Fisher women of Yorkshire - a less gothic version of Whitby.
Stephen Friend has loaned a costume to me, made for the "Women's Voices" project by York St John University. It was based on Frank Sutcliffe's photographs of the 'fisher folk' on the east coast around the 1890s. It is a jacket and skirt, worn over a bright red petticoat, with heavy boots and large shawl. I'm using this as a practice exercise for working from an extant garment. A page of notes, diagrams and images was first, looking for seams, pattern shapes and construction details. These should have been done to scale but ... but I did pay attention to proportion and placement, spent longest on colour matching! I saw this as a 'getting to know you' phase. It is a practical outfit of drab striped fabric, rather like a soft cotton ticking. The jacket style is conservative, fitted with two darts each side and boned. It has centre front opening with 12 self covered buttons, high neck with a small simple folded stand collar and tapers to a v at the front and centre back hems. The shoulder seams are set a little back from the top of the shoulder and the back has curving seams from the armhole to the hem. The sleeves are long, gathered onto unstiffened, buttoned cuffs. The bodice is lined, except the sleeves, the boning is inside the lining under the lower buttons and darts, and mounted on top of the under arm seam and lower centre back line. These have a narrow cotton casing. The skirt is quite full, gathered onto a waistband with a flat centre front section. It is made in three parts, with a centre back seam, open at the top and closed with a mother of pearl button on the waistband, and the side seam is under the bust dart. 
There are several images showing woman wearing similar skirts, some with rows of pleating or deep frills around the hem, most with large aprons, often large shawls, and in various states of repair. The skirts seem to be relatively short, well clear of the ground showing the stout leather boots, a far cry from the delicate Regency styles I've been making recently (can't image these ladies being held up as aspirational fashionistas in a ladies' periodical). From the look of some in the photographs clothes were worn until worn out, remade and worn again.(take a look at the photo of Polly/Fanny (ref 24-29 in the Sutcliffe gallery) and see the repaired and tattered state of her under layers)
The seam lines and darts were transferred onto long suffering Gwendoline and then pattern pieces made to fit.
I have used a compromise fabric from the stash – a blue cotton pinstripe, a roll end of shirting, not beautiful, a lighter weight and not as dense, but at least I'll be happy re-cutting pieces if/when I go wrong.
I have tried to paint from Sutcliffe's photographs inbetween sneezes but with little success. I like the concentration on the seated figure but the standing figure is one that I guess was used as inspiration for the costume, so I've altered some details to match the made skirt. A lot of the images show the women knitting, perhaps the famous gansey sweaters, and the standing woman is meant to be holding a skein of wool for the other to wind or work. Unfortunately in my version she seems to be having an out of body experience!
fisherwomen project 2 - attack of the paintbrush.
Having said that this week was to be sewing - it ended up being painting, drawing, research and painting. Very simple questions have stalled progress and of course I got distracted by all and sundry.
Task one - put in more depth and shape into the skirt on the first painting. Done. Still think it looks 1940s in style but it does have an airy, summery, breezy quality. It was worth sitting shivering in the garden watching how the skirt moved in a wind! Also tried with the original illustration - bit better but still oops. Might cut the right hand figure completely.
Task two - making. Progress is made although not as much as I had hoped. the darts were sewn in bodice and lining, boning channels made, fronts attached and then shoulder and back seams. The lining was then basted to the inside of the bodice to act as a flat lining. Side seams were done, collar and cuffs attached and sleeves put in. This worked incredibly well until I tried to fiddle, to narrow the centre back panel. Some unpicking is needed and more fiddling to correct the correction! Another adjustment is in my expectation. I have a tendency to make things like a second skin and quibble about any looseness. Not the way to go in reality, yes a 'good' fit but there has to be ease as well. Quite a lot of ease is needed for outer garments or nothing could be worn underneath and any movement would tear the seams. This was a working garment worn over chemise, stays and petticoats so some ease has to be allowed. I still tend to put it on Gwendoline and tug it tighter.
Task three- The second illustration. I wanted it to be more gritty, less generalised, and to show cap and shawl. What began to bug was were the cap and shawl worn at the same time in Yorkshire, and how to use the shawl. There does seem to be regional variations in garments and customs, the folded apron seems to be a Scottish trend and the cap more of a Yorkshire thing. The costume had two caps included so a guest appearance seemed necessary, but no apron. In the found images some have caps, some have shawls as headwear but many have bare heads, I've been trying to work out if it was seasonal wear, Sunday best, or whether there was a decline in their use across the period I've been looking at. A lack of specific location and date for many of the paintings was a problem with that one!
Homer, Tynemouth 1891
Still in search of a contemporary style - the obvious group The Staithes group but I have been looking at a variety of art from Portsoy in Banff, Scotland, Cullercoats, to Newlynn and even New England. The most influential artists being Walter Langley, George Murray and Winslow Homer. Most of the images I worked from are on my fisherwoman pinterest board. The styles are varied, impressionistic, highly coloured, to realism and delicate watercolour, so it was a case of pick and chose and experiment. Comparing the artists' impressions to the Sutcliffe photographs there were more similarities than differences - the poses are similar, the photography tends to be still and calm while the artists go for more dramatic weather and situations.
Getting the details right was a pain, working out how to show the shawl folds and bulk, and then of course it had to be a plaid example! Lacking a mannequin with a head, it was back out into the garden to work with the costume set up on a body with an upside down vase taped on place for the head. The neighbourhood cat fled. Haven't seen it since.
The setting of the photos is so specific so I have set it near the creek mouth in Staithes, very distinctive and with plenty of contrast, texture and scale to make it a challenge but didn't quite feel upto beaching a fleet of cobles (but have placed a few figures in the background, Having listened to the "Women's Voices" having an empty space seemed wrong, the women never stopped working in one way or another whether the boats were in or out)
I'm not happy with the result - the setting works well, the pose too wooden rather than the worker-for-the-soviet-revolution stance of some of Winslow Homer's. The face works well in close up but not from a distance. The freedom of the background has become too tight on the figure, having tried out the various approaches to painting the face/ shawl I then go and mismatch them. Pah! Far too Catherine Cookson. Will try the main figure again and grump down the sunny background.. It's the angle of the head, or is it?
Poor copy of Sutcliffe painting – given up on.
The jacket is quite sweet – still some problems to sort – boning! I began with the plastic boning but it was too wide. Cut it in half and it becomes angry and then aggressive. Instead of a jacket with some boning it was some boning with a jacket. I've tried various substitutes but it is not quite right. There is some semi rigid plastic packaging to try but opening the packaging will mean putting up the roller blind that's in it so I'm hoping for another idea to arrive. Once boning issue is sorted then it can be hemmed. Fastenings are the usual headache. The original had 12 self covered buttons down the front. Getting small buttons is a pain. The small ones tend to be very thick in proportion to their size so still need larger buttonholes. The centre front will end up all buttonhole. A solution would be to cheat – blind buttons with hooks and eyes inside. Not happy about this but..... I have some 10mm fake mother of pearl 4 hole ones that might do.
Task 2 – look for contemporary images, artefacts, sources – comparing to and looking for contextual background. This was far more time consuming than expected. - internet is great but it still takes time – finding images on google wasn't enough – paintings had to be credited and checked against the photographic records. Both have drawbacks , the “naturalistic” poses, the romantic visions, the selective subjects, but both gave a lot of information about how such garments were worn, by whom and idea of when. It did feel a bit like cheating knowing that the costume was based on Sutcliffe's photographs and having some knowledge of the Staithes group of painters. But I have found new, interesting artists and learnt a lot more about the fishing industry and the communities dependant on it. At times the lack of detailed information on the web is frustrating- pinterest images which have lost their origins, undated paintings, uncredited photographs. A lot is available in blog posts but it is hard to judge the quality of information and whether it is sourced fact or opinion. ( just like this!) Part of this task was creating my own images-illustrations really- trying to imagine how the garments I had could have been worn. I am a visual being, so seeing made the necessary connection between what I was touching and the research I was compiling and reading.
This was supposed to be the fun bit. Referenced Janet Arnold's books and other records to compare with other contemporary garments and to check my own observations with her far more informed and experienced notes! I redid the measurements and took a whole lot more to create pattern pieces and fitted them to Gwendoline. Oh dear -Gwen is only human-ish so quite a bit of adjustment was required. Marking the seams on her and fitting to them saved my sanity a few times. Following the original as closely as possible Gwen's version was put together, darts, boning casing, flat lining and then seams. The reduction in scale has caused the usual additional problems- and yes, I did end up using some thin but fairly rigid plastic packaging for the boning – and no, still haven't put the roller blind up. Fastenings are becoming a real headache – reducing the scale of buttonholes was unexpectedly problematic– the length shrinks to match the button but the width can not reduce beyond a certain point or it just doesn't hold the fabric edge. This is obvious now, but had to be learnt the hard way. I ended up working them by hand to cover the chewed edges and they look far too clumsy( take glasses off and stand back – they look fine!). I guess doing small scale detail on a fabric that frays at a full scale rate was always a poor idea. The other bright idea – inserting plastic boning of unknown parentage – wonderful until I had to press the jacket! The next not really seen problem was the centre front opening – I was concerned about the buttons being too big visually but the real issue was the amount of allowance needed for the holes. The overlap is giant scale against the rest – it would cover the first dart on the opposite front if I let it. So no resolution yet – still questioning whether to try it, to find a new source for mini buttons, or to cheat and surface mount the row of buttons and have hooks and eyes underneath.
Do you like the background? a bit Wuthering - an old painting of N Yorks Moors but it seemed appropriate for a Whitby based project. And of course I like the back best.
refs - "Women's Voices" - www.fishinarts.co.uk
www.ganseys.com
BBC and Wikipaintings
fisherwoman pinterest board.
www.sutcliffe-gallery.co.uk
www.tbrj.co.uk
Memories of the Yorkshire Fishing Industry - Ron Freethy.
Nancy Bradbury - Costume in Detail.
Janet Arnold.
Having said that this week was to be sewing - it ended up being painting, drawing, research and painting. Very simple questions have stalled progress and of course I got distracted by all and sundry.
Task one - put in more depth and shape into the skirt on the first painting. Done. Still think it looks 1940s in style but it does have an airy, summery, breezy quality. It was worth sitting shivering in the garden watching how the skirt moved in a wind! Also tried with the original illustration - bit better but still oops. Might cut the right hand figure completely.
Task two - making. Progress is made although not as much as I had hoped. the darts were sewn in bodice and lining, boning channels made, fronts attached and then shoulder and back seams. The lining was then basted to the inside of the bodice to act as a flat lining. Side seams were done, collar and cuffs attached and sleeves put in. This worked incredibly well until I tried to fiddle, to narrow the centre back panel. Some unpicking is needed and more fiddling to correct the correction! Another adjustment is in my expectation. I have a tendency to make things like a second skin and quibble about any looseness. Not the way to go in reality, yes a 'good' fit but there has to be ease as well. Quite a lot of ease is needed for outer garments or nothing could be worn underneath and any movement would tear the seams. This was a working garment worn over chemise, stays and petticoats so some ease has to be allowed. I still tend to put it on Gwendoline and tug it tighter.Task three- The second illustration. I wanted it to be more gritty, less generalised, and to show cap and shawl. What began to bug was were the cap and shawl worn at the same time in Yorkshire, and how to use the shawl. There does seem to be regional variations in garments and customs, the folded apron seems to be a Scottish trend and the cap more of a Yorkshire thing. The costume had two caps included so a guest appearance seemed necessary, but no apron. In the found images some have caps, some have shawls as headwear but many have bare heads, I've been trying to work out if it was seasonal wear, Sunday best, or whether there was a decline in their use across the period I've been looking at. A lack of specific location and date for many of the paintings was a problem with that one!
Homer, Tynemouth 1891
Still in search of a contemporary style - the obvious group The Staithes group but I have been looking at a variety of art from Portsoy in Banff, Scotland, Cullercoats, to Newlynn and even New England. The most influential artists being Walter Langley, George Murray and Winslow Homer. Most of the images I worked from are on my fisherwoman pinterest board. The styles are varied, impressionistic, highly coloured, to realism and delicate watercolour, so it was a case of pick and chose and experiment. Comparing the artists' impressions to the Sutcliffe photographs there were more similarities than differences - the poses are similar, the photography tends to be still and calm while the artists go for more dramatic weather and situations. Getting the details right was a pain, working out how to show the shawl folds and bulk, and then of course it had to be a plaid example! Lacking a mannequin with a head, it was back out into the garden to work with the costume set up on a body with an upside down vase taped on place for the head. The neighbourhood cat fled. Haven't seen it since.
I'm not happy with the result - the setting works well, the pose too wooden rather than the worker-for-the-soviet-revolution stance of some of Winslow Homer's. The face works well in close up but not from a distance. The freedom of the background has become too tight on the figure, having tried out the various approaches to painting the face/ shawl I then go and mismatch them. Pah! Far too Catherine Cookson. Will try the main figure again and grump down the sunny background.. It's the angle of the head, or is it?
Fisher women 3
extending the saga.
So far-
sketchbook reference page. Pinterest page. Research page, painting page.
jacket put together – poorly back – remedied, unpicked and handsewn.
Skirtless – made! Just requires hem.
Poor copy of Sutcliffe painting – given up on.
2x paintings of costume – done. Not too bad.
2x portraits with costume . Ummm.....
The jacket is quite sweet – still some problems to sort – boning! I began with the plastic boning but it was too wide. Cut it in half and it becomes angry and then aggressive. Instead of a jacket with some boning it was some boning with a jacket. I've tried various substitutes but it is not quite right. There is some semi rigid plastic packaging to try but opening the packaging will mean putting up the roller blind that's in it so I'm hoping for another idea to arrive. Once boning issue is sorted then it can be hemmed. Fastenings are the usual headache. The original had 12 self covered buttons down the front. Getting small buttons is a pain. The small ones tend to be very thick in proportion to their size so still need larger buttonholes. The centre front will end up all buttonhole. A solution would be to cheat – blind buttons with hooks and eyes inside. Not happy about this but..... I have some 10mm fake mother of pearl 4 hole ones that might do.
I do like the jacket and skirt together, the jacket just comes down over the skirt waistband at the sides with the front and back points fitting snugly over the pleating. The fullness of the skirt is giving Gwendoline a softer, curvier shape. She does look shoulder heavy from the front but the back is flattering.
Some evil thought drifted by and I ended up mixing a self portrait with found images. Trying to paint while wearing a scratchy wool shawl was not fun. Another problem was that when concentrating I frown and pull faces – this comes across in both paintings. Smile dear!
Things to be done - Try last ditch boning solution or discard idea.
Fastenings on centre front and cuffs.
Finish hem on jacket and skirt.
Try self portrait without looking somewhere between rejected spaniel and mad axe murderess.
4 Fisherwomen project – summary
Stephen's loan of the costume from the “Women's Voices” project was inspired.
Task 1 examine and record garments, drawing, measuring, noting details and guessing at construction methods. Learnt under duress the need to be very methodical and precise.
Task 3 – Reconstructing the garments.
This was supposed to be the fun bit. Referenced Janet Arnold's books and other records to compare with other contemporary garments and to check my own observations with her far more informed and experienced notes! I redid the measurements and took a whole lot more to create pattern pieces and fitted them to Gwendoline. Oh dear -Gwen is only human-ish so quite a bit of adjustment was required. Marking the seams on her and fitting to them saved my sanity a few times. Following the original as closely as possible Gwen's version was put together, darts, boning casing, flat lining and then seams. The reduction in scale has caused the usual additional problems- and yes, I did end up using some thin but fairly rigid plastic packaging for the boning – and no, still haven't put the roller blind up. Fastenings are becoming a real headache – reducing the scale of buttonholes was unexpectedly problematic– the length shrinks to match the button but the width can not reduce beyond a certain point or it just doesn't hold the fabric edge. This is obvious now, but had to be learnt the hard way. I ended up working them by hand to cover the chewed edges and they look far too clumsy( take glasses off and stand back – they look fine!). I guess doing small scale detail on a fabric that frays at a full scale rate was always a poor idea. The other bright idea – inserting plastic boning of unknown parentage – wonderful until I had to press the jacket! The next not really seen problem was the centre front opening – I was concerned about the buttons being too big visually but the real issue was the amount of allowance needed for the holes. The overlap is giant scale against the rest – it would cover the first dart on the opposite front if I let it. So no resolution yet – still questioning whether to try it, to find a new source for mini buttons, or to cheat and surface mount the row of buttons and have hooks and eyes underneath.
Conclusion
Do you like the background? a bit Wuthering - an old painting of N Yorks Moors but it seemed appropriate for a Whitby based project. And of course I like the back best.
The project is just done – some tidying round required. Sorting the button issue is the most obvious thing but I would like to redo and improve some of the paintings – I have to decide exactly what I want from them – they suffer from a lack of clarity of purpose and expectation. It has been an interesting and enlightening process – the amount and level of detailed notes needed was an eye opener – working downstairs and having the costume upstairs became my fitness regime. There is a huge difference between information used for looking and recording and what is needed for making!
It has been an analytical not creative process, trying to unpick (not literally) what others have done, to try to understand how and why it was done and then to redo. It was a mistake thinking of it as an artefact, it needs to be understood as a functioning piece not a museum exhibit.
In some ways the sewing has been the easiest part, the stages of construction are evident in the garments, where as the paintings only show the final outcomes. The paintings are also victims of fashion, ideals and context, so what is shown, how it is shown and the techniques and media used are all variables needing consideration - never a truly reliable source of factual information. At least the outfit was in front of me and complete in itself. The questions did arise of who, why, when and where, but these were to extend the understanding about the use of the garment not the garment itself.
Below is a brief list of some of the most useful sources that I found, - Whitby, Port Mulgrave and Staithes should be listed as well, Whitby Museum and the Staithes Group gallery especially so. Also check the pinterest board - I did try to keep links to the image's source.
It has been an analytical not creative process, trying to unpick (not literally) what others have done, to try to understand how and why it was done and then to redo. It was a mistake thinking of it as an artefact, it needs to be understood as a functioning piece not a museum exhibit.
In some ways the sewing has been the easiest part, the stages of construction are evident in the garments, where as the paintings only show the final outcomes. The paintings are also victims of fashion, ideals and context, so what is shown, how it is shown and the techniques and media used are all variables needing consideration - never a truly reliable source of factual information. At least the outfit was in front of me and complete in itself. The questions did arise of who, why, when and where, but these were to extend the understanding about the use of the garment not the garment itself.
Below is a brief list of some of the most useful sources that I found, - Whitby, Port Mulgrave and Staithes should be listed as well, Whitby Museum and the Staithes Group gallery especially so. Also check the pinterest board - I did try to keep links to the image's source.
refs - "Women's Voices" - www.fishinarts.co.uk
www.ganseys.com
BBC and Wikipaintings
fisherwoman pinterest board.
www.sutcliffe-gallery.co.uk
www.tbrj.co.uk
Memories of the Yorkshire Fishing Industry - Ron Freethy.
Nancy Bradbury - Costume in Detail.
Janet Arnold.
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