A Victorian inspired Return!

Long time, no write, but it seems that the technical issues have been resolved. Well, we can hope!

This is one of the costumes made since the last blog. It is  a little Victorian walking ensemble of short tailed jacket, apron and asymmetrical  back overskirt over a polonaise  style skirt. It was made to fit the cat so some proportions may be rather odd! It is based on a V&A 1868 promenade dress, drawn by Janet Arnold in Patterns of Fashion 2 ,but as the over all length is  9", the jacket is 3", many  modifications have had to be made.

The jacket has a hook and eye closure underneath the fake buttons, but all of the shapes  and seaming
of the bodice and skirt panels  are as faithful as possible.  The elaborate cuff treatments were an adaptation due to scale  but I hope it kept the  idea of the original= they were certainly menace to do - I do need smaller pins and smaller fingers  too.  The flaps at the front of the jacket, collar and other decorative details were also sacrificed for reasons of sanity. The stand collar was borrowed from other extant jackets, it worked better with the cat  proto-doll.

The underskirt is drawn up on loops sewn into the seams to create the volume - the problem was always how to keep the hem level-ish and convincing. After all of the fiddling on the apron and rear panel I prefer it without. The fabric is too bold to carry the details, it becomes confusing. Another decision to regret was the inclusion of the premade roses - they look too mechanical and perfect. And of course there is the perennial cry about buttons - they may be the right diameter but they are too thick!  Some things never change.....

 

On a different note I am opening my work room as part of the York Open Studios event in April  2016- although the focus will be on my freehand landscapes these little costumes will be out and about - so come along if you want to see them or to chat!

frock coat for Gwen and Lotherton Hall.

This has been a 'reading week' at the costume course - officially set aside for research.  I set aside part of the week for a revision of the frock coat, so Gwen now has a mad Rupert check coat - just needing a hem and buttoning. This was a challenge - more of one than I thought just matching the fabric! and certain things are not right.  But it looks okay from a distance. Especially in poor light.

Just like the waistcoat this was a mini redraft of the Ron Davis pattern. It was meant to help iron out problem areas and to practice the parts I had found difficult. Didn't work out that way. Oops.

the black and white is in the interests of general sanity

Problem one - cut the first coat skirts with the fabric on the vertical not horizontal  so had to cut a second pair. - this  had knock on effects - the rest of the pieces no longer fitted onto the remaining fabric. This was an old unfinished project so buying more of the cloth  was out. Look too closely and you realise that one back and one outer sleeve are  wrong, the pattern is back to front. It made matching the rest more painful but hopefully doesn't show too much.

This was a menace to make- though not in the expected places- pockets went in smoothly ( yes, they are workable pockets), facings and pad stitching happened uneventfully but everything else....!  The sequence of making still is a bit of an enigma - every option seemed to lead to more problems than solutions. And then I cut the wrong flappy bit when trimming out the excess seam allowances at the back of the arm hole. Unable to cut a new back piece it was a case of make the sleeve fit - which is why there are fewer pleats on the sleeve head than planned  and about a centimetre less shoulder.

The  other major adjustment was to go from sizing it to fit over the waistcoat to just fitting Gwen's torso - over a centimetre difference. This may not sound a lot but the coat was left  looking like a giant tube - only touching on the shoulder.  The major darts down from the collar were the solution- saw similar on some 1940 tailoring - think they look pretty good - or at least intentional.

in full glory

oddly good with the waistcoat?

This has left more queries and questions about construction methods - so probably another Gwen coat will have to be made to sort these out. But not yet.  Definitely not yet.

trouble is - quite like it inside out with the patched lining showing!

As for research......... did extensive practical research into the tides at Sandsend, the availability of icecream, and also tested the extreme steepness of the steps going up on top of the ness. Results were - 1. sea water is wet, 2. prefer Yordale's selection ( rhubarb and ginger or lemon curd), 3. very steep. That was Monday.

Tuesday's research was more relevant - tried out Leeds Museum, the art gallery, the markets, some very posh tailoring shops- don't know how they do it!, and the newish park and ride from Elland Road.  Conclusion -  my feet hurt, and 'interactive museum exhibition' means things to bash or buttons to press aimed at the under 5s, and got  a lot to learn about tailoring.  The trip also involved finding Fabworks fabric emporium in Dewsbury - worth a foraging trip, especially for suitings and  other things than quilter's cotton. Hurrah! Parked in a bramble.
Day 3 - proper job - went to Lotherton Hall just beyond Tadcaster. This is part of the Leeds Museums group- Edwardian house, with a costume gallery (says so on the map).

The house is better inside than out and the costume gallery was hosting 'Dressed for Battle', showing the influence of military styling on fashion.   Not bad at all, Regency dress next to an 1807 Leeds Volunteers tailcoat,  later Victorian and Edwardian  pieces against a Hussar jacket with a sprinkling of Alexander McQueen bits, First World War dresses and of course  1940s things, including a 'New Look' style suit. The blurb made it seem more extensive than it was but it was trying hard and was of interest. As in all museums there seems to be a passion for putting black clothes on display in unlit dark boxes - what is the point? Why display something if it can't be seen? ( worst offender presently is Leeds central) And what about seeing all the way round the objects ?  Finding their blog site could prove a useful reference-  http://www.leeds.gov.uk/museumsandgalleries/secretlivesofobjects/Pages/posts.aspx?BID=117.
 Will admit to spending  a happy half hour with the bird collection -

there were some fantastically  grumpy looking pigeons, a sunbathing condor and a very confused turaco. A diversion? - perhaps not - lots of subtle colour and pattern combinations to ponder on -  The deer were less inspirational - being very deery, and in the deer park not the bird garden. Didn't try the icecream - may have to return.

Were actually meant to be researching bustle dresses and looking for the next inspiration after that. Good job managed to fit it in round the edges.  Still like the grumpy birds best.

Princess line bustle dress 1

Spent months being quite tasteful, there just had to be a backlash coming. When I turn nasty I like to do it good and hard - luke warm just won't do. So....

stuck to the recurring theme of the neck to hem long lines and pleating into the seams, and even a bit of polonaising and went Victorian!  Instead of en ferreauing I have been princess lining, not  Watteau pleats but a bustle!  Nothing by halves. While nowhere as ornate or complex as this dress

 from the Met, it will be a fitted, bodice front opening  down to below the hips. From there the front  skirt will be fairly straight but the back will increase in volume over a bustle cage and finish in a small train. I hope.

New things to do, new mistakes to make, exciting. Risking taking and problem solving - okay, on a small scale but still fun.

Back to Janet Arnold and Nancy Bradbury for a start point, again they both looked at the same day dress from the Snowshill collection.   Brightest  boldest candy stripes-
there is lack of stripiness in the fabric stash but lurking in the bottom drawer is a nest of Hobbs pillowcases - still in their packaging - desperate to get out. ( Not mad, bought when sold off as old stock, nice dramatic patterns, tight woven cotton. Only survived this long because I'd forgotten them)  Totally inappropriate. GOOD.




The whole of this has been done on the model, no pattern pieces, just a lot of pins, muttering, tacking and then redoing. Pattern pieces might have been easier.  The back - six panels, each full length with the centre and side panels  having extra width  from about bum level downwards to make pleats for the bustle bit. There is extra length on the centre pieces as well, this excess gathers up  in the side seams to make the polonaise. Again I like the idea of the contrast - fitted sleek v volume drama.

The basic ideas worked very well, worryingly so. The skirt bustled quite effectively and even began to train. It could have been an inch or two longer but there are plenty of opportunities to trim and extend. Getting the false front in was a bit of a menace - maybe that should have been done first and the whole front assembled then put to the back. I ended up starting from the centre back seam and building the dress forward from there. As usual focussed on the fun bit - working out how the skirt bustle came together.  I haven't got this too tight at the waist - there should be an internal waist band to hold the bodice in place which will help. As this was done as an experiment there is no lining either which would have helped avoid the stretching and twisting in some parts of the back.
The front of the dress has a false front  with hook and eye fastening on the centre line. Fabric choice was interesting - there was some heavy black satin all lined up, or another pillowcase - same colours tighter designs- or plain green or.... and I chose this Indonesian cloth. It was late at night, but having tried it all the rest looked safe and predictable. Not a wise choice as it had to be interfaced before it would hold the opening. Sometimes I like it other times it is sink into deep despair but unless something drastic happens it will be staying.  The collar is of the same contrast fabric, as will be the cuffs. There should be pleated inserts along the hem  - giving weight and flare I suppose- they may end up green and blue.

The sleeves are more tailored and shaped than the previous ones - in 2 parts and cut with curving seams. The sleeve head seems very shallow.
I did try a mock up of these and we are back to Pingu wings, flapping in the breeze. These current ones are cut with a steeper curve  but are still a bit flappy. The 18thC ones had lead weights but I haven't seen any reference to similar tricks for this. 


This is still very much under construction - final fit, finishing and trimming to do, all the fiddly bits, but it is looking better than I expected. I have enjoyed using the mad fabric choices - it is unexpected and instead of sitting there primly  saying 'aren't I historical', something else is going on. I will  have to do some thing to the front edges - the transition jars- a length of black grosgrain ribbon came off the pillowcase when it was dismantled - could be very useful.
It is starting to remind me of Yinka Shonibare's fabulous work but without any claim to be discussing cross culture references etc.

I had hoped to be finished by today - excuses are rather thin - keep falling asleep but did take a day out to join in with the Woolly Bike project with Cassandra Kilbride.  We were doing a Viking inspired bike as part of the Yorkshire Festival celebration of  the Grand Depart of the Tour de France this summer.  Very silly - I crocheted curly waves and half a snake. Di stole the show with a longship saddle cover and beard for the handlebars. The final exhibition with all 10 creations will be worth seeing!

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. 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 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 a side seam 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)

 

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 at least I did pay attention to proportion and placement, spent longest on colour matching! I saw this as a 'getting to know you' phase. The seam lines and darts were transferred onto long suffering Gwendoline and then pattern pieces made to fit. Trying to find a suitable fabric was not a happy morning, could have made it in plenty of Halloween spiders or Christmas holly sprigs but a simple stripe? Ticking seems to be endangered species, so much is quilting or crafting cotton and I object to insanely cavorting teddy bears in waistcoats. I did find one that was suitable-ish, but it was a delightful lightweight wool herringbone at £36 per yard – oops.

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.

The pieces are cut and ready to assemble, and there it stopped – streaming head cold has claimed another victim. I tried to continue making but having put the dart seam allowance to the outside three times in a row- quite a feat in itself – I am giving up until the head clears and the eyeballs fit their sockets again.

I hate colds.

I really hate colds.

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, she 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!  I haven't found a late Victorian portrait genre that I find inspirationally different from the earlier styles. That is this afternoon's job, BBCpaintings and Wikipaintings be warned, as long as I can stay awake.

Hopefully by next week the self pity will have passed, the cold will be vanquished. Doing 1890s clothing means that machine sewing is the way to go, so this garment should be quicker than the previous ones apart from the fact that I'm trying to match inside and out. The jacket should be in the process of finishing and the skirt blocked out ready to work by the time I post again.

Many happy sneezes of the day.....