased around the front.   It will definitely need an underskirt, even this quite coarse muslin is indecent. This didn't take long to do, so confession time. I had a go at some embroidery on the hem – giving a bit of visual weight, following ideas from the 1805 muslin dress and stealing elements from the designs published in the period journals. My design is a simple Greek lyre shape, full motif at the front and halves repeated along the hem and onto the back seam. This took for ever, please note – embroidery on flimsy muslin is a pain of the highest order, lines along the grain are simple but curves and satin stitch! It will look fine but the tension changes as soon as the fabric is realigned in a hoop or just handled. Out came the modern threads and I have redone it all in fine silk. It does look better than I thought now the skirt is on but this was nearly sob into the cornflakes status. How they did this on delicate muslin and so densely as on the dress to the right I dread to think.

The sleeves I want to be extravagant – probably based on the Marie experiment rather than the tight ones with high sleeve caps as above. They should be dramatic, to frame the bodice.  In the painting I've gone for puffy, almost bouffant sleeves but need to work from life to get it right, so I guess I'm committed.

 

  I've just thought that the sleeves should go on before the skirt! Aaaaagh! Am I really doing this for fun?

And just for more fun I've found some generous and trusting people who will let me work from their photos of costumes being worn! But I want to complete this dress and images for next week's update
 and start my drawing classes, and crochet hearts, stars and snowflakes and..... and....
How was there ever time to work?

 

Gwendoline's party frock.

I'd been given some pretty offcuts a while ago so decided it was party frock time. The fabric was quite stiff, frayed happily, and has trailing flowers embroidery which can be awkward in the seams. But that is the up side. The embroidery is not really period at all but did remind me of an example from Worthing using fine embroidered Indian muslin.

Worthing. 1810-20s.

The fabric is in long narrow strips and doesn't have the drape and hang of the muslin, so I went looking for styles from 1815 onward rather than the more pure NeoClassical look of the early 1800s.

 

 I hoped to make a  high waisted dress with a panel of pleated gathers on the bodice front, fastening at the back, with a gored skirt. The neck was to be embellished and the sleeves short and open to reveal an undersleeve in contrast material. The hem would be decorated and possibly stuffed to give the 1820s rounded shape to the skirt. Both of the plates below show  the wider flared skirt, the fitted bodice and lot of decorative detail. The necklines are wide rather than very low, both accent the waist with a ribband.  extant dress is from the Met collection, the padded hem is clear and holds the skirt out from the feet. Perhaps the mockery of the satirists had had its effect - take a look at the 3 Graces in a high wind by Gilray!

Problems – fabric. It has a nice sheen but resents being folded tightly, the bodice front is rigid! Top sewing on the neck did help but it tends to do its own thing given half a chance. The same problem with the sleeves, rolling the edges to create neat mini hems was not happening so I ended up facing them and they stood out rigidly like bat wings instead of falling gracefully . Research to the rescue! 1820s seemed to delight in layers and contrasts of textures and concepts. The tight bodice with the massive exaggeration of the sleeve, the simple dress with great embellishments at neck, arm and hem. The purity of the Neo Classical hadn't lasted long. In the Janet Arnold are several examples of pleating, gathering, slashing or opening to reveal an under layer, Renaissance influenced, and of mixing fabric surfaces, tucks, cording, using lace.   The 1827 Snowshill and Gloucester examples have so many ideas!

 I had already started on crocheting a heavy lace edging for the neck, close to the dress colour but the satin sleeve lining and waistband are toothpaste white. I made a butterfly in the crochet lace to hold the sleeve together over the lining to defeat the bat wing look but was doubtful about  white and cream together, but it does seem to work,

 This left decisions about the hem. Made the decision to try out the Gloucester Museum wedding dress decoration in scrap fabric and to a larger scale. Thank goodness I did! This just eats up fabric. The top piece is on the cross and uses double the width, I don't have any where near enough fabric to do this for the dress! The top and bottom are bound in satin on the original, I just used some left over cotton bias binding- again far more than it looks, all those vandykes are a trial. And the time!

 Looking at the pattern it appears simple but this doesn't work, to get those rounded gathers they have to roll under and then emerge flat to link to the next repeat. I have got close to the original but am not yet happy- do think it looks a bit like a curtain pelmet.  While I would like to try this for real, but not with this embroidered fabric.  It is just not flexible enough for anything like these so the compromise queen swung into action again, I tried the stuffed rouleau hem to see how this does affect the shape and hang, added some extra texture with a larger version of the neck embellishment. The compromise does not look out of place but is a bit plain, perhaps another crocheted row or two would do. The hem maybe over stuffed, the wadding makes the hem stand out stiffly and always wants to make circle. As the skirts got wider it must have been like a bumper car convention. The technique  is simple enough but is unforgiving, the hem has to be absolutely level and hang symmetrically before starting.

 Review-  too safe. Enjoyed the experimenting but as soon as it becomes a garment it goes tame. This began as the same pattern as Gwen's poplin dress, it seems to be a decent base so I could afford to be more adventurous.  Perhaps time spent doing experiments rather than garments could be wise. Extend the range and then try to apply it?
 Next challenge- a printed day dress. The fabric is soft but dark, so pleats, tucks, flounces, contrasts. I've been roaming museum sites, blogs and pinterest, so goodness only knows what is going to happen! Perhaps if |I put the Janet Arnold books under the bed I shall awake infused with that knowledge, experience and know how!

Cheat week.



 reminds me of Gromit, Collar as ears?

 

This is the week when the trauma of starting the school term should have happened. So instead of that intense headless chicken activity I have set myself various tasks. Finishing old pieces, working on the full scale spencer, drawing and sketching and museum visits. I have actually done it all!

I even managed to cycle halfway to Selby quite by accident, and more incredible, then cycled back,( fruit pastilles) all in pursuit of that perfect English landscape to paint.

The sewing task-

completing a trial mini spencer begun about 4 months ago. Its purpose was testing out how to adapt a pattern, trying new shapes and techniques.

It began as a military tailcoat but, a bit like the Earl Spencer,  I took off  most of  the tails to leave a short fitted tailored jacket. The original also had front darts, fitted sleeves, rear vents and collar. The bulk of it stayed the same except the length and sleeves. I left a little skirt at the back, rather like several of the riding habit illustrations of the time.

The sleeve pattern was spread wide in the centre and the head extended to allow for a panel of tucks and greater fullness. The tucks were simple to do but they did not hold their shape once the garment was together, so a second sleeve was cut as a stabiliser, twit did not think to cut to the original shape but to the adaptation so there is a lot more fabric caught at the sleeve top than I would wish. The straight tucks still felt awkward so they were stitched into a honeycomb pattern. This was repeated at the cuff which was finished with a contrast binding. The overall effect is pleasing, The inside of the sleeve fits with a straight line while the outside is full, and falls into folds and creases. The idea for this was from a dress in the V&A publication – 19^th Century Fashion in Detail. I had intended to put a tab across the top of the cuff tucks, pulling it tight on the wrist. The front fastening is influenced by the military frogging on a pelisse somewhere on Pinterest!

Conclusion. - Like the sleeve, the tucks work well and the shape is defined. The fastening although neat enough is too close to the centre and has a rather pinched and slightly cross eyed expression. There is stiff interfacing behind the closure - perhaps it needed to be extended further across the front. The basic jacket needed much more adjustment, the shoulder is too long, the whole silhouette droops, and the shaping needed to be greater, it is boxy and has a certain bundled quality,(Paddington Bear-ish) the lining must be out of sorts. As for the back- clumsy. The back vents are a smart idea,  but are uneven and awkward. The button detail is fun but does not make good the shortcomings. I like the concept but need a neater method and approach or more practice.

 

What is quite good, is the knowledge that I would do it better now. The stitching should be better, the seams more precise and the shape!  I like a tailored back but this one has no charm, a back waist seam would have given more definition, the skirt  becomes a peplum and could then be cut separately. It may be worth trying all this out but not with this basic pattern. It is time to return to Gwendoline. The peplum would define her waist and draw attention to the long shapely back.

The illustration of this is based on the plate from Le Journal des Dames,I'm afraid I enjoyed working on him more than her. The difference in style between these and the plates from the English periodicals is quite marked. These have the feel of observed detail, the fall of shadows and the drape of the fabrics have more realism than stylisation and there is more movement and less coy pose in most of the presentation.

The faces still seem to have long noses and tiny mouths! I space the features too much still, they should be more like Victorian doll faces. I've just reduced her head size on my original drawing so imagine her less top heavy, if slightly pouty. One day I'll mange someone who looks happy!

 

 

As for my spencer - Pah.

 Toile 2 was looking good, the front fits but the shoulder seam is way too high and comes forward of the shoulder line at the neck. Hack and slash and curse later and it is beginning to behave. I don't want to disrupt the arm hole assembly but have lengthened the front piece at the shoulder. The hem line had been level so this maybe a false step and a general redraft of the shoulder seam  will be necessary. Toile 3 may be upon us soon.