1860s Mourning Dress

For some reason unknown to me, we often get invited to participate in funeral reenactments. It was because of this that the first outfit I made when I first started sewing was a mourning dress. Unfortunately it had a lot of problems. The bodice is too big, the neckline to big and its clearly a Simplicity pattern. There was not enough fabric given to me to make a skirt, so I was given a skirt made for me very generously by one of the ladies that would help me temporarily of a polyester that works amazingly well as a microfiber cloth as I walk through my house. I have come a long way in my sewing since then and therefore decided last May that it was time to finally upgrade my mourning dress.

 My first dress.

After looking around for awhile online I finally found this dress from the Metropolitan Museum.

Metropolitan Museum Mourning Dress ca 1867

While I love silk  dresses, I tend to like simpler cotton dresses. There are already many women in the group I am involved with that have many beautiful silk dresses, that I find it nice to focus more on the cotton and working/middle class impressions. Although I do still like a nice dress every now and then. Either way I loved the shape and design features of this dress. 

I started making this dress in May of last year for an event. Unfortunately I started making it a week before a funeral event and I never managed to complete it in time. I was able to finish the toile, construct the bodice and attach one sleeve. It then remained on my mannequin for the next 6 months while I was occupied with my studies.

The other day I decided to sign up for the Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenges. For the second fortnight the challenge is to complete a UFO. I can not think of another UFO more deserving of being completed than this one (other than Nic's 1830s frock coat.... which I'm current out of love with once again as I have to draft and fit the sleeves).

In undertaking this dress in May I was in love with the challenge of the simple yet beautiful features of the pin tucks and decorative darts. I believe that it took me about three tries with the calico to get it to a stage where I was happy. It also took a bit of work to then translate the effect correctly to the voile that is a lot softer and stretchier. I am very grateful to Jessie for all her help in getting the fitting and details perfect. I feel sometimes I must be a trial in my need to make everything perfect. I love how the Met Museum has the zoom feature on their dresses so that I can indulge in this bad/awesome habit.

It really has been easy to finish as there is not much detail left, everything was cut out and ready to sew. The only difficult part was the hanging  of the skirt from the waist with the two layers of fabric. This was overcome with a little patience and a lot of pins. The bodice and skirt on this dress are two separate pieces. I was going to make it as a one piece dress, like most originals and drawings of this period, however I noticed that on the MET photos you can see the skirt waist band and separation between the skirt and the bodice on the back view. Therefore, I made them as a two piece and added waist hooks to keep the bodice attached and sitting flat.

Unfortunately, I do not have any construction photos due to the speed that I was sewing, my lack of remembering to take photos and as I cannot find the photos I took when drafting and fitting the bodice originally.

 Close up of the front of the bodice.
The pin tucks are stitched down only on the voile. The darts are only pressed flat, as I could see no stitching on the original. The lining is in a skin tone cotton and has none of the features of the voile (It is a plain lining with normal fitting darts).
The front is closed using hooks and hand sewn cotton thread eyelets. The closure is center front with a longer waist band that closes further to the side, as on the original.

 Close up of the back of the bodice.
This was constructed the same as the front.

Close up of the sleeve. The ribbon I made using a strip of silk that I folded over and tacked down by hand. I also used silk organza to make the ruffles on the cuff.

 The front and back of me wearing the dress after finishing walking in the Australia Day Parade in Adelaide. The skirt looks too long in these photos, as I did not realise I was standing on an incline. On flat surfaces it has a 1" (3cm) clearance on the front and 1/2" (1.5cm) on the back.

The Challenge: UFO
Fabric: Black Cotton Voile, Skin Toned Homespun (lining), Black Silk Dupion (sleeve trim) and Black Silk Organza (sleeve trim)

Pattern: None - drafted and fitted from a previous fitted calico pattern.
Year: ca. 1867

Notions: steel hooks, skin toned tape for under hem

How historically accurate is it? As accurate as I know how to make it, I referenced the photos on zoom and a similar dress in Nancy Bradfield's Costume in Detail pg 221 and photos I previously took of originals in a friends collection.

Hours to complete: about 18 hours. The original construction of the bodice 6 months ago took a lot longer as I had to get the pin tucks and visible darts correct.
First worn: today to take the completed photos

Total cost: I believe that the cottons were about $8 per meter on special and I used.... ummm about 9 meters of each as I am very tall (6 foot) and need a lot of fabric in my skirt drops.... so about $150. The threads and silks were scraps from previously finished garments.

As this dress was very quick to finish and while going through my other UFO's I found/had a moment of pure inspiration.....

To be continued......

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.

Odds and Ends - A New Cap and Furniture Refurbishment

I know I haven't posted much of late, but that doesn't mean I have not been busy. In the middle of last year I purchased a late Victorian folding chair. The wood was sturdy, but the fabric was a little worn. After a month of use the fabric finally gave way. We took it to an upholsterers and were astonished at the price. After some discussion we decided to repair it ourselves. The chair had some orange-brown paint on it that was scratched up. Therefore, we decided to strip it before recovering it. Thankfully we were able to get a very similar design of fabric (only the design was about an inch/3 cms smaller than the original). I was so happy with the results of my work that I also decided to recover my foot stool in the same fabric.

Our folding stool also had its fabric give way while camping in Taminick last october, so I used another fabric to recover that chair. The only difference between my work and the originals is that I sewed all the trims down, instead of using fabric glue. I believe that this gave me a far better result.

The completed chair and footstool.

Repaired camp stool.

Now on a more fun note, I have also been undertaking multiple projects to keep my motivation up. One project, that I have just completed was my first 1850/60s cap. I used the lace from an oval doily and some spare silk and ribbons to create this cap. It was fun and interesting for my first try.

 The side of my new cap.

The back of my new cap.

Wedding Aniversary, Our Way

This year Nic and I managed to make it to our 2nd year wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, he was away at work on the actual day. To make up for this we decided to have a belated anniversary to remember.

One of the local attractions here in the hills is the historic Steam Ranger, which runs steam train rides from Mount Barker to Victor Harbour. It is a 2 hour ride each way with a 3 hour break at Victor Harbour to enjoy the sea side. Sounded like the perfect way to celebrate and have a picnic. This is a late post as our trip was on the 4th November.

As you can imagine we did draw a crowd when taking our own photos. It was also lovely as a retirement village had booked one of the carriages for their clients to have a day out. So we had people wanting to touch my skirts, ask questions and take photos. Its nice to think we may have added to their enjoyment of the day.

 It wouldn't be a picnic without some champagne.

To finish the day we went for a camel ride, explorer style. I must say it was very tricky in skirts as they did not have a side saddle. It is probably best that there is no photo of me as I was showing quite a lot of ankle. Nic said that it was not as bad as I am married. I think he was just being sweet to make me feel better.

Regency Christmas Picnic

Well today we had our Victoriana Society annual Regency Christmas Picnic. I also finally got some photos of my completed long sleeve dress and linen gloves. We simplified our plans this year as we had way tooo much food the year before. We also found some different Regency picnic food recipes to try including scotch eggs and quail eggs. Very yummy, I now have the intention of trying to convince Nic to let me get some quails for my new avery when I build it in January.

Nic is away, at work in the Perth office, atm. It is amazing how much more difficult it is to attend events without a man. Thankfully, I had some friends to help me prepare and to take the following lovely photos.

 Mandy, Derek, Dave and Wendy

 Group Shot

and finally a photo of the completed dress. Not bad after 2 years of hand sewing on interstate trips. I hope my next dress does not take so long. I do get the feeling wearing it that I should have a few children hanging from my skirts. Maybe one day.

 and my linen gloves, also hand sewn while on interstate drives. Its amazing how much hand sewing can be completed in a car. Thankfully, Nic does the driving to assist with this.

Keeping Busy

I know I havent posted much of my sewing of late. I have just finished 2 small courses and a 4 week teaching placement block that have absorbed most of my time and energy. Now with a few months of holidays ahead of me I hope to get back into my sewing. I have a large number of unfinished projects that are screaming out from neglect.

To Do List

• woven striped cotton pants 1850s for Nic (almost finished)
• 1830s Frock Coat (grrrrrr, small doses.... on the collar atm)
• 1830s dress for me (cut out)
• 1866 mourning dress (bodice almost complete, one sleeve attached... looks at me with sad eyes across the room)

I think that this lot should keep me busy for the next month :-)

I have finished some tasks. Unfortunately, I have no photos of these. I have just completed hand sewing infants undergarments including a copy of an open shirt from the MET, stays, drawers and a petticoat from the Lady's Economical Assistant by Kanniks Korner dated 1808. I hope that I may be able to take photos of these in the future.

I have also finally after 2 years completed my blue drawstring dress. It now has the long sleeves attached. I will try to take some photos of this soon. I have also completed the linen fingerless gloves to wear with the dress. 

I hope everyone else is doing well with their projects over the holiday period.  

Researching Napoleonic Authenticity - The Frustration (I need help)

I am sure this is a topic that most of us struggle with. With the increasing amount of information available it is easier, and yet it is also sometimes bewildering. I am lucky with my Victorian impressions in having friends that own original garments from my city, however, I find my Napoleonic impression a lot harder. Recently I have been trying to work on improving my outfits when portraying a wife of a Brunswick-er Private. This is very frustrating as

• I have been unable to find examples of original lower class garments that have survived, I'm guessing this is due to the fact that they wore them till they became rags and then used them for that purpose.
• The fact that we do not wear the clothes of our grandparents did, so would they be still making garments that are 50 years out of date (I also believe that the older garments used more fabric so could possibly cost more to make? please let me know if this is true as I have yet to make any 18th century clothing), just because they are poor (within 10 years seems more acceptable to me considering the amount of wear their clothing received).
• There is the question about European cultural dress and how that can be incorporated
• That much of the existing cultural dress items are actually from the upper classes and I have yet to find any original dating before 1875, as I doubt that the lower classes had metallic embroidery, pearls and excessive glass beading on their vests (but OMG they are very nice and drool worthy), but please feel free to correct me if you think I am wrong on this one.
• Most of the paintings I have found were painted around 1900 by artists that were not born until the 1820s.
• The fact that the Brunswick army recruited from multiple countries after battles, so where exactly do I and my husband come from, there were many different duchies and small ethnic groups
• That they were away from their homeland for five years, how much of their original cultural garments would still be wearable/not replaced
• Considerations for the large trade in second hand garments on the tail end of the English army, which the Brunswick-rs were attached to/fighting alongside after their retreat to England

Sorry this has become a little ranting, but I have now been researching these questions for 4 months and I have found that my questions have actually increased with time.This is definitely the most frustrating thing I have come across to date. Much of what I think I know is pure speculation, which annoys my academic and perfectionist personality immensely. I NEED ACCURATE INFORMATION (sorry insane moment there). I would honestly love to hear from any other European Napoleonic renactors if they have any advice or suggestions.

So far this website has given me some help as it has Dutch army prints dated to 1816 and is my current idea of the impression I should be aiming for, but any further images/websites etc would be appreciated
Netherlands Infantry Uniforms

Fishwife

Vegetable Seller

Perfume Seller

The main points I have from these images is that the dresses are half calf length, do up in the front, loose (could be larger second hand garments adjusted to fit), unmatched, have some form of fabric pelisse type garment over the top, coloured fishus and harder wearing fabrics.