Friday, 15 May 2015

HSM #3: Stashbusting

Challenge 3 worked out pleasingly well for me. I had 6m of silk from an abandoned project, and a Ball to go to at the end of March. Despite dreaming of sacques and earlier 18thC gowns, I went with what has definitely become my favourite 18thC look - the transitional styles of 1795-1799. I have a cotton open robe that I adore, and how better to improve it than by fashioning one from silk?!

I started off with Janet Arnold's open robe pattern from Patterns of Fashion I. I'd previously used this as the basis of my first open robe, and it needed quite a lot of  alteration at the sides. I also had too little fabric and was obliged to only have 2 stacked pleats at the CB. I was determined not to stint on fabric this time.

The first step was to construct the lining, which I made from some pale grey polished cotton, with 2 pieces of boning [cable ties] at the CB seam. I put it on my dress form and began to cut the silk out and mount it onto the lining. The back pieces were cut from my altered JA pattern, with the original 3 stacked peats at CB. The silk was actually a pleasure to work with at this point, as the taffeta-like stiffness gave the pleats the spring which I was so enamoured of in the extant garment. I used the selvedges at the long CB skirt seam, to avoid having to enclose or otherwise fell the seam and add bulk where I didn't want it.




I had used the original pleated front of the JA pattern in the cotton robe, but decided that I didn't have the time or the inclination to do that on this robe. I ended up draping the front and side-front directly onto the mannequin. This was my first time draping ANYTHING, and it worked out pretty well, I thought. I kept a revere/ turnback pleat at the front edge to avoid it looking too drab.

After fussing with the sides for probably longer than strictly necessary, I began to tack down the silk to the lining. I french seamed the long side seams to finish them quickly, having allowed extra material to incorporate even more pleats here. I had found out by this point that the silk was a nightmare for ravelling, although I left the hem until last and just hoped it wouldn't be too bad by then.
Next, I covered the front closure panels with some small pieces of silver habotai I had lying around. I bound the free edges in bias-cut purple silk for contrast, attached 2 pairs of hooks and eyes, and prick-stitched the main front panels down over the sides.


The side-back seams were attached to the lining and then the CB edges were turned under and prick-stitched over the top. I believe it was done the other way around in period, the side-back edges turned under and stitched over the CB panels, but it just suited me better to do it this way instead. I tacked the pleats together and tucked the raw top edges under the lining to protect them.

Here is where I began to run out of time. My friend joined me from Ireland and we went on to Bath the day before the Ball with a good bit of finishing left to do. We went out to watch Cinderella, and I started work on the sleeves when we got back to the guesthouse. The first sleeve was perfect, but the second... AAARGHH! Infuriating. What should have taken half an hour ended up being 2 hours as I struggled to get both sleeves to match. Eventually I was able to set and sew them in in the 18thC way, stitch the shoulder seams down over them, and hem them. Phew. And it only took me til 5am. I hemmed the robe the day of, while sitting around with my curlers in - I will add a facing to it at some point, as I meant for it to trail slightly and I want to ensure the silk is protected.

 I wore the robe with my figured cotton Tidens Tøj round gown, with elbow-length kid gloves and my 1790s pumps. I had been inspired by this fashion plate, and tried to replicate the hairstyle with my not-very-obliging hair. I am really very pleased with how the robe turned out, and with how the outfit looked as a whole. The Ball was fantastic, we had SO much fun and are definitely going back next year!





Unfortunately, the next day my shoes ended up coming off worst in a fight with some jam :/ at least they were cheap.



The Challenge: Stashbusting
What is it: Silk open robe

Fabric: Silk dupion [powerwoven], silk habotai, polished cotton lining, tiny bit of thick linen for support in the closure panels.
Stashed for how long: Admittedly not very - the silk was bought for another project a few months ago, but the rest was stuff I had around for a while.
Pattern: Based on Janet Arnold's open robe.
Year: 1795-1797
Notions: silk thread, cotton thread, authentic hooks and eyes
How historically accurate is it? 90%? I machine sewed the long seams, but the rest is hand sewn and put together as per the pattern.



No comments:

Post a Comment