Back to the 18th Century

Despite the craziness of down to the wire wedding plans and buying a house (we close today!) I managed to escape for a few hours for a little time travel to the 1770s. This past weekend was the Revolutionary War event at the Fort at No. 4. It's a wonderful site, and although it suffers many of the same woes of other historic sites, it has a lot of offer. I dusted off my interpreter skills and talked with some of the visitors inside one of the reconstructed homes. I spoke with a gentleman who was an antique dealer/collector and a lady who was just starting to make some 18th century clothing for herself. I brought a few items for display including my blue and white cross-barred gown. She was very excited to look at it and see how it was constructed and I was happy to share a few tips and resources with her.

Photo credit - Erin Jarrett

It was rather chilly in the morning and I was happy to be wearing my extra petticoat! I typically wear two unless it's supper hot but that day I wore three - my under petticoat of white linen with a printed cotton border, a quilted petticoat, and finally my blue and white striped linen petticoat. And of course my shift, stays, stockings, shoes, pocket, cap, mitts, gown and apron. Yes, that's a lot of layers!

I've posted about my purple and white cotton gown before but this is only the second time I've worn it. It's first outing was to Old Sturbridge Village last summer. I forgot my camera, along with a few other things that day, so my friend Erin took these photos with her phone. Everything I'm wearing in these photos, except for my cap, stockings and shoes, was all hand sewn by me.

I attempted something new with my hair but by the time we took the pictures it looked a little funky so please forgive me! These first couple of photos were taken in the bed chamber of the Parker House.

Photo credit - Erin Jarrett

I love the cotton bed hangings. Note the painted floor cloth too, these kinds of floor coverings were fairly common in the mid to late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Photo credit - Erin Jarrett

The robings on my gown came unpinned so it looks a little strange in this photo. Photo credit - Erin Jarrett

These next two my favorite photos of the whole group. :) I really like the play of sunlight and shadows from the window. Erin's husband is a professional photographer and I think his skills are rubbing off on her.

Photo credit - Erin Jarrett

Photo credit - Erin Jarrett

We took a few pictures in the keeping room (kitchen) and office/study area. I look so studious, ha! My linen mitts were started in a Hive workshop back in 2012 (yikes, has it really been that long?!) and patterned off the black and yellow pair seen here. The points are backed with silk and they are embroidered with matching yellow silk thread.

Look, I finished my mitts!! Photo credit - Erin Jarrett

Time for tea! Photo credit - Erin Jarrett

Photo credit - Erin Jarrett

Photo credit - Erin Jarrett

The Finished Gown - Purple and White

Hello all,
As promised, here are some pictures of my finished gown. The gown made it's debut at the Rebels and Redcoats event at Old Sturbridge Village over the weekend. This gown has been on my project list, half finished, for about a year and a half. The fabric was purchased from William Booth Draper back in March of 2012. I've posted on occasion about this gown. You can read all of these posts here. The two posts people might find the most interested are my research post on purple and white fabrics in the 18th century and the one showing a painting of a gown with a similar print.

The back view. I spent a lot of time playing with the fabric until I was happy with the arrangement of the back pleats. I didn't want the floral design to look too chopped up. Back pleats are much easier with stripes and solids for sure! The flowers didn't match up perfectly but I didn't really expect them too. The floral design on the robings and stomacher match up pretty well so I'm happy about that. :)

And the front. Closed front gowns begin to appear in the 1770s but there is some debate as to when exactly. There is an interesting article on the subject here. Personally, I like the look of the open or stomacher front gowns so that is what I decided to make. They are versatile and work for a range of dates from the 1740s to 1770s. Of course the width of the back pleats, cuff size, and other details change. I still need to add cuffs to this gown.

I wore my new gown with a semi-shear cotton apron and matching neckerchief. They are both very white, making the gown seem off white in comparison. My black silk bonnet was made for me by the wonderful Hallie Larkin of At the Sign of the Golden Scissors. Hallie makes custom bonnets but also has a pattern available for making your own. You can find her shop here.

And finally, I picture of Rebecca and I together lol! Rebecca was wearing a lovely red and white gown of her own creation. I believe she is working on a blog post about it. Rebecca and her sister Ashley co-write A Fashionable Frolick. These are two of the lovely ladies I met during the first part of my 18th century shoemaking adventures. Ashley was not able to make it to OSV this year. Hopefully the next time we meet we can get a photo of the three of us. :) Check out A Fashionable Frolick out for a great selection of photos of OSV.

Photo from Rebecca of A Fashionable Frolick

Rebecca also sent me the link for this photo. I took part in a fashion show called the Runaway Runway hosted by the Ladies of Refined Taste. A group of us posed as runaway servants to help show case the clothing of working-class people of the 1770s using descriptions from 1770s runaway advertisements. Cori also took part in the show. Part of his "character" required the application of a "proper hair mole." Ewww!

Attaching the mole. Photo by Irina Huynh

Photo by Irina Huynh

Checking Things Off the Project List

It's been over a year in the making but my 18th century purple and white cotton gown is just about finished! The gown still needs cuffs and a stomacher but other than that it's ready to go, just in time for the event at OSV this weekend. Yeah, one big project done! The first outing of a new gown is always the most fun, don't you agree? :) I can't wait to have some pictures of the finished gown to share with all of you.

These are not the best pictures (crummy cell photo pics, sorry) but here's a quick look at the sleeves before they were finished and attached to the bodice. They are lined with white linen and the seams are lapped. You can sort of see where I had to piece the end of one sleeve. I really should have purchased an extra yard of this fabric so I would have enough for the gown AND a matching petticoat but at the time I was only thinking of the gown. Oops! For me, 4 yards of 52"-54" wide fabric is plenty to make 1750s to 1770s style gowns leaving enough for cuffs and a stomacher. (All my wool and linen gowns are untrimmed.) 2 yards of the same width fabric is also enough for a petticoat. So far I have not made a gown using narrower fabric as most linens and gown wight wools these days come in wider widths. If I were to use 36" wide fabric I think I would plan on purchasing somewhere between 5 and 6 yards plus extra for a matching petticoat. Silks are another story.... I think I purchased 10 yards of 60" wide silk taffeta for my green sacque and probably still will not have enough to fully trim the gown as planned.

The petticoat for this gown, which I have not started, will need to be pieced using a different fabric. Probably white linen or cotton as that is what I have on hand. I need to measure what I have left but I think it's just over a yard of this lovely purple floral. The upper back portion of the petticoat will be hidden under the gown so any mis-matched fabric will not show. I won't have time to make the petticoat before the event on Saturday so the plan is to wear the gown with another petticoat for now and bring the extra material with me. I also plan to bring my linen mitts to finish so I can cross those of my summer project list as well. :)

By the way, don't for get to enter my vintage pattern giveaway! Details on how to enter can be found here. It's my way of saying thank to all of you. :)

Quick gown update

As I mentioned before, my purple and white gown is on hold for the moment. But I want to give you all a quick update on it. It's still very much in progress but I'm pretty happy with how the back pleats came out.

You can see in the photo below the back panel with the pleats stitched in place and the lining for the gown fronts attached. Also one of the side skirt panels. Not a perfect matching of the floral print but I like the overall look. The panels for the gown skirts are cut and stitch together and are ready to be attached to the bodice. I still need to cut sleeves and the bodice fronts. My deadline for this gown was April 14th but I've pushed it back until the 1st of June.

Resources and Inspiration + Gown Update

I thought I would let everyone know that I have added some new sources to my Resources and Inspiration page. New sources include the Russian Virtual Shoe Museum or Shoe Icon website, the National Trust Collections, and links for fashion plates and art galleries.

An update on my purple and white gown ...
After much fussing and practice pinning of the back pleats, I finally cut my fabric. Eeek! That's always the scary part for me. I know I bought plenty of fabric for the gown and I checked my measurements for the back panel and gown skirts multiple times but I'm always afraid of screwing things up when it comes to cutting. It's happened before and I'm sure it's bound to happen again. But for this project, so far so good.

Tate.org

I stitched the pleats of the center back panel to the bodice lining and cut out the panels for the gown skirts. I still need to cut sleeves and the bodice fronts. My plan is to try and match the floral print as close as possible at the side seams. I'm finding the floral stripe on the fabric a little harder to work with than the cross barr'd fabric of my last gown. But the challenge is kind of fun too. I think I'm pretty happy with how things are turning out thus far.

I might be able to squeeze a matching petticoat out of the remainder of the fabric but will have to wait until after I cut my remaining pieces. If I make a matching petticoat I'll most likely need to piece it with some different fabric. I've seen this done a few times with silk petticoats. The back portion of the petticoat that is covered by the gown and never seen was sometimes made out of a different, cheaper fabric. However, I don't know if this was ever done with printed cottons.

I don't have any pictures yet but will try and post some soon.

The image to the right is a detail from a painting by John Hamilton Mortimer at the Tate museum. Although the gown is blue and white, it has a very similar floral print to my fabric. Lots of other great details too. Look at that gorgeous purple work bag! Also embroidered lawn apron and sleeve ruffles.

Searching for Purple and White

As I'm in the process of making myself a new 18th century gown, I though I would share a bit of my research as well progress on the gown itself. Which, um, I haven't actually started as of yet. The fabric is however, washed, dried, and ready to go!

A few readers may be familiar with Don N. Hagist's book, Wenches, Wives and Servant Girls: A Selection of Advertisements for Female Runaways in American Newspapers, 1770-1783. It is a great resource. Below are a few examples from the book of purple and white gowns mentioned in run away ads. The ones in bold sound closest to my fabric, which by the way, I learned is a reproduction based on a textile in the Colonial Williamsburg collections. I believe the fabric is still available through the Mary Dickinson Shop in CW.

"a purple and white calicoe gown", p 48
"a coarse purple and white chintz gown", p55
"a callicoe gown, striped with a little purple flower", p 72
"purple sprigged callico gown", p 101
"one callico long gown, purple and white", p 129
"a dark purple and white calico long gown", p 154
"purple and white gown", p 181
"seven yards of new stamped linen, a purple and flower stripe", p 222

Also:
"Long calico gown with purple and white flowers" - Pennsylvania Gazette, October 4, 1764
"Large flowered purple and white short gown" - Pennsylvania Evening Post, September 21, 1776

CW collections  - Acc. No. 1992-139

An article from the Boston Evening Post, dated November 4, 1771, describes a ship wreck somewhere of the coast of New England. " ...  she had a roller for shipping an ensign staff, a number of white shirts and a purple and white calico gown hanging on her quarter rails, & and her quarter deck entirely gone." Apparently the weather was so bad that the crew who made the discovery were not able "to make any other discoveries."

The images below are samples of original 18th century textiles. The are from the Threads of Feeling exhibit and can be viewed on the Threads of Feeling Facebook page.

‘Purpel and white flowered cotten’. Cotton printed in small floral designs. Foundling number 11337. A boy aged about xxx, admitted 25 January 1759. Named John Hammersmith by the Foundling Hospital. Apprenticed 26 July 1769 to Mr Maycock, farmer of Thornton, Cheshire.

Threads of Feeling Facebook page

'Spriged cotten’. Cotton printed with sprigs and dots. Foundling number 13287. A boy aged about 21 days, admitted 30 June 1759. Named Hannah Carter by the Foundling Hospital. Died 17 February 1760.

Threads of Feeling Facebook page

Cotton or linen fabric printed with a leaf in green and black on a shelled background. Foundling 15387, a girl admitted 2 January 1760. The note reads: 'This child was born the XX December and Christien'd the XX Jan, by the name of Sarah Harbeson. She has had the Breast and tis humbly hop'd it will be continued as will not in all probability live without it.'

Threads of Feeling Facebook page

Case of the F*#% its! - I bought new fabric

Every once in awhile this happens and can't be helped. I'm sure there are many of you who, like me, enjoy making new historical costumes and can sympathize.

You want to make something new to add to your historical wardrobe. But you're on a budget and really shouldn't be spending money on fabric, notions, etc. This inevitably leads to the should I/can I debate about trying to justify your possible purchase. You find yourself making frequent visits to that certain online fabric store so you can drool over that perfect fabric, imaging the awesome garment you want to make.

You ask yourself:

"What makes this fabric better/different than what I already have waiting in the stash?" 

"What's the smallest amount of fabric I can order and still squeeze out that gown?" 

                                                  "Do I really need to buy more fabric?"
                      (This last question is of course silly, and can often be completely ignored. :) )

You say:
                            "Well I've been good and haven't bought new fabric in X amount of time."
                                           "I do have that special event coming up this summer."
                              "I have a birthday coming up so it could be a present to myself."
                                                           "I deserve something new!"

Finally you say "F*#% it!" And buy that new fabric.

That's just what happened to me. I've been eying this fabric from Wm Booth Draper since it was added to their website last fall. I was good and even ordered a sample of the fabric first to make sure I liked the weight and scale of the design. And that was months ago! Last week I finally ordered enough to make a new gown, which I fully admit I don't really need but really want to make. It's a nice weight and drapes beautifully. I can't wait to get started!

Wm Booth Draper

Purple floral prints show up again and again in newspaper ads of the 18th century. They are described repeatedly in runaway descriptions as well as in the Foundling Museum's Billet Books. Hallie has some nice posts about the billet book on her blog and another post here on purple linen.