Fairfax House dress - toile

So far so good - the trouble is 'so far' isn't very far at all.  To recap - inspiration is -  Phillip Mercier's portrait of Lady Anne Fairfax, 1750. Progress at the end of last week - under pinnings made, like this-

Tasks this week were  petticoats,  source fabrics and toile (prototype dress).  Petticoat is made -



The robe anglaise style dress I'm planning on is  pleated on the back, en ferreau (back bodice and skirt is cut as one)and  front closing. General ideas for the shapes are from Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 1 and from  extant examples in the Metropolitan Museum.  The closest examples to the painting seem to be from 20 years later but....
Toile is kind of done, it's a little awkward as the pins are nearly as big as the seams.  But the fabric choice remains a problem. I posted for advice on facebook and received some good insights, duchess satins or silk taffeta seemed to be the consensus.  Not in abundant supply in York but did find some, not the right colours, but had a try. These are probably the right stuff for period etc but not at this scale- they both bulk up alarmingly as soon as they are pleated and have a dislike of tight corners and shapes. The waist is only 5 1/2 inches and I want to knife pleat the skirt on to this. Compromise time - I'm going into town  on Tuesday  (hope) to buy what ever will do the job- should be shiny,  softly drapey and as close to the slightly greenish yellow ochre colour as I can.  I don't quite believe the colour in this copy - think it is too rich, so will have to pop back into Fairfax House to double check.      Do wish they would allow photography.






In the mean time - distractions -
Sewing buttonholes and buttons onto Gwen's Rupert frock coat,
Trimming the Victorian  1890s day skirt,
Actually got some drawings taken and now  published by the Stamp Press, Manchester.

And there is to be a new fabric in York -   Yipee!

Still can't wrinkle forehead following the botox  treatment 9 days ago - will keep trying.

But at least The News Quiz is back on Radio 4!

 

Fairfax project 1750s

New week, new task. Travelling back in time ( wibble wobble, wibble wobble) to 1750 or there abouts.  Location Fairfax House o Castlegate, York.  Minor difficulty is that the house was built 5 years into the future, but the portrait I'm taking inspiration from did exist, and hung and currently hangs there.

Hope that is clear.

in situ in her bedroom

The portrait is of Anne Fairfax is dated 1750, showing her as a young lady shepherdess. ( quite a common conceit  - see It's About Time for more imagery.)  Lady Anne was the only surviving daughter of Charles, 9th Viscount Fairfax of Emley  and the house was built for her. The painting  hangs in her bedroom facing the bed and she apparently was very fond of it.
The painter, a French artist who worked extensively in England, is Phillip Mercier. He lived in York for a time, painting many of the society ladies.  
 The painting is very whimsical, but I think I quite like it because it raises questions,   the rose at her breast is rather odd - painted differently, and there is a mystery orange line across her chest, plus one of the sheep looks like a neighbour, but it will do as the start point for a costume task.  I would like to recreate this - or something based on it. ( If it goes well in diddy scale  it might get made full size!) 

quick initial sketches and notes

The painting does pose some problems - it was about her and the allegory, not her dress. The two sleeves are different - one fits smoothly at the shoulder but the other is gathered into pleats, there is a faint line down the centre forn suggesting  a seam or an opening, but the brush work at the junction of bodice and skirt is so loose it is going to be interpretation and best guess. My assumption is that the dress is conventional, a closed bodice over a full skirt. The closest example I have found so far is the 1780 wedding dress from the V&A exhibition to the left. The low scooped neck, tight bodice and pleated skirt are what I am imaging. Just 30 years difference.

But the current question is really about the fabric. It shines so must be satin or silk, but it looks much softer in the creases and on the surface than the pink drapery, so it can't be the same as that. Could it be fine velvet?  I took some samples of satins and silks in to compare with the painting and remained unconvinced by any of them.

While all of this is happening I have not been idle - much.  I am now in possession of a 12 inch artist's mannequin and am trying to make the underwear to fit. It is currently nameless.

Progress  so far has been good, 'she' has  a chemise - with gussets!, an approximation of stays, and even pocket panniers.

The chemise is to an C18th pattern, the standard issue, rectangles and underarm gussets (- much the same as the blue print used for gentleman's shirts)

very masculine....

The stays were more of a challenge - boning, binding and eyelets! The boning I will admit to being narrow cableties, The binding is the smallest I could make, and the eyelets - I know they should have been hand done but.... so they are just what I had and are completely huge!  The first try was agonising but these ( version 2) went together quite simply.
The stays are really so that I could alter the shape of the torso - widening at the top and narrowing at the waist to the C18th cone shape. This is partially sucessful so more padding may be needed. Added padding to the upper back as well as bust  and it has made such a difference- happier now. 

They could do with more tabs at the waist but that will have to happen on the next ones.  

To give the exaggerated hips I decided on pocket hoops/panniers - small cages either side rather than the full width one more associated with formal or court dress. The discussion was whether to go for bum pads but actually wanted to try out the panniers! Umm.

They were based on a pair on display in the 'Head to Toe, Accessorising the Georgians' exhibition currently on at Fairfax House. Although fiddly at this scale they were fairly straightforward- channels were made in the outer panel, one side of the inner panel was attached, the bones slotted in and the other side seam made.

That the inner panel is narrower than the outer gives the tension to create the required curve. The top is pleated  to fit to the waist and sewn onto a band. Simple!

The overall silhouette is an improvement- would still like to pull the waist in more - the contrast between waist and hip should increase anyway as the petticoats are added so this is not crisis thinking yet.

Wonder if I would warm to her if she had hair?
Definitely lacks personality at present. Any suggestions for a name?

You never know - might have tidied up by next week.

1890s day dress

 This is a bit of a cheat - I wanted to explore the changes between the exaggerated bustle of the 1880s to the sleeker line of the 1890s.


 

1899

 I do quite like Gwen's 1880s bustle ensemble ( bustle cage, petticoat, skirt, apron, bustle piece and bodice) but thought such a complex outfit should really work harder. So I  aged Gwen's bustle dress by 10 years. This has been a bitty week, a bit of this and a bit of that,  kind of thing, so altering rather than starting from scratch fits in perfectly.  The flouncy bits have gone, the silhouette has changed emphasis, and decoration has been added. It isn't a precise replica but hopefully addressed some of the differences shown by the 2 fashion plates - 1st is from 1885, the 2nd 1899.

One major change was the shape and rigidity of the corset (Gwen is wood so no amount of tight lacing is going to change her) .Lots of information from the V&A Museum plus extant examples - http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/c/corsets-and-bustles-1880-1890-from-over-structured-opulence-to-the-healthy-corset/


1898 - a bit much?

The bodice fitted Gwen2 - a slighter larger cast of the original Gwen- so by transferring it back onto Gwen there was some room for manoeuvre.  Some judicious padding has given it a more 'forward' bust  and curved the back more, plus the shoulders are squarer now; all trying to make the waist look smaller in comparison.   Some of the flirty flounces at the back have gone, the tail is now split with a central vent - probably should have split it further. The usual problem occurred with the buttons - never can find the right size or design (at a price I'm wanting to pay!). Having done the button holes there was no going back, but the buttons looked awful - too flat, too modern, too plastic. Camouflage required - masculine/military styling was still fashionable so lacking a braid, or the patience to make one,   to make frogging - one length of ribbon later.....


Also note cunning plan - set the era late and avoid the exaggeration of the sleeve - there was nowhere near enough fabric to even think about leg of mutton sleeves....

The skirt remains essentially the same - did try to streamline  the rear pleats into darts to give a smoother more 'A' line  sweep to the back,  but  having tried it on one side it looked awkward and lumpy. It needed a complete restructuring, so back to the original design. The petticoat is still there but squashed and bullied  to be less bulky at the top, she is wearing a small rump bump to emphasise the hip.
 The addition is a row of sharks teeth  trim. This I'd seen used before and came across a good tutorial by Lynn Collins so couldn't resist having a go.  I have just enough ribbon left to add a  coloured line at the top of the tooth with little folded teeth coming down inbetween. Haven't committed to this yet- it may be a decoration too far.....

 

1940/50 evening dress

catch up week. That is catching up with friends, lawn mowing, hedge control, housework, spider patrol and everything else. Also catch up with documenting the last dress made for the costuming course.

This was out of the comfort zone - satin,  draped on the stand, 1949.  Enough of a challenge?

The original - Jacques Fath, Paris, 1949 Autumn/Winter show - a one off, never in production. Sold by Augusta Auctions  in 2006, who thankfully document their stock well and leave the files open as a resource for odd little people like me.   Slim fitting, not tight, loosely draped over the back of the shoulders, dolmanish sleeves, asymmetric  gathered front with waterfall and flounce. Not a lot to ask.

Gwen to the rescue. She is invaluable at moments like this - quick to work on, easy to see all the way round and small enough not to make me guilty about the discarded mistakes. 
Gwen also has about the same proportions!

1. paper - rough shapes and sizes- patching onto the model. Also easy to try out the theories about slice and spread to create that front gather.

2. These initial papers were then cut into pattern shapes and drawn onto fabric. We chose a light jersey knit thinking that would mimic the drape of the crape fabric of the original gown.  This on the straight grain - tried one on the bias and it hung like a rag . One happy Gwen later -     all sans flounce, you'll notice. This took remarkably little time,  should have known better.

3. The little toile was sacrificed to make a paper pattern -  literally drew round each piece..  The centre front  , shoulders (front and back) and sleeves became one piece, the lower back was in shaped panels, and there were two front side pieces. The neck line was that very technical thing called a hole. 

sorry, upside down. This was the central piece.

far too Mrs Beckham for 1950

4. Once the shapes were smoothed  and  evened out they were scaled up to fit a full size mannequin - the closest, with padding, that we had to me.  This was fairly simple -  marking up the dummy in the same way, making sure the important things were in the same places.  The first fit was promising , so  the flounce was added. The weight  of this caused problems - it became 'body con' = tarty tight, and the gather lost its shape. The grey fabric ran out  so we had substituted a thicker green crape-ish thing. Oops- just couldn't get them to work together right so had to recut all the grey in green.

Add caption

5. Getting the shapes wasn't hard compared to getting it to fit on me. I am not symmetrical so it wouldn't hang straight, I do not have that long graceful curve to the waist (any more), and am more top heavy than hip heavy unlike the original.   Big ummm.    It was round about here that it would no longer fit the mannequin no matter what padding was used! ( mannequins have no squidge  or bendy bits)
 The main problem was that as soon as I put the thing on it became guess work - I couldn't see it from anywhere except the one angle so had little idea of what was happening to the side or back and how the whole was working together when I moved. Bit of a problem in a garment.

On a smaller dummy -The back hangs straight on me!

Frustrating rounds of trial and error ensued. Very frustrating. Very, very frustrating. I became even more stubborn than normal, all this effort meant there had to be results, or why bother in the first place? Pah.

6. Making up in satin. The green had given as much  as it could so decided to go ahead in the final fabric, a cotton backed satin, again of uncertain parentage, left over from a previous year's course. This was relatively straight forward - the satin had enough weight to be a gentleman- and the fabric was just about wide enough to reach from wrist to wrist!  6 1/2 metres later it was assembly time. Fastening was under the left arm, a placket in the seam with hook and bar and press studs. To try to support the weight of the flounce a petersham waistband was sewn inside,

just catching inside the key seams.  The flounces were the mammoth task - the hemming. The satin would not run through the rolled hem foot  on any of the machines so it had to be done all by me as a baby hem - stitch a tiny fold as close to the edge as possible, then fold it under and stitch again.  Those flounces were giant polos of fabric - 120" on the internal circumference. By the time I'd stitched round twice the estimate for the external measurement was done in miles. Cup of tea and damp flannel required. And then to hem the waterfall. This sits into the seam below the gather and hangs down the front skirt so had to be accurate. More tea. and tidily finished. cake.
Binding the cuffs and neckline was light relief in comparison.

Bit of glam from Pauline the glitter fairy and it was done.

OK, not the same as the original but a version of.  If done in lighter fabric  it would have a very different character  but this type of satin was an unknown thing for me to work with so wanted to try it. Bit of an error there I think - I had also joked about making it in tweed just to see what would happen......... May be minus the gather and skirt could make an interesting jacket .......... ummm indeed.