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!

 

pink and dotty lingering.

This is the poor remnant of the original blog - picture troubles. A more coherent edition is under the pink and dotty page tab at the top of this post.


The pelisse is nearly there. As expected all my time has gone into work and yarn-bombing preparation. The thought of doing intensive stitching has put me to sleep more than once this week, and when that didn't work, reading editions of  "La Belle Assemblee" for fashion tips from the early 1800s did the trick nicely.

The couple of hours I've spent on it  this afternoon have been great. Sat by the window, flower garden buzzing with bees, birdsong, ignoring a week's worth of housework, weeding and lawn mowing.....  wonderful.
 The lining is in but one or two snags, not quite lying right, so will have to clip the seams closer and maybe adjust a little- not massive problems. Did a little decoration to the cuffs to finish the sleeve off. And the collar! This is first go, it seems fine  - this I am not used to at all. A bit more clipping at the back seam allowance, then top stitching, and it will do.

So the current task list -

adjust lining.
top stitch collar and cuffs.
couching for belt - option 2 is flat ribbon.
construct and attach belt
hem - coat and lining.
remove stay stitching on sleeveheads
hook and eye fastenings to front
wash. Press.

To be honest it doesn't look any shorter than last week. More than a snowball's chance to finish before next blog?
 Doubt it.

Never mind, it is not as if either of us is going anywhere.

Light relief. I shall set myself the task of another portrait wearing this pelisse now the shapes are sorted out.








Also found this as a close-ish match to the Museum of London original- from the Met Museum- same basic silhouette, emphasis in the same places even if the details differ. Am still hunting for a fashion plate match- it would be fun to see how it was meant to look.