18th century – Page 5 – Fashion Through Herstory

Bal a la Turque

Published on September 17, 2014 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

So, last Friday it was finally time for the Bal a la Turque.
I left early from work to catch the train to the capital, went to our apartment, dressed and headed to the party.

The party itself was located at some beautiful old buildings complete with dining room an dance hall. The guests were all dressed to their teeth in 18th century Turkish fashion, and everyone looked wonderful.

All party pictures are courtesy of Jennifer Garnier, who graciously allowed me to post them here. Enjoy.

And I just have to show you these masterpieces, one of the girls took at the end of the evening.
If you look fast you can actually kind of see the three of us posing…

Robe a la Turque – photoshoot

Published on September 15, 2014 by fashionthrougherstory7 Comments

OK, first I feel I need to apologize to anyone who might be offended by these past posts very non political correct use of the word Turque.
I’m sorry, and please know that I do not mean anything by it, but simply uses the word as a name of the Turkish influences in fashion and society in 18th century.

And here are some pics of the outfit now known as “Robe a la Turque”

My Artistic Robe the Turque (sort of..)

Published on September 13, 2014 by fashionthrougherstory2 Comments

With the Bal a la Turque just one week away I finally decided what to sew – Nothing!

I will not make a thing, I will however do some alterations on a previous costume and add some new accessories.

When looking at the inspirational pics I really liked the flowing, layer on layer type of look, but also the more stylished robe a la Turque. Then I realized I had just the dress – made only three months ago.

My striped Zone front Anglaise.

A couple of quick sketches later I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and started on the alterations:

Beginning by shortening the sleeves.Cutting and hemming at a flattering new lenght.

Then I made a pattern for the extra under sleeves, cut them in a white leftover linen I found in my stash.

Then I stitched them together and hemmed the wrists.

And basted them to the armhole.

Then it was time for the ruffle.
I drew a circle on a paper, And cut it out in double cotton voile from stash.

I gathered the edge and stitched it to a bias strip.

And finally I basted the ruffle to the neckline, and trimmed it down using pinking sheers.

The new Robe a la Turque:

I love how the makeover turned out.
I think both the ruffle and the new style of sleeves make it look really good, and helps enhance the pretty crispness of the white on the stripes.

But the dress alone don’t make a “Turque” – It’s all about the accessories…

I decided to change the original white petticoat, in favor for the recently shortened golden one to give the outfit more color.

I used the sash from my white 1900s Ariel dress and tied it around the skirt at hip level, securing it with safety pins. To mimic the mandtory white Turque sash.

And of course I also needed a belt, which I bought in a thrift shop not long ago.

And not to forget some shawls and jewelry.

The finished outfit styled and ready:

Over all I think I came up with a pretty nice looking (sort of) Robe a la Turque, using only stash fabrics and old pieces.

Now its of to the bal…

(Sport)Autumn Anglaise – Photoshoot

Published on September 8, 2014September 8, 2014 by fashionthrougherstory2 Comments

This picture post contains even more photos then usually, since I insisted on a second photshoot after I’d properly shortened the petticoat. You can actually see the skirts different lengths in many of these photos.

And once again a big thanks sis, for always helping me photograph and never complaining (even when I get frustrated at my own lack in modeling skills, and crappy wig work ;-)) I really appreciate it.

Photos: Maria Petersson

The Sport Anglaise finishing up

Published on September 6, 2014 by fashionthrougherstory4 Comments

Iv’e been sewing a lot lately, crossing several new and a few old projects of my list.

One of those “old” projects was the “Sport- Anglaise” which I’ve started in January. Then in Mars I gave you an update, and last week I managed to finish and photograph it properly.

I stated, when first starting this project – I will only sew, while my boyfriend watches sport on our Television.
Well that didn’t last very long…
I had way to much to do during the spring, and there was no way I could set aside all the other projects just because there was some game playing in the other room.
But to my defense this year I’ve endured both an Olympics and a World Championchip in football, so I’m pretty sure the dress would have been finished long ago if I’d stucked to the plan.

Anyhow, lets take a look at my final construction notes and finished pictures:

Where I left of last time I had just cut the fabric and begun to put he bodice together.I basted the side and shoulder seams. Stitched the three back seams down, doing small back stitches from the outside.The back stitched down.

Then I laced on my corset, and pinned the bodice shut for a try on.

As you can see it is a bit snug at the waist, causing the fabric to buckle under the pressure. But otherwise the fit was fine.

So let the side seams out a bit at the waist to get a smooth line.

Then I stitched the lining to the front and back piece.

And put in the sleevesI stitched them right sides together under arm and, from the top over the shoulder. Attaching the shoulder strap along the way.

And carefully pining the lining into place.

I put boning in the center back and front seams to help reduce wrinkles.

And stitched on hooks and thread bars for closure.

This is all that left of my 2,5 m fabric once the dress was complete.Thank goodness I didn’t need to make any bigger changes to it.

The Finished dress pared with the golden skirt:
(lots of photos, feel free to scroll down)

And a la polonaise:

And a mirror selfie of me dressed for the photoshoot:

Dress facts:

Pattern: None, I draped my own.

Fabric: 2,5 m of printed cotton, 0,5 m brown cotton for lining and 0,5 m thick canvas for interlining.

Notions: Thread, hooks and eyes, 0,6 m plastic boning for the front and some small pieces of ribbon for the “bustle effect”.

Time: I would guesstimate about 20 hours, but I started it in January (working on it only while my boyfriend watched some kind of sport on Tv) so I can’t be sure.

Cost: About 100 Sek (16 Usd) since the fabric was on sale.

Final thoughts: I really like this dress. I think it looks lovely and make me feel good wearing it. I’m already dreaming of going to a 18th century masked ball dressed in this gown and posing as “Autumn”.

Although looking at the pictures of me wearing it, I notice the huge amount of wrinkles occurring at the under arm/bust era, and at the back waist. I think I will have to go back and re-check the fit.

Terminology Stays – Photoshoot

Published on September 3, 2014 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

And here is the pictures of my new Stays.

Photo: Maria Petersson

Terminology Stays

Published on September 1, 2014 by fashionthrougherstory9 Comments

My original plan for the 16th HSF challenge – Terminology, (making something from “the-great-historical-fashion-and-textile-glossary“) was to make a regency round gown, but as the deadline approached I found an old UFO in my sewing pile causing me to changed track completely.

The item that now got my sewing nerve tingling was the 18th century half boned stays from Nora Waughs Corset and Crinolines. I’d started the project about a year ago, scaled and printed the pattern, took measurements and altered the pieces . Then I left it in favor for some other, more pressing costuming need. And that’s how I found it.

So I searched “The Glossary” for some useful article and found just the one: Stays.The pieces already altered for my measurements.

I decided to keep the pieces as they were (one year old measurements and all), and pinned them to the old cotton sheet I use for mock-ups.

I stitched the mock-up together and made some basic boning chanells down the front, sides and back.

Then I put in some boning, and attached my old lacing strip to the back.Not very pretty, but functional.

The fit was pretty good, and the only alteration I made was to make the whole thing 5 cm smaller – to get some more flexibility for size in the lacing.

So, on to the fashion fabric.
I used the leftovers from my previous corset en-devour (1900s S-shape).Pinning the strong sateen interlining.

I started by sewing the lining to the back piece.Then I stitched the lacing channels close to the edge, making three spaces for boning and eyelets.

Before getting down on to sewing all the channels, I made sure to mark them with pencil to the interfacing.

As you can see the lines are not exactly perfect.

And neither are the sewing lines.
But the pencil markings was just meent as a general guide to keep the left and right sides even.

Then it was on to the eyelets.Marking the spaces.

I used my hole puncher to get the get the grommets through the fabric.

And a hammer to get them to stick.

Then it was time to stitch the pieces together.

And to insert some of the boning.

The shape and fit looks really good. The wrinkles at the waist comes from the so far uncut tabs.Please ignore the different color laces – I could’t find any long enough.

After the fitting I inserted the rest of the boning, making sure the sharp edges was cut down and rounded of.

I needed to use some bias tape and hand sewing to get the channels for the horizontal bones in place.

They show a bit from he front, but not enough to be a problem.

I then pinned on the lining, sewing it down to the selvages and basting it round the top and bottom.

Then it was time to cut the tabs, bind the edges.

I put pins, to keep the bones from sliding from their places.

Fortunately I’d made the top edge first, because binding all those tabs were the worst part of the process. And if I hadn’t I’m not sure I wold have pulled through.

I stabbed myself countless times on the pins, and had lots of troubles getting the corners nice and smooth.

But I managed to get it done in time for deadline and photoshoot. The inside of the finished stays.

The finished Stays:

Sneak a peak of the photoshoot:

Just the facts:

Challenge: nr 16 – Terminology

What: a pair of 18th century half boned stays. Read more about the origin of the word (and what differs Stays from Corsets on: http://thedreamstress.com/2013/08/terminology-whats-the-difference-between-stays-jumps-a-corsets/

Pattern: 1770s Stays pattern from Nora Waughs Corset and Crinolines.

Fabric: 0,5 m of striped cotton, 0,5 m of tightly woven cotton sateen and 0,5 m of white cotton sheets.

Notions: Thread, 13 pairs of gromets, 5 m lacing cord, 4 m of cotton bias tape, 1 m of metal boning and about 30 pieces of plastic cable ties.

How historical accurate: The pattern, material and shape of the stays are correct. But I sewed them on my machine and used metal grommets, plastic boning and modern construction techniques. So maybe 4/10

Time: About 15 hours – binding the tabs took like forever.

Cost: About 200 Sek (32 Usd). But since most of the material came from stash and was leftovers from previous projects I didn’t pay that much. More like 80 Sek.

First worn: For photos yesterday, and hopefully for an upcoming 18th century event n a few weeks.

Final thoughts: I really love the look of these stays, but they are really uncomfortable.
I need to make some alterations to make them fit better, and I’m not sure that will help, since I made them to long in the waist. I wore them for about 1 hour this weekend and the boning poking in to my hips and back was really noticeable.

And on top of fixing the ill fitting part, I accidentally burst one of the side seams of the stays while sneezing during the photoshoot (ups)…

Bonnets and a Bergeré

Published on July 23, 2014 by fashionthrougherstory4 Comments

This spring/summer have been quite intense regarding sewing for me. And as every costume requires it’s own special headwear I haven’t just been making clothes this spring – there have been quite a lot millenery going on as well.

And since The Huge Picture Hatt alredy got its own post, I thought it was time to show a bit more about some of the other pieces of headwear I’ve been doing/re-doing this summer.

Lets start with the 18th century Bergere.

You might remember it from last year (when I made it from an regular sunhat).

This is how it looked when I found it in my big hat box, and decided to make some changes to it.

So I un-picked those green pieces of fabric inside the hat (I put them in last year to get something to attach the hair pins in, but it does work better to just push them through the hat).

Then I stitched on some metalic wire at the edge of the brim, and covered it with white bias-tape.

Then I re-trimmed it with a plain green twill-tape.

And this is how it looked when I wore it with the brim tured up, at the big historic picknic.

***

Next up is a regular straw hat that I’ve turned into a regency bonnet.

I folded the hat in two, made a mark where to cut,

and grabbed the scissors. Make sure to stich the rows down before you cut, so the hat dont un-ravel.

Then I stiched on metal wire along the cut line, and covered it with bias tape.I used white bias tape at first , but decided to change it to a nude tone twill tape instead, to make it more inviseble.

Close up of brown/nude twilltape.

The un-trimmed hat.

Then I pinned on some white lace and a big flower brosh I had in my stash.

Altough it does look pretty, it looks a bit too costumey for my taste.

So I re-trimmed it using another piece of lace and some leftover ribbon from my yellow regency gown paired with a black brosch. Much better.

And here is how it looked worn togeter with my yellow regency dress.

***

And finaly a 1840s bonnet made from skratch.

I used the same pattern (and tecniques) as my brown velvet bonnet, only cut it a bit smaler to get a slimer model for this bonnet.

I used thick canvas and super stiff interfacing as the inner layers. And a white striped cotton voile for fashion fabric.

Before sewing anything togeter I stiched wire to all the pieces.

It was a bit tricky to sew inside the hat piece.

At least I only broke one needle…

Then it was time to start the hand sewing. I attached the “lid” and covered it with fashion fabric.Then I stiched on the brim and more fashion fabric (no pictures sorry). And finaly I attached the lining on the inside.

At this stage I was ready to throw it out, it looked so terrible. The fabric was puckering and nothing I did would make it lay flat. I did a final try and decided to trim it to see if that would make it look any better.

It is fantastic what some pieces of lace can do to a domed project. It does actually look presentable.

An this is how it looked this weekend when I wore it for a photoshoot.(You even get a sneak a peak of my next HSF project)

Styling a 18th century Hedgehog

Published on June 12, 2014 by fashionthrougherstory4 Comments

This weekend during the historic picknick I got quite a few coments on my hair (even though my sister got more), and since I normaly have short red hair, I had to confess I was wearing a wig.
Not very unusual for 18th century dress up, were you need tons of hair arranged in complicated ways to get the right look.

I only own one wig that is remotley sutable for 18th century, and it is in a poor state. (you can read about my previous attempt at styling the thing Here)

I have ordered Demodes new book on 18th century hair styling, but since it wont arrive in yet another month, I figured I had to try to remodel the wig on my own.

So two nights before the picknick I rolled the wig onto pin curls. Starting with the attached ponytail in the back.

Then I held it under water for a while to get it totaly soaked, and then put it in the owen to heat.I put the owen on 50-75c and left it for about 3-4 hours.

When I took it out it was still wet, and I let it sit over night and the next day.

When I got home from work I started to unrol the curlers.And the curls where so strong they didn’t move an inch.

The wig right after I removed the curlers.

I used my fingers to mes up the curls and to gove them some bounce.

This is how it looked when I put it on the day of the picknick

And finaly finished and styled with a bow and hat.All and all I’m pretty pleased by the result, but I would have liked it to look softer in the front hairline to make it les wigy. Hopefully the new book will help me with that.

Artistic Anglaise – Photoshoot

Published on June 7, 2014June 7, 2014 by fashionthrougherstory3 Comments

Yesterday I went to the beautiful park by the castle Haga in Stockholm to attend a costuming picknic (wich I will tell you about in my next post). And as it was the first outing for my new striped Robe Anglaise I made sure to get some good photos of me wearing it.

So here you go – my newest gown beautifully depicted by my sister using the enviroment of the park as a backdrop.

Wearing the skirt bustled up, and paired with a long fichu.