To get some photos of my new Edwardian wool dress, I took the opportunity to use my fiancees workplace as settings and my sister as photograph.
I’m wearing: The brown/plaid wool skirt, lacy shirtwaist, wool bolero and my Titanic hat (with a quick fix-up) Underneath I have my S-shaped corset, petticoat, chemise, corset cover, stockings and black “American Duchess” Gibson shoes.
Photo: Maria Petersson
The night before the photoshoot of my new Edwardian shirtwaist and skirt, I decided I also needed a jacket
(I know – Crazy!).
So while adding buttons to the blouse, I also drafted a quick pattern from “The Edwardian Modiste” by Frances Grimble, which I’ve been eyeing for quite a while.
Such a cute jacket/bolero.
Then I grabbed a piece of soft wool, which of course matched the beige in the plaid skirt perfectly, from my stash and begun cutting and sewing.
It all went so fast and within, half an hour I had a functional bolero.
Then all I needed to do was to hem the sleeves and bodice and to decorate it.
I altered between some dark pom-pom trim and the simpler soutage ribbon in soft nougat. The later won the fight, and my only regret is that I didn’t had enough to also trim the sleeves.
The bolero from the inside – all edges left raw.
I also added a hook and bar to wear it close if I want to.
The finished bolero:
Just the facts:
Challenge: HSM/15 nr 9 – Brown
What: a 1900s bolero jacket
Pattern: I drafted my own using “The Edwardian Modiste” by Frances Grimble as a guide (basically a front + back bodice and a wide sleeve cut apart at the top)
Fabric & Notions: 0.5 of soft light brown wool, thread, hook and eye and 2 m soutage ribbon for decoration.
Time: 3 hours! Such a fun and quick project.
Cost: 45 Sek (6 Usd) – a leftover scrap, to small for anything really, I bought on sale a year ago.
How historical accurate: Not sure. The pattern is based on a actual pattern, but I might have modernized both it and the construction techniques. The internal seams are machined and all the finishing are done by hand – like in the period. The fabric is plausible and the silhouette are about right so I would guess about 7/10.
Final Thoughts: I love it so much! I could wear it to the office right now (I might have to reduce the sleeves a bit first though). The fabrics so soft and the shape is just lovely. The only thing i ca think of that’s not perfect is that I didn’t considered the stiffness of the wool when drafting the sleeves – thous making them a bit to wide. They will probably look better in a more drapery fabric.
I might also add some more trim later on when I find something I like.
The whole outfit:
And since you always need something on your head I draped some leftover fabric on an modern straw hat, to get that big Edwardian hat shape.
Next up: The photoshoot
To have something to wear with my new plaid 1900s skirt, I wanted to make a new shirtwaist (I do love my old one but sometimes (ok, always) you want something new).
And in my stash I found this lovely pattern from “Wearing History” which I bought half a year ago when she had a Sale, and I’ve been dying to try it out.
As the pattern comes as a “print at home” version, the first thing I needed to do was to cut and assemble the pieces. 
Not sure what fabric to use, I searched through my stash and found the last piece of white striped cotton voile (from which I’ve previously made: A Chemise a la Rein, a 1900s pigeon front dress and a 1850s working woman’s shirt/waist), and a newly required of white cotton lace decorated in lovely flowers.
Unfortunately I hadn’t enough lace to cover the whole shirt – I could either use it on the bodice and make short sleeves, or I could use it to make long/full sleeves and ad a bit of lace around the collar and shoulders.
After some thinking and experimenting with the pattern layout I decided to go with the full sleeves and then try to get as much of the upper bodice out of it as possible.
I realized pretty soon the lace was way to fragile and “open” for the garment I wanted to make. So I dug out some ivory chiffon from my stash and used it to back all the lacy pieces.
The result was perfect. The sleeves kept their lightness, while the see-thoroughness was dampened and strengthened all at the same time.
I stitched most of the blouse on machine, but all the work with the lace needed to be made by hand.
Unfortunately I’ve been really bad at taking pictures lately but besides from the fiddling to get the lace right, the construction is pretty simple.
Before finishing I did needed to make a decision about how to end the lace on the bodice.
I could either cut it to the neckline and trim it with lace edgings, or I could save as much as possible of the lace and trim the bottom edge across the back and bust.
In the end I opted for the later, thinking I could always go back and change it at a later date if I want to.
To get that nice pigeon “breast effect” I used bias-tape and a cotton cord to gather the waist.
The inside of the blouse.
I made a combination of buttons, buttonholes and metal snaps for the back clouser. 
The finished Blouse:
The facts:
What: A 1905s shirtwaist
Pattern: “Wearing history” 1900s shirtwaist pattern
Fabric: 1 m of striped cotton voile, 0,5 m of cotton lace, 0,5 m of cotton lining for the bodice and 0,3 m of polyester chiffon for backing of the lace.
Notions: Thread, Buttonhole-thread, bias-tape, cotton cord, 10 cm plastic boning, 13 buttons, 7 snaps.
Time: 10-15 hours.
Cost: 400 Sek if everything been bought new, but since everything came from stash and most of the fabrics was leftovers I wouldn’t say even half.
Final thought: I loved working with this pattern, and I have only myself to blame for not making a mock-up since i had a bit trouble getting the collar to fit properly. And I maybe should have skipped out on adding the second layer cotton to the bodice – It may have looked a bit nicer and softer. I also may have to reset the sleeves without the pleats at the shoulders.
But all in all, I’m pretty pleased with the blouse.
Worn with the skirt:
And a preview from the photoshoot:
Fashion Through Herstory 