Northern College of Costume - last week!

Apologies for the erratic posting - just been so busy.  The end of the course has now past - 14 weeks of intensive making, 1 week of intensive worrying about the photos and staging the exhibition.

Photo shoot day was Monday - 7.45 am at the college, packed and ready to go- all of 5 minutes away to the York Cemetery chapel- image a convoy of cars with me pedalling away after them....  ( got there and back first!) - a lovely Neo Classical building  - great pillars, odd tapering windows, and in the middle of a very leafy cemetery!


The volunteer men were first, trying to be thug like - Gangs of New York style. Mine has the look but manages not to be brutish- typical, want a grumpy man, find a nice one! Everything looks good in the photos but I will admit to the stirrups being a pain - there was a battle between pulling the trousers up to the waist and the stirrups pulling them back down whenever he sat. The stirrups lost and the fabric got soaked from the long grass, so Lawrence had two tone trousers with flappy ears at the bottom by the end of the morning. He didn't seem to hold it against me. Might not be right, but elastic would be answer- if used in sufficient quantity.

While they were being 'shot' we were preparing for the bustle gown moment - Why does it all take so long? ( really should have had the corset tighter so the bodice sat more smoothly - no mirrors to check it out in)

The photographer had some odd ideas of how we should pose -   we were supposed to be animated - Faye had just started  a most promising joke, but never did get to the punch line.

Pauline Chambers in the centre- spectator sport

   Then the decades dress - mine based on a Jaques Fath 1949 catwalk number ( ummm indeed)
  Had some very odd ideas about posing. 
I'd just been focussed on the dress shapes and making, handling the satin, getting it to sit on the body right, didn't really consider what it would actually look like!  Oops. And then had to wear it at the end of course exhibition -  thank goodness my shoes hurt - a decent distraction from the dress.










Faye's bustle gown - my favourite piece

The exhibition was Friday and Saturday, 3 outfits didn't look that much to start with - until itemised - shirt, waistcoat, trousers and coat,  bustle cage, petticoat, foundation skirt, aprons, bustle piece and bodice, then glam dress, plus all the toiles! No wonder the fingers hurt and the eyes crossed.

 Thanks to all the friends who came round and managed not to snigger at me trying to be elegant....  Had a few cards taken which is optimistic, but kept on being complimented on the artwork rather than the costumes, oh well.....


And now it is over. Done. Packed up in 20minutes and then collected the stuff first thing this morning.

Learnt a lot, discovered new areas to develop and explore, met people I would be delighted to be able to call friends now, and am pretty sure that working with historical costume is where I should be.

Problems  are a collection of costume pieces that each are bigger than my wardrobe. A house in dire need of extensive, if not aggressive, re ordering, tidying and cleaning ( not one clear carpet!). A hedge in desperate need of a remedial haircut and a front garden to get lost in. And I need to earn a living.

Any one after an 1880s bustle ensemble - one careful owner.......

Gwen's bustle dress finale

Gwen is far less demanding than I am - she is putting up with a lot - and at least she hasn't changed size and shape during an extended make. My own bustle out fit is progressing in fits and starts but is getting towards its final form and details are being resolved - let me get the sleeves on and I'll tell you all about it.

Gwen, lacking arms, isn't too hard to set sleeves for, so hers is about complete now. Some areas may be changed but the garment is together, the lining is in, so we did the photo shoot to show the final dress.

Completed to date - cage, petticoat, foundation skirt, apron and bustle. This week's task was the bodice.  The idea was to combine the two fabrics used to bring the ensemble into a cohesive whole. Yep - cohesive.

The pattern used was an adaptation of one used for the fishergirl project - simple pieces, straightforward construction, clean lines and unfussy. The front was one piece with 2 darts each side, overlapping centre front for button fastening, centre back seam and side back panels, 2 part sleeves and cuff.  t\he plan was to used the pattern fabric for the side back, cuff and facings, but of course this changed. The front looked too plain so patterned revers appeared, the patterned stuff did not like tight corners so a satin lining appeared ( off cuts from my own bustle project).  Also a flirty tail was added to sit on top of the bustle- not quite sure whether this has worked or not.  The sleeves as you can see are a high tech re draft giving less curve on the sleeve top and elbow. The only part not shown are the flirty bits, semi circles, added onto the back and side back pieces.

last week

this week

This was Gwen last week -  wearing the underwear, foundation skirt, apron and bustle. The apron has become more gathered and a little higher - late night decision!   The bodice is to complete the outfit,  not dominate it. Pressure is well and truly on at the costume college so this has to be quick.  So selecting the pattern pieces was Saturday at about 3pm. completing was 11pm.   The fit is not as exact as I want - extra side seams my appear,  to tighten up the back and the forgotten collar should arrive at some point - totally, totally forgot.  I like the 3/4 view- it shows the simplicity of the shaping and lets the contrast in the fabrics speak for itself.  There is the usual lack of mini buttons- the ones I liked were 48p each -  more than I paid for the fabric - dream on.

As for mine - it has got this far - bit of a hiatus at the start of the week - lost so much weight that my corset is too big - so borrowing one that is a different period and shape - so had to put toile back together to check fitting was do-able. Of course all the pieces were already cut so it was fairly fraught. It did work so then tacked together the real pieces to check - some changes to the side panels later and it was ready to work..... Phew!

one morning tea usage!

Distractions - pizza for one of the late nights.
 Forgetting about an art exhibition and having to rush about to get stuff together - thanks, Steve.
  Chain came off bike 3 times - have figured out how to put back on with out oily fingers.
 Chased by a cat.
Washing machine is working!
The Tde F crochet bike I helped with is on display at Naburn!
Made apple chutney so house is rather - fragrant.
 Can not believe the course ends on the 27th. With an exhibition.  Which means no excuses- all has to be finished. Best get on.....
 

 

Victorian Bustle Skirt

Short week at the costume college - Bank Holiday and then a day spent with Jane sampling hem techniques ( brilliant to have such small things and such focussed things to do). So decided to share Gwen's progress with you instead.




 When last we left Gwen she was standing proud in her bustle cage and petticoat- since then she has acquired a foundation skirt,  apron and a bustle piece. The premise is very simple - remake the petticoat allowing for the fullness of the frills, drape a fancy bit in front and pleat high on the rear,  then scrunch up a long piece to hang down the back.  Decorate at will - opera curtains style. Simple!

The foundation skirt is to be  clean, unfussy, as it says, a foundation to build onto.  I've made this fully lined in a nice smooth and soft twill,  a warmer shade than shown in the photos. The pieces are the same as the petticoat-

pre pleating

post pleating

a flat slightly tapered panel for  the front, a tapered side piece, and the rectangular back with a dipping hem. The back is in 2 pieces to allow for a top opening and centre back fastening., it is pleated onto the waistband to give the shape at the top.  Fairly straight forward to do, but quite precise work.  She actually looked pretty good in it! And for once preferred the front to the back ( but didn't photograph it - just imagine its loveliness)







Met Museum example

Once  done it was onto the decorative bits, first should have been the apron -  this hangs in the front and tucks up underneath the bustle. So I opted to do the bustle instead.


nice idea but too tight

The bustle piece is a separate strip at the back usually caught up on tapes but at this scale I tried a slightly different approach. One of the diagrams in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 2 (p9) shows a complete piece laid out with gather points, pleating lines and folds marked out ( by Myra, Dressmaking Lessons II, 1888!)- this reminded me of smocking patterns so - 5 rows of lattice later-

any bottom would proud to wear this!

liked the over all effect but too dense and flat from the side so reduced the amount of gathers to let it bouf more and...


Having made this in the fabric it  struggled to hold its own weight so a supportive lining seemed in order closely fitting the skirt shape and holding the sides place. These were sewn right side to right side and turned out through the top edge.


Lining, showing top dart

Inside the bustle showing the pinches and  the lining.

I will admit to enjoying the smocking too much and over shortened the length -so  made a tapered knife pleated tail for it The tail is inside the bustle piece in the photo to the right - it is secured by the seam and will emerge as if by magic when the whole construct is turned out. I hope.












Then the apron -
This I draped on her, first on the bias and then on the straight grain - it sagged first and handled like cardboard second, but at least the pattern was the right way up. The idea is get long curving folds across the front - umm. 



apologies for the sun spots

 This seemed to use a vast amount of fabric- billows of it. Perhaps the fabric should have been washed first (see distractions) but it is beginning to give the shapes I want. The example has a quite short. heavily folded apron, on Gwen this looked like curtain swags, so hers is longer and more relaxed.
On hers the edges are bound with bias strips using the wrong side of the fabric to give a bit of contrast and to emphasise the curve. across the foundation skirt

 On the version for me the aprons are included in the waistband of the foundation skirt - for Gwen I quite fancied having a neutral coloured skirt to use with a variety of outfits. The apron and tail are now one unit - the apron is secured at centre back with half the tail sewn in place - the other half extends around the back and fastens with a hook and eye at the side seam. The skirt is now complete and the bodice remains to be done -  say it quickly and it sounds easy. At least the full scale one has the pattern done and cut!



Distractions -
making one for myself at costume college - still wrestling with the pesky corset - shape is rightish - just that I appear to be losing weight so it wanders. Big oops. More cake?
Green grocers on market have ripe fresh figs - yummmmmmm.
Date and walnut bread.
Might have killed the washing machine. Really BIG oops.
Which vinegar to use for apple chutney?
Why doesn't privet get the message and stop all of this growing? Cutting once or twice a year should be ample.

bustle dress beginnings.




This about draping, drafting, fabric buying, sore feet and getting it cut out. Oh, and Gwen now has a bustle petticoat.

1885 by Mrs Christie of London.

Task- select and source the style and shapes relevant for the 1880s, drape it on the stand over all the underwear we've been making, draft this into patterns, make a toile. and fit it to ourselves. then Work out yardages, set a budget and go buying. The chosen fabrics are now cut out and mostly flat tacked onto calico, waiting to be made up!

Hermitage Museum

I went for a day dress based on this little petrol blue number in the Museum of London. Not the bodice front but the skirt - asymmetric layers, contrasting fabric textures, so lots of interest without shouting about it. The worrying thing is that it is not relying on embellishment for impact but on the fabrics and cut - nowhere to hide. What is good is that the front and back are balanced - there isn't a distinct front and back separation. The only problem is the front seems  intent on broadening the shoulders and bust to narrow the waist - I do not need added emphasis in this area, so went looking for a different frontage - Maria Fedorovna (Dowager Czarina at the time of the Russian Revolution and original recipient of the Faberge Easter eggs-) to the rescue. This was an evening ensemble = red underdress and beaded over gown. Not at all compatible but I liked the shape of the front!  When mashed together it just about works - something like this.
The whole was to be draped on the stand in medium calico - working directly onto the mannequin without a paper pattern. To break us in gently we began with the foundation skirt to cover the petticoat. It was supposed to be simple - use the petticoat pattern, allow for the extra bulk from all the frills, the idea is to cover the petticoat with minimum fuss and without squashing or losing the general shape.  And construct. And then remodel it when the waist fits but the bottom doesn't.

foundation skirt, draped apron and bustle

Very little of the skirt is going to be  visible - just some pleats at the bottom.  The velvet apron fits smoothly over the skirt so the same pattern shapes will be used.
Then it was onto the radical bit - the draped apron hanging from the right hip.  This was a fairly drastic  60" square  at the beginning- on the cross- with the top corner cut off to make a waist.  It is now shaped like a rough map of Africa. The front edge has to hang in folds and the back is pleated high over the bum. Just to make life fun that front edge appears to be rolled under so the folds come from behind. Happy hours of muttering, pinning, more muttering and it was done. pinned, tacked, and oops - the tacking affected the hang so start again.........
On top of this comes a bustle piece - just a rectangle for this and caught up on tapes ( rather like an Austrian blind). It should have been asymmetric too but looked most odd- not quite big or bold enough to look deliberate without giving me the lean of the drunken sailor.

pinching pulling and pinning, shaping the fabric around the form to match the photos. First pattern.

This was meant to be the easier bit because now came the bodice - starting with a vertical centre front, pinning above the bust line and to the side and then pinching the fabric to create front darts to shape it in front.  The back is separate pieces- centre start and carefully mark first seam running up to the armhole and gradually build on the next side back pieces making sure that the grain of each piece is vertical. Sleeves were drawn up  as a basic block pattern and the modified to give upper and under pieces and the bend at the elbow. The front shirty bit is mounted onto separate little panels which will meet edge to edge as a closure, a bit like an  C18th stomacher.

Once happily pinned together on the stand, the edges of each piece were marked, removed. cut down to an inch seam allowance and it was made up and fitted on me - Ah. lots to play with - the two darts  have changed to a seam running up to the shoulder and a dart. The side of the front has been split in two to raise it at the waist, and the shoulder seam moved. Redrawn and remade and refitted.

the early front with frothy bit, final back, sleeve, and the revised pattern

Once the whole was satisfactory, the patterns were drawn up and yardages worked out - about 15-16m in total, in 4 different fabrics! - something plain for the bodice, bustle and foundation skirt (was hoping for something like silk twill) something understatedly fancy for the side apron (a fine damask or brocade?) velvet for the flat apron and cuffs, plus a contrast for the fake shirt front - lawn or fine, slippy satin?

We went down to Goldhawk Road- next to Shepherds Bush in London- on a buying mission -

drawn en route to Hammersmith!

 lots of lovely stuff, especially silks, but trying to find 3 key fabrics each with interest and who work together without arguing  was definitely a mission. It would have been easy to be completely safe - but I could have stayed at home for that, and the Victorians were 'robust' in their ideas of colour and pattern. Bit disappointed not to find a plain brocade like a fine damask for the apron- or even a matching stripe would have done,  and not to be working with delicate tones of brown pink or sage green or muted blue - they proved impossible to match and the mixing was horrible. So came away with a muddy greeny yellow silk, kind of a Prussian blue  velvet, crinkle gauze in yellow and blue and plans for white lawn for the fake front. Umm. Could look like a railcrash or could work really well. The two tone gauze is the jam in the sandwich - it will tie the two strong colours together and hopefully really give the flatness of the velvet some bounce and enhance the sheen and colour shifts of the silk. Umm.

not the true colours - less greeny but sadly shiny

We came back late on Wednesday, cut out on Thursday, spent Friday cutting calico and flat tacking it to the silk to support and stabilise it. Far too organised, so I managed to stab myself and bleed all over a skirt panel, squeaks and drama - don't mind me - save the fabric! Never mind.

As for Gwen - couldn't leave her out - returned to Goldhawk and bought a piece of dodgy second choice fabric to make her a bustle gown and then spent part of Saturday making a petticoat to go underneath it. Need to choose a style now - the rejected House of Worth green thing with train? Umm

Other distractions -
M&S swiss rolls.
Wandering around London at dawn(ish) and dusk - saw the Tower of London poppies, Phyllida  Barlow at Tate Britain, Breakfast in Russell Square,  went to say hello to the Lion Hunt relief carvings in the British Museum, found a great little foody street market behind Westminster, wondered why my feet are sore.
They still have low flying pigeons in the new sanitised and shiny King's Cross.
So many pin pricks now feeling like a tea bag.
Don't leave car and house keys  in unzipped pockets when hill walking - result = blind panic, having to walk the hills twice,  collapsing in heap when found them without any energy left other than for a very feeble whoop and slight waving of limbs. ( they were right on top of hill of course - at least it was down hill from there)


Emsay Crag - now known as carkeys hill. Thank goodness didn't go up Great Whernside as I first planned!





 

Victorian underwear- corset, cage and petticoat.

This last week and a half has been focussed on ladies' unmentionables - none of which should be seen in polite society. We are going to be making an 1880s style bustle dress soon so need the underpinnings to give it the right form. The patterns used were Norah Waugh's from Corsets and Crinolines - or at least they were when we started. 
The corset was first, they are back lacing, steel bones - both spiral and flat steel, with a front fastening busk-  this is to define the torso's shape but has the added fun of moving the squidgy bits in all directions.



Norah Waugh- Corsets and Crinolines

First step - measurements of everything and then padding out a tailor's dummy to fit. We draped the corset - basing it on one from the 1870s/80s with 5 panels each side ( mine had to have 6 (depressing - have another cake?)).   Once the toile was workable we transferred to coutil ( densely woven and sturdy) and construction began. The seams were done to the outside of the corset and  the seam allowance was meant to be trimmed and folded to make a fell seam which doubled as the boning channel.

Far too simple - I ended up making each channel out of bias binding made from the coutil. The eyelet punch was fun but not as satisfying as getting out the hammer and beating them into submission, but at least the busk went in sweetly. When we tried this on  the corset all but folded in half - so more bones were added in each panel and the back spiral bones were swapped for straight steels.  It does now double as armour and weighs a minimum of half a ton. After the  basic fitting came the binding of the top edge and cutting the bones to length- sore fingers- and sealing the whole thing off with the bottom line of binding.

I'm not entirely comfortable in it - it pinches under the arm on one side so am still making minor adjustments there which explains the  unfinished lace trim- ( doesn't explain why one side has lace the top and the other at the bottom - ummm).

Bustle cage - this is the boned structure  intended to give extra volume to the skirt.

dog agility or tent?  It does look better the right way up!

This is straightforward to construct though it has an awkward moment or two and some muscle is required.  There are side front flaps that wrap around the waist, a narrow inner back that gives the tension to make the  wider outer back  steel bones bow. We started by sewing the outer back together and adding the boning channels with 1" tape as in the middle photo. The gaps in the centre are to make adding and removing the bones easier. The top two cross over  and are put in before sewing the side seams. The side seams are a sandwich of the inner back,  the front flaps, and the outer back. Sewing the second of the seams is the fun bit - the bones have to be bent so that the stitching lines match up- tack them into the channels, sew from the

inside the cage- the floor is the inner back.

bottom upwards and use a zipper foot and it was relatively easy- The muscle is needed to turn the whole thing rightside  out.  The top edges of the backs are joined and the whole is assembled onto a petersham waistband- measured to fit over the corset.  To finish the bottom a length of box pleating  is added to the hem - unfortunately I have mislaid the completed image - will add later.

  As if this isn't enough - or heavy enough - on top of this goes a totally frilled petticoat.  Again a simple garment with embellishments. It covers the whole cage, softening the outline while giving extra, extra bulk.

Step 1 was joining the front panel to the 2 side panels and hemming everything.

complete frilliness and the placket opening.

  Next was adding the frills to the back panel. We went for 4 tiers of frill plus one at the waist, so made them 12" deep. The back piece is 40" wide  so the 3 bottom frills were 120" wide and the 4th was 100" .  Making the frills was  repetitive labour rather than difficult, - 4 lots of overlocking, 4 lots of hem pressing and sewing, but the gathering was simple - we zigzagged over a length of buttonhole thread and pulled the fabric up along that. They were sewn to the back at 10" intervals to give 2" overlap.  Once all was done the front assembly and the back were attached leaving a 10" opening at the left top.  Then the mild concussion of trying to remember how to do a  placket to finish the opening. 

 It was put on the stand and pinned to a

petersham band, matching the back/side seams to the seams of the bustle cage underneath.  The back piece has  two lines of gather stitching at the top and these are pulled to fit. The petersham is sewn in place and the whole goes back on the stand for the final frill. This is shorter, only twice as long and narrows at the ends. This  was prepped as before and pinned from the centre back to the side seam  covering the top of the last frill - mine went from 10" to 5" deep and only 80" long. This was sewn on - the industrial machine was a godsend to this,

pinning to the waistband and adding the last frill.

the bulk reduced and the whole length of the waistband covered in white cotton tape to enclose the raw edges. Add on hook and bar fastenings and giant press studs down the placket opening and it is done!

 

The completed ensemble-  I still have visions of  looking like this in Victorian underwear - 

  think I'd be a good foot above the cushions in this bustle and the proportions are somewhat different. Need to find good opportunities for languishing. Answers on a post card?

Distractions list - Far too many  sweets (Minstrels!) museums, rain, Pauline's birthday-( nearly party-popped a bemused delivery man)  tea and scones at Grays Court (dead posh, right behind the Minster, optimistic wasp)  sewing moles - embryonic corset-o-saurus.  Will fill in the details next time.