The Historical Sew Monthly – Page 6 – Fashion Through Herstory

A Blue 18th century Redingote (part 2)

Published on February 21, 2015 by fashionthrougherstory6 Comments

In my last post (part 1) I begun to tell you about my latest entry for the HSM – a blue Redingote.
Here are the rest of it.

Once the lining was inserted I got to work o the lower front edge. It is always a bit tricky to get the button edge right and when the garment are double breasted and have a rounded edge it is even more difficult.But after lots of pining and folding (and some cutting of excess) I managed to get the edge to look like I wanted.

About the buttons (where I left of last time) I decided to cheat, and use hook and eyes.I could not decide on 10 or 8 buttons, so I wanted to postpone the decision to sometimes in the future. Without buttonholes the dress look a bit strange but I can still change my mind and make them at a later point.

I put the jacket on my dress form to get a better view and to pin the skirt on. 10 buttons and half a skirt.
It would even look great without the skirt as a jacket. Maybe next time (or if I decides I need the skirt fabric for something else…)

I pleated the skirt into 1,5 cm big pleats hiding a lot of excess fabric at the back pleats.

Then I prick stitched the skirt to the bodice.

The final thing to do was to hem the skirt, and to give it a final pressing.

Finished (lots of pictures):

Just the facts:

Challenge: Nr 2/2015 – Blue

What: A 18th century Redingote

Pattern: Nehelenia Patterns nr E21 – 1790s Redingote.

Fabric: 4 m of light blue wool, 1 m of white cotton for lining and 0,5 m of thick linen for interlining.

Notions: Thread, Buttonhole thread, buttons (10 big + 4 smaller), 8 hooks and eyes,

How historical Accurate: So so. The fabrics and pattern are pretty good, but I used modern construction techniques and made lots of the work sing my sewing machine and polyester thread.

Time: A lot. I would guess about 15-20 hours since it’s lots of hand stitching in tere.

Cost: ca 400 Sek (ca 65 Usd)

First worn: On February 21 for photos.
But I would love to wear it on an winter event in the future.

An anecdote: This is probably the one garment I’ve been re-starting (mentally if not psychically) the most times, and I’m so happy I finally managed to finish it (and not even hate it).

Final thoughts: I love the pattern, and definitely will be using it as a base for more 18th century gowns. But If I could do it again I would have made the overlapping in front wider to get a more distinct double breasted look.

A Blue 18th century Redingote (Part 1)

Published on February 18, 2015September 30, 2015 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

I’ve been totally in love with Jens (from “Festive Attyre“) Redingote since I first saw it about a year ago. I knew at once I need something similar.

The problem was when…

A year ago I put the picture on my “to do in 2014“-list, and there it waited…

I found this fabric on sale last winter, and thought it perfect for this project.
But I had so many other things to make for the HSF14, and when I could have had time I was already longing for spring and thinner clothing.
So I pushed it forward to the HSF14 nr 15 – Outerwear.

I bought this pattern in July determent to get the ball rolling in good time for he challenge. But as work got really busy after summer that didn’t happened.

By then I had a new goal – to make it for the HSF14 nr 22 – Menswear.
Well, I did start working on it in October.

I traced the pattern and cut and stitched the mock-up.

I was really surprised of how well it fit straight out of the package.
It’s not usual to get a nice back like that on the first try.

But then life once again caught up with me, and I had to take a break from sewing.
I postponed the 22 challenge completely, deciding to try to finish it on my Christmas leave.

And between working on my two Christmas dresses, I actually got the fabric cut and the interlining basted.My creative chaos. This is how I sitting in my chair watching series while pinning, stitching and sorting the pieces in different piles.

Sometimes around December 26th, I realized I would never finish within 2014 – and I had so much new stuff I wanted to make for 2015.
Bummers.
I made a 18th century hat as a late entry for the menswear challenge, and felt rater like a failure.

But then the Dreamstress revealed the challenges for The HSM15, and there it was – challenge 2/2015 – Blue!
That was exactly what I needed to finally finish the long awaited Redingote.
(even though I got distracted by the much quicker Mars entry).

Anyhow, here is what I’ve been doing on the evenings for the past month.

Stitching the long seams together using my sewing machine.

I decided to make more rounded shape for the corner on the collar instead of the patterns more square one.Shaping the collar.

I also needed to lower the arm hole a bit to keep it riding up my armpit.

A first test on the dress-form

Once the lining and sleeves was attached, I put it on to try the fit. I can’t say enough how pleased I an with the sizing on this pattern.
The only thing I needed to change was the length of the sleeve.

The center front marking matched up perfectly.

I then spent a few evenings stitching all the reinforcing/decoration on the collars and cuffs.

Then I stitched the ling down.

I couldn’t find any metal buttons I liked (like the ones Jen have), so I decided on fabric covered ones instead.Covering regular buttons in fabric.

Once the buttons was finished, I needed to decide how to make the buttonholes. I tried a few ideas like, regular hand worked, piped or bound. Testing the hand worked button holes on a scrap piece.

And how to space the buttons

decisions, decisions…

To be continued…

18th century skirt foundation (A.k.a Panniers of pain)

Published on January 14, 2015 by fashionthrougherstory2 Comments

For the HSM challenge 1/2015 – Foundation, I knew I wanted to make 18th century panniers to go under my in progress robe a la Franchise (more on that on a later note).

And since I already had all the material (fabric, metal boning and bias tape) in my stash I started by looking for patterns. 1740 panier waugh This pattern from “Corsets and Crinolines” looked good but seemed to be much bigger then I needed.
And I’ve heard from others who made it that it is in fact huge!

I was thinking something more along the lines of this picture. be103b0e94eebfb2dae8a3a825eb33b6 That seems easy enough. So I figured I didn’t need a pattern after all.

So on to the tapemeasure I whent, and started cutting the fabric.A green sort of linen/polyester kind of fabric, here cut in double pieces.

Once all seams was stitched together and felled, I started working on the boning bias tape for the channels I marked where I wanted the bones to be, and stitched the bias tape on top of the chalk lines.

Then I made a running stitch and gathered the top to be set in the waistband.

To get the oval shape on the panniers I attached rows of ribbons to be tied horizontal across the hoops.

Inside of the panniers before inserting the boning.

I used my regular go-to metal pipe cleaners for boning. The shape of the panniers whit the bones are somewhat circular…

And the edges of the top most bones makes a slight worrisome edge.

Finished in one night, yay!

Eh, no….

Once tied together the top hoop made the worst shape ever.

Darn it.
How to solve this?
I posted a quick question on my facebook page and in the HSM facebook group, and over night got lots of great suggestions.

Then I started experimenting.

I removed the diagonal bones at the top. Better, but a long way from perfect.

Once he bones was removed I noticed a excess of fabric at the top front and back. I played with pinning it into a giant dart thous removing the upper bones ability to push out. There was lots of width to take out.

But once pinned in darts and tied into place the pannier keeps the desired shape.

The problem was I thought of the whole panniers like a big circle/crinoline tied into shape. But what I failed to grasp was that to keep the top hoop close to the body at front/back and wide at the sides I needed to shape the top of the fabric. – just like in Waughs pattern….

Once decisive on the actions on how to save and finish the panniers I also decided that the pale green color was a bot bland. So I turned it inside out and stitched the darts from the opposite side to give it a ore interesting look (including removing all the ties and re-attached them on the new inside).

The finished panniers: (Yay)

Just the facts:

Challenge: nr 1/2015 – Foundation

What: A pair of 18th century panniers.

Pattern: None, I just measured and cut.

Fabric: 1,5 m of green linen from stash.

Notions: Thread, 7 m of metal boning, 7 m of brown bias-tape and 5 m of white cotton ribbon.

How historical accurate: Not much. The fabric is wrong, the boning is metal and I sewed most of it on my sewing machine. It looks pretty good though.

Time: About 8 hours – 2 of which I worked on correcting the upper hoop.

Cost: I would guess about 100 Sek (16 Usd) but everything came from stash so I’m not sure.

First worn: Only around the house for photos. But I intend to wear it with my up-coming Robe a la Franchise at the first chance I get.

Final thoughts: This was meant as a quick project, and as usual those are the ones which causes most trouble. But thanks to some minor experimenting and tips from the HSM hive mind I managed to complete them without to much bad words.

HS(F)M 2015

Published on January 4, 2015 by fashionthrougherstory6 Comments

The Dreamstress have decided to host yet another year of wonderful historical sewing challenges.
Only this year we will all (and most off all me) slow the paste down a bit and do the “Historical Sew Monthly“.

After some consideration I’ve decided to participate even this year – Oh, how am I kidding there was never any doubt…
But this year I will put up some ground rules for me to follow.

*Use stash first – I may need to buy notions and fabric such as buttons, cord or lining but I will use fabrics from my ever growing stash as much as possible.

* Don’t sweet it – If I can’t finish in time for a deadline, there’s no pressure, I will just post whenever I finish. – This also means I will not rush to complete thing in a slopy manner, but instead take my time and make everything as good as I can.

*Take time of from sewing – If the choice is between hanging out with friends/hubby/family or sewing, I will choose people every time.

Let’s present the challenges and what I intend to do with them for 2015.

January – Foundations:
Make something that is the foundation of a period outfit.

I’m going for 18th century here and doing some panniers – probably a smaller version of the ones in the picture.

February – Blue:
Make an item that features blue, in any shade from azure to zaffre.

I’ve started a 1790s Redingote in a light blue wool for the HSF 14 challenge 22: Menswear, but left it after some hard design decisions. This is the perfect excuse to finish it.

March – Stashbusting:
Make something using only fabric, patterns, trims & notions that you already have in stash.

I’m not completely sure about this one, but I’m thinking of making a Spencer from a beige wool I’ve got laying around. There are really to less fabric for anything else, and I do need some more outerwear, but I might as well go in another direction with this one.

April – War & Peace:
The extremes of conflict and long periods of peacetime both influence what people wear. Make something that shows the effects of war, or of extended peace.

I’m thinking of making the famous striped 1914s dress that Mary wears in Downton Abbey the day they get the news of the coming war.
I got some leftover striped white/green cotton that would be great for this project.

May – Practicality:
Fancy party frocks are all very well, but everyone,even princesses, sometimes needs a practical garment that you can DO things in. Create the jeans-and-T-Shirt-get-the-house-clean-and-garden-sorted outfit of your chosen period.

I’ve long been thinking about making a everyday regency dress from some green cotton sheets I’ve got, and this seems like a perfect opportunity

June – Out of Your Comfort Zone:
Create a garment from a time period you haven’t done before, or that uses a new skill or technique that you’ve never tried before.

A few fellow seamstresses here in Sweden are all getting their 17th century dresses finished this year, so why not join in. I love to make a boned bodice and skirt for this challenge.

July – Accessorize:
The final touch of the right accessory creates the perfect period look. Bring an outfit together by creating an accessory to go with your historical wardrobe.

bba904c5a7aa1a5222e9b051ebcf7186 This challenge could be a lots of things. I’ve considered headwear, aprons, jewelry and shoes, but I think what I most need (and want) are some 1800-1860s chemisetts.

August – Heirlooms & Heritage:
Re-create a garment one of your ancestors wore or would have worn, or use an heirloom sewing supply to create a new heirloom to pass down to the next generations.

dalsland4 This one is hard for me, since I don’t know anything about my ancestors, and there are none of my older relatives left to ask.
But considering most of the Swedish population heirs from farmers, I suppose that’s as good guess as any.
I will need some more research to determent what to make for this one.

September – Brown:
It’s not the most exciting colour by modern standards, but brown has been one of the most common, and popular, colours throughout history. Make something brown.

gray1 I got some brown wool/polyester blend that would look great as a late 19th century walking dress. Perhaps something along the lines of the suit Satin/Nicole Kidman wears in “Moulin Rouge”.

October – Sewing Secrets:
Hide something in your sewing, whether it is an almost invisible mend, a secret pocket, a false fastening or front, or a concealed message (such as a political or moral allegiance).

Yet another one I’m not sure about. But I know I want to make a 18th century mourning dress this year, and this may be the chance to do so. And the secret?
You will just have to wait and see.

November – Silver Screen:
Be inspired by period fashions as shown onscreen (film or TV), and recreate your favourite historical costume as a historically accurate period piece.

I’ve wanted to make this dress (worn by Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth”) since I first saw it, I already got the fabric, the pattern and the period undergarments for it – so now is the time (If I can brace myself for so long).

December – Re-Do:
It’s the last challenge of the year, so let’s keep things simple by re-doing any of the previous 11 challenges.

I have honestly no idea on what to make for this challenge.
But since it is a whole year left until then, I’m sure I will figure something out.
After all, I got a pretty impressive list on “Want to make” this year…
(More on that in my next post)