1830s Frock Coat Finally Finished

In what feels like a life time ago, but was in reality only 2012.... I began work on a frock coat for my husband. This coat was his dream coat. He wanted a full blown 1830s blood red coat with a rich black velvet collar. Thankfully, this is my third and final post as the coat is now finished.

Post One - Total Frustration with the pattern
http://daniellescostumingdiary.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/1830s-frock-coat-frustration-and-lining.html

Post Two - Progress
http://daniellescostumingdiary.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/1830s-frock-coat-frustration-and-lining.html

One big change was that we decided to remove the fullness from the sleeves and make them fitted to be more late 1830s.

He wore it first for the Business SA 175th Gala Dinner, where we were asked to promenade, meet and greet the guests in the entrance to the Entertainment Centre. Afterwards we headed into town to purchase fabric, have drinks and dinner. Nic received a lot of comments from women who found his attire very dashing and handsome.

 Business SA Gala. Sorry about the photo, but my small camera is not very good in bad lighting. Nic and myself are on the back left.

 Drink time at La Boheme. We met some tourists from Canberra and had a great time and a few amazing drinks.  

 

On Sunday, he put the jacket to its original purpose and filled his dream of wearing it while shot gunning. Sorry, but I took a lot of photos and the following are only a few. The jacket looks amazing in the wind and with his movements while shooting.

 

 

 Time for a quick selfie while waiting for Nic's next shot.... I love how I have colour matched my glasses and earmuffs. Very traditional as well.....

 

 

While we were in the clubhouse, we also noticed that someone had put a copy of a newspaper article advertising the Adelaide Regiment on the bulletin board. It was a very nice article with really nice photos of the group.

1830s Sleeve Supports, Chemisette and Shawl-Mantlet

I have decided to take a quick break from my data analysis. While having a cup of coffee and cuddling Dinah, I had my photos displaying randomly as my computer screen saver. While watching I realised that I had sections of my 1830s outfit that I had not actually blogged about.

1830s sleeve supports
Even though my sleeves have a pleated upper arm, the puff under that still requires shaping. I did not need a large puff so I measured my arm and that became my length. More fabric could be added here, but I wanted it to sit without being held in place with cords (tying them into place with cords was more common in the earlier part of the 1830s, I could imagine that when the sleeves began to be tighter at the top they may have become uncomfortable). I then calculated how large the puff would need to be to support the puff fabric without stretching it out too much. I then toiled it and tried it out... making adjustments as I went. The larger piece is gathered around the fullness, keeping the section that will go under the arm flat and smooth.

 These are the final pattern shapes after toiling. The smaller shape is the inside and the larger is the gathered outside.

 An unfilled puff upside down

 An unfilled puff the right way round. I then filled the puffs with Cotton. To finish them off the ends, one end was folded into the other and it was then whip stitched down.

As you can see they are not very large, but still very effective.

1830s Chemisette

I love chemisettes and they tend to be an item that is often neglected by many members of the groups I am a part of. 4

• They provide protection for your garment from sweat stains around the neck and collars. 
• They are easier to clean than a dress. 
• They provide a level of period correct modesty for day wear.
• They are an easy way to change collars without whip stitching them directly to the dress.
• They just look really nice.

Anyways, I was lucky in having access to the Attic Trunk 1830s chemisette pattern (these patterns were made about a decade ago by a lady in my state who has unfortunately passed away). This pattern was quite old and was in size 20 (im only a size 12). I also decided to do my usual trick of changing/adapting to my own taste as many undergarment patterns are very basic. I took my inspiration from two Chemisettes from the UK's National Trust Collection. These both have been dated 1840-1850, but the person would have had to have been very far behind the fashion for that to be the case. The collars have the standard width of the 1830s and the short waist of the 1820-early 1830s.

For mine I put three small 1/8" pin tucks on either side of the opening. It also has a cord string to close the neckline. The back is plain. The pattern had a basic collar, so I made a thin ruffle that I whip gathered on and trimmed with a lace edge. 

 Unfortunately, all of the photos I have wearing the chemisette are from the Port and it was very windy. I think that it really softens the dress off and creates a more romantic and gentle image.

1830s Shawl-Mantlet

The last item that I made to finish the impression was a matching cotton shawl-mantlet. These are an important outergarment of the time and come in a wide variety of shapes. They are not long and so they protect the sleeve from being crushed. I was amazed at how many exant cotton gowns still had their original matching capelette in online collections. I was provided with a basic pattern shaped off an original from a lady called Kay. She has a huge collection of exant garments and is wonderful at helping create authentic outfits. I toiled her pattern to fit me and then made it with the same cotton fabri as my dress, plain white cotton for lining and the same silk piping as I used on the dress. I also made my toile with scalloped edges, whereas the original only had a single scalop on the edge of each shoulder. I must admit they are very strange looking items and I doubt they would really provide your dress with any protection.

 On my Manequin, over the collar..

 

  Under the Collar

 ** When I get a chance to wear this I will take some photos and add them here. I have found that they always look nicer on a real person.

Port Festival 2013

Today Nic and I attended the Port Festival. This event is held every second year to celebrate the founding of our port (by our White/English settlers) and the boats that they arrived on for the first hundred years of settlement. The event organisers invite the society members to attend in 1830s clothing (or up to the 1860s) to represent the first white settlers and add ambiance to the day. The organisers close off a few streets and set up vendors of local Arts and Crafts as well as performing artists. The Railway Museum, Maritime Museum and Aviation Museum also open their doors to the public with free admission during the festival. It is always a very enjoyable day of wandering around the amazing old stone buildings and meeting lots of wonderful new people. This year they also had two of Australia's Tall Ships in dock, that members of the public could board for a small gold coin donation.

This year I wore my circa 1838 cotton dress with straw bonnet, to represent a middle class woman visiting town for the day. Due to the heat and my inability to still complete his woolen frock coat (fate we think as it was 31C today), Nic wore his 1830s-1840s bush garb and was also very comfortable. 

 Me and Nic at the helm of the One and All.

Nic on an old steam train at the Railway Museum.

1830s Dress and Bonnet

About two years ago I started work on my late 1830's dress. I am not overly fond of this time period (being 6 foot tall I do not like to emphasis my height with big puffy shoulders) so I decided to make a dress that is late 1830's by modifying it from the larger earlier sleeve by pleating the top into tacked bands. Anyways, as my heart was not fully into making this dress it took a long time to get around to finally making it. I was mainly prompted to finish it for two events: the anniversary of the birthday of Charles Sturt and for the START children's event for the Turner Exhibition at the Adelaide Art Gallery.

Surprisingly, I had lost about 1" since I made my toile so it fitted with only slight alterations. So I was very happy :-).

These dresses are very easy to construct and fit for people that have prior experience in mid Victorian sewing. The sleeves, however, are a challenge.

 A close up of the bodice. Normally I have Nic to take photos, but he was interstate at the time on a survey.

The bodice is a one piece front with a single dart on each side. The back has hooks and eyes for closure down the CB. It also has SB seems. All of the seems are piped in silk. I chose this for a contrast colour as the fabric is a little too pale for my liking and I was worried about being washed out. I also thought it would help to highlight the features.

 The sleeves that create a lot of drama. These took more time than the rest of the dress put together. I had to pull them apart 3 times to get them to fit. They were made it two pieces. the bottom section and cuff are piped in the silk and lined in plain cotton. The top half of the sleeve is a giant gigot that would normally be a large puffy sleeve. To make the pleats with the fabric required to keep the puff I sectioned the sleeve off and tacked the pleats in place. I then had to make the pleats double in order to ensure it did not pull too much to the front or back (this happened the first time I constructed it, the puff sat to the front and was flat in the back). I then pressed it and hand sewed it in to the armhole. The pressing was important to ensure that the pleats stayed flat as while working on the cross in some sections it was pulling while working down the pleat.  Once it was sewn into the armhole I then hand tacked the sleeve pleats down into the arm bands. The arm bands were just 1 cm wide strips of fabric with silk piping on the sides. Once the gigot sections were in, I then attached the bottom cuffs and whipped the edges to finish them off.

As you can see from this photo of the inside, as long as it looks good on the outside the inside doesn't really matter when you are trying to fit that much fabric into such a small circumference.

 Before I began work on this dress Jessie had given me a matching purple cameo style belt buckle that was the inspiration for my silk colour choice. As I was running late for completing this, the belt was mostly made by Jessie. She is a wonderful help when overwhelmed. 

 The completed dress outside of the Adelaide Art Gallery. I hate how flat the skirt is. I really need more petticoats.

This bonnet I purchased 3 years ago, second hand. It was made for the original 1980's anniversary celebration of our state. The poor bonnet had seen better days. It had a huge tear in the front and was decorated in fluro pink ribbons. The ribbons were the easy part to fix, but I was able to repair the tear as well. I wired the brim and tacked down some shape-well to reinforce the tear. To cover these repairs I had to wire the brim and line the inside to hide the damage. The outside was barely noticeable but I still put a decorative ribbon up over the tear.

 The only visible section of the tear. 

 I am not overly into floral decorations, so I tried to keep it simple with ribbons only. As Jessie offered to tack most of the ribbons down I did give in and let her put a single flower on it.

Anyways these make up two of the challenges for the historical sewing fortnightly.

The Challenge 9# Flora and Fauna - 1836-38 Cotton Dress

Fabric: 100% Printed Cotton

Notions: Cotton string for piping, silk for piping, metal hooks, Vintage Buckle, silk thread
Pattern: None - toiled to my body and the sleeves drafted from Brian Reader's ' Making Costumes of the Eighteen-Thirties'
Year:  1836-38
How historically accurate is it? About 80%, the fabric is natural and printed, there is some machine sewing, construction is similar to dresses in Kay Invererity's original dress collections. (before beginning sewing in 2011, she held a workshop to explore her original garments to gain an understanding of the construction)
Hours to complete: minus the two years sitting on the roll in my wardrobe.... 8 days x 8 hours.... plus extra.... sooo way too many when I should have been working on my ethics proposal.
First worn: 28th April
Total cost: I think the cotton was about $72 and the silk was about $28 and the thread about $5... This is just guess work as I did purchase all of this 2 years ago.

The Challenge 10# Literature - 1830s Straw Bonnet (Inspired by Mrs.Octavia Pole from Cranford)

Fabric: Straw Bonnet form

Notions: Brown Polyester Ribbon, Millinery Wire, Shape-well, Ivory Polyester Satin, Yellow Thread
Pattern: None - I did get inspiration from fashion plates
Year:  1830s
How historically accurate is it? About 50%, the shape of the bonnet is accurate, but I was unable to get around to purchasing non synthetic fabric or ribbon due to time constraints  as as this is not one of my favourite time periods I will probably not change it later.
Hours to complete: about 6 hours
First worn: 28th April by Jessie for Sturt's Birthday and a week later by me at the Art Gallery
Total cost: about $20 for ribbon and fabric

1830s Frock Coat - Part 2 .... The Collar

In undertaking this coat I have come to the sad realisation that I am not a tailor. Unfortunately, I have no one else to make Nic's coats for him.  I had a lot of trouble as the original pattern did not include any information on the interfacing and did not even include any facings or linings. The collar piece was also way too large on the the length and width. Once I had worked out how to construct the collar and had the patience to tweak it, I think it turned out quite well.

Thankfully, after 2 months of intermittent work, I have finally completed the collar, minus the pin prick stitching around the outside of the seam. I am still not sure if I actually want to do this. Knowing me I probably will once I am ready to work on this again.

Inside the interfacing of the collar.

The finished collar, minus hand stitching. I know it looks a little strange, but Nic is using my male form so I only had my female form available :-(. I do think that this would make an nice coat for me, too bad Nic doesn't agree.

The underside of the collar/Inside of the front of the jacket.

1830s Frock Coat - Frustration... Lining and Tail Finished

As it is the 175th aniversary of the colonisation of our state, I am slowly working towards creating 1830s outfits. As I am still new and unsure when it comes to tailoring coats I decided to purchase the Reconstructing History 1830s Frock Coat pattern as it seemed similar to those in 'Men's Garments 1830-1900: A guide to pattern cutting' and 'Making Costumes of the Eighteen-Thirties: Volume 2'.

 The basic body toiled up quite nicely with only minor adjustments needed. The issue that I found with this pattern had to do with the sleeve cuffs that only have 4 instructions that make no sense whatsoever... I mean who puts buttonholes down the fold line? I did email the company for clarification of their construction, however, they never responded back. Highly disappointing as their help line was one of the reasons why I chose their pattern. In the end I discarded their sleeve cuffs and drafted those from the book ' Making Costumes of the Eighteen-Thirties' by Brian Reader. Another problem with the pattern is that it omits the tail pockets and facings from the illustration.  These I also had to draft from the book. Over all I was very disappointed with this pattern and will probably not purchase from them again. I do highly recommend the book as it goes into very good detail about how to construct different male garments of the1830s, even though it does contain some modernities such as iron on interfacing and over-locking. These, however, are not big issues.

 For the lining I have hand quilted cotton flannel to the linen lining. The flannel holds amazingly well to the worked horsehair. I am hoping that by doing a lot more work on the jacket's insides it will create a far better finish. The lining shape was heavily adapted in the toile stage and then used to create my own pattern for the interfacing.

 As Nic requires glasses I have included a pocket inside the left hand breast lining as this jacket will be required for leisurely afternoons undertaking gentlemanly pursuit of shooting.

 As mentioned I had to draft my own tail pockets and facings. I think they turned out well. I chose to pipe the facings in black velvet to tie in the top collar, which will also be in black velvet. This took me three full days to complete... and a big headache... so I will take a day off tomorrow to work on my 1830s dress.

 Finished pocket facings close up

Inside the pocket

Full placement

Ekkkk messy tail inside, till the skirt lining goes in.

Sigh, the next task is the collar.....