A little sewing, alot of pastels.

So this is not the post I was hoping for - that was even drafted and photos done.... and then.... distraction struck with a vengeance. Here are some tasters/teases for the real blog, construction, more smocking, fashion plate......

 but this is the one you are getting.
Let me explain - Started the new idea on Friday, tried a new way of drafting the pattern - worked well. Using up some fabric stash- brilliant. Went together sweetly, even embellished according to plan. Suspicious? So was I. Only things left to do are finishing the lining, applying the fake waistband (cut, pressed and ready) and fastenings ( set out and waiting). This was obviously too much to cope with. It felt like being a real costumer - even had a cat invade and sleep on the spare fabric. So of course got distracted, by a nose.
 It was too long, like a beak,  it was looking at me, and had been looking at me for most of the week. While the kettle boiled it could be sorted - that was breakfast - it is now lunch. Sorted that nose, done another and sorted that too.
So I'm always doing painting and drawing along side the sewing but this was a pastel work. For anyone who hasn't used chalk/soft pastels they are a rare species of demonic life form. Never get the exact colour, or marks in the right place, and  they conspire and giggle in the box just waiting their chance. Not too bad, until you realise the amount of coloured dust they spread happily over everything, the cutting/work table, the floor, me. It isn't just any old dust, this is friendly dust, wanting to get really close and stay with you for life.  Not the place for a plain white anything. I am actually going to have to WASH UP to get it  off my fingers. This is traumatic.
The new garment is on hold until the table is wiped down and dried, everywhere hoovered  and clean.

What I will share with you is the cause of all the trouble-  a study by Adolph van Menzel.

von Menzel

Watteau

 It has the same informal charm as the Watteau studies and is an unusual, beautifully lit  pose. I can't decide if she is being coy or looking for goldfish.
After a couple of pencil tries out came the evil pastels and battle commenced. They are actually quite fun to work with  and working on a coloured ground was a change - the colours are bolder, the paler tones are more vibrant, but they mix in unexpected ways, sometimes clear layers, sometimes muddy, chalky and opaque.

initial working

Having got this to a reasonable place it was pinned to wall (gently shedding dust) for a few days so that I could evaluate it and plan the next stages. It really was the nose, and elbow, and claw hand, and skirt detail.
It was going to be a quick amendment, no fuss, no mess, no trauma. It was. And then the 'should I do a background to balance the composition?' decision. And then came the 'while the pastels are out....' moment.

The Yellow Dress.

  The dress is the yellow gingham made and posted about last week. I haven't tried to  be pedantic about the gingham pattern, focussing more on the shapes and fall of the skirt. This is a very different outcome to the 1824 fashion plate pose done to previously. I  like the idea of presenting my Regency creations in as Regency a way as I can but I do like the  substance of this- is does make the fashion plate look over precious (but in an entirely charming way. Of course).





The second image is  based on the Scarf/shawl dress from the week before and is the development from the "Regency Wedgie" pose as discussed on facebook and pinterest. It was too good a thing to pass up so I had added a quick sketch to the mix and this grew out of that.. After so many still poses this was meant to be dancing ( just about turned into the 1960s/70s flamenco pose) and she is holding her  over dress rather than adjusting the underwear!

shawl dress with initial illustrations

 

They have turned out better than I expected, the shawl dress needs more attention, but pastels allow for a combination of approaches - the directness of pencil mark making and line, and then the more painterly handling of surface and colour. They have made me work larger, more quickly and to be bold in the use of  the limited choice of colours that I had, forcing me to be more experimental with  mixing and contrasts. The coloured paper puts more emphasis on working with light,  which I have probably enjoyed just a little too much. The water colours are still the choice medium, there is so much still to develop there. ( They look better in the flesh - more subtle, and softer) but these have been fun! And messy! And now to clean up....... or should I have a go at the dancer first...to save cleaning up twice...... how about the far shoulder of the yellow dress- should be puffier.....
It will be tea time soon.

So - it was going to be a painting week, that is happening, but while the watercolours were drying I got distracted again so had another go. This is glue-and-fabric-dress mkII. Do need a better title for them. This time it is based on the late 1700s high-waisted open robe shown in Nancy Bradbury's Costume in Detail. The extant example, from the V&A, gives an idea of the style of dress, The bodice detail is different but the general shapes are similar.  The Bradbury one is cut low ( very low!) and pinned edge to edge at the centre front, while the skirt has double inverted pleats and gathers to give the fullness at the back but remains open at the front to show the petticoat.

The start point was the same as for the ghostly dress - a papier mache cast of a little body form perched on a stand. I  took a pair of scissors to it and had narrowed the hips out of existence, there is a much cleaner line from shoulder to hem as a result.  Frustratingly the first steps were regluing and then creating a simple petticoat- just a rectangle of muslin gathered just under the bust. The skirt was cut and pleats pinned in using the Bradbury measurements to approximate to the proportions (bodice=1 unit skirt length =5ish). Back to the dunk, drape and dry routine, thank goodness for elastic bands to hold it together as it sets! And yes my high tech set up is an upside down bowl for it to stand on, and a plastic biscuit tin to catch the drips.
This was where I  parted company with dress making procedure. Instead of making bodice and skirt separately and then mounting together, the bodice was built panel by panel up from the waist.  The edges are still being turned under like seam allowances which did lead to problems, but working like this made fitting the sleeve on much easier. I could smear the glue, slide the sleeve head around without destroying too much this time. Should have put the cuffs on before assembling but.....

This was close  to the finish - the sleeves are on - looking a bit like Victorian insect specimens with the pins everywhere. All that is left are the shoulder pieces- they go from just above the bust over the shoulder and complete that distinctive diamond shape to the back. And then re gluing the inside to strengthen it. And adding another muslin petticoat inside the first - it was indecent (and a bit short) . And re gluing the skirt hem and turnings. and not dropping it. and not sitting on it (genuine accident not vengeful malice, yet)
And (last one), of course the belt! I did try the tie at the front (dressing gown), did try with just the organza ribbon ( no clarity, looked slightly dirty against the white), the pink ribbon (too narrow). So we have the double layer of organza and satin.
 Be grateful - having watched the BBC's Rococo programme this week with Clara the Rhino, I did try a tiny elephant as a brooch on the front. The tiny pink bead  is sweet but does make me think of a nose. Ummm. 
The muslin at the neck is temporary, preserving modesty again - these high/low dresses must have been seriously draughty. It looks 'right' and certainly stops the unfortunate Headless Horseman associations. I think I will declare it permanent! Hurrah!

  As you can see the technique is still evolving. Working out unwanted creases and dents would be a useful skill, as would  compressing seams and joins without leaving holes  or clip marks.  I do want to get artier with it as a process - more Wuthering Heights than Jane Austen as a expressive medium..... but she does look quite good striding purposefully across the window sill.

On a different note - so much for organising my working area. She is upstairs in the bay window  making the most of the natural light for photographing her, I'm working in the back room watching Sherlock Holmes wrinkling his brow in deep thought while doing this. At my feet are my painting things ( painted an inch of the nice sofa as a protest against the vile weather) and the experimental hand sewing swag bag and contents are on the squidgy chair opposite. The Front Room is the work space.   I begin to think that where ever I want to be becomes a designated work place.  Well, the house was never meant to be tidy, was it?
Never underestimate the power of blogging! There is blue sky! If stays good over lunch then I might make it out to see round the windmill!

Gwen's indecent muslin part 1

It is ages since the last post! So lots to catch up on.

Experiments were done, the Marie sleeve shown on the Gloucester wedding dress was rather fiddly but effective, why the sleeve top is done in two sections I can't see, having two raw edges gathered onto a narrow band did get a bit much, but perhaps the scale just made things worse! I wanted something easy to calculate so just measured off the pattern in centimetres and drew out inches, perhaps more pain at this stage would mean less pain later. The sleeve head is huge against the bodice, there is no stiffener in mine but still stands out quite rigidly, but the real thing can't have been easy to wear, but then contemporary wedding dresses tend to be exaggerations, so was this the same?

I sent a speculative email to Gloucester museum service and had such an open, enthusiastic response – I can go down to work from the original garment! Just short of 400 mile round trip to see a dress, why am I so excited by the thought! Hope to arrange to visit by the end of the month!

The main reason for the delay in posting was another good idea. I don't really like Gwendoline's party frock so have begun another, an ambitious project – a low cut crossover bodice of muslin mounted onto a lining with a round skirt. I wanted something a little more sexy and fitted like the Lawrence portrait shows to see if this will show of Gwen's shape better. Of course it couldn't be done simply so I wanted the lining to hold the form and the top layer to be gathered on the front to give a more romantic wispy effect. The bulk of the bodice is done and the skirt is tacked in place, gathered at the back with some gathering at the front under the bust darts.

This does help the skirt to hang well in the round but looks boxy at the waist line so it will be untacked and eased around the front.   It will definitely need an underskirt, even this quite coarse muslin is indecent. This didn't take long to do, so confession time. I had a go at some embroidery on the hem – giving a bit of visual weight, following ideas from the 1805 muslin dress and stealing elements from the designs published in the period journals. My design is a simple Greek lyre shape, full motif at the front and halves repeated along the hem and onto the back seam. This took for ever, please note – embroidery on flimsy muslin is a pain of the highest order, lines along the grain are simple but curves and satin stitch! It will look fine but the tension changes as soon as the fabric is realigned in a hoop or just handled. Out came the modern threads and I have redone it all in fine silk. It does look better than I thought now the skirt is on but this was nearly sob into the cornflakes status. How they did this on delicate muslin and so densely as on the dress to the right I dread to think.

The sleeves I want to be extravagant – probably based on the Marie experiment rather than the tight ones with high sleeve caps as above. They should be dramatic, to frame the bodice.  In the painting I've gone for puffy, almost bouffant sleeves but need to work from life to get it right, so I guess I'm committed.

 

  I've just thought that the sleeves should go on before the skirt! Aaaaagh! Am I really doing this for fun?

And just for more fun I've found some generous and trusting people who will let me work from their photos of costumes being worn! But I want to complete this dress and images for next week's update
 and start my drawing classes, and crochet hearts, stars and snowflakes and..... and....
How was there ever time to work?