1829-33 Dress

1829-33 Dress with Pink Ruffle of Awesomeness

 Post-surgery & post-mini-stroke, I decided to get back to "work" as soon as I could to troubleshoot the areas I'd have difficulty with.  Math was a big one.  Reading comprehension, balance, coordination & speech were all effected.  I've had to learn to slow down, in speech, typing, thought, action & self-expectations.  Full Steam Ahead isn't working because -- no steam.  Everything has gotten better, but a few areas still need a lot of work (reading comprehension - I can write, but reading directions is a real pain - literally.  Memory - I just plain forget to do things, or have obvious gaps that I know happened but can't recall at all.  Some physical things like precision hand work & turning around & stepping to the side, I lose my balance or get dizzy... and my emotions are about on par with a 4 yr. old, which is better than the 2 yr. old I was a few weeks ago... sometimes I still can't see things, or rather, my eyes work fine, but I don't understand what I'm looking at)...
But oh how far we've come!

Perhaps I should call this my Rehabilitation Dress as it presented me with numerous problem solving issues and a multitude of mistakes that required constant change of plans, rip-out, re-do, calm-down, it's OK.  The final price will never reflect the number of hours that went into this, and I'm a bit "eeh" on the finished product, but it was good for me.  It will fit a human being & she will look lovely in it - which is what matters.

This dress re-taught me my multiplication tables, addition & subtraction.  The day I was able to divide by 3 in my head was pure triumph.  Reminding myself how to do something as simple as gathering vs. pleating was a joy, because I'd forgotten how.  I wrote out directions for myself to follow.  I re-read them to see if I understood... I re-adjusted plans based on the yardage available & re-purposed several things to make the dress better than the original plan would have been.

There are some problems with it, for example: the neckline & sleeves do not fit in with the modes of the time.  While both are correct, I'm not sure a high neckline was ever paired with short sleeves.  I may cut it down at a later date if I can't find an example of this configuration.  The roller printed stripe/floral was almost always paired with long sleeves.  The fact that I was 2 yds short of the fabric I needed... well, sometimes these things happen & if I hadn't already cut it, trusting that the yardage on the tag was there, I'd have chosen different fabric.

Construction process:

Piped & pleated fronts

I'm going to skip over the front pleats & piping for now, only because explaining how I did it is making me dizzy.  I promise I'll fill in later... but I will say that if I ever do this again, I'll cut them individually & stitch them on that way - it's more fabric conservative & less likely to be the wrong direction.

Piping pinned on Back & Side Backs

Stitch the piping on the back seams (note: the CB seam should have been on the fold, not a seam - I got my wires crossed when cutting & didn't have enough fabric for a re-do).  This is not incorrect, it's just not the way I wanted this particular dress.

Bodice with way-small armholes

The bodice stitched together.  The center front bottom is raw here because that gets turned up & hand-stitched so that the pleats maintain their form.  In the future, I'd do this a bit differently, using the individual pleats, vs. a big piece of fabric.  One very tricky thing about this pattern is that the "normal" size of armholes doesn't apply.  The armhole is actually down on the arm, not at the shoulder, so it seems to be way too small, but is, in fact, the right size.  (This played with my head quite a bit trying to remember that)... but it DOES work.

Sleeve with piping & cuff

I changed my mind about the sleeves three times.  The first ones I cut were pink linen, full-length & mimicked the inspiration dress quite closely.  Once I decided to go with brown piping (I was out of pink), I switched over to this tan-ish linen that matches one of the tan bits on the bodice.  I'm not unhappy with it, but I'm not Super-Yay about the change in plans.  The piping & cuff match the dress.

Bias Strip for Hem Decoration

Due to a 2 yd. fabric shortage, I couldn't have the length of skirt I wanted with the bias ruffle out of the stripe/floral.  Alas.  Cry.  Weep.  Agony.  Creativity!  So I took the scraps & cut them into stripes & flowers, stitched them together with pink linen & did a bit of quilting magic for the hem.  By doing all this fiddly stuff I got the look of the diagonal & a fussy hem that pushes the date of the dress back just a bit in style... more in line with the late 20's than the early 30's, but then museums are full of transitional elements.
So, if you want something like this, sew strips of color together, press seams & cut on the bias.  Sew bias edges together to form a straight seam (you'll have to line it up on the straight & use a ruler to determine where to sew it - this was 1"-1.5" down the first strip depending on the width of the next one).  Try it, you'll see what I'm talking about.

Decorative Hem Construction

Next was assembling the hem on the base fabric (mint green cotton - yuck) to extend the hemline to an appropriate length (10" longer than my fabric).  I used a row of brown piping, the patchwork bias strip, several rows of piping between the brown & the green, and then a Pink Ruffle of Awesomeness.  There was much changing between the regular presser foot & the zipper foot to accomplish this.  It made me rather dizzy.  For the ruffle, I evenly pinned the fabric on & then hand-gathered it as I stitched vs. using thread to gather it in.  This is more efficient on very large pieces that don't require perfectly spaced & even gathers.

The World Needs More Pink Ruffles

The finished hem in all its Pink Ruffly Awesomeness... 
(I do wish I could learn how to make these pictures turn in the direction I want them).

It still needs a belt & a corded petticoat to go under it... maybe a pelerine just for fun.

_____________________________________________________
 
[In case you are wondering why I'm going on about personal medical stuff, well, I can't separate it out from my creative process.  It's now part of who I am, and it's a struggle to deal with it - I'm finding new mental land-mines every day, and working to overcome the things I've already found.  To get myself back to being ME, I can't deny or ignore it... so, Dear Readers, I'm afraid you'll have to read about my brain damage along with the Pink Ruffles of Awesome.]

Van Dyke Trim & Pinking

I just completed an adventure in massive amounts of trim on a dress for an 1812 event at Genesee Country Village & Museum in Mumford, NY. (I got to be a tourist vs. an exhibit!)

The inspiration was this 1815 fashion plate of a bathing dress. The pattern was an 1810 dress bodice from Cut of Women's Clothes & the bottom from Patterns of Fashion. It's a wrap dress.

I used 3 different trim techniques to create the dress, 2 with success.

The first, on the upper portion of the dress is Van Dyking, or Dagging. The techniques are the same... I think these are also called Lappets when they are made individually.

I did not make them individually because I'm not insane... though if you had limited fabric this would be the way to go!






First, cut your fabric double-wide & you can either sew on the fold side or on the open side if you want a tube as a finished edge. This is good if the trim will be on the outside of the fabric. That is what I did here. I use Prismacolor pencils to draw on the fabric as it washes out (most of the time). In this case, 1" triangles were sewn by machine on cotton twill.

Next, cut the excess off, to about 1/8" seam allowance, and then clip the inner corners so they turn (not shown). You may want to fray check close clips. If you don't clip the inner edges, the shape won't turn properly (ask me how I know that after I got the first one all turned - duh!).

If it's open, just turn it, if it's in a tube, turn it with a tube-turner or a string on a bodkin (dull needle).
I use the tube turner (you can buy one at JoAnn's or similar store).

Using the end of the tube turner (has a nice dull point), I poked the points of the van dyking out & wiggled things around until it was nice & flat.

Iron flat.
This can be stitched on the outside, gathered a little, laid flat, sandwiched between seams, etc. In this case I used it on the front apron as a flat-felled seam & on the bodice front between the outside & the lining. I lightly gathered it for a nice stand-up row of trim that ended up looking like sunflower petals.

Tip: if your fabric is flimsy you may want to add a lightweight interfacing.



The second technique I tried was binding the edges with single fold bias tape. This did not work out & I ended up cutting it off, but you can see the potential here.

If I had finished it by hand I think I would have loved it, but I just can't stand machine stitched bias tape. Call me a stitch counter, but it just drives me nuts. Yet I don't mind machine top-stitching. Go figure!





The final technique I used was pinking. This ended up being an excellent choice for the finish on this dress.

On a single layer of fabric, draw the template on with colored pencil.
Tip: draw on the backside of the fabric just in case the pencil doesn't come off... so far it has, but there's always an exception...



Fray check the cutting line & let dry.





With pinking shears or a pinking punch (if you can find one, let me know where!), cut the shapes carefully. If you go over the lines, fray check again.
Tip: pinking shears are notoriously painful, I wear a knit winter glove when using them. It saves my hands & lets me use a little more force when necessary.

Here is the "finished" apron with 2 types of edging on it.
You can gather fairly heavily, depending on the type of fabric you use, but let the pinking & van dyking stand out on its own.

Tips:
- Sew lace on the edge of the van dyking.
- Cut fancier shapes if you have the patience, it will mimic the 18th & 19th c. shapes better
- Find pinking shears that cut in different shapes from the modern "vvv" format.
- Budget for at least 4 bottles of fray check! (open a window).

1740-50 Mantua XIV from Cut of Women's Clothes

The 1740-50 Mantua from Cut of Women's clothes, diagram XIV is not a true mantua, but a mid-century English Gown. Sleeve flounces vs. cuffs date it more toward the 50's than the 40's, though both styles were worn throughout the century to varying degrees.
Cuffs dominated the early part of the century, while flounces were Queen from mid-century on.
The back is cut all in one & pleated to fit. The front has one single pleat each side.
Sleeves are generous, but if you have large upper arms, add a bit to width & height as some of the sleeve becomes the shoulder cap.
The gown should be worn over a small hoop or paniers; basket paniers should not be worn with this gown, though they would be better than nothing. Hip pads or a small rump would also be acceptable.

Bobbi, I've outlined the parts that you will have to finish.
For everyone else, this is a bare sketch of a tutorial & you must have some sewing experience because these are not step-by-step instructions. By no means is this the only way to sew this type of gown & variations in style will demand different steps.


1. Stay stitch all edges

2. Sew backs together, press, stitch seam over or welt
























4. Mark pleat lines for front & back with tailor's chalk

5. Sew CB seam together, press. Set aside



6. Sew front darts. Welt seams






7. Back Pleats:
A: lay out back on table & pin pleats in place









B: line up lining & CB seams, pin in place.








C: pin side seams of dress & lining together.







D: carefully fit lining to dress, pinning critical points together (shoulder, sleeve points) & pleat the excess lining so fabric lays flat.





This shows how to ease the lining fabric into pleats (try several different lay-outs to see which works best for your lining).







E: hand stitch lining fabric in place, catching only lining layer.




At this point, set dress on a dummy to check the fit & make sure pleats are laying well.






F: Machine / hand stitch CB seam, side-back pleats of outside through all layers, including lining. DO NOT stitch pleats nearest side seam yet. If you like, you can stay stitch all around the outside, stopping before you get to the side back pleat at the bottom.
G: Set aside.


8. Front lining:
A: sew lacing & boning tabs together with buttonholes or eyelets and a boning channel to help the front lay flat.








B: sew front facing to front lining, turn & topstitch.









C: sew lacing tabs to inside of front lining.










D: stitch lining to fronts from armhole to front-skirt.

E: Set aside.




9. Sew side skirt to side back using French seams or welted seams.

10. Sew side skirt to side front skirt - leaving 9" open for pocket slits. Or place a placket where you want pocket slits to be once you've located them (this will depend on how wide your panels are).








11. Sew side front to side back on bodice. press & welt.








This is what the dress looks like right now...







12. Pleat skirt to bodice & stitch. Pleats should all face toward the side. Mark Center of the slit & skirt, then pleat toward that.








13. Pin outer back pleat to skirt while on dummy over proper undergarments.
This is really important!
Stitch outer back pleat down.











14. Stitch shoulder seam from armhole to neck point (allow pleat to fall free & be set in place later).











This is the dress at this stage.






15. Sleeves
A: sew side seams of sleeves & linings, press.

B: sew bottom & top edges of sleeves & linings together, right sides out.



C: Sew hem on flounces. Stitch flounces together in place.

D: Gather & stitch flounces onto bands.






E: Sew band onto bottom edge of sleeve. Turn other edge over & stitch that.
Decide if you want a clean edge or topstitching on the outside. This will tell you what side to stitch the band on first & what side to finish last. If you want topstitching showing, stitch to the inside first as seen here. If you want hidden stitches, stitch to the outside first & slip stitch the band on the inside.

F: set sleeve in armhole & stitch in place.
Once you check the fit & position, make a 2nd stitching line on the inside of the first (toward the edge of the seam allowance) to reinforce the seam & tack down the pleats. This helps take pressure off the outer seam & reduces fraying if you toss it in the wash.




Here is the dress at this stage.








16. Front Pleat
A: Pin lacing tabs back. Pin pleats in place (on table or dummy)












B: Starting at bottom front up to sleeve cap, stitch through lining, STOP at sleeve cap (first white dot).
C: Topstitch single layer of fold to end of sleeve cap (red dots). Stop. (White is shown continuing on - DO NOT continue yet).

Note on image: this shows the white arrow going down, go up from CF.






Ironed back facing.









D: Pin back facing in place & adjust front pleats (the unstitched part on the back shoulders) to meet squarely so no raw edges show.
E: Continue stitching through all layers of pleat beyond the sleeve cap.
F: Topstitch back facing through all layers along sides & bottom. Overcast through lining layer only on the inside (you can do this now or when you stitch the front facing).


17. Turn facing over & pin in place on front pleat. Pin carefully. Stitch through bottom layers, do not catch top pleats (IE, your stitching should not show except at the very bottom where there are no pleats). This is best done by hand. Check how it lays on a dummy.



18: set up dummy or have a friend help you pin the hem to length over hoops, paniers, etc. Stitch hem.


19: press all pleats in place.








How to lace the stomacher:
1. lace from bottom to top either cross or spiral.
2. pin stomacher to outside of lining facing.
3: pin front facing to stomacher on inside, weaving pin in & out.
Tabs on the stomacher may be helpful.