The Revenge of the Regency Spencer

What a week!


artwork from the Castle Museum spencer

Lots to do and lots done but feeling fairly hamster-in-a-wheel-ish. Effort does not equal forward progress, I guess that is February for you. My art classes  were a welcome relief, a couple of hours focused and doing,  good company and a cup of tea!
The spencer started  many months ago has come back to bite me. Trying to refit it to me  has been a menace. 
This is from a commercially available pattern but seems aimed at the pre-pubescent stick insect  kind of figure - I have known far too many cakes over too long a time  to fit this silhouette. I often have to recut bodice pieces but this was truly extreme. Even as fitted as the pattern allowed it gaped hugely and unevenly. If I had a drawing board big enough I would have gone back to it, but I wanted to use the armhole shape and positioning. 



Early toile fitting. What a mess!

So major surgery required to do an FBA, made more difficult by the lack of an underarm side seam, so no side dart, just the vertical bodice front ones. This of course put the angle to the shoulder out and squashed the armhole shape even more.  Imagine suitable amounts of wailing and gnashing of teeth, pins about three deep in the carpet and a permanent quest to find the scissors (behind the kettle, under the sofa, bathroom). The chosen fabric is bright red cord,  not terribly period, but it has been quite friendly to work with, I like the soft touch  and it isn't even thinking about stretching or distorting as I work.  The bodice is just about bearable- not exactly as  wanted or as precise, but fine as long I can be a blur of constant movement so nobody gets a good look. But the sleeves! Back to the joy.  Couldn't let them go as a plain puffy upper on a narrower lower sleeve. So reference to the early sleeve ideas I was trying out an age ago, mix it up with extant examples from the Met and ended up making these- broad straps threaded through slashed openings and caught up on the shoulder.

6 metres of satin binding so far and still counting. It did take a long day's graft to make the slashes, bind them and then  add the straps. With all the fancy work  it needed lining which meant that the whole thing had to be - vile berry lining from the hated stash of repellent fabric came to the rescue. The sleeves are now in and sitting quite happily, the lining has been surface mounted  and tacked in place, it begins to feel like a garment!

Could this be the end of the trauma?   Hah.   Don't like the collar and front. The buttoned up to the chin effect with the high waist is not flattering in the slightest - elements of Lady Bracknell came to mind, and all in vivid red. The compromise at the moment is just  tacked in to test the idea - a soft Elvis look - collar standing up at the back, falling open at the neck  and closures up only 1/2 or 1/3 of the spencer front.  1970s but without the medallion. Not looking right yet but the answer is getting closer. Formal lapels  are one suggestion to try out, but that will have to be next week.


The suggestion for lapels came from an interview to do a theatre costume course  with The Northern College of Costume over this summer.  Have been offered a place which is very exciting - it is all practical,  historically based and  just think.....


a couple of my folio pages...

 

  in a few months I might actually know what I am doing. Already worrying about sticking pins into the vulnerable parts if unknown people and a whole big work room to put the scissors down in..... and there are several bakers really close by.....and there are very steep, steep stairs with a gym right at the top filled with toned, tanned torsos - rub it in why don't you. Should be fun.

And what did I do to celebrate - had a cake (very nice too) and got up early the next day to go out sketching in ploughed field (cold, fuelled by carrot, nice puddle).   Hah?