tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182136632024-03-18T13:12:11.615-04:00A Frolic through Time: Period Costuming and the Occasional Side TripResearch and experiments in historical costuming and embroidery, and glimpses into sailboats, sheep, and the twinsZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.comBlogger436125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-72734305032631668372024-01-11T21:14:00.002-05:002024-01-11T21:24:52.568-05:0010 Years to Finish a Regency Reticule? Well, Yes<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDiAWeWN_9xe7ONRPUPujJkLnP7RWEkJUoEJZ8OA7GROG3Wq7ailOy4mG6Of6gzgKJSmfbznfeEiyY_zOfMiDKIzFQxCuIMJh4zHgYj9pgsy5FiuzP8C3u_oT7jl2N9IKxEZ9dUVpeMOiLDbMKlD8wTBhpg9IWY2xE37760QyvhPkxMqP4fjbl/s4032/20231230_130528.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDiAWeWN_9xe7ONRPUPujJkLnP7RWEkJUoEJZ8OA7GROG3Wq7ailOy4mG6Of6gzgKJSmfbznfeEiyY_zOfMiDKIzFQxCuIMJh4zHgYj9pgsy5FiuzP8C3u_oT7jl2N9IKxEZ9dUVpeMOiLDbMKlD8wTBhpg9IWY2xE37760QyvhPkxMqP4fjbl/w480-h640/20231230_130528.jpg" title="A Christmas gift? No, a Christmas project." width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Christmas gift? No, a Christmastime project.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Sometime in 2014, during the lilac-colored silk phase in which I made an embroidered 1790s sleeveless spencer, matching outer petticoat, and pearled headband after an original, I started a beaded reticule project. It stalled and was picked up and dropped again during the following <i>decade</i>, and only now have I finished it. During that time I went through several phones and it appears photos documenting the project's early days have gone missing, so the following is a somewhat truncated history of its making.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">First, Why the Lack of Posts for So Long?</h2><p>It's not for lack of making things, for I did manage a pair of 1790s stays, a velveteen spencer, and a pretty apron-front dress. Those projects, though, happened in short spurts that felt like shelter from repeated storms. There was another health situation, one in the long series that have punctuated the last 30 years, and then, the illness and passing of my darling and beloved father, followed months later by my sweet aunt. Last spring saw my sisters and I sharing taking 24-hour care of our daddy during his time in hospice and helping our stepmother/mother through, and then, the loss, the mourning... Losing a parent is a loss apart; it shakes the foundations. It's still too close for elegy, except to say that his community lost a dedicated volunteer and leader and we lost a mentor, a guide, a loving father and friend. Even now I can hear his voice.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Finished Reticule</h2><p>Nuts, I don't want to write again, but, he thought hobbies were key to mind and soul, so, let's go. Here is the completed reticule. It measures 9 inches at its widest by 9 inches tall and a measly 1.25 inches deep. It's deep enough to hold a small fan, a handkerchief, smelling salts and a phone. I suppose it's possible that you'd find lip gloss and some cash, too, were you to snoop. I wanted it big enough to be useful, but not big enough to become lumpy with the thinggummies that naturally accumulate in my own purse, for practicality and so I have the satisfaction of pulling out whatever's needed like a rabbit out of a hat when my sons or husband ask. Package of band aids, mini containers of sunscreen, lotion, and hand sanitizer, a pen, sunglasses, a scrap of paper for writing, a tiny measuring tape, lactose pills for the lactose-intolerant son, emergency migraine tablet, tissues, keys...all in the smallest package I can manage. Query: did Regency women do similarly? <i>Were</i> smelling salts part of a reticule's community of objects?</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8hVM0qnqtjf1SSV1gNgUZeRSY5-zddWCV30dW4bN6KgNbY_ncY-gpOVDd0HKYnR9ewVrISKrVTq-tJtekkySxaiDeBUmwdDKQ-TPAHAHyealo7enkzkdL0NzNmPLloJSyg6K66-m0LQTYqDyeKk4hyphenhyphenHKqjQqF3aJSDh0okO4JALMsbpOLhZD2/s4032/20240111_181645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8hVM0qnqtjf1SSV1gNgUZeRSY5-zddWCV30dW4bN6KgNbY_ncY-gpOVDd0HKYnR9ewVrISKrVTq-tJtekkySxaiDeBUmwdDKQ-TPAHAHyealo7enkzkdL0NzNmPLloJSyg6K66-m0LQTYqDyeKk4hyphenhyphenHKqjQqF3aJSDh0okO4JALMsbpOLhZD2/w480-h640/20240111_181645.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The front, natch</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7l-jrcFqVgVcvzj5gJDwZH28viRIuERknInjgvildY223C5CM64oZYKmh_ExT-Rh1gJ5rxV-KNsrVUk65GJhGXH9ECy-ReL5yfAALLEstC4cE7G4VV-3YKo9hEwZQPyVB9jER21gLMPvHETNq5sXOlsdjYqPrTj_N-KVmu_jd7Io1DBYk0Ph1/s4032/20240111_181705.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7l-jrcFqVgVcvzj5gJDwZH28viRIuERknInjgvildY223C5CM64oZYKmh_ExT-Rh1gJ5rxV-KNsrVUk65GJhGXH9ECy-ReL5yfAALLEstC4cE7G4VV-3YKo9hEwZQPyVB9jER21gLMPvHETNq5sXOlsdjYqPrTj_N-KVmu_jd7Io1DBYk0Ph1/w480-h640/20240111_181705.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The back and the compound strap</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgr5CSAwgmkxLcBYvu1RwsVVkzh0rGdU4GV1Uc2PZ8VtrkDNgFPF97PpOG2WPH_2yt3NKAHEJ1_XvzccLlVxIP4mP9dL2JHQzA5C-b-t3VWaZO2BaxqgwWUM6zHmVwZR46_t_bXydIAP5KSZf_-hJfPnVamL3wYDt0oKCA9fw_hWbLMUaf8Y7n/s4032/20240111_181713.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgr5CSAwgmkxLcBYvu1RwsVVkzh0rGdU4GV1Uc2PZ8VtrkDNgFPF97PpOG2WPH_2yt3NKAHEJ1_XvzccLlVxIP4mP9dL2JHQzA5C-b-t3VWaZO2BaxqgwWUM6zHmVwZR46_t_bXydIAP5KSZf_-hJfPnVamL3wYDt0oKCA9fw_hWbLMUaf8Y7n/w480-h640/20240111_181713.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The narrower-than-wanted interior</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The reticule has stiff sides, courtesy interior cardboard on back and front, softened with millinery domette so that the surface doesn't feel harsh.<div><br /></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Intermission for Kitty Cuteness</h2><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTOlU2GU57HAgvYExUuNF-Q7R5AANynVhiB5muw3b_JKqAnJYV6p8S7BqucausA5YNmavT0kky8T6ts-vtMzmZSq8gnzIWfciIlMgwDxO-dH_1bfAY23L8qMa68bM26T9fNnWQygpjCskbh0AdRU0ICk-zWomk-8JdRDdEUrH7RcmnuPuUECZn/s4032/20240110_213127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTOlU2GU57HAgvYExUuNF-Q7R5AANynVhiB5muw3b_JKqAnJYV6p8S7BqucausA5YNmavT0kky8T6ts-vtMzmZSq8gnzIWfciIlMgwDxO-dH_1bfAY23L8qMa68bM26T9fNnWQygpjCskbh0AdRU0ICk-zWomk-8JdRDdEUrH7RcmnuPuUECZn/w480-h640/20240110_213127.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Why are you putting that thing on top of me?" asked Nutmeg, <br />who was on my lap.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">How It Was Made</h2><div>The shape is fairly common for the Regency period, interesting visually because most sides are at oblique angles. I saw an example in 2014 with similar beading and loved it. The photo once lost, I never found it or was able to track it down online again. Then, a year or so ago, one so like the original turned up in a favorite Etsy shop (GraceofTime) that it was quick like a bunny -- save the photo! Here it is.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV-0NF1rPB4IOtbsFO7pTR7EfYx0XwqFIikNbb9BrQsguP_pjQUJGjz0iFLwhKM1bijX6SsMafR4z5ZWGVxAz5vhQKmBbIYZO2WvESIsK-b63aR38vgiA6HtDVvDcsBYSevU_RmM7Xjx4S3H8yOoQPeCQsxoAw33OycQUhhECqXaG0D1Rhlq0-/s1058/20230104_212249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1058" data-original-width="782" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV-0NF1rPB4IOtbsFO7pTR7EfYx0XwqFIikNbb9BrQsguP_pjQUJGjz0iFLwhKM1bijX6SsMafR4z5ZWGVxAz5vhQKmBbIYZO2WvESIsK-b63aR38vgiA6HtDVvDcsBYSevU_RmM7Xjx4S3H8yOoQPeCQsxoAw33OycQUhhECqXaG0D1Rhlq0-/w474-h640/20230104_212249.jpg" width="474" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reticule from Graceof Time on Etsy: their photo</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>This reticule I think is padded, and soft-sided, and seems mostly to be beaded in white and silver, and the fabric may be a satin. Still, you see the resemblance.</div><div><br /></div><div>I wanted flat sides as my other reticule gets so shapeless and lumpy when anything is put inside, plus the tailored look is attractive. Dangling beads were not to be thought of; a klutz, I'd catch a loop on something for sure and beads would fly.</div><div><br /></div><div>The construction is invented because I'd no access to originals. It uses stitches common in the Regency period: back-stitching for strength, whipping of seams, hemming.</div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Materials</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Exterior fabric: home-dyed silk shantung from Dharma Trading</li><li>Interior fabric: undyed silk shantung, ditto</li><li>Stiffener: cardboard from a discarded cereal box</li><li>Soft interlining: domette, I think from Judith M millinery in Shelbyville, KY</li><li>Beads: pearl seed beads, gold-interior clear sead beads: the color isn't warm</li><li>Embroidery silk: Au Ver a Soie silk ovale, a flat, untwisted filament silk (not spun and a joy to use)</li><li>Sewing thread: vintage British sewing silk in Heliotrope</li><li>Strap: tawny silk cord and silk tassels from a deconstructed remnant of antique passementerie whose connecting threads had shattered, from DuchessTrading on Etsy. The passementerie was too far gone to edge a gorgeous pillow, so...creative reuse.</li></ul></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Beading</h3><div>I drew the design on paper, then copied it on the home-dyed silk shantung. The fabric was tightened in an embroidery hoop: this sort of work cannot be easily done on fabric that isn't taut. Then I sewed the stems in elongated chain stitch.</div><div><br /></div><div>Each beaded twig or frond was made in one go, by pulling the thread up through the fabric, loading the thread with the requisite number of beads, laying it flat, and running the needle back into the fabric. Then, with a second needle, couching down the longer threads every few beads as invisibly as possible. Otherwise, they became droopy and at risk of being pulled off.</div><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Assembly and Sewing</h3><div>After beading the fabric, I sketched and cut out pattern shapes for the back, which included the foldover flap, and the front, which included an extra piece at the bottom to make the bottom a little deep, front to back. You know, for stuffing stuff into the purse. It's likely I cut out more than one pattern, to see which size felt most natural and useful.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once happy with the pattern, the fashion fabric and lining were cut out, using generous 1-inch seam allowances.</div><div><br /></div><div>I used a leftover breakfast cereal box, which is a single layer of cardboard, not terribly heavy, to cut a back (minus the foldover flap) and a front.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lastly, I cut millinery domette according to the pattern pieces as a nice soft interlining to make the purse feel good to hold.</div><div><br /></div><div>The lining for front and back were laid flat, the carboard laid atop, then the domette went on that, and the fashion fabric over all. The layers were pinned and basted securely in red thread so that I could easily see it to pull it out later.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfKzqOEkIpIsO6htZUYD_IbRru-LLBnEjTE0kK9khyphenhyphenvy4TWsrzvjsKXbZldkihhAeiDv0hMr9LlE76JtHb3k04j5Ee2ggs3V5cXza_4MLThN3oBP1mv6YWJzzfLCXbiFcy0vIKrTUO5rf0fSCU6KYTB69ic6p4WjNs9VqfoHW6HIy4rPmAwjsp/s4032/20221229_154650.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfKzqOEkIpIsO6htZUYD_IbRru-LLBnEjTE0kK9khyphenhyphenvy4TWsrzvjsKXbZldkihhAeiDv0hMr9LlE76JtHb3k04j5Ee2ggs3V5cXza_4MLThN3oBP1mv6YWJzzfLCXbiFcy0vIKrTUO5rf0fSCU6KYTB69ic6p4WjNs9VqfoHW6HIy4rPmAwjsp/s320/20221229_154650.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see the three layers in the flap: fashion fabric, domette, lining. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>At this point there was a great deal of dithering and it's likely that the dithering precipitated one of the laying-aside periods. I had thought I was going to simply sew the front and back together. However, alert readers will envision me trying to reach into the reticule and finding it hard to insert more than a slip of paper, even with that excess bit at the bottom that was supposed to offer some room. Those hard sides didn't give. No room, no room at all! I'd need to add sides...</div><div><br /></div><div>Eventually I determined to cut probably 2-inch wide pieces (1/2-inch seam allowance) to insert between front and back. At this remove I can't figure out what made me cut separate pieces for the long sides and the short sides, but that's what happened.</div><div><br /></div><div>To seam the sides to the front and back, I chose to turn the seam allowances inward of all fabric pieces and whip them together with very close stitches, about 1/8 inch apart. This makes the seam stand in a little ridge, with little fabric bumps between each stitch that echo the beading. It's also good and strong. It does mean, however, that the interior lining has raw edges. The silk doesn't fray much at all, so am not concerned about that. I probably should have seamed up the lining separately and slipped it in, though...</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_BarW0X1YKYSJr19J1fUAOBS6lXQldm2SMzhQrVChdMd3ZhOv_YIEhoouh2GsjJk8qrvEL3WQ_V61Qw80L8ZXY7Xn8pxFxd1oG7eU9A94FT0SOLwDcyeyWzCvyJmNKYzfihzMjejKcrVTYKv5H9Ca8RObGPxnkEGMOJGISz8b_99oX0BgmQT/s4032/20221229_154626.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_BarW0X1YKYSJr19J1fUAOBS6lXQldm2SMzhQrVChdMd3ZhOv_YIEhoouh2GsjJk8qrvEL3WQ_V61Qw80L8ZXY7Xn8pxFxd1oG7eU9A94FT0SOLwDcyeyWzCvyJmNKYzfihzMjejKcrVTYKv5H9Ca8RObGPxnkEGMOJGISz8b_99oX0BgmQT/w480-h640/20221229_154626.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seaming together front and back. You can see the <br />side pieces have been whipped on to the front.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>The fashion fabric, domette, and lining for the flap were laid together, then the fashion fabric seam allowance was turned in over the domette and basted. </div><div><br /></div><div>The strap, which is made up one long piece of cord folded into the three, was laid across the flap at the spot where it folds over from the back piece, and on top of the domette. The lining seam allowances were turned in, just a hair inside the fashion fabric so that it wouldn't show on the outside and laid atop. More basting to hold everything smooth. Puckering would have been fatal. That's too dramatic, of course, but by now it was at the end of 2023 and I didn't want to end on a whimper. The lining was carefully hemmed to the fashion fabric.</div><div><br /></div><div>All that was left was to turn in the edges of the sides at the reticule's opening and hem them, though I did have to do a bit more seam whipping at the opening, since I winged (wung? Oh, those irregular verbs) the strap at the last minute. It had taken a year or two to find, hunting on and off, the right strap. I couldn't find any thick silk cord that was remotely affordable in the right color, found the artificial silk cords too bright and slick and shiny to work with the nearly matte shantung, and just didn't want ribbon.</div><div><br /></div><div>Is a tasseled strap appropriate? Yes, but I've never seen a reticule strap <i>so</i> loaded with them. But, they're in the spirit of the 1790s: out-and-out luxury, outre attitudes, and caution to the winds.</div><div><br /></div><div>So there it is. My only concern? The cardboard interior is just cereal box. If that's made of wood cellulose, which is likely, it may break down over time. With care, the rest is good for ages and ages.</div><div><br /></div><div>All in all, this was a good project. Contained, full of challenges and design puzzles. I'd should have made the sides a little wider, and that cardboard should have been archival pasteboard, but that's small stuff. Here's to having a fun, fluffy, shiny reticule to carry.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Today I leave you with a little cat TV. Ciao until next we meet!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKC8xDOUAOMh_CvLR-J9p9StKdSOWKLXB-xcODliDQobpPPb543f7xF9b-ZcoX7tCXo42E6kkHbEEf6P0JTXf2gaFZ7veRKCwBSC2ozltvl9l0m0VuuncI8XkHn1MrU_w_pnxfvp_ajB2yaqMS3UgzEhvUrGULQJgNSnaV7t9aZhmElgsRUFyI/s4032/20230330_101328.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKC8xDOUAOMh_CvLR-J9p9StKdSOWKLXB-xcODliDQobpPPb543f7xF9b-ZcoX7tCXo42E6kkHbEEf6P0JTXf2gaFZ7veRKCwBSC2ozltvl9l0m0VuuncI8XkHn1MrU_w_pnxfvp_ajB2yaqMS3UgzEhvUrGULQJgNSnaV7t9aZhmElgsRUFyI/w480-h640/20230330_101328.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr></tr></tbody></table></div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-88257625607087568842022-07-24T17:34:00.003-04:002022-08-16T21:31:53.039-04:00Meet an Antique Edwardian Nysilk Skirt Braid Spool<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgEeARKKFOqtbxeMdb4fveteOuK5Rlrq7WxN15ek3lXg_cTqQgdeE5S1jLDkhcJ0Naf848w_C7sLN9HOS4ezUqiBqNaDkPUUducmn-9LpD0BekwZJo7xA_Ocwa4WFd5c-bucA9J0XybxU7e5cjDL40Xy7Csv92GdUA0FGgf71aMW0wnipVzQ/s4032/20220723_151257.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgEeARKKFOqtbxeMdb4fveteOuK5Rlrq7WxN15ek3lXg_cTqQgdeE5S1jLDkhcJ0Naf848w_C7sLN9HOS4ezUqiBqNaDkPUUducmn-9LpD0BekwZJo7xA_Ocwa4WFd5c-bucA9J0XybxU7e5cjDL40Xy7Csv92GdUA0FGgf71aMW0wnipVzQ/w480-h640/20220723_151257.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Antique Nysilk brand skirt braid, part of a spool of 72 yards</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Here's an interesting bit of history, sitting on the coffee table this afternoon. It's a large spool of Nysilk brand skirt braid.</p><div>In case you need a refresher, skirt braid was sewn to the bottom of the inside of a skirt's hem to protect the hem from wear; if wide enough it could actually bind the edge. It could also help in another way, which we will read about.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's a sample of the braid, below.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc-xVKON_QKBK0zCe2-vkQ75K2homDmrte6QWJKWRRaEgCFWze_oGcrrSOoLBnhR6FUNiT96qoxkyi9vvODhJqDUXBPsuNNej_r1WykcW2k1DAIBUHJQGnl4K8LuR4O3SZEy75geUfcsFfohg9Q5JS-jOG8CnU3ZDGTDyEhvnOK9JcMJXc4g/s4032/20220724_150433.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc-xVKON_QKBK0zCe2-vkQ75K2homDmrte6QWJKWRRaEgCFWze_oGcrrSOoLBnhR6FUNiT96qoxkyi9vvODhJqDUXBPsuNNej_r1WykcW2k1DAIBUHJQGnl4K8LuR4O3SZEy75geUfcsFfohg9Q5JS-jOG8CnU3ZDGTDyEhvnOK9JcMJXc4g/w480-h640/20220724_150433.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A section of the Nysilk skirt braid</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Let's let the spool itself do some talking and tell us how it fit itself into women's lives, shall we?</div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4xmVaMD9HiZA1BQaQXEB5E_N_zemWU23BP8l-GOFCpGXVnpSOLsktvoXK3_-tvm5f5Er-Ve28OS54E9hRJkyOxOa9_mRX5D-KwYavaq8-bFLo-FnoelUM2sBabajdg0SpSvzmICopi5WG9J0tQUfchnnz7qifW66xNGRYH3bojgn8GUmueg/s4032/20220723_151323.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4xmVaMD9HiZA1BQaQXEB5E_N_zemWU23BP8l-GOFCpGXVnpSOLsktvoXK3_-tvm5f5Er-Ve28OS54E9hRJkyOxOa9_mRX5D-KwYavaq8-bFLo-FnoelUM2sBabajdg0SpSvzmICopi5WG9J0tQUfchnnz7qifW66xNGRYH3bojgn8GUmueg/w480-h640/20220723_151323.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The label at the top of the spool of Nysilk skirt braid. The bottom features an identical label. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;">No Scratch!</h2><p>"Does not deface the shoes", the header proclaims in a little banner at the top of the spool. Right off we can estimate that the braid was used on long skirts that regularly brushed the shoe tops. That means it's likely from before 19...say, 1914 and at latest about 1918-19 among more conservative women. </p><p>"Made by improved methods and from a soft, superior material". Well, that's more marketing language that doesn't tell us what fiber or fibers are used. "Nysilk" is meant to sound silky and to underscore that the braid wouldn't scratch the shoe tops. It feels like a cotton and sure enough, in 1909 advertisement in <i>The Delineator</i> we learn that it's made of mercerized Sea Island cotton, hence the faint shine and the softness.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYM8hdE5UrWFS_6ZosDNWhqsyCSAp5uQAYQyI3xlCX9Gc2o4QgC4BQU6yzA7mDLd2Amr3cDojMoqINkPJ_mhCqGMRg4saJsVGMVOFz5WmWPK5QmiwnMf5e5RxplPa0IiQl8pWHW9QSLXrAK_9km-2cbBhr1Q6BoN0gXaUsdCM2JKFVshR8mQ/s1802/20220724_171740.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1802" data-original-width="667" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYM8hdE5UrWFS_6ZosDNWhqsyCSAp5uQAYQyI3xlCX9Gc2o4QgC4BQU6yzA7mDLd2Amr3cDojMoqINkPJ_mhCqGMRg4saJsVGMVOFz5WmWPK5QmiwnMf5e5RxplPa0IiQl8pWHW9QSLXrAK_9km-2cbBhr1Q6BoN0gXaUsdCM2JKFVshR8mQ/w236-h640/20220724_171740.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A March 1909 ad for Nysilk skirt braid on p. 472 of <i>The Delineator</i>.</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>It's indeed a braided fabric, not a woven one. Here is a closeup, below.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikUYgvSzPFeHJ26NTOf6UeAp4HrADy8n84PrzbCRH2ubWpmyXFEglgjNW9_Lj9SqwokTP_KmZP3gIq0MiJTb6IP9XvdD29BHZ71pA9HyXm0IyDrTlLfUIQUiFzX1iuyfiSOlBR_zWBv_qoGjwg70nddBUm6mBLhnKiMpa_z_7tU_wqz5n33w/s4032/20220724_154309.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikUYgvSzPFeHJ26NTOf6UeAp4HrADy8n84PrzbCRH2ubWpmyXFEglgjNW9_Lj9SqwokTP_KmZP3gIq0MiJTb6IP9XvdD29BHZ71pA9HyXm0IyDrTlLfUIQUiFzX1iuyfiSOlBR_zWBv_qoGjwg70nddBUm6mBLhnKiMpa_z_7tU_wqz5n33w/s320/20220724_154309.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Closeup of Nysilk skirt braid, showing the braided structure.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Unless the marketing is pure fluff and the maker, The Narrow Fabric Co., is trying to convince purchasers that other brands of braid will rough up the shoes, then now we know that skirt braid could be scratchy and that a kid or patent or polished or silk finish on the shoes could be hurt by repetitive rubbing by the bottom of the skirt. Few of us like their shoes to look dinged up: most of us who have looked at our feet only to see a fresh scratch across a shoe is familiar with the annoyance it produces, the slight lessening of chic.
</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">A Regal Finish</h2><p>"Gives a regal finish to the skirt" says the very pretty little ribbon-style banner on the lower part of the spool. </p><p>Oh, how I love to read this, for it hints at another of skirt braid's functions. These braids have a a bit of body to them: they're not loosely made or very thin, like so many of today's cotton tapes or bindings that we use in costuming today in all kinds of ways. </p><p>Instead they resist just the littlest bit when bent, and the braid unwinds in pretty loops rather than collapses into a flaccid little heap. </p><p>Here's the Nysilk skirt braid in action, in the short video below.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1_ivB-VZhCg" width="320" youtube-src-id="1_ivB-VZhCg"></iframe></div><p>Can't see it embedded? Here's the YouTube link: <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://youtube.com/shorts/1_ivB-VZhCg?feature%3Dshare&source=gmail&ust=1658778707914000&usg=AOvVaw2kc1txM4ZzPabVekRJTrUo" href="https://youtube.com/shorts/1_ivB-VZhCg?feature=share" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://youtube.com/shorts/1_<wbr></wbr>ivB-VZhCg?feature=share</a><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14px;"> </span></p><p>You can guess how this sort of braid will help. Bound to the skirt hem, it will encourage the skirt hem on a long skirt into more handsome ripples. This was done with velvet or velveteen fabric, too, but a pre-made braid is easier to work with. You can rather imagine what it looks like by examining the illustration of the young woman in the <i>Delineator</i> ad. The end result is an improved hemline. Regal? Well...that may be a stretch, but tidier, anyhow.</p><p>You find skirt braid often on heavy skirts or wool skirts. One of the skirts in my collection has it in the form of brush braid...an <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2019/10/an-antique-1890s-black-skirt-with-brush.html?m=1">1890s skirt</a>. That was another decade in which skirt braid was an especially popular thing. I haven't seen skirt braid on Edwardian summer muslin or linen skirts in my collection or in cotton print skirts when I look for it in pictures online. Which is not to say it wasn't used: I just haven't a scrap of evidence.</p><p>However, what with a wool or wool mix skirt being a standby for daily wear in women's skirts in all seasons, skirt braid was a common little helper in the sartorial part of many women's day-to-day environments.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Where Did the Spool Live?</h2><p>The spool holds 72 yards and as we know from the <i>Delineator</i> ad, came in different colors to best blend in with the skirt fabric, because while this braid is black, and is labeled so on the spool, there's a space labeled "Col", for "color", and the word "black" stamped in a faded red ink in that space.</p><p>Who owned the spool? Here I can speculate based on the tear in the label over the hole that runs through the spool, meaning that the spool had likely been strung on a bar, so someone could unreel and cut what was needed. Was the skirt braid an inhabitant of a dressmaker's shop? </p><p>The <i>Delineator </i>ad shows that it was sold in small packages of a few yards. This would be convenient for selling in a store to home seamstress purchasers, although larger amounts might be sold from the spool, mounted with other trims and notions in a shop or department store, too.</p><p>Here's the printed record, again. A little too laudatory, perhaps, but still: "The main product consists of shoe laces...but a great many skirt braids are made, which can be found on sale in nearly every retail store in the country". (<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=MHvEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA284&dq=skirt+braid+the+narrow+fabric+co&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiKqNmqrJL5AhVRj4kEHW82DEYQ6AF6BAgDEAM#v=onepage&q=skirt%20braid%20the%20narrow%20fabric%20co&f=false">Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, Pennsylvania</a>, by Martin Luther Montgomery, 1909, p. 284.) So its original home was likely in a store or dressmaker.</p><p>The ad's presence in <i>The Delineator</i> means it was marketed to home seamstresses, but women who purchased skirts readymade that lacked the binding could have it added, as the ad recommended.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">About the Maker</h2><p>The Narrow Fabric Company in Reading, PA was founded by Henry Janssen and Ferdinand Thun in 1900 to make brush braid, elastic for garters, shoelaces and other braids. Built on a first, successful company the pair started in the 1890s, the new company was even more successful. The company was part of what became the Wyomissing Industries, which included Berkshire Knitting Mills, the originator of the fully fashioned hosiery knitting machine. </p><p><span style="background-color: white;">For those of you interested in the history of textiles, the history of progressive worker relations and of planned communities, see the article "</span><a href="http://paheritage.wpengine.com/article/two-gentlemen-vision/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;">Two Gentlemen of Vision</a><span style="background-color: white;">" by Alan Tabachnick in Pennsylvania Heritage" magazine, summer 1991. Sadly, it closed around 1991, a victim of outsourcing and less expensive imports. Its struggle for survival is chronicled in a moving little article blandly titled "</span><a href="http://www2.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=331437" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;">Narrow Fabric Closes</a><span>" in the </span><i>Reading Eagle</i><span> newspaper.</span></p><p>Hoping you enjoyed this little foray into the past.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">In Other News...</h2><p>I've examined the Past Pattern's 1901 Reception Gown pattern and have written out the process of making the Edwardian dress in the spots where I am departing from it, or mostly, anyhow, but time is not accommodating. The work schedule is truly fierce currently and significant time is spent ferrying children around or doing summer family things, like trips to the pool and of course, doing my part of the housekeeping. After all that, I'm too pooped to even <i>think</i> of doing anything else. That's okay. This is just a hobby, after all.</p><p>Wishing you a happy next few weeks!</p><p>
</p></div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-84327964464666859312022-06-15T20:20:00.008-04:002022-06-17T21:40:06.917-04:00Tour of an Extant Early Edwardian Silk Taffeta Gown: Some Bodice Details<p>In answer to a question about the early Edwardian extant bodice, part of the gown that's joined my collection, here are more details, including measurements (looking at you, <a href="http://sentfrommyiron.blogspot.com/">Mrs. C</a>!) </p><p>If you're interested in minutiae with an eye to using what's there in your own work, read on. Otherwise, be warned...it's mostly up-close shots and numbers :)</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_3xPYIOfs8mBjhz_-rPSSm9DZ_D7mdr1dBb5C2Cs5jhWcwonr2JBKMqvpT31O0bXMNmoUoPT8ysWaw2xo1YnSiJaFAZEuYcxhb2RtKMHn757kwgvU8uMssB2KYTjFNsszMuY5NFTzeDMQn4AS_844OTjceZd85zA7cQnkXI2Cs0PnwIGDQ/s4032/20220615_164529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_3xPYIOfs8mBjhz_-rPSSm9DZ_D7mdr1dBb5C2Cs5jhWcwonr2JBKMqvpT31O0bXMNmoUoPT8ysWaw2xo1YnSiJaFAZEuYcxhb2RtKMHn757kwgvU8uMssB2KYTjFNsszMuY5NFTzeDMQn4AS_844OTjceZd85zA7cQnkXI2Cs0PnwIGDQ/w640-h480/20220615_164529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bodice front. Note that the elbow puffs are really visible, while the back-facing puffs at the cuffs are smaller.<br />Also note how the center front and back bodice bottom are almost at the same level, while the sides aren't quite as long...the bodice is not even across the bottom.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKXdiFqCKozLhP5aomheATed2ArpMpKWP5vwMRuwRxGAohiB8hLGGAmjLjvM9Tzmw8e_gNqfUkfGWfWqxKQBEpoXM4fOTsn0wcbIU-nD90vQBWNOEx2cd2unuOf2YnQXUpUdXzg3_O8ve81DuErvn7qXV5DfZ_8FanW0R34aziqu8uBKV2mA/s4032/20220615_160115.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKXdiFqCKozLhP5aomheATed2ArpMpKWP5vwMRuwRxGAohiB8hLGGAmjLjvM9Tzmw8e_gNqfUkfGWfWqxKQBEpoXM4fOTsn0wcbIU-nD90vQBWNOEx2cd2unuOf2YnQXUpUdXzg3_O8ve81DuErvn7qXV5DfZ_8FanW0R34aziqu8uBKV2mA/w480-h640/20220615_160115.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The back is closed by 20 buttons in a 15" length. Three buttons are missing. The bodice closure underlap, which is in one with the bodice front, 1 1/8" wide.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQuv1I_PuDQX7OcKEBV379C7yK_5iKHWatBpdPxzRb8_3rmfnuqZwI6qDJ9g-QhEZuI26Tb82TSKNn3hbFD2-O87MWK9XfLj-WJV1Dqj1NCfMqUneVJwOEEd3bbnvM-rL-_l1MxvTVslb9EG34bBQBg6FUdSYBFiuMMePh8sjUGrdCwTdCQ/s4032/20220615_165816.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQuv1I_PuDQX7OcKEBV379C7yK_5iKHWatBpdPxzRb8_3rmfnuqZwI6qDJ9g-QhEZuI26Tb82TSKNn3hbFD2-O87MWK9XfLj-WJV1Dqj1NCfMqUneVJwOEEd3bbnvM-rL-_l1MxvTVslb9EG34bBQBg6FUdSYBFiuMMePh8sjUGrdCwTdCQ/w480-h640/20220615_165816.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Each button is silk-covered (most buttons have lost the covering) and is about 1/4" in diameter.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAN7B6lNXWG9_NNCV_ULPyd6wi-sY77IrGIngH34UXU3wxci5kWdLxAzHqAG34I-EpKPmm5fG-KeypqMGSFy7vROrIR6OlYEcxggjydctrzJ1IC2sIJUGj55rR0yObmmv8aJuqOPuGG00pPdUAtBWGXKXFHWQuyOuOkNdhyZt774NBDguZHQ/s4032/20220615_170045.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAN7B6lNXWG9_NNCV_ULPyd6wi-sY77IrGIngH34UXU3wxci5kWdLxAzHqAG34I-EpKPmm5fG-KeypqMGSFy7vROrIR6OlYEcxggjydctrzJ1IC2sIJUGj55rR0yObmmv8aJuqOPuGG00pPdUAtBWGXKXFHWQuyOuOkNdhyZt774NBDguZHQ/w480-h640/20220615_170045.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The buttons are sewn through the silk and two layers of the lining. The lining has just over an extra inch width that was folded back towards the center of the lining, to provide a strong surface for the buttons to be attached to. The shank-style buttons are sewing with what looks like buttonhole twist, a strong, thick matte thread. Each shank is wrapped with thread many times to make a very strong connection and the end of the thread is tightly knotted on the back. The buttons are all sewn separately, not with the thread going from button to button, as in some bodices.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg593wSoRQjWOhu3Ky7LcOXVBvHULTIEZRjwKBAe2k-wmNehfY7idm8JOnpSOY3cpCGEZ7sYOsBVBwZ0U_3JWEtyGrKXq-9pisXvbf7-iVlqFDyO9neauYs2aUd17ZJwkMrtYUzhAGlPZSEbZ_xeF_oVrcgbNJ7W2Qh7DHzLCMocCYW17nc3Q/s1920/bodice%20bottom%20tuck-in%20line.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1920" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg593wSoRQjWOhu3Ky7LcOXVBvHULTIEZRjwKBAe2k-wmNehfY7idm8JOnpSOY3cpCGEZ7sYOsBVBwZ0U_3JWEtyGrKXq-9pisXvbf7-iVlqFDyO9neauYs2aUd17ZJwkMrtYUzhAGlPZSEbZ_xeF_oVrcgbNJ7W2Qh7DHzLCMocCYW17nc3Q/w640-h480/bodice%20bottom%20tuck-in%20line.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Settling the bodice opened flat, I've drawn a line approximately where the lower bodice would stop being visible when worn, with the bodice bottom tucked into the skirt. Some bodices included hooks or eyes that attached to their corresponding eye or hook to hold skirt and bodice together. No evidence -- holes or thread -- exists to show that was the case here.</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><p>As you can see from the pictures above, a bit of the cut of the bodice is apparent:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>the front bodice piece and each of the two back bodice pieces are about the same length</li><li>the two side pieces are shorter</li><li><span style="text-align: center;">the center bottom of the front piece appears to be curved, and the tuck-in fabric less than an inch long, while it's about 3 inches at the back closure, decreasing towards the side pieces.</span></li></ul><div>At first the variation in length confused me. While the sides might be shorter than front or back as men's shirts have been for some time, and thus be a sort of tradition, I think that pushing a lot of fabric into the side of a tight-fitting skirt would easily spoil the silhouette, so it has a practical purpose. Ditto for the front: the last thing the wearer wants is a front that's bulging with tucked-in fabric,even with a belt to cover part of it. In the back? Well, there can be a little more space there and the center back closure and belt offer cover, if you will.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Bodice Fashion Fabric Cut, Front, Side and Back pieces...</h2><div><br /></div><div>Not the sleeves right now. My brain is pooped.</div><div><br /></div><div>What is the approximate shape of the pieces of fabric that make up the bodice? I am no good hand at measuring and drawing out a pattern from an assembled garment, and worse when it comes to a garment that's still in relatively good condition so that one cannot see the different layers. Yet here are a few measurements.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Back piece (left side with buttons)</h3><p></p><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>19": front piece length from top of front piece at underlap edge, down to bottom </li><li>2": top of front piece at neckline, to buttons, 1" buttons to end of collar, almost 3/4" width of underlap after end of collar, for a total of 3 3/4" approximately. Curved.</li><li>19": length of front piece from top of shoulder at neckline to bottom</li><li>7 1/4": width of front piece from juncture of armscye-shoulder juncture to edge of underlap</li><li>Tucks pattern from juncture of armscye-shoulder juncture to edge of underlap: 1 1/4" space, 5 tucks, each approximately (by no means perfectly even among them) 3/8" spaced; then 1" space, then 8 tucks ditto, then 1/2" to vertical line where all buttons are sewn, then approximately 1"</li><li>5": length of front piece shoulder seam from armscye to neckline</li><li>15 1/2": length of front piece running from end of shoulder seam at armscye straight to bottom</li><li>5 3/4" long portion of front piece running in curve from side seam juncture to shoulder seam </li><li>10": side seam from armscye to bottom</li><li>8" wide from corner where side seam meets armscye</li><li>5": where tucks end, measured edge to side back seam. Includes self underlap that sticks out horizontally to hide any show-through when bodice is closed. Note: at this level a small inverse box pleat is taken near center bottom of tucks</li><li>10": at bottom when stretched out</li></ul><div><br /></div></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Back piece (right side with buttonholes) (has a different number of tucks!)</h3><div><div><div><ul><li>19": front piece length from top of front piece at underlap edge, down to bottom </li><li>1" front piece at neckline from center edge to first tuck (buttonholes are put in this space); 1 1/2" top piece a neckline to neckline-shoulder seam junction. Curved./ </li><li>18 1/2": length of front piece from top of shoulder at neckline to bottom</li><li>7": width of front piece from juncture of armscye-shoulder juncture to closure edge (there is a little fullness at this level that was hard to include, but I did my best</li><li>Tucks pattern from juncture of armscye-shoulder juncture to closure edge: 1 1/2" space, 6 (!) tucks, each approximately (by no means perfectly even among them) 3/8" spaced; then 1" space, then 8 tucks ditto, then 3/4"-1" (decreasing from top to bottom" space for the buttonholes, which are each 1/2" long, and shaped like a thin wedge, wider at closure edge than at inner end</li><li>5 1/4": length of front piece shoulder seam from armscye to neckline</li><li>16": very approximate length of front piece running from end of shoulder seam at armscye straight to bottom. Lots of fullness and wrinkling</li><li>5 1/2" long portion of front piece running in curve from side seam juncture to shoulder seam </li><li>": side seam from armscye to bottom</li><li>4 1/2" back piece width where tucks end, measured closure edge to side-back seam</li><li>11": at bottom when stretched out, plus including 1.5 turnback to create facing for closure</li></ul><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Side back pieces</h3></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>They are an odd shape, with extension following armscye running upwards to neckline, that's about 3/4" wide and which is largely, but not entirely, hidden in a tuck. The extension about 6" long from where armscye curves, at end of tucks.</li><li>19" long seam side piece seam from neckline to bottom -- joins to front piece</li><li>12" armscye seam at top of side piece, very approximate</li><li>10" long seam side piece from armscye to bottom -- joins to back piece</li><li>4" side piece across bottom measured from side-back seam to side-front seam.</li><li>2" each side arrow shape extension at bottom, with length in middle measured straight up to armscye of 12". Is about 1 1/2" deep.</li></ul><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Front piece</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Appears to be an oblong-ish shape with concave curve out of the top for the neckline, and convex curve along bottom. It is extremely hard to measure.</li><li>20" approximately from center neckline front to bottom...it's probably longer</li><li>4 1/4" shoulder seam from front piece side edge to neckline (the other 3/4" belongs to the side piece)</li><li>9 3/4-10" long neckline</li><li>21" long (approximately) straight down from shoulder seam neckline join to bottom </li><li>7" longest 2 tucks in center front</li><li>tucks across front graduate slowly down in length down to 6"</li><li>tucks all face inwards on each side, so that looking at the front, the left tuck are sewn pressed to the center, while the right tucks are sewn pressed to the left</li></ul><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Collar band</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>13" inches long finished; 3/4" wide finished (actual standing stock or other collar is missing)</li></ul></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Schematic of bodices, except for sleeves</h3><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO5vn1TUp59wDvGjBUl3f9vRVEYTtx3A-Ber_FOhTcQnHSXQiMLb0IYy-XRkv3D3cSqoPomyK2BDCvDr7yjiGBJmsDBcCOb2ezuO6uD39i7h9duMyXFGi2JhArIrzflmDBOjr2UUIi5nkr55erYCriZXlLUlnaLk37hJvPMgsUpvet8SMoOA/s4032/20220615_200815.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO5vn1TUp59wDvGjBUl3f9vRVEYTtx3A-Ber_FOhTcQnHSXQiMLb0IYy-XRkv3D3cSqoPomyK2BDCvDr7yjiGBJmsDBcCOb2ezuO6uD39i7h9duMyXFGi2JhArIrzflmDBOjr2UUIi5nkr55erYCriZXlLUlnaLk37hJvPMgsUpvet8SMoOA/w480-h640/20220615_200815.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Schematic of bodice pieces...and not at all to scale</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Construction of front and back pieces</h3><div><br /></div><div>The tucks on the side pieces disappear into the armsyce, while the seam between front and side pieces is partially, but not all the way hidden by the tucks.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>When I first posted this last night, I thought the strange side pieces were really odd. Yet this morning it hit me that this may be a clever case of dealing with a narrow-woven silk. The ad for it (I located the maker) says it's 24 inches and I think it likely as historically silk was woven more narrowly. </div><div><br /></div><div>Therefore, I think that a likely scenario is that the extensions to the side pieces are there because the silk is narrow, and rather than piecing the wide front, the needed width was made in the side pieces. Then they could have been cut roughly into shape, sewn together, and then tucked afterwards. Or perhaps I am missing another reason the reason for this design element.</div><div><br /></div><div>They may have trimmed the pieces after tucking, leaving probably different seam allowances depending on which seam it was...we cannot see them, of course, but at under the armscye, for instance, I feel about 1/2" of fabric under there. The side seams and shoulder seams are wide and were whipped together with the lining allowances. This allows for alterations...which I cannot see were ever made.</div><div><br /></div><div>Each back was tucked, as well, before cutting.</div></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Videos About the Gown</h2><div>A whole <a href="https://youtube.com/user/ZipZipInkspot.">series of YouTube videos about the gown</a> is available. Watching them you get a better sense of how it looks on and how it looks in the light, although not a perfect one. The taffeta is wrinkled and I do not want to harm it by pressing. Nor I do not have the the best petticoat or drop skirt to put under it (although I do have two trained petticoats of this early part of the period. Many newspapers and magazines of this 1901-03 still recommended a band of hair canvas (haircloth) or book muslin (akin to tarlatan) in the hems to help the bottom frills kick out nicely.</div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Next Up...</h2><div><br /></div><div>If I get a chance soon, I will measure out the sleeves, too. Had extra time this evening while my husband and boys went to the pool.</div><div><br /></div><div>Previous post in this series: <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2022/06/tour-of-early-edwardian-gown-in-photos.html">Tour of an Early Edwardian Silk Taffeta Gown In Photos and Videos: The Bodice</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-15357822813720751602022-06-13T22:37:00.005-04:002022-06-15T20:26:16.404-04:00Tour of an Early Edwardian Silk Taffeta Gown In Photos and Videos: The Bodice<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX-yHr5sgJsHJzVqk3U84Ziy4RDuK_G0T7gY7ucKF6gyDW3xBL_PDDTYxXL8hAX3fT_d6mM0YolzLSxFMahW0a4WzdfVnUmsEZSYVBV1om2eouFOADk_NSEuFd48X-8O7MKbvTHAjDek82_yQgD--wBf0AmwZSaLyQIzH-VTFY-zbsxWmbgw/s2220/Screenshot_20220613-231509_YouTube.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2220" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX-yHr5sgJsHJzVqk3U84Ziy4RDuK_G0T7gY7ucKF6gyDW3xBL_PDDTYxXL8hAX3fT_d6mM0YolzLSxFMahW0a4WzdfVnUmsEZSYVBV1om2eouFOADk_NSEuFd48X-8O7MKbvTHAjDek82_yQgD--wBf0AmwZSaLyQIzH-VTFY-zbsxWmbgw/w312-h640/Screenshot_20220613-231509_YouTube.jpg" width="312" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshot from one of the videos I made about the gown.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Last post I introduced you to a black taffeta Edwardian two-piece gown in my collection.</p><p>This and the next post look at it in more detail, in both photos and in eight YouTube videos. The gown is much easier to understand in motion in 3-D on a mannequin than flat in photos.</p><p>Find the videos about the entire gown on my YouTube channel at <a href="https://youtube.com/user/ZipZipInkspot">https://youtube.com/user/ZipZipInkspot</a>.</p><p>No worries, I am not replacing this blog with videos, but in cases where video is a good means of communicating about a project, they are a helpful adjunct. </p><p>In this case, I kept finding new parts of the gown to explore, so the planned four videos became eight.</p><p>Now for the additional photos, and some more information about the gown.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Bodice</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxOFDt6n1OEzMV1u1iX2HcljULOEz4ISpfzpEhqeh7FfHeZam3oQ-fyPz2KmtSyp-aPz-zo3Gk4jeDagI-IJX62O5fUaowUzejqApre80h4v37bUsAlH8K3P_0c0ZE-27Q5hZX3TU3b3LCRtRjnUaaCZlJkUJ3DRo-d9Zq6MmId3jmeY1ofA/s4032/20220613_154933.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxOFDt6n1OEzMV1u1iX2HcljULOEz4ISpfzpEhqeh7FfHeZam3oQ-fyPz2KmtSyp-aPz-zo3Gk4jeDagI-IJX62O5fUaowUzejqApre80h4v37bUsAlH8K3P_0c0ZE-27Q5hZX3TU3b3LCRtRjnUaaCZlJkUJ3DRo-d9Zq6MmId3jmeY1ofA/w480-h640/20220613_154933.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>The bodice is abundantly pintucked. The front pintucks give a sort of yoke effect and release into the lower bodice. Not much fabric is used up by the pintucks: it's the width of the fabric itself formed into center-facing pleats at bottom that gives the blouson, pigeon-front effect.</p><p>The front is longer than the back, which cut The Delineator called a "dip". With a straight-front corset, the front of a loose bodice would fall loosely naturally, while the hips, angled back, would cause the back itself to be shorter. Pulling the loose fabric close and moving the bulk of it to the front causes the pouch effect. This pouching is moderate and doesn't look as heavy as on some bodices because the fabric is crisp and stiff.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq9BoFsVe5k-S-Z0_OR2seFdScZHYoeyzUff5NtTi4YkAmQo5TMcS1N3tE4FarEjN6xIHCiwFpyOCl8S4Ps9k2jLUrGunzblMe0xYfgCfJ3yBxQEprCPjlMoA9dAnuwDR-Mi9H3DM54HH94x3w296dLuYkt0L188KsVtDnVWHoRCzFWOz5ow/s4032/20220613_161028.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq9BoFsVe5k-S-Z0_OR2seFdScZHYoeyzUff5NtTi4YkAmQo5TMcS1N3tE4FarEjN6xIHCiwFpyOCl8S4Ps9k2jLUrGunzblMe0xYfgCfJ3yBxQEprCPjlMoA9dAnuwDR-Mi9H3DM54HH94x3w296dLuYkt0L188KsVtDnVWHoRCzFWOz5ow/w480-h640/20220613_161028.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Detail of the front and its pouching.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnSkjTGSqoTLfXOOdRIUrZa828zrnQrSYX3wt56Z-1cUfGXpN5AiVOcSwXHrhWsnPp8CspJUt7u4UI08f8ySM5vTauSVEAMU8uZ2JAjw6jFiT6TMRr-1sHS7IiJbQdrsB3d2A6CnOgmgs4WkQ-VQZkzuc28wsbvDrgsqoEU1YpMiU_H7QN0A/s4032/original_6c4f52c3-8c44-4cab-b16f-9aae9d5f79c4_20220613_155621.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnSkjTGSqoTLfXOOdRIUrZa828zrnQrSYX3wt56Z-1cUfGXpN5AiVOcSwXHrhWsnPp8CspJUt7u4UI08f8ySM5vTauSVEAMU8uZ2JAjw6jFiT6TMRr-1sHS7IiJbQdrsB3d2A6CnOgmgs4WkQ-VQZkzuc28wsbvDrgsqoEU1YpMiU_H7QN0A/w640-h480/original_6c4f52c3-8c44-4cab-b16f-9aae9d5f79c4_20220613_155621.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The collar band is top-stitched over the raw neckline edge.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is no evidence that the high collar that originally went with the gown was fixed to the band collar, as was sometimes the case. Instead, it would have been separate, and probably in matching black silk, either a taffeta or just perhaps a satin. It's tempting to think that it was also tucked, but we do not know.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW94nL_rdgUIh3SuTeviJtkhaCE8Jz6CVAot0XNlVm4EheinoFt1tTADNPJ1qLhU-BATgl6IK01HlMhaLUYrDk0NOVZNoTYqJ9dyheA2BQOzsGR8AWxXkTq_Snv9NU4CyIzL_3geSLrXlIK6pzFvynURhmEcAbOfY1LH1IBZWKXkKeFUcq5Q/s4032/20220613_155643.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW94nL_rdgUIh3SuTeviJtkhaCE8Jz6CVAot0XNlVm4EheinoFt1tTADNPJ1qLhU-BATgl6IK01HlMhaLUYrDk0NOVZNoTYqJ9dyheA2BQOzsGR8AWxXkTq_Snv9NU4CyIzL_3geSLrXlIK6pzFvynURhmEcAbOfY1LH1IBZWKXkKeFUcq5Q/w640-h480/20220613_155643.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The collar interior is lined with a very soft silk.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xXKwupPaEpf1B_b_fDbxvQR38DRBPEWAJbMwGykvYO4OZEXOhtcQ3n-o7mwlKJSoSAj6AQQmUtTHcwOU-HYNE1vF6BrCixy39sn259GOXY0XP3CuHZHfYEcm5gvEjkUOLSASC5qM-jGpK5ShY0F0qzXwlceOwnzbeB1EfrEuMBxg2Necxg/s3024/20220613_155715~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2747" data-original-width="3024" height="582" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xXKwupPaEpf1B_b_fDbxvQR38DRBPEWAJbMwGykvYO4OZEXOhtcQ3n-o7mwlKJSoSAj6AQQmUtTHcwOU-HYNE1vF6BrCixy39sn259GOXY0XP3CuHZHfYEcm5gvEjkUOLSASC5qM-jGpK5ShY0F0qzXwlceOwnzbeB1EfrEuMBxg2Necxg/w640-h582/20220613_155715~2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The silk lining is hand-hemmed in matching thread.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNW2zFRRdKCwZbFASqOKSubEsJmDleB0HRn-kOJ6RFGnWD5zuMwo8lAIObo-L6WficfgOUmIt9VIL0peNuz_QLyGydhpU4G9vEbGhbFCFXBRn1CKit08qpv5kYT4PqddAapR3uGFUVxR9ulAa3q7KCwswYrTAAotjFCju6E214SrRuZxlV3Q/s4032/20220613_155431.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNW2zFRRdKCwZbFASqOKSubEsJmDleB0HRn-kOJ6RFGnWD5zuMwo8lAIObo-L6WficfgOUmIt9VIL0peNuz_QLyGydhpU4G9vEbGhbFCFXBRn1CKit08qpv5kYT4PqddAapR3uGFUVxR9ulAa3q7KCwswYrTAAotjFCju6E214SrRuZxlV3Q/w640-h480/20220613_155431.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The fashion fabric at the bodice bottom is pleated with five center-facing pleats. Two on each side are nearly on top of one another to keep the pleats concentrated at the center.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLUIgq10S5qmn4M3n2ZOackfQxRBKx3S1YZeG6EaLWYYyZGx6NYEcFQNlwhyKU8oRnahjJ11UvlndAPTZhWzKWJnzzn6MP1ek2I_eHd-633a0xOncKskP8LV-X7oc71tmxS6n1nvcLCnXn_UPudpXWZE5_GpzCQumK3rgnjeJMy5thgMkKw/s4032/20220613_155456.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLUIgq10S5qmn4M3n2ZOackfQxRBKx3S1YZeG6EaLWYYyZGx6NYEcFQNlwhyKU8oRnahjJ11UvlndAPTZhWzKWJnzzn6MP1ek2I_eHd-633a0xOncKskP8LV-X7oc71tmxS6n1nvcLCnXn_UPudpXWZE5_GpzCQumK3rgnjeJMy5thgMkKw/w640-h480/20220613_155456.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Closeup of the fashion fabric bodice bottom. It is bound with a fine silk tape or ribbon. The tape is straight tabby woven and merely folded over the raw edge and running stitched to hold it on. The stitches aren't especially small.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqiW-Vz1BFxE2466HVbzQEQng6kGqdMD9JTWb176ZVkHkWILsBBlyWnhobT4AGL_mHHoVqq3V0NT5hhxipvUJJWKtqldiccpDQUjRaHOJQoQy1FffxHC6_dcUToWtBUYGi6WnW-KLdFf2rWt2DhFaGI5tlrw5W5vwqb0bfu5vOmbVA-FUhEA/s4032/20220613_155131.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqiW-Vz1BFxE2466HVbzQEQng6kGqdMD9JTWb176ZVkHkWILsBBlyWnhobT4AGL_mHHoVqq3V0NT5hhxipvUJJWKtqldiccpDQUjRaHOJQoQy1FffxHC6_dcUToWtBUYGi6WnW-KLdFf2rWt2DhFaGI5tlrw5W5vwqb0bfu5vOmbVA-FUhEA/w640-h480/20220613_155131.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Sleeve detail at the elbow: the pintucks give out to allow for a modest elbow puff, quite popular during 1901 and 1902. Then the tucks begin again and travel to the wrist. The sleeve isn't tight as in 1899 or 1900, but there is no sleeve puff and it isn't especially wide, either.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1VHjHTZwntgEcuwGHVZMU6m4TwGo-HvyKfh1sLSTfyClfnwwlsPjGgxgCl5P5xQlRlQ_zvh0Uol1R9NyzjSYbFf5IbAEB56mE6YxPo3ZovT-EGZusAvSSu6v3AS66aiQh2b_gIHFIEowUQIJhCCFRwQvuU8j2hv8Co9J3QqQDjp15FTKzKw/s4032/20220613_155200.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1VHjHTZwntgEcuwGHVZMU6m4TwGo-HvyKfh1sLSTfyClfnwwlsPjGgxgCl5P5xQlRlQ_zvh0Uol1R9NyzjSYbFf5IbAEB56mE6YxPo3ZovT-EGZusAvSSu6v3AS66aiQh2b_gIHFIEowUQIJhCCFRwQvuU8j2hv8Co9J3QqQDjp15FTKzKw/w640-h480/20220613_155200.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The puff, concentrated at the back of the sleeve, makes the sleeve a modest bishop sleeve. By 1903 such puffs could be quite large, but this may have been either a 1901-2 dress or a conservative cut.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhccB8tmJ7JyJZDHzfeoDEzS7J_gHGLOMp9jfVOqGuegTkmaScNsCQgmH1ZQ1J9QHu0EjBIOLt1xdxB0tuHrtRJHglbRiQa4YvonC09klhpH6UIpVYSkXh7xNsyQ-Ou5OWCJuRXh90Znwhu0HcO8ShqM_XxtKXg7VUXksdxkEOKNLPY8RevUg/s4032/20220613_155217.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhccB8tmJ7JyJZDHzfeoDEzS7J_gHGLOMp9jfVOqGuegTkmaScNsCQgmH1ZQ1J9QHu0EjBIOLt1xdxB0tuHrtRJHglbRiQa4YvonC09klhpH6UIpVYSkXh7xNsyQ-Ou5OWCJuRXh90Znwhu0HcO8ShqM_XxtKXg7VUXksdxkEOKNLPY8RevUg/w640-h480/20220613_155217.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The cuff is pintucked and finished with a natty arrow shape, and closes with a convenient snap.</div><div><br /></div><div>Snaps were available on menswear in the 1880s. (See <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snap_fastener">Wikipedia</a> post). When they arrived on womenswear I do not know, but we usually think of them as a bit later. Both bodice and skirt use snaps and there is zero evidence in the fabric that hooks and eyes were ever used, and no buttonhole for a button. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObH4bFUOZ7Z_karoiJQpUOi7dcdvShp1ugiX8zrWP6B2bmUx_frzp_W24T-ITKC19gsroD_heCa_eNWwYYXkShjNNuabekPguRiyUiJrp-wkqkz-nAHlhfj3a3nG2kdO-7ynwsQPUPKF6VemDC_xJkmHA3tvSi698G5OJhrYQB5PwuZj3dQ/s4032/20220613_155250.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObH4bFUOZ7Z_karoiJQpUOi7dcdvShp1ugiX8zrWP6B2bmUx_frzp_W24T-ITKC19gsroD_heCa_eNWwYYXkShjNNuabekPguRiyUiJrp-wkqkz-nAHlhfj3a3nG2kdO-7ynwsQPUPKF6VemDC_xJkmHA3tvSi698G5OJhrYQB5PwuZj3dQ/w640-h480/20220613_155250.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The inside of the bodice. It's lined with a tightly woven polished cotton, pinked and never hemmed to finish it. Fast to put together!</div><div><br /></div><div>The lining fits tightly with darts.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZxUMabkovSrokJf3c-bTzzxJVzFUQlyyibU10KVn9SS5pENqq1CswHjU9fzgFa25rvXAhj5z8NhOSqUfLulH5605MaGwcxUnaX7R-SNwxm4G5_ME3YsLyjQwR7WvsKUz7-pwHUSl4daqSJpQEzS7t_IoP1Rw2_EUBxnMXpzMqv8Ki6d7AFw/s4032/20220613_161947.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZxUMabkovSrokJf3c-bTzzxJVzFUQlyyibU10KVn9SS5pENqq1CswHjU9fzgFa25rvXAhj5z8NhOSqUfLulH5605MaGwcxUnaX7R-SNwxm4G5_ME3YsLyjQwR7WvsKUz7-pwHUSl4daqSJpQEzS7t_IoP1Rw2_EUBxnMXpzMqv8Ki6d7AFw/w480-h640/20220613_161947.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Darts.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDfscXN_TPJGDZBwi_rbggC3d1yF2VppMjk4icDeupfStQghiAFQJpZKEbDyWzdpeHnuSIrbXrFLmcY91iL4SEPDBv7ZDqIEkr-TKLi72ENJ-qB87MJ4rswQLcHfk-p0EqBe44vF-ODwvTK-Ez8Vc496n0VJ3EJITvNn1Ntn9TL8-0j_KJ3A/s4032/20220613_162044.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDfscXN_TPJGDZBwi_rbggC3d1yF2VppMjk4icDeupfStQghiAFQJpZKEbDyWzdpeHnuSIrbXrFLmcY91iL4SEPDBv7ZDqIEkr-TKLi72ENJ-qB87MJ4rswQLcHfk-p0EqBe44vF-ODwvTK-Ez8Vc496n0VJ3EJITvNn1Ntn9TL8-0j_KJ3A/w480-h640/20220613_162044.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>Lining seams are hand-overcast to finish them. Interestingly, in creamy white thread, neat and even work. The shoulder seams are handled similarly. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKSEZCeJnwI372Xj1nQWU3L1X4HPAnzkVbrd0XjOMPZfTRMZgGXvUBaTZpD5zHlNyQsPGXBzs74r8rM6Kw8SAqZWNdFfoIz0EMosqGARD_vhZjl-yBJm_dQHiqrDcFG_LHYEE5xSQjX8gKwz9fNNlUUZyWrtw227L3vnglBSu_ruXLD65LQg/s4032/20220613_161959.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKSEZCeJnwI372Xj1nQWU3L1X4HPAnzkVbrd0XjOMPZfTRMZgGXvUBaTZpD5zHlNyQsPGXBzs74r8rM6Kw8SAqZWNdFfoIz0EMosqGARD_vhZjl-yBJm_dQHiqrDcFG_LHYEE5xSQjX8gKwz9fNNlUUZyWrtw227L3vnglBSu_ruXLD65LQg/w480-h640/20220613_161959.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The armscye appears to have been basted in a slightly heavy light brown thread, then stitched in black thread, and then seam binding added.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, all machine stitching was made by a straight-stitch machine, not a chainstitch machine. The stitch size is small, and in places where it does not show, is not perfectly straight...in fact, it wanders some.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNo0GDpv5PNltS30jCSCQo7qxwODaAwWpiOIOr048bkPBVL94etJYayfxwS8Txf-Nac_ITPhkEXCAVkHRCy0405OzOtaTQKYLlrpj3aXHcfHuuSzQYZ5hjtVn5_7IM8aDXd9f3cDhm42zQVVRqKK7F67a5W47ZZrJzIXvuf4BLAmjqNnSXlA/s4032/20220613_162011.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNo0GDpv5PNltS30jCSCQo7qxwODaAwWpiOIOr048bkPBVL94etJYayfxwS8Txf-Nac_ITPhkEXCAVkHRCy0405OzOtaTQKYLlrpj3aXHcfHuuSzQYZ5hjtVn5_7IM8aDXd9f3cDhm42zQVVRqKK7F67a5W47ZZrJzIXvuf4BLAmjqNnSXlA/w480-h640/20220613_162011.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Note the silk tape or ribbon loop for hanging the bodice. It is very lightweight and pressed at the top. Barely looks used...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4qisiWpdsz5iaZikp4I1YInZz856c9_G6tHYJv1Iq4uBkbe7CNPeljXup40PQ_RgUbINxWB8b2YjB9Qdy4CntrtqR2qAzBQvaIwpTgyQjb5iUC8iMo3YrbI8PPZ9PmZ83IDQgcG4LixNn3O5azd3IRmefTetYG5RBOftdcXqqCy2nRkw6Q/s4032/20220613_162201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4qisiWpdsz5iaZikp4I1YInZz856c9_G6tHYJv1Iq4uBkbe7CNPeljXup40PQ_RgUbINxWB8b2YjB9Qdy4CntrtqR2qAzBQvaIwpTgyQjb5iUC8iMo3YrbI8PPZ9PmZ83IDQgcG4LixNn3O5azd3IRmefTetYG5RBOftdcXqqCy2nRkw6Q/w480-h640/20220613_162201.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>Sleeve lining, more brown thread, this time used to connect the fashion and lining layers together to finish them. The sleeve was constructed with the lining and fashion fabric treated as one piece -- flatlined -- not bag-lined.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbt4t9-lemhNZvwUK12RVa-I7gEZDY6hRe_FzFcwmtDbGeQzLmmpU5NFh2tg9_V69pL5zDl4fWFVKPAu1yIyClxj1z6jT10MP2QkmLFgSn2a_24uTM8oBMFym_p88w2R4MmawsaxyQc0uORHoXox5ysUcg3hPEwkKWh-IBbl6YS42Z4o7rA/s4032/20220613_162058.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbt4t9-lemhNZvwUK12RVa-I7gEZDY6hRe_FzFcwmtDbGeQzLmmpU5NFh2tg9_V69pL5zDl4fWFVKPAu1yIyClxj1z6jT10MP2QkmLFgSn2a_24uTM8oBMFym_p88w2R4MmawsaxyQc0uORHoXox5ysUcg3hPEwkKWh-IBbl6YS42Z4o7rA/w480-h640/20220613_162058.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The cuffs are faced and the wear on them shows that the garment was worn a good bit.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFDQiyUyDWWMYE21tyq6aWL8KOE-d0EOsPrSbxHnFfreiH2zI2Z2YVuUnPK_z3abSbGzVa3E9Suc0tcFro9IBPn6kHTKHMWTNn7Xd_z8m0DiL0hk3dYIWyLE3F08vtnsbq4zbvtCBIXk70rIxhbaJe3Ik7jA543YQdFTn-eHMhwC6hFAAuEg/s4032/20220613_162118.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFDQiyUyDWWMYE21tyq6aWL8KOE-d0EOsPrSbxHnFfreiH2zI2Z2YVuUnPK_z3abSbGzVa3E9Suc0tcFro9IBPn6kHTKHMWTNn7Xd_z8m0DiL0hk3dYIWyLE3F08vtnsbq4zbvtCBIXk70rIxhbaJe3Ik7jA543YQdFTn-eHMhwC6hFAAuEg/w480-h640/20220613_162118.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>About the fabric: in the videos I wondered aloud if the fabric could have been Nearsilk, an early cellulose-based faux taffeta, because the heavy taffeta shows no signs of shattering. Many silks, especially thin ones, had a tendency to do this because they were treated with metallic salts during production. The metals tends to degrade the fabric over time. So does sunlight. However, even without a burn test, I was able to determine that the fabric is silk, and we even know the brand.</p><p dir="ltr">
I did find an embroidered label integral to the selvage with "Princess Guaranteed Ta" hidden in a frill pleat.</p><p dir="ltr">
On a long skirt seam is another label, "Guaranteed Stirling Silk Mfg Co". I looked it up in Google Books and found that the fabric is actually silk taffeta by a Stirling Manufacturing Company, whose fabric was sold in the US and perhaps elsewhere. I located two ads, a full-page ad in 1899 in <i>Book News</i> (volume 17) for the black silk fabric at John Wanamaker Department Store in Philadelphia, and the other a 1900 quarter page ad in another publication. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNGPRl6TeXNuuhGp2JNnOTsM3V-cSkFftG8lXHItVXJIDFyO_3y5RHbFiNvkPpCfH16nHTD4FaMh1UFsWwq9GU2aBYhxq_9z9pZEfeWmEoT1iAFAR-trAjHfwoDL8Y0sYBDdhTv--evGyraCEyYbsBNAGfBFGARyc5rR_X51fjkv1IV-d4Q/s1393/Screenshot_20220613-210424_Chrome.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1393" data-original-width="918" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNGPRl6TeXNuuhGp2JNnOTsM3V-cSkFftG8lXHItVXJIDFyO_3y5RHbFiNvkPpCfH16nHTD4FaMh1UFsWwq9GU2aBYhxq_9z9pZEfeWmEoT1iAFAR-trAjHfwoDL8Y0sYBDdhTv--evGyraCEyYbsBNAGfBFGARyc5rR_X51fjkv1IV-d4Q/w422-h640/Screenshot_20220613-210424_Chrome.jpg" width="422" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr">Further, this company and another, by the similar name of Sterling, fought over the use of selvage labeling, it apparently being a new feature. The Sterling silk was said to be of lower quality, and the name and labeling chosen to mimic the Stirling silk. (New Jersey Equity Reports, volume 59).</p><p dir="ltr">The silk is wonderfully sturdy, so much so that I had thought it might be Nearsilk, an early faux taffeta. Quality indeed, and carefully stored out of the light -- it's not shattering! I am going to have to obtain storage for it that is equally dark and of archival quality. </p><p>
</p><p dir="ltr">The gown came from an estate in Maine, and was sold to me by Pincushion Costuming in Canada. Whether it was made in Canada or the US is unknown. </p><p>Next post in this series: <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2022/06/tour-of-extant-early-edwardian-silk.html">Tour of an Extant Early Edwardian Silk Taffeta Gown: Some Bodice Details</a></p><p>Previous post in this series: <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-new-project-and-extant-gown-to-share.html">A New Project and circa 1901-1903 Extant Gown to Share</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-91019066511357792472022-05-23T20:47:00.008-04:002022-06-15T20:23:27.799-04:00A New Project and circa 1901-1903 Extant Gown to Share<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiljvQWKu_7dkkKjSGITi0G0aKxsKR3DPI0mxmBaJNTIZ11G1Lavwud9uAyVXKwolvgYaUFV3gJuHpBAmEGPtse5xDBnlG7dJlBVlLiB5E3kFtyTlB4evA1egJxxi8zc-N1zaEVGGKI4P7jhjbsA4K9KW7gtsXli1XWXO_jhHvW4kJvym9p6g/s4032/20220523_141114.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiljvQWKu_7dkkKjSGITi0G0aKxsKR3DPI0mxmBaJNTIZ11G1Lavwud9uAyVXKwolvgYaUFV3gJuHpBAmEGPtse5xDBnlG7dJlBVlLiB5E3kFtyTlB4evA1egJxxi8zc-N1zaEVGGKI4P7jhjbsA4K9KW7gtsXli1XWXO_jhHvW4kJvym9p6g/w480-h640/20220523_141114.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new aquisition, a 1901-03 gown</td></tr></tbody></table><br />A happy chilly afternoon to you all. After some unexpectedly hot days, it's now unexpectedly cool and I am back in snuggy clothing...but no socks. Socks are banished in summertime, even when it's not summery.<p></p><p>We're not here to chat about the weather, however, but about historical clothes. So, what's on? A summer-early fall Edwardian project. Edwardian is where I started back in the aughts, save for a single 1950s dress, and it seems the time is ripe to reinvestigate the era.</p><p>Sitting in front of me is a new acquisition, a circa 1901-03 gown of silk taffeta purchased from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/pincushioncostuming">Pincushion Costuming</a> in Halifax, Canada. It's a hummer of a study dress, featuring many of the period's favorite fashion ideas: back bodice closure, pintucks, elbow puffs, modest bishop lower sleeves, faggoted and scalloped skirt panels ending in multiple delicious overlapping rows of "side-plaited" ruffles.</p><p>I have yet to settle on a tighter time period for it. That will depend on the cut, primarily, and if the ragged fuzzy hem edge is the remains of an interior silk puffing to give body to the hem when it rested on the ground, front and back, as was the fashion for more formal wear during these years. Hence the length of the skirt.</p><p>Re snaps: they were invented in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snap_fastener">1880s</a> and were originally found on men's clothes. I have to go hunting through notions catalogs and advertisements to see if they were in use for women's clothes or whether they were added to this gown later.</p><p>Here are some more pictures:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheXafvoqIvzmSDtjr5opVDETpC0rdx5lzvJQ_0QQjA61x7iFMCOQ_dupUYn4C8GnKn8_y8D7ninJkkHSaTAO0FA8ktHSBhu-YhsT25C1SSNOKqxBCL2NluBT2D7qrRDWqt0KTMwG0chgMutauwVtUA-IeyQsVeSTu1jqDI0_G-fG874uEeIg/s4032/20220523_135717.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheXafvoqIvzmSDtjr5opVDETpC0rdx5lzvJQ_0QQjA61x7iFMCOQ_dupUYn4C8GnKn8_y8D7ninJkkHSaTAO0FA8ktHSBhu-YhsT25C1SSNOKqxBCL2NluBT2D7qrRDWqt0KTMwG0chgMutauwVtUA-IeyQsVeSTu1jqDI0_G-fG874uEeIg/w480-h640/20220523_135717.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bodice front, with moderate pouching.<br />The stock collar appears to be missing.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsf1DP_2G51jbXmDNkIfBGXAU0IK5XUVkYGrKU532HImT3rVN6KgGkSvYAlWBywtK01o4ejsf6QMMr8vUOiye_8YBYJxvjECCoWNx-kciTEjmUmxO9A4A_o3NL9YCk8cXgEWZue9j14pfx5LAOKnbS0tVDxkgD1JVRolusLTnkU2XqehRigA/s4032/20220523_134209.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsf1DP_2G51jbXmDNkIfBGXAU0IK5XUVkYGrKU532HImT3rVN6KgGkSvYAlWBywtK01o4ejsf6QMMr8vUOiye_8YBYJxvjECCoWNx-kciTEjmUmxO9A4A_o3NL9YCk8cXgEWZue9j14pfx5LAOKnbS0tVDxkgD1JVRolusLTnkU2XqehRigA/w480-h640/20220523_134209.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bodice back. It closes with many, many<br />fabric-covered shank buttons. The covering<br />has mostly worn off, revealing the metal base.<br />Note the modest bishop sleeves and elbow puffs.<br />Fashionable but not outre.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhubDlcr-WY-sZrtrQurl9RE_iABbhBNCUhqhT_hs0vSNLNWu-R9PJG4zjXT_n7FgHnzMDrm0oZq4rjm-_e6xdzjGm_IrZI80jFloyUJ4c6imvPaLtbAyJh1T2nauhXSotD4_sIbgwe3-m3MV3nBBmcUB_Kjh6b2uXNxSvu1MxaLITMXQwJsg/s4032/20220523_134248.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhubDlcr-WY-sZrtrQurl9RE_iABbhBNCUhqhT_hs0vSNLNWu-R9PJG4zjXT_n7FgHnzMDrm0oZq4rjm-_e6xdzjGm_IrZI80jFloyUJ4c6imvPaLtbAyJh1T2nauhXSotD4_sIbgwe3-m3MV3nBBmcUB_Kjh6b2uXNxSvu1MxaLITMXQwJsg/w480-h640/20220523_134248.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The skirt, side view. Fuller than 1900 and probably 1901.<br />Note the length: it's not street length, but a more<br />formal dress length. Wait until you see the<br /> construction. It's fascinating and slightly unexpected.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1hi2-0lWhjkg5qTd-rQj09sfqHmhk6MLInKEITZsRdAuDqEaOv42F9_AglXP4GDe4onABV8f46Y6IgUlb7M44gORPMWeKC0DRUXUngDX2dyp5lvkIfNFb1-tEztWIt7Pjx1kd8ugj71odO0hKTY32xlbJwkGAXlRx9YzjXklvZyXy0lG8Q/s4032/20220523_134306.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1hi2-0lWhjkg5qTd-rQj09sfqHmhk6MLInKEITZsRdAuDqEaOv42F9_AglXP4GDe4onABV8f46Y6IgUlb7M44gORPMWeKC0DRUXUngDX2dyp5lvkIfNFb1-tEztWIt7Pjx1kd8ugj71odO0hKTY32xlbJwkGAXlRx9YzjXklvZyXy0lG8Q/w480-h640/20220523_134306.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The skirt in detail. Note the faggoted seams and how the bottom of each panel is cut in a scallop. The layers of ruffles are pleated, with tightly grouped pleats every so often and a row of tiny box-pleated trimming at the bottom of each.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>That will give you a taste. As usual, a deeper write-up of cut and construction will appear sometime during the next months.</p><p>Also as normal, I've been spending inordinate hours reading primary sources: newspapers, trade magazines, fashion magazines, dressmaking books, to become as acquainted as possible with the range of fashions and construction methods. Phone and computer are full of photos of extants. Time to share that, too. It has been a blast, not least because it's the next fashion era after the 1890s, the middle period of which this blog has been so focused for several years.</p><p>In any case, it's time to put everything to work on a gown. A purchase of one of Past Patterns' early 1980s releases, the 102 Simple Summer Gown, offers a starting point. Just not wanting to draft anything right now :)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp-wLxLZn1sqEdabuRjrzvR_qzHn-XwyWbtP832ghW9pSwiAIsT7aTx2otXwryOedFcbPJ1ls5yKYigv2wPwE7qSS_QWbl2-AmxNGD7ZJ6GdUbYy8a30uzUgp5wKyqMKOl14Tgo-q7Fujw9-hgOuI_2D5RGHMQijtFo8RycyDV1LuDtAgK6A/s4032/20220523_144724.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp-wLxLZn1sqEdabuRjrzvR_qzHn-XwyWbtP832ghW9pSwiAIsT7aTx2otXwryOedFcbPJ1ls5yKYigv2wPwE7qSS_QWbl2-AmxNGD7ZJ6GdUbYy8a30uzUgp5wKyqMKOl14Tgo-q7Fujw9-hgOuI_2D5RGHMQijtFo8RycyDV1LuDtAgK6A/w480-h640/20220523_144724.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Most of the materials are ready, the underpinnings are partially ready...so off we go.</p><p>Wait! What about the 1895 petticoat? That's pushed to late fall. Have all the materials ready to go for the last haul, but want a mental break from it.</p><p>Likewise I've put aside any Regency work. Was mocking up the bodice of the Figleaf 1810 dress pattern, but would rather work on something else. You all know how that goes.</p><p>As it's summer, posting will be spotty. The twins are in high school now and there will be a lot of ferrying them around, one to a camp counselor job and the other to school.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">A Last Thought</h2><p>Do any of you feel like we're falling into a deep and terrible pit? The shooting in Buffalo hit hard and our long unequal society feels ever horribly sicker. The carnage in Ukraine and elsewhere...the pandemic...climate change... Dear Heaven, let us be your hands and feet and do what we can to heal the hurt around us.</p><p>Next post in this series: <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2022/06/tour-of-early-edwardian-gown-in-photos.html">Tour of an Early Edwardian Gown In Photos and Videos: The Bodice</a></p>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-11438211945489181242022-04-11T01:41:00.002-04:002022-04-11T13:51:58.203-04:00An Enormous Tulle Oscar's Party Gown: The Floofa Maxima<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJEfjvyj7HCEr56cJACn618k4bex6sYhyfjMpCLXQWfbVjtcT6Tqoa1bey0Phqkj-iAPpP8ErvZS0S8_lNrbtLAzXrV9H9VlLxBVIBtjykTveSD6ywfh7YZAtRYleXgp1aSSP_1sAzFXOrPB08zC4cgOPstU6bdiGPIQb2rTAhFY429GpoMg/s480/IMG_8739.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="360" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJEfjvyj7HCEr56cJACn618k4bex6sYhyfjMpCLXQWfbVjtcT6Tqoa1bey0Phqkj-iAPpP8ErvZS0S8_lNrbtLAzXrV9H9VlLxBVIBtjykTveSD6ywfh7YZAtRYleXgp1aSSP_1sAzFXOrPB08zC4cgOPstU6bdiGPIQb2rTAhFY429GpoMg/w480-h640/IMG_8739.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Once upon a time there was a girl, one of billions with similar dreams, who thought of someday wearing an enormous fluffy dress to a party and floating around on clouds of tulle with friends.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">That day never seemed to arrive. A semi-serious sort, she grew up to wear things tailored, durable, sometimes sporty, but never fluffy and that proclivity remained steady through the decades.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This February, as the endless pandemic seemed to ease, our tea society planned an Oscar's party. I am close to 60 now, and by golly, what better time to be a teenager again than on a red carpet?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So it was that on a gray, windy afternoon spitting a haze of drizzle I eased endless yards of tulle down the back steps, along with a plate of mushroom salad and baguette slices, praying that a nail or twig wouldn't tear a rent in the skirt, and somehow bundled myself and all of the tulle, plus the salad and bread, into the car. I was awash in tulle, and it puffed nearly to the chest and spilled in a giant bouf into the passenger seat, having been pushed out of the driving area for safety. The lace jacket across my shoulders was too short to bunch too, or driving would have been hypothetical at best.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoK9XzyuYjplqxaxNi5__PaTPt1NTl9fABB5MZXkya4E8ABIZk8atDeo-RdeJSwWaaNeBdbR7H6Lve9k8vROavFMXdpy_CuvDFQS9vTNrLA3p6ppdnG7B-sjGZ_UmSJASLvNcvkpVXNqwbxECLDQCDkmOr1am6tAOneE9ROnbC6TzofZT_lA/s1280/IMG_5775.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoK9XzyuYjplqxaxNi5__PaTPt1NTl9fABB5MZXkya4E8ABIZk8atDeo-RdeJSwWaaNeBdbR7H6Lve9k8vROavFMXdpy_CuvDFQS9vTNrLA3p6ppdnG7B-sjGZ_UmSJASLvNcvkpVXNqwbxECLDQCDkmOr1am6tAOneE9ROnbC6TzofZT_lA/s320/IMG_5775.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Getting out of the car was an intricate process I hope left unseen, and the passage to Ida's front door was made in a serious of awkward bounds as the wind had picked up and was doing its best to pick up the tulle too, with me in it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Once at the party? Delight! Swanning around was part of the agenda, as we all had dressed up, and so the day slid into evening very happily, as parties with good friends often do. It was a chance to be truly elegant and silly simultaneously and I think we made the most of it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhJJUd6q_CBlg6MDDCZ7Z2Xeb-N9BDeFIdvQIk14G9srGO_KDIDFyFt-uYSQ__IrHjcwSAJbAv6ZJTQw0sMWCW0g-h2iFST-c-j5pOsZWDnCb7fHtKz8x1tsIxcgg6A431Q9YLpPAxlaSBfy8x93xZQ1KCsz5ey4vcrVNQJO3stDIK5IEhA/s320/IMG_0628.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhJJUd6q_CBlg6MDDCZ7Z2Xeb-N9BDeFIdvQIk14G9srGO_KDIDFyFt-uYSQ__IrHjcwSAJbAv6ZJTQw0sMWCW0g-h2iFST-c-j5pOsZWDnCb7fHtKz8x1tsIxcgg6A431Q9YLpPAxlaSBfy8x93xZQ1KCsz5ey4vcrVNQJO3stDIK5IEhA/w480-h640/IMG_0628.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Tea and a green martini? Tonight, why not? Three desserts? It's the Oscar's, darling.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHoIAY2wTqLyEUEWuce4ySF9OVALKHzXFSpQGXei8BTggzSMg-HnzeapOjx2jrRb6WtHQEiaDo1AXgogzfAg2mxECXNtTOoerCVPigZ-cnwibxAMdVlXloh90Mf8ALmn_o5SSTJiqz7UGFgXzQGEyrPJ5G8ywBY8Nf_QkstRF_TbsnuswDEg/s320/IMG_0632.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHoIAY2wTqLyEUEWuce4ySF9OVALKHzXFSpQGXei8BTggzSMg-HnzeapOjx2jrRb6WtHQEiaDo1AXgogzfAg2mxECXNtTOoerCVPigZ-cnwibxAMdVlXloh90Mf8ALmn_o5SSTJiqz7UGFgXzQGEyrPJ5G8ywBY8Nf_QkstRF_TbsnuswDEg/w480-h640/IMG_0632.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Here we all are, holding our pretend trophies, Ida, Caroline, Julia, me, Darlene, Elizabeth, Cara. We sure missed those of us who couldn't attend!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvblWrRSmpkQ9enerJCqKNfCZ5EIIKPG5wGGzNZJ2DfPKoW56K6r7KcMgS7RxLDLL7jjDvZzXcf6q0yI2etkYj7AtHGlC04Kd6Mjxja8hNyDwRBJA1GMVerb1S96_Y1CWPpRs1HuzdwtziTPPBbZCEBs93pg4ZLYPzNRppBdA-y-tf8n9xog/s640/IMG_0637.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="533" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvblWrRSmpkQ9enerJCqKNfCZ5EIIKPG5wGGzNZJ2DfPKoW56K6r7KcMgS7RxLDLL7jjDvZzXcf6q0yI2etkYj7AtHGlC04Kd6Mjxja8hNyDwRBJA1GMVerb1S96_Y1CWPpRs1HuzdwtziTPPBbZCEBs93pg4ZLYPzNRppBdA-y-tf8n9xog/w534-h640/IMG_0637.jpg" width="534" /></a></div><div><br /></div>...and taking a stroll down a red carpet. I found walking in the tulle cloud a little trying and wonder if actors often worry about falling over their own clothes.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyagBhgxBxbD0BGvSd9E3wmeaL_83yuP045OBhVT1cB7_01q7Q1OsG16HWj8QbnAyEP8vEKNZImJjJ0B0fi-M2xTwWxanCmg_LGV3m3gWwO8LPOVfjyFtFN6mnnSqg6qVMymLd9VEBC2bCqWEsnpor0DvstN5-ff-jTeGnasm_E4cWQHq8wA/s480/IMG_8736.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="360" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyagBhgxBxbD0BGvSd9E3wmeaL_83yuP045OBhVT1cB7_01q7Q1OsG16HWj8QbnAyEP8vEKNZImJjJ0B0fi-M2xTwWxanCmg_LGV3m3gWwO8LPOVfjyFtFN6mnnSqg6qVMymLd9VEBC2bCqWEsnpor0DvstN5-ff-jTeGnasm_E4cWQHq8wA/w480-h640/IMG_8736.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Made it through without too much embarrassment, perhaps due to having already passed through that fire a few minutes earlier.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV6BK_0FwljM-6p_OKllU-e1Y5fphXb3MxHkL25wId8u9Fs0eoCkIYwik9RPSzEAF84U3ufo-s9CPM_rJlnt81XaLqUW2E6qdnMY_qEUbZxprSA4SpWQJuKP3_wx0LSaHwqhO7lGvWTnBEPAR2D4E9XoWuOBIrD_NPzeG9gpNInchwNl-K8Q/s480/IMG_8745.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="360" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV6BK_0FwljM-6p_OKllU-e1Y5fphXb3MxHkL25wId8u9Fs0eoCkIYwik9RPSzEAF84U3ufo-s9CPM_rJlnt81XaLqUW2E6qdnMY_qEUbZxprSA4SpWQJuKP3_wx0LSaHwqhO7lGvWTnBEPAR2D4E9XoWuOBIrD_NPzeG9gpNInchwNl-K8Q/w480-h640/IMG_8745.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I discovered that sitting in such an enormous dress means that you become enmeshed in the stuff. Ballerinas who play the swan in <i>Swan Lake </i>or sugar plum fairies in <i>The Nutcracker</i> never appear to stick or to trip a neighbor when they sink to the floor, a blossoming of tulle spread around them, but when I sat on a chair to have an hors d'oeuvre, the skirt puffed gorgeously while threatening to upend anyone attempting to walk by.</div><div><br /></div><div>Standing up later to help Elizabeth find her formal purse, a tiny, pre-1960 silk satin affair entirely encrusted with brilliants set in prongs, that had gone missing, I found managing chair legs, plate, and martini while balancing on those ridiculously high heels among the tulle a little like a circus act. </div><div><br /></div><div>Too bad I couldn’t break the heels off of my shoes like Sandra Bullock does to her spikes in "The Lost City", but then, she could move as she liked -- sometimes -- in her purple sequined catsuit, while I'd have been treading on and swimming in five or so inches of floor-bound skirt, being suddenly that much shorter. The two situations don't compare, except perhaps in their lucridiousness.</div><div><br /></div><div>The purse wasn't found until somebody hooted and said I'd made off with it, which I didn't understand, my hands being full. Of course, you already know: I'd sat on it -- how could anyone see or feel a purse under all that floof -- and it was stuck to the back, trailing on the floor.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifOdbdk8-jJme1UyWM89Jt2gVbQZOZouModrlSmCwR7LA80Mob1rZljrjvdMBdHczNrxCHAfBODFZ510ztNn_t5K630dUBfSuenrY1rJDpO8L3P6YvPh0VhjusginToTYyVI28xCs8frgoWwlPAYjw_Uum-6jFq_FfKnvjS2kPXZz5ZEYe-A/s640/IMG_0604.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifOdbdk8-jJme1UyWM89Jt2gVbQZOZouModrlSmCwR7LA80Mob1rZljrjvdMBdHczNrxCHAfBODFZ510ztNn_t5K630dUBfSuenrY1rJDpO8L3P6YvPh0VhjusginToTYyVI28xCs8frgoWwlPAYjw_Uum-6jFq_FfKnvjS2kPXZz5ZEYe-A/w480-h640/IMG_0604.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Pronged brilliant aren't easy to untangle from mesh.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbW2tWZ2hch3HbIrnjH9EmSncMR-e3k0YbFTs6hM4N_vEP7IS7Kv7vnSi3JLr3Q4XkUarvaTJr4DgnHIfZmLPdMsxH6u9YYT7LTJlaD6UeZmJxkex1ntQyahUopjG6NEltbRgTfwS1qy9baVqVdHNM0vbtTE_4ibIvMbWeIZdDJo5_S3BDNw/s800/IMG_0608(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbW2tWZ2hch3HbIrnjH9EmSncMR-e3k0YbFTs6hM4N_vEP7IS7Kv7vnSi3JLr3Q4XkUarvaTJr4DgnHIfZmLPdMsxH6u9YYT7LTJlaD6UeZmJxkex1ntQyahUopjG6NEltbRgTfwS1qy9baVqVdHNM0vbtTE_4ibIvMbWeIZdDJo5_S3BDNw/w480-h640/IMG_0608(1).jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>Oh, and the tulle stuck to a glittering shaped bow on Julia's heels, and tore half of it off. I was mortified. Really, the skirt could have figured in a noire movie, or a farce.</div><div><br /></div><div>Would I wear it again? Oh, of course. My mother thought it likely a one-off (she is rather puzzled by the costumes), but once you've experienced the crinkly whoosh of tulle, weightless all around, at the party we agreed anyone would definitely want to try it again. Just watch out for sharp edges, other people's belongings, and mind your heels.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Making the Outfit</h2><div><br /></div><div>The outfit pulled together surprisingly seamlessly. It consists of six elements:</div><div><br /></div><div>1) A Capezio long-sleeve leotard. Wore them as a kid, and going to wear them again now. So sleek, so pulled together.</div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2WNsoaVkTTRrryGZfgP9QNSht6nH9Xgw3pv7eTKiEZUAAnv-OpyYmIiGDVq1LGnD6VLADvnzvB4CSWJTUZz2ADhvrEq6eo1qMtnUl0cVM4xSLVecEdmTmJXbXQCj_mISOESN0P9AqmRXyBQQ_ndAkg6ZlUSzMk2y0PyPAdKhk4Aq-9iwy1Q/s2220/Screenshot_20220403-153109_Chrome.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2220" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2WNsoaVkTTRrryGZfgP9QNSht6nH9Xgw3pv7eTKiEZUAAnv-OpyYmIiGDVq1LGnD6VLADvnzvB4CSWJTUZz2ADhvrEq6eo1qMtnUl0cVM4xSLVecEdmTmJXbXQCj_mISOESN0P9AqmRXyBQQ_ndAkg6ZlUSzMk2y0PyPAdKhk4Aq-9iwy1Q/w195-h400/Screenshot_20220403-153109_Chrome.jpg" width="195" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">https://www.capezio.com/team-basics-long-sleeve-leotard</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>2) A vintage lace jacket, possibly 1980s and possibly by Gunne Sax. A classic I'll wear for ages.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLVYt4o_ZPmiamreMat0iigohutGYPP-4QNIAytLAp6OPh6DTgQf5T1wBEWTRfp2nZf-v5lJKbTWSD6ujGaUwzHPXQuzNU4QJupf-RHI83XuAG4IBEScE4Ba92XL31BQ-bZB_OLYRGTBy1o1bFbM_PuwIUOvyK3yn9qzKfFna2L-fUk9H7Rw/s4032/20220403_163139.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLVYt4o_ZPmiamreMat0iigohutGYPP-4QNIAytLAp6OPh6DTgQf5T1wBEWTRfp2nZf-v5lJKbTWSD6ujGaUwzHPXQuzNU4QJupf-RHI83XuAG4IBEScE4Ba92XL31BQ-bZB_OLYRGTBy1o1bFbM_PuwIUOvyK3yn9qzKfFna2L-fUk9H7Rw/w480-h640/20220403_163139.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>Construction detail: a touch of gathered fine tulle to puff the shoulders. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil10vTEvqruhyq5ByShkOPTNmH6kTBzZwb_ve0LF4pysXX15OC3_BFDzEl7B4EDW1Y_UEJ_q5P05YOYgXGX_jlXTJ9YuNnYjeL0OxqZZNPFjhIimIXT3ouxcLm5t56oWHg2oJE-KR_IApF8mKqx3FVoCodjBPW-t8esa8QibqlxUhBXoYGbg/s4032/20220403_163202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil10vTEvqruhyq5ByShkOPTNmH6kTBzZwb_ve0LF4pysXX15OC3_BFDzEl7B4EDW1Y_UEJ_q5P05YOYgXGX_jlXTJ9YuNnYjeL0OxqZZNPFjhIimIXT3ouxcLm5t56oWHg2oJE-KR_IApF8mKqx3FVoCodjBPW-t8esa8QibqlxUhBXoYGbg/w480-h640/20220403_163202.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>3) An inexpensive organza bridal petticoat from Amazon. Again, generally handy. It allows the tulle to slide. Muslin pettis and tulle do not dance together. They bond, and not in a good way.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1EiKGgLSMDBHZFSHJfRVwwyIiLgJ61_0WgFC-h46-2YvKYty19ym7tBsJIYjh-ViYfidRrAf5ijF3bGVeiSZ8LhqzelePnnFR3PkUOOLyveiMNnwKnuua3l0as_Dh0CINh4syHX_amRDTyHHO-T474kHrdd6-gH0OgWtx8vK5G91xQKVpQ/s4032/20220403_160954.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1EiKGgLSMDBHZFSHJfRVwwyIiLgJ61_0WgFC-h46-2YvKYty19ym7tBsJIYjh-ViYfidRrAf5ijF3bGVeiSZ8LhqzelePnnFR3PkUOOLyveiMNnwKnuua3l0as_Dh0CINh4syHX_amRDTyHHO-T474kHrdd6-gH0OgWtx8vK5G91xQKVpQ/w480-h640/20220403_160954.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>4) Really, really, really tall shoes I've had for years, Y2K chunky because it seemed that a single in-your-face Grrrrrl element was in order, to counteract the mega-floof.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcU29zkXCRjE7soXpS36qvS6ec05kGf1o1f7kifa24aaEkoc8V-9Se1MCHGc-TjWQ9cBsCgYFRBB1NYAkVI36HDsu78AsBUv4gCvG34ZiC_oh2wE1DF4vIUf0g3DQMnFvgF6Upv6asGSF1wxIC_bnuCWISKHA8qh8hsDp_VTm3jvqxus3hhw/s4032/20220403_160247.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcU29zkXCRjE7soXpS36qvS6ec05kGf1o1f7kifa24aaEkoc8V-9Se1MCHGc-TjWQ9cBsCgYFRBB1NYAkVI36HDsu78AsBUv4gCvG34ZiC_oh2wE1DF4vIUf0g3DQMnFvgF6Upv6asGSF1wxIC_bnuCWISKHA8qh8hsDp_VTm3jvqxus3hhw/w480-h640/20220403_160247.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>5) Large earrings I bought back in the 1990s for a High Museum of Art event when I lived in Atlanta.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSaLrnXcRuST3WLOB8-QTi3C5QrYs3cov92TKbPtBjyLKjjtXzLLD9q2uk-j3adAktllHrHbVDL6gqVqo8R0nN17xN6jTDy-2nxJQe5Y9omWT-rWXz42zBfqx_P2MMSFl49Y3dFVFtiMeWEKx8q644OdKSkk0BeneCOePf4qgsvwlnxENm9w/s4032/20220403_160558.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSaLrnXcRuST3WLOB8-QTi3C5QrYs3cov92TKbPtBjyLKjjtXzLLD9q2uk-j3adAktllHrHbVDL6gqVqo8R0nN17xN6jTDy-2nxJQe5Y9omWT-rWXz42zBfqx_P2MMSFl49Y3dFVFtiMeWEKx8q644OdKSkk0BeneCOePf4qgsvwlnxENm9w/w480-h640/20220403_160558.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>On the verge of disco-ball tawdry, but not quite and weren't they the thing in 1991. </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKUnBGdBzCkShqzwIlrziF4I625nFdqiLU2I7umA5eDJ8ZH_5X9sj8SEmjBWJkEU3-tb1zQBgmXxYpf6zA-1eJhvA3olmcmz1HD3TMNyuATgJYSnRrl1hXkasqyu4bf4OCgGJH4iX34tFX4bWnlAb-wuz4CFFEnwfQvRyCL9P0HccreTAbXg/s4032/20220403_160411.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKUnBGdBzCkShqzwIlrziF4I625nFdqiLU2I7umA5eDJ8ZH_5X9sj8SEmjBWJkEU3-tb1zQBgmXxYpf6zA-1eJhvA3olmcmz1HD3TMNyuATgJYSnRrl1hXkasqyu4bf4OCgGJH4iX34tFX4bWnlAb-wuz4CFFEnwfQvRyCL9P0HccreTAbXg/w480-h640/20220403_160411.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div><div>6) The floofy, enormous skirt. It's made from 41 yards of 108"-wide tulle.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinbCHsi4HumueN91T8xWshKh2CVLi78dXDgUaaELhgqTpe6UzClp3xXe9bfAMP_MVvHlOqslyVH6anp9u4p0N2tgZ5OV5br1kkGVUchBoYo-62FXNAblCwM4QbYLGDNXmDxjcGaBPQEGhlOebtF0hjoljzh5bfGQ7tMMMJ124SYMEdMHmIpA/s4032/20220309_200955.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinbCHsi4HumueN91T8xWshKh2CVLi78dXDgUaaELhgqTpe6UzClp3xXe9bfAMP_MVvHlOqslyVH6anp9u4p0N2tgZ5OV5br1kkGVUchBoYo-62FXNAblCwM4QbYLGDNXmDxjcGaBPQEGhlOebtF0hjoljzh5bfGQ7tMMMJ124SYMEdMHmIpA/w480-h640/20220309_200955.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div>The skirt's construction is inspired by Starset Moonfire's video, titled "Making a Ball Gown in Two Days", at <a href="https://youtu.be/VGNEJrCn8NE">https://youtu.be/VGNEJrCn8NE</a>. She is so engaging in it that I found myself smiling right through at her enthusiasm and creativity and upbeat personality. Her version turned out really well, and wait until you see how she managed the top.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the end, I made the waistband quite differently, but like hers, my skirt is a wrap style (so sensible!), features long ties, and is made of gathered massive amounts of tulle folded in half longways. When you count both layers, the 41 yards becomes 82 yards all gathered up in to about 34". You can whistle now.</div><div><br /></div><div>Undoing the bolt of tulle, I found that its width was folded in quarters. All I had to do was unfold it once, leaving the remainder folded in half, and sew a channel big enough to run through a bodkin with a string attached just next to the fold.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, I plopped my machine on the dining table, unfolded about 4 yards of tulle, leaving the rest on the bolt for neatness, pinned the layers at intervals to prevent sliding, and started to stitch the channel.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once that section was complete, all there was to do was unroll more tulle and continue, ending with a single 41-yard length with a channel along the fold. I had cut nine yards from the 50-yard bolt in an experiment and am glad to have saved it, in case of rents later that need to be replaced.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because I used the Singer 27 handcrank sewing machine, this wasn't a rapid process, multiple hours over two or three days. You can hear the click-click-of the machine, now 111 years old and still agile and precise, in the video.<br /><div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Tzm1QXeWIE0" width="320" youtube-src-id="Tzm1QXeWIE0"></iframe></div><div><br /></div>Can't see the video? Here is the link. <br />https://youtube.com/shorts/Tzm1QXeWIE0?feature=share<br /></div><div><br /></div>Nutmeg was keen to help and very interested in the Singer. At one point she hopped in my lap and decided to have a paw at the sewing. There was an anxious split second as I waved it away.</div><div><br /><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh90gPB889_R4D9euoEMm2noKOpJ70eJn-0MP7U1GCpPGDtBrfYPebEz5U7kgsOEZxkGzjZKf_OLCV7zfct_Iv4kO2y2a1nUV6ZKayTt3QWUhaTXY0eOD3hGsnlCzgqLCLiEgET9_rN1YtxPnbIQmFT0xnxtvo4dXFVGbR-ueYVUdD5f5Po5g/s4032/20220309_194654.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh90gPB889_R4D9euoEMm2noKOpJ70eJn-0MP7U1GCpPGDtBrfYPebEz5U7kgsOEZxkGzjZKf_OLCV7zfct_Iv4kO2y2a1nUV6ZKayTt3QWUhaTXY0eOD3hGsnlCzgqLCLiEgET9_rN1YtxPnbIQmFT0xnxtvo4dXFVGbR-ueYVUdD5f5Po5g/w480-h640/20220309_194654.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see the channel I am sewing here. It's about an inch wide.<br />Wanted to make sure that stringing the bodkin through would be <br />as easy as possible. Probably I should have made it narrower.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div>The next step? Taking a bodkin and running tatting yarn through the channel. It was on this string that I would pull up the 41 yards to fit my waist measurement, plus a bit more for the wrap-around. Remember, this is a wrap skirt.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3aC0hmpnZz-H9Qb5sTb6j850uLxFGKa2odVxnF98X19Bcl00XGuKDS6qSSQr_exYOI6LPpGYm5KVej-6Vlt22IYVnVMI-toaRWkP4FJUvciBTTQwBDzMLiYlI6zxiiHYkUNWFOYUfwxowty5cq5VCqCRyYFPmF-8ci-a1MXkS5XrTFE8P-w/s4032/20220307_175628.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3aC0hmpnZz-H9Qb5sTb6j850uLxFGKa2odVxnF98X19Bcl00XGuKDS6qSSQr_exYOI6LPpGYm5KVej-6Vlt22IYVnVMI-toaRWkP4FJUvciBTTQwBDzMLiYlI6zxiiHYkUNWFOYUfwxowty5cq5VCqCRyYFPmF-8ci-a1MXkS5XrTFE8P-w/w480-h640/20220307_175628.jpg" width="480" /></a></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div>Initially, I whipped the top edge to a cotton tape, but that proved too loosely woven, and I wanted the waistband to live largely above the tulle, with the tulle sewn to the outside of the waistband to help it puff while not adding bulk.</div><div><br /></div><div>So I turned to a long remnant strip of Hymo haircloth encased in silk shantung that I had in the stash. It was strong and smooth, able to manage all of the tulle without going limp. The gathered tulle was whipped to it a little above one long edge, with giant stitches in two overlapping rows for stability. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEM0XuJLbsMktUrgZxOrGAuX2Y4FYCn4BI5N8IPGe_flL9TaBRwppGMaUhCz0LtEisBkMpZ94a7pfZcxahzq9RybA1bzTjc-oMbuqvxi0WQjref1S918U6NlgvtRFq2uX5T8TgPTZbMu2J5NRZ6_rMty5LjdqBvUE3LeTMK6dOS9oRZpjpFg/s4032/20220403_161422.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEM0XuJLbsMktUrgZxOrGAuX2Y4FYCn4BI5N8IPGe_flL9TaBRwppGMaUhCz0LtEisBkMpZ94a7pfZcxahzq9RybA1bzTjc-oMbuqvxi0WQjref1S918U6NlgvtRFq2uX5T8TgPTZbMu2J5NRZ6_rMty5LjdqBvUE3LeTMK6dOS9oRZpjpFg/w640-h480/20220403_161422.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Inside of the waistband. I may line it in paper-thin silk to neater it up.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>Not having found black silk in town for the outer side of the waistband, I dyed a remnant of the cream shantung I had from the 1895 petticoat project with RIT, and cut a wide waistband. For further strength as well as a luxe effect, I doubled the shantung, sewed the long edge, turned it right side out into a finished tube, and pressed it flat.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then the black band, which is just slightly wider than the interior waistband, was prick-stitched as invisibly as possible to its outside, with the lower edge nestling as closely as possible to the puffed edge of the whipped-on tulle. That was tricky.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Here is the waistband. It only wrinkles because it is bent while it's on the floor. Worn, it's pretty smooth.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGz9B3Gwf-nzY51p9QOpXeYI52AOTqRPXVNMoBkkCCEhOQ2JTnoKm_AMeU3RD_3cQx0DwdcAbQEV-BNdGy4AqZCkspiA8-iOSifm32CKaDvofvwGHuQLqAfiSSD86Geqv73NAcOt-1K0HW0ZZ38JZ0DD65yduR7wky9ySmK9RlqVjBIcC7aA/s4032/20220403_161409.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGz9B3Gwf-nzY51p9QOpXeYI52AOTqRPXVNMoBkkCCEhOQ2JTnoKm_AMeU3RD_3cQx0DwdcAbQEV-BNdGy4AqZCkspiA8-iOSifm32CKaDvofvwGHuQLqAfiSSD86Geqv73NAcOt-1K0HW0ZZ38JZ0DD65yduR7wky9ySmK9RlqVjBIcC7aA/w640-h480/20220403_161409.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>I had cut and prepared two 40" long pieces of shantung along with the waistband, into two more tubes of the same width for ties. </div><div><br /></div><div>One end of each was angled amd both ends were whipped closed as invisibly as I could.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then they were set to the outside of the waistband a few inches from the closure so that they could be tied easily with room for the overlap of the wrap skirt. The straight end of each was prick-stitched to the waistband. I hand-sewed all of this because I wanted no visible stitching on the waistband to detract from the smooth, luminescent effect.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another imperfection: somewhere along the way I had an issue with one end of the waistband and folding it was the solution.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-djMCuFwwovir2WhHf2vP4up3gQUVenyxH_lS93Eyq-XOk-x6yty5dVAtC8P9dz6kB7Q5axieYKUy7LNnNMhSbnPpW_6Tn5mw2Zyd3sUQP02g1reVRwbBWF5R6gp4u2JgIQl0svjGDt5Rqi2rDTCJmDCs_BSSGJCAt3R1S5NX0xhwvAt0Q/s4032/20220403_161354.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-djMCuFwwovir2WhHf2vP4up3gQUVenyxH_lS93Eyq-XOk-x6yty5dVAtC8P9dz6kB7Q5axieYKUy7LNnNMhSbnPpW_6Tn5mw2Zyd3sUQP02g1reVRwbBWF5R6gp4u2JgIQl0svjGDt5Rqi2rDTCJmDCs_BSSGJCAt3R1S5NX0xhwvAt0Q/w640-h480/20220403_161354.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Two heavy-duty steel squared hook and eye closures were added and the skirt was almost done.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_X5poyfX7VceG0ABIj8KM9fL_Na--7lxfSA8mjG31hHUvRAXRhh03gJztK-oPhfOQ_7NBrOteoGxRCptzvvvIyyjhn3vqIccNZj-bZSwEZCL7tOmpe9XLgeVnjZyqKiBOwAv9eR_pNp3Z66tHkT6ErCZFXjQ1Gj_Ppe_Ls9dVJhQD73l3ng/s4032/20220403_161345.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_X5poyfX7VceG0ABIj8KM9fL_Na--7lxfSA8mjG31hHUvRAXRhh03gJztK-oPhfOQ_7NBrOteoGxRCptzvvvIyyjhn3vqIccNZj-bZSwEZCL7tOmpe9XLgeVnjZyqKiBOwAv9eR_pNp3Z66tHkT6ErCZFXjQ1Gj_Ppe_Ls9dVJhQD73l3ng/w640-h480/20220403_161345.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>The end of a tie, whipped closed.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9beZcbIJK0YTKlExNZqLbYjsg0plUjDHZaW5hIWtVj2tQdKXvAhmmb7W4s_GJkdH_6fiZwsUQGjlTKWZXIuwlHvhdU7gyL6n9nC5m8xrDPlKh8V4-ZFMAWj9ZMW0SUqDXqtQzNMf8c0lw5LkjptrlNoXg2VBU3bgnf79misuDEekWuW6zQ/s4032/20220403_161448.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9beZcbIJK0YTKlExNZqLbYjsg0plUjDHZaW5hIWtVj2tQdKXvAhmmb7W4s_GJkdH_6fiZwsUQGjlTKWZXIuwlHvhdU7gyL6n9nC5m8xrDPlKh8V4-ZFMAWj9ZMW0SUqDXqtQzNMf8c0lw5LkjptrlNoXg2VBU3bgnf79misuDEekWuW6zQ/w480-h640/20220403_161448.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>The completed skirt, laid as it would be worn, not flat.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuDKkHuCXp-ztw0FXe704CD1X5dElR7yLO1MjDd3aLZXd_yhJjxdBuuyW5wrTwY6fFeNmmJnj4Mtzx06hMeN-C9MXpznnRp1nnenYkZe4gYxf3OiMrNwROk1wqCBHKaXZxE_rmW6qpDz2RcSal-6kNLaD1IPKLRWTrSLwHUEszyYVFho0-IA/s4032/20220403_161318.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuDKkHuCXp-ztw0FXe704CD1X5dElR7yLO1MjDd3aLZXd_yhJjxdBuuyW5wrTwY6fFeNmmJnj4Mtzx06hMeN-C9MXpznnRp1nnenYkZe4gYxf3OiMrNwROk1wqCBHKaXZxE_rmW6qpDz2RcSal-6kNLaD1IPKLRWTrSLwHUEszyYVFho0-IA/w480-h640/20220403_161318.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>When worn, the overlap becomes both invisible and remains closed because the tulle sticks together.</div><div><br /></div><div>Below, the final skirt before being trimmed at the bottom...I am wearing those heels. It's really too bad that I had to cut the bottom to floor level, for I love the floaty feeling of the full length puddling on the floor and making a train in back, but this was simply not practical.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unless the tulle were faced underneath with a balayeuse, which would have spoiled the feathery floating effect, it would stick to everything on the floor and gather detritus with every swoosh...I found a sweet gum tree seed pod at the bottom, picked up on the way to the car on the way home, I assume.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also, my mother was adamant...nothing must get in the way of the feet for safety since I cannot see my feet at all or where I am going for many inches ahead of me, due to the depth of the skirt, all solid tulle. She was right, of course. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the end, I stood in my heels and mom measured the inches up from the floor to the proper level given how the skirt boufed all around me, and we cut away the excess. It wasn't easy to cut neatly and cleanly given the amount of fabric that is squished into the skirt's dimensions, and I see some tails in a few pictures (now removed), but it looked even when I cut it!</div><div><br /></div><div>It would not be safe to precut to floor length before sewing, for that doesn't take account of take-up at the waist due to the gathering and resulting upward puff when sewn to the waistband, or due to the outer section needing to be a little longer given that it must flow over the fabric sitting to the interior. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the picture, I look quite short-waisted, as I hadn't set the skirt at the proper waist level. It looks interesting this way, rather 1960s, somehow, or 1790s.</div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQMOLvaIRWd8brfoi-V-Z8zXHQGEbO_Pfjm85S5iy6iSlfKcfHSeWSU2Povfo8Ucy4q4NccN8EGR2MGdN7A9P0KNgJTtnutnAY-kYfl8_WPMGL9hhE_YhGYDMQBkyOiyrvC5zs3cVPEcejo-ZMz_Zlbpf0PMyuiqaZHgjjvkdX_ddGswIHzw/s4032/Retouched.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQMOLvaIRWd8brfoi-V-Z8zXHQGEbO_Pfjm85S5iy6iSlfKcfHSeWSU2Povfo8Ucy4q4NccN8EGR2MGdN7A9P0KNgJTtnutnAY-kYfl8_WPMGL9hhE_YhGYDMQBkyOiyrvC5zs3cVPEcejo-ZMz_Zlbpf0PMyuiqaZHgjjvkdX_ddGswIHzw/w480-h640/Retouched.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ah, the train before the trim.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>So there we have the story of the Floofa Maxima Oscar's gown. It was fun to make and if a tad alarming due to its dimensions and tendency to attach itself to anything in the way, a joy to wear.</div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>What's on for spring, other than the endless 1895 godet petticoat experiment? An 1810 ballgown in wine-colored fine-rib silk faille, really a bengaline. And renovating the 1816 Vernet dress for better fit and Mameluke sleeves.</div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-67046470712219189672022-04-02T20:55:00.003-04:002022-04-05T14:46:17.572-04:00An 1895 Godet Petticoat With Boning and Stiffened Frills: A Wired Hem, Godet Plait "Extenders", and Hair Cloth Frills<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqb1VdmCNXZcamYejhl1OOER_Y_P0Y1XJxxEuhJsaN8l1Zg19TXH1bBbCucV3P_c7BnBJN6QWEdqufD_fAzauHmtv3Uc-WLZk8B0KfKhHL2YPYunRshSBcQQ1fQTTuiwApmnQD1_vmdn2ciMv-8uVSUMA5jf0fIQk3miaYVc3lii0aGiiCFw/s4032/20220227_144301.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqb1VdmCNXZcamYejhl1OOER_Y_P0Y1XJxxEuhJsaN8l1Zg19TXH1bBbCucV3P_c7BnBJN6QWEdqufD_fAzauHmtv3Uc-WLZk8B0KfKhHL2YPYunRshSBcQQ1fQTTuiwApmnQD1_vmdn2ciMv-8uVSUMA5jf0fIQk3miaYVc3lii0aGiiCFw/w480-h640/20220227_144301.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />When last I <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2021/05/an-1895-godet-petticoat-with-boning-and.html">wrote about this project</a> in spring 2021, I had tried a whole series of hem stiffeners to create the desired flare at the bottom of the godet-cut petticoat, while still allowing the large godet plaits, or organ pleats, or funnels, whatever you want to call them, to do their luscious magic at the back.<div><br /></div><div>By the way, if you want to read about the whole project, see my <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/p/1890s-outfit.html">1890s Costumes and Research page</a> and look under 1895 Silk Godet Petticoat With Multiple Hem Stiffeners and Stiffened Frills header. </div><div><p></p><p>Just as a reminder, here is a sample of what godet plaits look like on an exterior dress. These are wired. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv6GNmgpbjS7Wb4MUeg9aFWirQ559j_MkI2EH3urx5i-GmlAIE0hqC7WtXx3k0j34QU3QQzYi8590skjqBzmGYC_4XFx7RoGLZuaptX6qfytth5th5cE3jHroZj-QEioQHCAmS/s1600/lt-colored-1890s-day-dress-Alltheprettydresses.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="820" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv6GNmgpbjS7Wb4MUeg9aFWirQ559j_MkI2EH3urx5i-GmlAIE0hqC7WtXx3k0j34QU3QQzYi8590skjqBzmGYC_4XFx7RoGLZuaptX6qfytth5th5cE3jHroZj-QEioQHCAmS/w328-h640/lt-colored-1890s-day-dress-Alltheprettydresses.jpg" width="328" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <a href="http://www.extantgowns.com/2018/05/light-colored-1890s-day-dress.html?m=1">All the Pretty Dresses</a><br />blog</td></tr></tbody></table><p>As I have explained in a host of research posts (for which, again see the <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/p/1890s-outfit.html">1890s Costumes and Research page</a>), such plaits were also popular features of petticoats, at least on the pattern sellers and women's advice literature side.</p><p>At the end of the testing process, I'd ended up choosing flat steel tape repurposed from a mini tape measure to insert into the hem. </p><p>The tape was inserted between the hem and the hem facing and a line of stitching added just above the tape to hold it in position. A second row of steel tape was added a few inches above, but only running from the front through the sides of the petticoat, because it had a tendency to create a hoop-like effect if it reached all the way around. </p><p>Here is a shot of the process and a few of the results.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkeZ11oEa0ukVR19CXRBU-Q4zIDxlPdRhxD_QMQgEz-yk1hSu4aqngTkJKtz_n1sWLaEyKK8jj05Uv8yXi98OzlFr9ru8tf_D0EjISXzuzvER9aIumSdb8h3bZdvSfhAlsTRC37D2GG6_QC0Nm6SjME-d_A8FXauGcpr_WD-TCuTRU83ZwWw/s4032/20210930_175816.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkeZ11oEa0ukVR19CXRBU-Q4zIDxlPdRhxD_QMQgEz-yk1hSu4aqngTkJKtz_n1sWLaEyKK8jj05Uv8yXi98OzlFr9ru8tf_D0EjISXzuzvER9aIumSdb8h3bZdvSfhAlsTRC37D2GG6_QC0Nm6SjME-d_A8FXauGcpr_WD-TCuTRU83ZwWw/w480-h640/20210930_175816.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have inserted the tape into the petticoat and am in the process of pinning<br />it into position, prior to hand sewing a line of stitching above it<br />to serve as a channel. There is already an interfacing of mid- to heavyweight<br />milliners buckram inserted between facing fabric and hem facing.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1T56yg5pYDBXe-cDiDM1b9ujhPIhVUsV1dlsANu_taWZIxk0mW_r8omuWTXiU7xzcnVhoZPU_w637lDWcHRtDGj5EJLQ0CqE1NcrQ7IIlBhMruGq6vna9zvUK9zyHEXGPdmYF0_h67VAFuS16BQWCkygjmcYVnRcwjtXEFTd6ri3esnbAJA/s4032/20211002_210628.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1T56yg5pYDBXe-cDiDM1b9ujhPIhVUsV1dlsANu_taWZIxk0mW_r8omuWTXiU7xzcnVhoZPU_w637lDWcHRtDGj5EJLQ0CqE1NcrQ7IIlBhMruGq6vna9zvUK9zyHEXGPdmYF0_h67VAFuS16BQWCkygjmcYVnRcwjtXEFTd6ri3esnbAJA/w480-h640/20211002_210628.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More pinning, and an example of the lovely rounded godet plait created by the steel tape.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUMXT5NqejqomLsjXG9VVRg3ONv5McS9nQRXIMShC-1iX4zy8HmXxeGvmocQLRgpS0PwzpniDfYiF57Z2FUr4aBwFrv2QjGvQfBy0NwWdvcfwkYqW7kFdJZme1jwOzbw_qEwgfD8j13YpSMBB3CBOnWYlFDFWm47af_lZLcoEdPx_XjbMMQ/s4032/20211002_235552.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUMXT5NqejqomLsjXG9VVRg3ONv5McS9nQRXIMShC-1iX4zy8HmXxeGvmocQLRgpS0PwzpniDfYiF57Z2FUr4aBwFrv2QjGvQfBy0NwWdvcfwkYqW7kFdJZme1jwOzbw_qEwgfD8j13YpSMBB3CBOnWYlFDFWm47af_lZLcoEdPx_XjbMMQ/w480-h640/20211002_235552.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The completed pair of godet plaits in the back, with the second row<br />of tape measure flat steel tape set at the top of the hem facing section.<br />It too was run into the facing and sewn in place.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3MPq2hlhk_5VJV4Bo5mrytIjuUMQg12Uut7O7LV3nKBnAwA2PRlyEF9EGNfOryNhnTdP2Rre_QEuUDEnng3qgSx33WIWNVWj3xw7I8T-H2A-beJHp8IOUwfV5Pu8XUoThlYqX_MUQqvowLHNrR4cVk8ObGvCLYgAF4RCxUaf3UD5wTN-nzA/s4032/20211002_235609.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3MPq2hlhk_5VJV4Bo5mrytIjuUMQg12Uut7O7LV3nKBnAwA2PRlyEF9EGNfOryNhnTdP2Rre_QEuUDEnng3qgSx33WIWNVWj3xw7I8T-H2A-beJHp8IOUwfV5Pu8XUoThlYqX_MUQqvowLHNrR4cVk8ObGvCLYgAF4RCxUaf3UD5wTN-nzA/w480-h640/20211002_235609.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Oh look! Nutmeg wanted to help me. I think, though I am not certain, that she has climbed under a pillowcase that I would cut up later for the fabric.</div></div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlOtZkgTkR7SYkMn5Xj8BZISmnNJ5p_rJPnSAq5eYwHphDKqOwWOB1-Q0OfGemhU7LpmAKzFDf0tU6JpiytWJBkHffaqSgjTXKWZ81paf-QP0v93VDVLA0K0WPtejifYVvl6kU6MPJAx_O99WVUYTTfpkuLuNPxauFDxDWb8S8hGsyyOPcA/s4032/20210502_152104.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlOtZkgTkR7SYkMn5Xj8BZISmnNJ5p_rJPnSAq5eYwHphDKqOwWOB1-Q0OfGemhU7LpmAKzFDf0tU6JpiytWJBkHffaqSgjTXKWZ81paf-QP0v93VDVLA0K0WPtejifYVvl6kU6MPJAx_O99WVUYTTfpkuLuNPxauFDxDWb8S8hGsyyOPcA/w480-h640/20210502_152104.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nutty Nutmeg</td></tr></tbody></table><h2 style="text-align: left;">Facing Facts: I Had Used Too Light a Fabric For the Petticoat Body</h2><div style="text-align: left;">It was at this point that it was becoming clear that the silk shantung, which has a bit of body, was not stiff enough on its own to form the godet plaits such that they would support a fashion fabric skirt on top of them without collapsing.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">That is why we experiment: my initial goal was a summer-weight petticoat in the godet style. However, not knowing just how stable godet plaits were or were not, I started with a fairly lightweight fabric, ignoring the advice literature of the day which harped on the need for a fabric with oomph.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I do not have access to the moreen that the <i>Ladies Home Journal</i> recommended for the initial petticoat, and nor did I have the funds to purchase a heavy silk taffeta, another option. Yards of hair cloth, an even more expensive option recommended for entire petticoats, was also out of the question, especially since <i>LHJ</i> reported that many women found such petticoats hot to wear. Taffeta in summertime is hot enough as it is, so haircloth, with its goat hair or wool content, might be a sauna. Those of you who are familiar with this blog know that I live in Kentucky, USA, where it can be hot and humid in the summer, and northern girl that I am, heat and I are uneasy with each other.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">At this point, I made a risky, time-consuming decision: I would line the entire petticoat with muslin to add body. So I did, by hand, and discovered another mistake. When cutting out the back section of the petticoat, I had cut it single, rather than on the fold, a truly stupid error that had caused hours of irritation when my godet plaits hadn't lain correctly. Knowing that period garments, even those made by dressmakers, are rife with errors and hasty decisions was no solace.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Why I did not abandon the original petticoat and start over with fresh fabric, perhaps in a rayon or cotton moire mid-weight home decor fabric to mimic moreen and taffeta, I don't know. Was it block-headed, obstinate unreasoning stubbornness? Continued worry about heat? No clue. It's nearly 12 months later and water so long under the bridge that it was blended with the Gulf of Mexico long ago.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Adding Wired Rings to Shape the Godet Plaits</h2><div style="text-align: left;">So it was back to all that research done over the last months and years. I settled on adding two sets of oval rings to the interior of the godet plaits/flutes, one set at one-third the way down the petticoat, and the second just above the knee. You can read about them in full in the section called Little Godet Hoops: "Skirt Extenders" in a <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2020/02/1895-outfit-period-methods-to-add-skirt.html">previous research post</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here is a teaser picture.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVNrq1R_ERXaOWmnoqATHVpKqYmp4LbTnCW5Y4Bg1lbs9X7ncq7IhxewuAANReG1DMSqFZ0HSRpMF8UQgcjPi-qoC9lNs3okH7R6pC-FpKt7GRVyDEpDu14thc2bAfLBX47ndV/s640/FB_IMG_1636660699542.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVNrq1R_ERXaOWmnoqATHVpKqYmp4LbTnCW5Y4Bg1lbs9X7ncq7IhxewuAANReG1DMSqFZ0HSRpMF8UQgcjPi-qoC9lNs3okH7R6pC-FpKt7GRVyDEpDu14thc2bAfLBX47ndV/w440-h640/FB_IMG_1636660699542.jpg" width="440" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joyce Godsey of The Time Traveler's Sourcebook group on Facebook <br />posted an 1897 Delineator pattern for making them, number 1257.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Sizing each ring was by guess and by golly, looking at pictures of these whatsamajiggets and their relative size to the rest of the petticoat. The top set of rings are about 5" wide, and the lower set about 7".</div><p>Each ring consists of two wires, made from that springy measuring tape steel, encased and sewn into muslin. Unlike the Featherbone commercial originals, these are rather loving-hands-at-home, but they are light, and they worked to hold the flutes in position fairly well.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6LJobKWSvXcpEpAjIpj-mGIHm7dIqGITrCNfpiLgGfUzXKpo84-ZEYZuyYOO2tlcqLI8CECdXVhrKrwUOf3u0abwv41AQ9hZCmEPXCNtAdR43-DSjG3mlt1CqLVfbi2za5rGdoZ4OtlehkmJqzmj8Ln2TubX6ZMo77Pcy59qWIY37BpBAmw/s4032/20211230_162225.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6LJobKWSvXcpEpAjIpj-mGIHm7dIqGITrCNfpiLgGfUzXKpo84-ZEYZuyYOO2tlcqLI8CECdXVhrKrwUOf3u0abwv41AQ9hZCmEPXCNtAdR43-DSjG3mlt1CqLVfbi2za5rGdoZ4OtlehkmJqzmj8Ln2TubX6ZMo77Pcy59qWIY37BpBAmw/w480-h640/20211230_162225.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A length of the steel tape and a folded piece of closely woven muslin,<br />repurposed from a worn-out pillowcase.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJLksq5Ti5xMYCOf6ZMiQO2FeSV2G6LHmhuf2-0wvUpzQfL2SPG4d0zpWprN8lSA79yjhC-qggiR76E2vf-GoDVKO6MXHNiUP1ATneShg7zjLmntcLxXh_5KUqSYqAFGk5jGZUv-VMNzF2P7WRJSCKUzbh3mwWPtVHrM-TBnvqUXqlzgiaQ/s4032/20211230_162252.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJLksq5Ti5xMYCOf6ZMiQO2FeSV2G6LHmhuf2-0wvUpzQfL2SPG4d0zpWprN8lSA79yjhC-qggiR76E2vf-GoDVKO6MXHNiUP1ATneShg7zjLmntcLxXh_5KUqSYqAFGk5jGZUv-VMNzF2P7WRJSCKUzbh3mwWPtVHrM-TBnvqUXqlzgiaQ/w480-h640/20211230_162252.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Encasing the first piece of steel tape in the muslin.<br />There will be a total of two steel tapes, with space in between them.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEHXJpjlhCLd9nIradPQg0M8_sSXgpkfpr6ymaMWB57cXI0rrZ6zDDN_maIZWSVGEPq5EqQzXtppWhQ2DUVeqWEEwgXl88IYHpLUYuKyCK1K3nEBrJy_N-kTXVa6_G-RcZunrFNTZk85uQBdiKF8dawuy4Mj4inZYQBH8ssMswaaLbEEi2hg/s4032/20211230_163727.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEHXJpjlhCLd9nIradPQg0M8_sSXgpkfpr6ymaMWB57cXI0rrZ6zDDN_maIZWSVGEPq5EqQzXtppWhQ2DUVeqWEEwgXl88IYHpLUYuKyCK1K3nEBrJy_N-kTXVa6_G-RcZunrFNTZk85uQBdiKF8dawuy4Mj4inZYQBH8ssMswaaLbEEi2hg/w480-h640/20211230_163727.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stitching a channel for the tape to inhabit.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH2ozQOofGqfjbDhq9DpRezIUIG1RYNUdTw4WSgsEzYvT9X_P-2IuZE4xvoM-caTB7uLNNWt37bi7msVxn6mVrpw6aWzhpiH63v3igI1BrZsJzJvQLTW_5KK8O03SSo9eA5zs19OZXmGVNP2VqfvHHsOBVUGAtFfYP2LrP-fe_udiptzZgEw/s4032/20211230_165545.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH2ozQOofGqfjbDhq9DpRezIUIG1RYNUdTw4WSgsEzYvT9X_P-2IuZE4xvoM-caTB7uLNNWt37bi7msVxn6mVrpw6aWzhpiH63v3igI1BrZsJzJvQLTW_5KK8O03SSo9eA5zs19OZXmGVNP2VqfvHHsOBVUGAtFfYP2LrP-fe_udiptzZgEw/w480-h640/20211230_165545.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Once two tapes are inserted, closing the ring and stitching it shut.<br />No, it's not pretty stitchery.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ3vzIlL04gAOelf2JI1_0RXHK_3FK0h7mgvsCefDH46scv4GgBc7RYGHaaTAehGFj9n2kV4woPSNyZSCKP-k9lMYBX4TCYdsIRHj0nqlUQrxKPGU_S61jnggV4ulSp0B3jU9p7--hrJeCO6xmdr96C5rzXXEXm0GuCoDtyKsOwAhz2Bh6gg/s4032/20211230_172544.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ3vzIlL04gAOelf2JI1_0RXHK_3FK0h7mgvsCefDH46scv4GgBc7RYGHaaTAehGFj9n2kV4woPSNyZSCKP-k9lMYBX4TCYdsIRHj0nqlUQrxKPGU_S61jnggV4ulSp0B3jU9p7--hrJeCO6xmdr96C5rzXXEXm0GuCoDtyKsOwAhz2Bh6gg/w480-h640/20211230_172544.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ends of the steels poked out and had to be worked back<br />in before being sealed into the ring with muslin.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBSHxQ_FHqXbFqFi1R8rYy1OanXUKMEEknXnkBfu7cCAAAwlwJWTI6VXGXD-bbf8DCGQ5NuKUvp0C_eXullVEURDDtKR_00TiR0q_wxZsAD_f8QrrG85anhaD1aLubfBjBh1a3bULNIzTHQrzkCWVlWbZo7ZjEkcTlA7cGhux7g4yp66xVw/s4032/20211230_172605.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBSHxQ_FHqXbFqFi1R8rYy1OanXUKMEEknXnkBfu7cCAAAwlwJWTI6VXGXD-bbf8DCGQ5NuKUvp0C_eXullVEURDDtKR_00TiR0q_wxZsAD_f8QrrG85anhaD1aLubfBjBh1a3bULNIzTHQrzkCWVlWbZo7ZjEkcTlA7cGhux7g4yp66xVw/w480-h640/20211230_172605.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pair of completed rings. Handsome they are not.<br />Of utility they are.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The rings were pinned into approximate position. As of this juncture, they are still just basted in. They really do help shape the pair of godet plaits, but as you can see, the hem bottom is still trying to collapse. I hoped that the addition of the planned hair cloth frilling would solve that problem by imparting some stiffness. Mmm, I can see that I am remembering out of order, too. The hoops went in before the second row of steel tape was added around the petticoat hem.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc5DiNynKbTUbEA7Qf2glG43uM9Ee47jkL0qurReq8IrXIHkzy1gIxnkLCvBH7TSwcGbAO9hrgW44oWyZb9wHp3-cupGpPm-WwcCp0Wg1o8rXX0d8YFd7w_6I6KvuX0-G4sb1Fjg_xWHjDWa4cX2BTXSYLL9UIS1SoTUenZ6nHwtaW4jLBOQ/s4032/20211230_224843.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc5DiNynKbTUbEA7Qf2glG43uM9Ee47jkL0qurReq8IrXIHkzy1gIxnkLCvBH7TSwcGbAO9hrgW44oWyZb9wHp3-cupGpPm-WwcCp0Wg1o8rXX0d8YFd7w_6I6KvuX0-G4sb1Fjg_xWHjDWa4cX2BTXSYLL9UIS1SoTUenZ6nHwtaW4jLBOQ/w480-h640/20211230_224843.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO19LpjinXI8zEnYt5hCpFl_J9QaZVxaB1w8RlvVPum74H5n-bf0Q_e95SIbxnWoYxi93XAPO3XJGIQG22d0qFZxP6DDEKdhv-4FHTeY-HB8gD0MQwSEcq-UhvfWnob3-LATkc1wMpj0Z_RvZlp1s2uDZz0Bs4cQw0e4n81RiaTnjixg1xMQ/s4032/20211230_224926.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO19LpjinXI8zEnYt5hCpFl_J9QaZVxaB1w8RlvVPum74H5n-bf0Q_e95SIbxnWoYxi93XAPO3XJGIQG22d0qFZxP6DDEKdhv-4FHTeY-HB8gD0MQwSEcq-UhvfWnob3-LATkc1wMpj0Z_RvZlp1s2uDZz0Bs4cQw0e4n81RiaTnjixg1xMQ/w480-h640/20211230_224926.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aren't we getting flare and godets reminiscent of a real mid-1890s skirt?<br />Alas that this is not an outer skirt in itself!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYV2f60hFOFDPhTSp0ZWRV9vIpbpvGajE36rPirDoMU5cuW6bUYYO6GA8d2KpYRrIl1SzpPUvE4hD6IKcHBHyDnSTOwIHmcxv-hpZFH_pWjZqPIKVArDFadgEEvUFLh4Xg0t6w/s640/demorest+feb+1895+p207.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="640" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYV2f60hFOFDPhTSp0ZWRV9vIpbpvGajE36rPirDoMU5cuW6bUYYO6GA8d2KpYRrIl1SzpPUvE4hD6IKcHBHyDnSTOwIHmcxv-hpZFH_pWjZqPIKVArDFadgEEvUFLh4Xg0t6w/w640-h310/demorest+feb+1895+p207.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Demorest's Family Magazine, February 1895, p. 207.</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Adding Two Rows of Hair Cloth Box-pleated Frills</h2><p>The original <i>LHJ</i> petticoat was of moreen, set with three rows of box-pleated haircloth frills to create the requisite skirt flair, with no attempt at real godet plaits, other than the overall godet-style skirt cut, which was considered, to use a popular term of the day "regulation". You've seen this image a lot, but it bears repeating.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiQiwGknUVtZqZf3smqMvSvtNGtk4aiQX1vnSDYNqOMZBrtcDBjqJvCrOYSuKDUElKp0fJi0z_E5i3zC421Kl6AmE0r-E2EYnXEwCTW3gFUakAa1ExeK0jBhRQekQGGcByYxdL/s640/petti+with+haircloth+lhj+july+1895+p25.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="294" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiQiwGknUVtZqZf3smqMvSvtNGtk4aiQX1vnSDYNqOMZBrtcDBjqJvCrOYSuKDUElKp0fJi0z_E5i3zC421Kl6AmE0r-E2EYnXEwCTW3gFUakAa1ExeK0jBhRQekQGGcByYxdL/w184-h400/petti+with+haircloth+lhj+july+1895+p25.jpg" width="184" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Petticoat with haircloth box pleatings. <br /><i>Ladies Home Journal</i>, July 1895, p.25.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Following Miss J. E. Davis in <i>The Elements of Modern Dressmaking for the Amateur and Professional Dressmaker</i>, (p. 139), I decided to encase my haircloth frills in the silk shantung, for a more handsome effect. I had enough hair cloth [mid-weight Hymo from Vogue Fabrics] to make two rows of frilling. </p><p>Cutting the hair cloth on the bias, which is its best angle for strength, hand-sewing each length together, and then encasing them in silk by cutting wider pieces of silk, covering the front of the hair cloth strips and folding the edges behind and stitching them down on my Willcox and Gibbs 1911 chain stitch treadle machine, took far longer than it takes to read this overlong sentence.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Tl9JDmgpOCM" width="320" youtube-src-id="Tl9JDmgpOCM"></iframe></div><br /><p>Can't see the embedded video? Here is the link to it: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl9JDmgpOCM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl9JDmgpOCM</a>.</p><p>Nevertheless, at last it was done, all 24 yards. </p><p>How to box-pleat it, though? The resulting fabric strips were seriously stiff. I ended up creating each box pleat by eye right at the Singer 27 hand crank machine, quite literally folding a pleat, sewing it slow single stitch by single stitch, then pleating its fellow and sewing that in turn. Rinse and repeat. It took many hours, but pre-pinning was out of the question as the pins were tough to insert into the layers of silk and hair cloth without bending them. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPsp4dBgymreTLBrqpmQLLjVk7UVvCmzYmWbmUXKcjYIzukC1zMljap0zV5oVdaBHgnHvvlnqOGHFDDXr4cJmOXOXNbDDDfv6wR266SrUsvBOt7zYCgyF0aD7RfWFZ0GNMLRe3XvB2HwFIsXe9724P_VORJWsHArykx_DQQ-O1FGv-_kNOxA/s4032/20220222_171703.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPsp4dBgymreTLBrqpmQLLjVk7UVvCmzYmWbmUXKcjYIzukC1zMljap0zV5oVdaBHgnHvvlnqOGHFDDXr4cJmOXOXNbDDDfv6wR266SrUsvBOt7zYCgyF0aD7RfWFZ0GNMLRe3XvB2HwFIsXe9724P_VORJWsHArykx_DQQ-O1FGv-_kNOxA/w480-h640/20220222_171703.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sewing the second half of a box pleat in place.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQn2s6O6TlTqcrvwHYzoB0-8xDXaOpXONsucFE0Upyp_KImDtjWP8VGAZCOf-P49Tks5USAfEKqukYNoIMCyPwhIoQr8ndlsfbKI0hVfhNRzh582OAdAjI2O4LJTVFtkh8pfKuK6HV5lin7ZPJWWaGK-jDXowR9DlUNNUaUjaeMQKjy77u7w/s4032/20220226_165747.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQn2s6O6TlTqcrvwHYzoB0-8xDXaOpXONsucFE0Upyp_KImDtjWP8VGAZCOf-P49Tks5USAfEKqukYNoIMCyPwhIoQr8ndlsfbKI0hVfhNRzh582OAdAjI2O4LJTVFtkh8pfKuK6HV5lin7ZPJWWaGK-jDXowR9DlUNNUaUjaeMQKjy77u7w/w480-h640/20220226_165747.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I kept moving the sewing machine around. It was taking so long<br />to stitch the pleats that I'd be driven off the breakfast room table<br />and have to move elsewhere. At this juncture I was on the living<br />room coffee table.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>The resulting box-pleated strips were so pretty! You can see it coming, though. How to get them on to the base of the skirt, which now consisted of shantung in front, mid-weight interfacing in the middle, and a shantung facing in the back, all covered by a layer of muslin? That's four layers in itself, not counting the up to six layers in the pleated frilling. All the while avoiding the two rows of steel. Oh. My. Goodness.</p><p>It wasn't a problem of the needle going through the fabric...hand cranks and treadles are famous for making their way through sail cloth and leather, provided the needle is strong enough. No, it was how <i>thick</i> the resulting pleats were, being each composed of two layers of hair cloth and four layers of silk shantung. That's some Dagwood sandwich. There simply wasn't vertical space on the machines to safely and evenly run them under the needle with the added layers of the petticoat itself.</p><p>Nothing for it but to hand-sew them on to the base of the petticoat, the bottom one first, and then a second one over it, slightly overlapping the first, one painful stitch at a time, with a mid-size embroidery sharp.</p><p>I spent several days on that as time allowed, first on the floor and then, bum numb, on a chair. :)</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEIGfEn7YTrjbDw5msPTwKKRooEiJAcbbL_3dypb7m-H_a5F7N7B_C7qSvNMVvJ6_TVX5zio8aVL5AgwbCALG_p7V8S2PpfY4j2zY0JQl8d0rZ_VFL7sM0UEmPS4H6V7KI3kVFhIDHamT6XTcc8Z5DdFUJSf7_ItRJdI8Ekt7_KFBph0rq4Q/s4032/20220227_111445.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEIGfEn7YTrjbDw5msPTwKKRooEiJAcbbL_3dypb7m-H_a5F7N7B_C7qSvNMVvJ6_TVX5zio8aVL5AgwbCALG_p7V8S2PpfY4j2zY0JQl8d0rZ_VFL7sM0UEmPS4H6V7KI3kVFhIDHamT6XTcc8Z5DdFUJSf7_ItRJdI8Ekt7_KFBph0rq4Q/w640-h480/20220227_111445.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stitch, stitch, stitch.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmVqwBHTAiZNtuDx6AGg0xzUYyu_NNgdndjIW_cV0Njdn9NgNgXu-8RhYFW5cYZ22Mpg05_dTgTmjrIGfRiaQTLyfXRxpFmanuC2INXVCHQh-WwbUhi7ObmvviycuY-36GcL9fvtAFOhA49aKpqc9JKtgUtJyxgcwHjwgkEcxBiZNkRAwM6Q/s4032/20220227_111506.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmVqwBHTAiZNtuDx6AGg0xzUYyu_NNgdndjIW_cV0Njdn9NgNgXu-8RhYFW5cYZ22Mpg05_dTgTmjrIGfRiaQTLyfXRxpFmanuC2INXVCHQh-WwbUhi7ObmvviycuY-36GcL9fvtAFOhA49aKpqc9JKtgUtJyxgcwHjwgkEcxBiZNkRAwM6Q/w480-h640/20220227_111506.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's no wonder I dreamed of digging into some buttercream <br />cake decorations. Can you see the similarity, or is it just me?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_rfda28FH_WDLkQEW7OTGAV4ukI2f2cgh3kepXZyVgtuvIRgqz1ys3q5qVM9kvE3rCQhxH0OdBHHZ9g-RInTvvysAjz7QfCCsi9EJ1oKRnqUE7Za0cMrb9Om-RZPxXa-gEwdVWhwGsCuo17IsMzw1bvaW7bTtWM4OXnUKtTBrYnWhT3H_UA/s4032/20220227_132755.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_rfda28FH_WDLkQEW7OTGAV4ukI2f2cgh3kepXZyVgtuvIRgqz1ys3q5qVM9kvE3rCQhxH0OdBHHZ9g-RInTvvysAjz7QfCCsi9EJ1oKRnqUE7Za0cMrb9Om-RZPxXa-gEwdVWhwGsCuo17IsMzw1bvaW7bTtWM4OXnUKtTBrYnWhT3H_UA/w480-h640/20220227_132755.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To help grip the needle and lessen the chance of being stabbed, I wore<br />rubber fingertips bought from an upholsterer's supply house.<br />Were they partly steel-backed, I'd have been happier, as accidental<br />stabs still were a self-administered plague.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>However, the results are gorgeous, scrumptious, like pure-butter buttercream icing on a wedding cake. Sculptural. Delicious. One of the prettiest effects I have ever obtained, bar none. And all this to be hidden as a petticoat and never seen except when I accidentally on purpose reveal an ankle and the accompanying frillies.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6m83oGPO-R1HaPTLVUvoK2khiSHEQerNaOImUVYT6jBcMw7QLOMFVyLyNMYZ9ADkUqD0li3lrgSZnJth7I3d-a4ZrOHtskmLyuPAAH1s-JL_vtRHGjdslEuDttq5LXZd8rQRAZOWG2uado8y2I6l2N-duSSiJtwOpMVVtpvNJnEYG3eV3w/s4032/20220402_183220.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6m83oGPO-R1HaPTLVUvoK2khiSHEQerNaOImUVYT6jBcMw7QLOMFVyLyNMYZ9ADkUqD0li3lrgSZnJth7I3d-a4ZrOHtskmLyuPAAH1s-JL_vtRHGjdslEuDttq5LXZd8rQRAZOWG2uado8y2I6l2N-duSSiJtwOpMVVtpvNJnEYG3eV3w/w480-h640/20220402_183220.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>It's too bad the petticoat cannot be worn as an outer skirt, but it's a tad shorter than mid-1890s street length, as it should be, and it's very obviously pieced in front. Oh well, perhaps someday I will reclaim the frilling and put it on another, outer, skirt.</p><p>Also. I am positive you have noticed a problem.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Giving In: Adding Hair Cloth to the Back of the Petticoat...and More Hem Steel Tape</h2><p>And so we come almost full circle. Despite all of the takes on period wires and boning and frills to create a back with enough oomph, my petticoat continues too weak to hold its flare in the front and sides.</p><p>Once the frilling was added, the carefully created two godet plaits in the back collapsed into a single flute, and the wiring in front collapsed as well.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAoKDr2toeR-Pshe33tw03omLlN__lL7vxJY5qXb8yTi35U_AEbo-fdr8VVDKyu-wizOUe-Ch7BHFPu2ZfObxn4giMCwZIdfZ676eRAioCJPH-9Dk25nK_u3hYw06MBlgGYFVzAje-wo88YUN1cdR1iPHRqOIlwL8Jg-4zBgVLuay83CjvyA/s4032/20220402_183149.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAoKDr2toeR-Pshe33tw03omLlN__lL7vxJY5qXb8yTi35U_AEbo-fdr8VVDKyu-wizOUe-Ch7BHFPu2ZfObxn4giMCwZIdfZ676eRAioCJPH-9Dk25nK_u3hYw06MBlgGYFVzAje-wo88YUN1cdR1iPHRqOIlwL8Jg-4zBgVLuay83CjvyA/w480-h640/20220402_183149.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The petticoat is not animated and taking a step forward. The rows of <br />frilling are interfering with the two rows of steel tape underneath and setting the shape awry.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAvu7yXYG7ful-C3IChzPm-rfagsrJq6JKxPx89NWh5grS0SjaLPCSZFzzNg0780qLQTmCGGOisCKt6SX7aFMkNm3V7FMGDtK4HhiA-zznQi5LC1iTGqJlDQK96bJ19IU0en0XTikdFuVqmFPS_3_GQDCe0fFBrntfv7WCmzfZgBokXuqMcg/s4032/20220402_183313.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAvu7yXYG7ful-C3IChzPm-rfagsrJq6JKxPx89NWh5grS0SjaLPCSZFzzNg0780qLQTmCGGOisCKt6SX7aFMkNm3V7FMGDtK4HhiA-zznQi5LC1iTGqJlDQK96bJ19IU0en0XTikdFuVqmFPS_3_GQDCe0fFBrntfv7WCmzfZgBokXuqMcg/w480-h640/20220402_183313.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One giant godet plait, and all heck breaking out across the back.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Oh, bloody H-E-double-hockey-sticks.</p><p>I worried this would happen, and sure enough, it did. No wonder dressmakers inserted as many as five rows of wire or boning into their hems!</p><p>What now?</p><p>I will tell you what now. This project started in October 2019. It's now two years and multiple months later. There's no giving in. The project has become an effort to figure out the physics of the thing and to show the way to others. I will keep going. So far as I know, nobody else has yet spent so much effort in experimenting with these period methods, and while I am doing an approximation of experimental archaeology, might as well be fully thorough about it.</p><p>The next steps are to pull off the lining in back and insert a layer of the Hymo hair cloth, expense or not, then re-add the hoops, making new godet plaits. Then add more wire on front and sides. This time, encase in cotton tape and sew to the lining. It'll just have to be visible underneath.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Lessons Learned So Far</h2><p>We know now that for a godet-style petticoat, the 1890s advice still stands:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The foundation fabric must, by all means, have lots of body or the structure will collapse. Use as close to the original fabric as possible: all hair cloth, heavy taffeta, or as close to moreen as you can get. Or interline the back of the petticoat with haircloth and be prepared for a back-heavy petticoat that will need to hook to the corset or risk sliding down.</li><li>The lighter the fabric, the more rows of steel tape or wire you will need. </li><li>Not so concerned with true godet plaits? Make the<i> LHJ</i> petticoat with a godet-cut pattern and gather the back and add the frills, and be done with it. The effect will be moderate, but <i>LHJ</i> was not targeted to fashionistas, but to more middle class women.</li></ul><div>I leave you with a sign of spring from the Kentucky Bluegrass, which I <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2011/04/springtime-at-ashland-and-first.html">wrote about long ago</a>, when the boys were small. Amidst the new grass, the Spring Beauties have come, a Kentucky wildflower of grace and toughness combined. Outlasting the snow, they carpet lawns and medians wherever people value such signs of springtime over pesticides. Fortunately, in our old neighborhood, there are many people who do, and at the <a href="https://historyofahousemuseum.com/2019/04/05/spring-beauty-at-ashland-7/">Ashland Estate, which has written about them</a>, they grow in such profusion under centuries-old trees that they look like snow touched by Aurora's wings.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfTC9GCnN-vvZRoK186siKtFTgL6ZT9VF0A3c-PWx3knAytdGz4vtnHVLwvfWRmqYp8IJ96lJuA9C9nMBDn-pFV-21qMftVJ7F3jMygZAEfOhaTsP0SIUNBUo6x0U-lDedXK2EFLb4j0y3QBVVBIUTuQ9Kn-03-F0GO7lT7rjFBN704WBZ_Q/s4032/20220311_150825.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfTC9GCnN-vvZRoK186siKtFTgL6ZT9VF0A3c-PWx3knAytdGz4vtnHVLwvfWRmqYp8IJ96lJuA9C9nMBDn-pFV-21qMftVJ7F3jMygZAEfOhaTsP0SIUNBUo6x0U-lDedXK2EFLb4j0y3QBVVBIUTuQ9Kn-03-F0GO7lT7rjFBN704WBZ_Q/w480-h640/20220311_150825.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Claytonia virginica</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><p></p></div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-33793662414254678172021-11-22T22:33:00.011-05:002024-01-14T14:02:06.472-05:00The Magic of Bust Padding Improves the Fit of a Victorian Bodice<div class="separator">As some of you know, I made an <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/search/label/1870s%20steampunk%20black%20dress">1870 day dress</a> back in 2012-13 from <a href="https://trulyvictorian.info/">Truly Victorian patterns</a> TV201 and TV400, with an overskirt drafted from a pattern given in <i>Peterson's Magazine</i>, January 1869, as well as the TV108 Grand Bustle. </div><p>To date it is the only First Bustle era dress I've made, and while TV patterns are excellent and I had the help of two original mid-Victorian dresses then in my collection to use for construction assistance, I made some novice mistakes that haunted the dress so that on the Fit-O-Meter it never hit more than "meh...".</p><p>Now's the time to rectify the issues as much as I'm able. It has become the year of the refit anyhow, and I am still working out kinks with the 1895 wired and hairclothed petticoat.</p><p>The first fix: adding bust padding. Often called bust pads, the padding helps to smooth out the fit of a bodice and prevent the sudden dip or heavy horizontal wrinkling just above the bustline that can occur when wearing a corset, especially as a woman grows older. They're not augmenting the main body of the bust, but <i>the space above and to the side of it</i>. Added to a bodice, they often look like the first pads I added, below.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxjtevVR90VyaDALrMJe5W3GYFVx5tNQawQMTwd0h-nd1ORgl8js9YeABvjJU91uQUA_ONHoywU1fz6hbNNELMIGdwcc9jGKgJNJwv3xAzsUvL7t7YJ9ydG7D3E8huho2TwVaK/s4032/20211121_160401.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxjtevVR90VyaDALrMJe5W3GYFVx5tNQawQMTwd0h-nd1ORgl8js9YeABvjJU91uQUA_ONHoywU1fz6hbNNELMIGdwcc9jGKgJNJwv3xAzsUvL7t7YJ9ydG7D3E8huho2TwVaK/w640-h480/20211121_160401.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bodice inside out, with bust pads, version 1, in the first position I had them.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><h1 style="text-align: left;">How the Bodice Fitted Before the Pads</h1><p>Look at the photo below. What do you notice about the bodice's fit?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfUS93ZwbQi4vYHQgqOAvypTOLFUUioyjOQ1jelxxrTRSGqgmVoHMCzyEmCLaJUkLtLcKFDJtGtlLCLSbCWTCwKdXgft272zxn5i7bl7TixtYeBEpgTCRJL1EcxQ5dm24G7l_0/s529/1870+bodice+pads.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="529" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfUS93ZwbQi4vYHQgqOAvypTOLFUUioyjOQ1jelxxrTRSGqgmVoHMCzyEmCLaJUkLtLcKFDJtGtlLCLSbCWTCwKdXgft272zxn5i7bl7TixtYeBEpgTCRJL1EcxQ5dm24G7l_0/s320/1870+bodice+pads.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Okay, besides the fact that the bottom hook and eye is left open. I was dashing to try it on. Did you notice that on your -- the viewer's -- left, that the bust fit is smooth while on the right there is a crease where the bust hits a hollowing of the upper chest above the corset? I am holding my arms in the same way on both sides, so it's not my position.</div><div><br /></div><div>What caused the difference? The magic of bust pads, of course, or to be exact, the magic of <i>one</i> bust pad. The bodice was tried on to see if the pad I had just made worked, and yes, it did. After the photo, I was off to make the other so as not to appear lopsided.</div><div><br /></div><div>The bodice used to fit even less well. Here it is the first time I wore the dress, in 2013:</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9Fks_9z306FdygHEowDCGSFlCkyqh21q2sFOQQNU5vbjV1u8e6V9CZ1Nl46OgdD8crXzrJoPY-6cdF7fzVw9p20ja2WUmbuA_gyTPxsmNwuC8_afwBvr8ROlzdUrJzPFgpWBjw/s640/before-tea+(574x1280).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="287" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9Fks_9z306FdygHEowDCGSFlCkyqh21q2sFOQQNU5vbjV1u8e6V9CZ1Nl46OgdD8crXzrJoPY-6cdF7fzVw9p20ja2WUmbuA_gyTPxsmNwuC8_afwBvr8ROlzdUrJzPFgpWBjw/w288-h640/before-tea+(574x1280).jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh my, the poor bodice <br />doesn't fit at all.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />What happened? While the bodice was fitted over a toile, the issues were baked in from the get-go... If you look carefully, the tell-tale folds are there. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXIrqtxSsOCiHX5FQ17afzBbbyv1bPvVaSbDA0pOTC3kZ1zOhJWhUXI_9cwiMjBI30E8Ku22I1LZbl2VhsUYHlma4QKCFk1hDrx7R87AxhbrloFTMdSwLquzxyKqdylhBkfmA/s392/toile+fitting+2012.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXIrqtxSsOCiHX5FQ17afzBbbyv1bPvVaSbDA0pOTC3kZ1zOhJWhUXI_9cwiMjBI30E8Ku22I1LZbl2VhsUYHlma4QKCFk1hDrx7R87AxhbrloFTMdSwLquzxyKqdylhBkfmA/s320/toile+fitting+2012.jpg" width="196" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Serious Christopher<br />wanted to be in the picture.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>At that time I mentioned adding pads, but when the second fitting came around, I had forgotten about them, and also had the hubris to try the bodice on sans corset. Of course you're not going to see what's wrong when you're not wearing the proper undergarments...a rookie mistake.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw2DLuWqLL1EPqI2Q8GWohYm0s-z6rZkWtqwy8SAfXo43TyPhxZ6I88w9T3pZNt_BK4hR_UKfQBnCfGMgKm0JTQPhVblQ4cwr_eRqnP44uaCUI1XZEpVu3hsmS_z3PDXTmv7up/s640/2nd+fitting.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="374" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw2DLuWqLL1EPqI2Q8GWohYm0s-z6rZkWtqwy8SAfXo43TyPhxZ6I88w9T3pZNt_BK4hR_UKfQBnCfGMgKm0JTQPhVblQ4cwr_eRqnP44uaCUI1XZEpVu3hsmS_z3PDXTmv7up/s320/2nd+fitting.JPG" width="187" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I thought it fit then,<br />but no, it didn't.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>So, main points so far:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>bust padding fills in weird hollows <i>above</i> the bust that occur with some women when they wear a corset;</li><li>always do your fittings with the proper undergarments;</li><li>if you can, write down the steps in making your bodice, so that you don't forget to do something -- like add padding -- in the heat of making.</li></ul><div>Got that? Let's move on.</div><div><br /></div><div><div></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Making the Bust Pads, Version 1</h2><div>Following directions in Elizabeth Stewart Clark's <i><a href="https://www.thesewingacademy.com/shop/">The Dressmaker's Guide: 1840-1865</a></i>, I cut pieces of thinnish cotton batting in concentric pieces, laid them atop one another, and tacked them together. The pad is sized to fill in the hollow between the bust and my shoulder. Then I made a cover out of scraps of muslin, and slipped the pad into it. The shape is an elongated semi-circle because the pad stops at the armscye, but your shape may vary...it all depends on where the hollow of your chest is sitting and how big and deep it is.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWGdrSiEj4DAbxs786BDNXmWMXAaQlhmD16gOZKIMDkL-NSZVbj5NbLFrCxXcJx9bKJl_znfESJ57dVqh_8PA9t1Z0LKRm_cxAEPlwfKpXOzAebCLa_HBK_XPFq1D2U_AX7YLN/s4032/20211111_203111.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWGdrSiEj4DAbxs786BDNXmWMXAaQlhmD16gOZKIMDkL-NSZVbj5NbLFrCxXcJx9bKJl_znfESJ57dVqh_8PA9t1Z0LKRm_cxAEPlwfKpXOzAebCLa_HBK_XPFq1D2U_AX7YLN/w640-h480/20211111_203111.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Four-layer pad tacked together, next to the little cover that <br />I've just stitched together with combination stitch.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL3KEKZmJsLwb-pPHtG9_oYjLmpp0m3XCg8-8Nwvm4O9YAQNR2WqP7hpULU-Pu5cz-nd_V092e5Eqk1zpElqsGjC7acI-2Y0gEgWHU_LtVOz21Pd-4DVdjo4c7IcGFr58OXjl0/s4032/20211111_203144.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL3KEKZmJsLwb-pPHtG9_oYjLmpp0m3XCg8-8Nwvm4O9YAQNR2WqP7hpULU-Pu5cz-nd_V092e5Eqk1zpElqsGjC7acI-2Y0gEgWHU_LtVOz21Pd-4DVdjo4c7IcGFr58OXjl0/w640-h480/20211111_203144.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cover is turned right side out and the pad is slipped inside.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Then the cover is overcast closed.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1eFynxWdaRRpmqVd1WqI6bnk5kKX-T0vPxQWg06mj56_e3Iszq5mAhBXmlmbFWChdgPxygguGgJOYy5VPcX2hnsFOUvPPH6LnLJPlmFO3Aomfy9TafkE3Ytgs7bk5Q-k8xB1b/s4032/20211111_203708.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1eFynxWdaRRpmqVd1WqI6bnk5kKX-T0vPxQWg06mj56_e3Iszq5mAhBXmlmbFWChdgPxygguGgJOYy5VPcX2hnsFOUvPPH6LnLJPlmFO3Aomfy9TafkE3Ytgs7bk5Q-k8xB1b/w480-h640/20211111_203708.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Here is the pad laid on top of the bodice so you can see relatively where it will sit, from the bustline up towards the shoulder, and from almost the armscye inwards. The flat side will sit next to the wearer, while the gently mounded side will sit against the bodice to shape it.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjUUSgFbVVUzJtRbIVidfxgyKgphXrB3knqnfZ74zVXExsnDYpNgr64L4bilccxJFNfUHg4vZAKcxpuO-6bZ7ont2WFeRgWtWhZBSkAMSgGlQdhZ6P8A3DkWx3y521BTZwxcts/s4032/20211111_172009.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjUUSgFbVVUzJtRbIVidfxgyKgphXrB3knqnfZ74zVXExsnDYpNgr64L4bilccxJFNfUHg4vZAKcxpuO-6bZ7ont2WFeRgWtWhZBSkAMSgGlQdhZ6P8A3DkWx3y521BTZwxcts/w640-h480/20211111_172009.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Then I pinned it in place inside the bodice, tested it by putting on corset and bodice, tweaked the position a bit, and then tacked it in place, catching only the bodice lining with each stitch.</div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DEqYR08xtz5QpWcQia3jJvGr4UhsBA1CWigBvGVW7gDBR-lIHMqjITBk_tJbila0rwJWfc80WUL4vmUrrYeVQt6KbRzPq74BLsir0YUTzILdl_XnKUIeomoSy2z4-a44X_HU/s4032/20211111_205642.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DEqYR08xtz5QpWcQia3jJvGr4UhsBA1CWigBvGVW7gDBR-lIHMqjITBk_tJbila0rwJWfc80WUL4vmUrrYeVQt6KbRzPq74BLsir0YUTzILdl_XnKUIeomoSy2z4-a44X_HU/w480-h640/20211111_205642.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is the pad being overcast to the bodice lining<br />using large stitches.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Here is where we were after the first try-on with the new pads:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Zz3cimWB2hMmc6nFMm6atqOMnHqlHFB_rUxa7RdsLbC9ZXLTLmsr_Q0UIjn9LL-sGBlzDINy3gAEd8MaSG-arW4rGjjHfOX24nGo3aZiJFKFqNoHuSyGcSS822XBi8Euj03N/s4032/20211121_154421.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Zz3cimWB2hMmc6nFMm6atqOMnHqlHFB_rUxa7RdsLbC9ZXLTLmsr_Q0UIjn9LL-sGBlzDINy3gAEd8MaSG-arW4rGjjHfOX24nGo3aZiJFKFqNoHuSyGcSS822XBi8Euj03N/w480-h640/20211121_154421.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>Well, the issue wasn't solved on one side. I clearly needed more padding, and you know, it needed to sit further out to the armscye and go further up towards the shoulder.</div><div><br /></div><div>Why do I say that? You shall learn.</div><div><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;">Bust Pads and Padding in 19th Century Dresses</h2><div>Padding out the hollow of the bust was common in Victorian clothing. If you spend enough time on Etsy looking for antique bodices for sale, you are sure to spot examples of padding in photos of the interiors.</div><div><br /></div><div>When I brought up the success of the padding on the Truly Victorian Pattern Sewists FB group, Felicity Rackstraw, a fellow member of that group, was truly kind and gave me her perspective as someone who collects antique clothing and who has worked in London's famous bespoke clothing district, Savile Row.</div><div><p>"Padding is a wonderful thing. I used to work for a Savile Row tailor..." she wrote. "At work, we habitually padded areas for clients. Fixing uneven shoulders, broadening shoulders, lifting sloping shoulders, smoothing out a hollow chest, smoothing out back curvature or scoliosis. It is no different to padded shorts now to lift or boost a flat booty, or a padded bra. Only the aesthetic has changed."</p><p>If you've had qualms about padding, the above should have dispelled them. They're normal.</p><p>She showed photos of a once-glorious late 1880s-to-early-1890s silk lavender jacket and explained, "I have extant garments with it, this is one... the maker has put the padding inside the lining on this one, you can just about see the wool padding where I have lifted the silk away from where it is shattered."</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiexYIewlp-lFSJN9QsI_Hh7G1GfRexqB6rCxLABYRBx93_NtG-xoyuAI9j09CIDe3m1JOLoLArdTYNk-ZkRZ8W44GQs_F6hPhKXr_sdWIxw9MY_lWfxqaXhhmJgs0mVdwhazCl/s1920/FB_IMG_1637114391797.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="998" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiexYIewlp-lFSJN9QsI_Hh7G1GfRexqB6rCxLABYRBx93_NtG-xoyuAI9j09CIDe3m1JOLoLArdTYNk-ZkRZ8W44GQs_F6hPhKXr_sdWIxw9MY_lWfxqaXhhmJgs0mVdwhazCl/w333-h640/FB_IMG_1637114391797.jpg" width="333" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The wool padding tacked in place with creamy white thread<br />between the fashion fabric and the lining.<br />Image courtesy Felicity Rackstraw.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>As she said, "the lavender jacket is padded from the shoulders down to the bust inside the lining; there are no pads added 'after the event', as it were." In this case, then, the wool padding was added during initial construction of the jacket, thus rendering the padding invisible inside. No one need know it was there.</p><p>Here is the jacket as a whole.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0H5LFd-Bdx7Ke97cAGC4QR76v8eNSWSVgfle6EVAoM22R6CwNIqrzGARqA_KaQICCOsCPp1ua4CYqX-_5Wl6QCq9LaPSaqO020aI1uutJZH-v9m-volJOenvzs1whDmcsTng/s1920/received_430034708570463.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="998" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0H5LFd-Bdx7Ke97cAGC4QR76v8eNSWSVgfle6EVAoM22R6CwNIqrzGARqA_KaQICCOsCPp1ua4CYqX-_5Wl6QCq9LaPSaqO020aI1uutJZH-v9m-volJOenvzs1whDmcsTng/w332-h640/received_430034708570463.jpeg" width="332" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jacket front. Image courtesy Felicity Rackstraw.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTXOI2On7uaIrSvsea-8Fk_VlZEpgxbmtzoU2GE22yBckzF8DWZ078_z3AZGxUe8Xlsr5Tl9r9WKcYfUi2OelQ2NdQWRNDM0NdDDTUmhfEy0LY9IOrY3iUXuwIfyasPop8Dyvm/s1920/received_265524295530572.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="998" data-original-width="1920" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTXOI2On7uaIrSvsea-8Fk_VlZEpgxbmtzoU2GE22yBckzF8DWZ078_z3AZGxUe8Xlsr5Tl9r9WKcYfUi2OelQ2NdQWRNDM0NdDDTUmhfEy0LY9IOrY3iUXuwIfyasPop8Dyvm/s320/received_265524295530572.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Padding peeping out. Image courtesy<br />Felicity Rackstraw.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>She and I traded comments on the FB post, and later on Messenger. A specialist vintage reproduction dressmaker, she owns Esme's Vintage Closet in Stoke-on-Trent in England, and maintains a Facebook presence at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/esmesvintagecloset/">https://www.facebook.com/esmesvintagecloset/</a>. We had a delightful chat, and I am grateful for her insights.</p><h1 style="text-align: left;">Bust Padding, Version 2</h1><p>I started over. This time I cut a pattern in paper that covered, like Felicity's bodice, from shoulder right out to the armscye. Then I cut scraps in batting and layered them. Whoopsie, I layered them such that the smaller pieces come inwards towards my bust, not outwards towards the fashion fabric. Backwards mounding. No matter, it ended up not making a difference.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrWJ6xedvV7T9dyNDGXjWrKcYsU48THPMcPuO7OjZM2nD0OH-mffS8XTdGuMKyXQdu6Deffyjo23dz69Q0DInipUBnPTbpo2iqBBwaKfubLgcDJK3wniZ-D4Fx_GznkEsVB3y/s2048/20211122_153849.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrWJ6xedvV7T9dyNDGXjWrKcYsU48THPMcPuO7OjZM2nD0OH-mffS8XTdGuMKyXQdu6Deffyjo23dz69Q0DInipUBnPTbpo2iqBBwaKfubLgcDJK3wniZ-D4Fx_GznkEsVB3y/w480-h640/20211122_153849.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cutting the pattern.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBVzw0X4oeXlak2hmENByq6ZTW2xQRju4TMpkFTSpkbuChnjzg89bh3iz4TS4FsMXHQ-ft7sz1ihiLideoLICcHqmt9QhFG8M1Nxi9bNslA1MTa-t_sALGJcef0rFM1TLNCaiH/s2048/20211122_165032.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBVzw0X4oeXlak2hmENByq6ZTW2xQRju4TMpkFTSpkbuChnjzg89bh3iz4TS4FsMXHQ-ft7sz1ihiLideoLICcHqmt9QhFG8M1Nxi9bNslA1MTa-t_sALGJcef0rFM1TLNCaiH/w480-h640/20211122_165032.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Layering the padding. </td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7QiwhGT4n6HUi3LB0I1PTdLFcE3__8tdYhJCtxWgW56oYDpBL6lnHz9D9v4ArVr5BSPuMjHHUdhg3eTa5kInG8CGO1btii5ewcO-3oUGatpAIp6XyweQYWTsroWD5zUIU1zOT/s2048/20211122_171451.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7QiwhGT4n6HUi3LB0I1PTdLFcE3__8tdYhJCtxWgW56oYDpBL6lnHz9D9v4ArVr5BSPuMjHHUdhg3eTa5kInG8CGO1btii5ewcO-3oUGatpAIp6XyweQYWTsroWD5zUIU1zOT/w480-h640/20211122_171451.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not perfect yet. This time, I marked <br />the wrinkle with pins. The<br />rest of the padding looked a little<br />much up near the shoulder. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNQqzwre_ws7xrmhH-bEaraEg-CypAxmhyZiqVSI0gWDTb2Ldcxa4JpudbAW2ee-rFYQ99UdWSfbIdBkifQpdMLSbvHczCF-YRaESmR-FiZBDpa2F0KySZwqWwvU_y0AVWjtvK/s2048/20211122_171815.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNQqzwre_ws7xrmhH-bEaraEg-CypAxmhyZiqVSI0gWDTb2Ldcxa4JpudbAW2ee-rFYQ99UdWSfbIdBkifQpdMLSbvHczCF-YRaESmR-FiZBDpa2F0KySZwqWwvU_y0AVWjtvK/w480-h640/20211122_171815.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aha! See the pins I am pointing towards?<br />The wrinkle is below the padding!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Well. I had set my test padding too far up. Remember what Felicity Rackstraw said about adding padding <i>where it was needed?</i> I had added too much as well as misplaced it.</p><p>The patterning and pad-building was repeated.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7IDnmtjXbjUTTb4QVpl5uBhVDiHD5qLf9iC3v0F-R1fbdrn3DaP8_42eDKRdo-zvYrXd9873NUPFBN_1tgkTn4rgRbJfET9QRRY_yfKEqmb1ttxS1bQ_6ejsk3SifmtPVLHDo/s2048/20211122_175711.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7IDnmtjXbjUTTb4QVpl5uBhVDiHD5qLf9iC3v0F-R1fbdrn3DaP8_42eDKRdo-zvYrXd9873NUPFBN_1tgkTn4rgRbJfET9QRRY_yfKEqmb1ttxS1bQ_6ejsk3SifmtPVLHDo/w480-h640/20211122_175711.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This time, as you can see,<br />The padding runs into the armscye,<br />but doesn't climb all the way to the<br />shoulder. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Here is the final effect, below. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKANDlAxDij-B3g3c00HdlywIVOMeHg31djUCC35MvcTvqucsPbpTuO55pgQrBvYkXZ3jFihauMeRsqOs8fM5GNttoTKQR-7doLHWmDjwf10hA3cgir1MOGqJ64sSbiJitiD3D/s2048/20211122_205835.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKANDlAxDij-B3g3c00HdlywIVOMeHg31djUCC35MvcTvqucsPbpTuO55pgQrBvYkXZ3jFihauMeRsqOs8fM5GNttoTKQR-7doLHWmDjwf10hA3cgir1MOGqJ64sSbiJitiD3D/w480-h640/20211122_205835.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bodice fits smoothly at last!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>The padding worked -- perhaps even too well. The bodice fits much more smoothly now. I might take a layer of padding out in the section up towards the shoulder and not close to the armscye where it might be a tad too much. In any case, am very pleased to have learned the technique. </p><p>By the way, you can see that the removable <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2013/05/making-fichu-collar-fichu-or-collarette.html?m=1">fichu-collar</a> that's tacked to the dres consists of two sides that pin together at bottom with a bow to cover the join. Here, the bow has not been put on.</p><p>I am hopeful that you found the above helpful. Once again, let's review:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Mark the position of the wrinkles in your bodice from the outside.</li><li>Match the positioning of your padding to where the wrinkles are, and shape it accordingly. The padding certainly doesn't have to be round. Shape it to add smoothness where it's needed.</li><li>Pin in place and test as needed. Your first go may not be the last one.</li></ul><p></p><h1 style="text-align: left;">Other Tweaks to the Dress</h1><p>The dress still needs work, I think. Here are pictures from Hallowe'en and from the last few days.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg49WDF9uIkPJHPnEsyka6Sh8TbLsMJXVZV0pkPkARVdcian3-X8dOy-Yb0tN6d7JmnL6lNRy52O1y-RZH6Yz4vteWUrbypK0-AWKUloRoSHXvd_IV8vz2yzKZVJXaEMgHSrz4p/s4032/20211121_154533.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg49WDF9uIkPJHPnEsyka6Sh8TbLsMJXVZV0pkPkARVdcian3-X8dOy-Yb0tN6d7JmnL6lNRy52O1y-RZH6Yz4vteWUrbypK0-AWKUloRoSHXvd_IV8vz2yzKZVJXaEMgHSrz4p/w480-h640/20211121_154533.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The bodice has a horizontal wrinkle across the back and there is wrinkling below the bust in front. Usually that means it might be a little too long. In this case, I think it's because the bodice has hiked up a little; it has done that each time I have worn it. The solution? I will add boning in the seams and add large, heavy hooks and eyes that attach the bodice and the skirt together. Combined, the bodice should stay where I want it. If that doesn't work, by golly I will add a waist stay inside that hooks closed, tightly.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3sXBxsaqL50Qr4bmJuAXfMGfRzppDWHyj7CwgNhREkJ52AAZmPXtXRO1KR58MAvJy9PxlnNE18EdSx_U_UxyckzoOQi43SflQC8zMpqlI4dOQUyjs2nLHvmNBMXBiMNIZw_X/s4032/20211121_154507.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3sXBxsaqL50Qr4bmJuAXfMGfRzppDWHyj7CwgNhREkJ52AAZmPXtXRO1KR58MAvJy9PxlnNE18EdSx_U_UxyckzoOQi43SflQC8zMpqlI4dOQUyjs2nLHvmNBMXBiMNIZw_X/w480-h640/20211121_154507.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The side view makes me wonder about the sleeves. Are they a bit full? Coat sleeves were meant to be loose, but this loose? Research is in order. </div><div><br /></div><div>The overskirt pouf is governed by how tightly three sets of thin silk ribbons are tied. Let's tighten the ribbons and raise the tripartite pouf higher.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNOO7iM_gMHiSZUS7-dOT-3kvwTMjQ6knbRlFlfR_1RBq7T0Z-7g84iKUPmoxM00jFOmteiDpAWY_WdGU0joxBD4MYv6Mbqb5f06ZqqeUHEkZ1hv_D4rKaxaIdf9KzE7Xw7BR/s4032/20211031_213720_original.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNOO7iM_gMHiSZUS7-dOT-3kvwTMjQ6knbRlFlfR_1RBq7T0Z-7g84iKUPmoxM00jFOmteiDpAWY_WdGU0joxBD4MYv6Mbqb5f06ZqqeUHEkZ1hv_D4rKaxaIdf9KzE7Xw7BR/w480-h640/20211031_213720_original.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Halloween costume.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The hat is delightful. It's an equine dressage hat, a gorgeous vintage thing. The plume is meant to be outre for Halloween. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the front, I wish there was less wrinkling in the overskirt "wings" at the top of the overskirt. Memo: investigate what's causing it. Might I need to add another flounce to the petticoat, this one ending only partway down to fill things out? Am already wearing the grand bustle with back flounces and a petticoat made with a large flounce all the way around.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Finally, the unrelieved black of the trim has long bothered me. Perhaps I should make a bias band of the fashion fabric and work it in. Right now the puffing and the flounce are covered with black bias bands.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So there we are. Returning when all this is done; that may be after the holidays. Meantime, all safety and health to you and wishing peace to all. For those in the U.S., happy Thanksgiving.</div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-12415099338809639532021-08-23T21:22:00.004-04:002021-09-17T15:36:16.755-04:00Renovating the 1795 Cream Silk Open Robe Ensemble for the Jane Austen Ball<p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSholjGUXIcx-ofEcuysjQa_TZr1bMZuslh3H_JRo03W5ILizyU-EJGwfUnR2_QhKAPo1EuYPWTaY4Ndwye0Goppr6saKXH-Y5-an6-bQKKc4rgaZrYqW5Ky8tUsToQrMlGKv/s2048/Image+Download_1-00103a.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1363" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSholjGUXIcx-ofEcuysjQa_TZr1bMZuslh3H_JRo03W5ILizyU-EJGwfUnR2_QhKAPo1EuYPWTaY4Ndwye0Goppr6saKXH-Y5-an6-bQKKc4rgaZrYqW5Ky8tUsToQrMlGKv/w426-h640/Image+Download_1-00103a.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My, aren't we fine, although blown about and rained upon by a storm getting to the ball. <br />The altered open robe and petticoat as worn to this year's Jane Austen <br />Festival ball. That's Polly with me: we had<br />Such fun</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Eleven years ago this summer, almost to the week, the costume I am most proud of -- self drafted, hand sewn and hand-embroidered -- left my hands and needle, was packed in a dress bag, driven to Louisville, and worn at the Jane Austen Ball. For several years after, I wore the circa 1795 cream open robe for different events and <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/search/label/1795%20Full%20Dress%20Ensemble%20in%20Cream%20Silk">with different petticoats and accessories</a>. I felt as elegant in it as in anything I've ever worn for any reason.</p><p>In 2019, when I thought to try on the robe, not only were the <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2021/08/tutorial-renovating-1790s-transition.html">heavily boned stays</a> to go under it unbearably tight, but it got stuck on my shoulders, half on, half off, and it took an awful deal of wriggling to work my way out. Phoo...phoooeeey, as Pogo would say. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://c.tenor.com/VERoap4zgqsAAAAM/cat-stuck.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="220" height="220" src="https://c.tenor.com/VERoap4zgqsAAAAM/cat-stuck.gif" width="220" /></a></div><p>The pretty kitty in the GIF managed their extrication more elegantly than I did.</p><p>Well, here it is 2021 and the robe was still sausage-tight despite a few pounds gone. Walk away from my favorite outfit? No, no no. Time to enlarge it, much as people back in the day would have*. Here then is the tale of alterations.</p><p>* For example, see "<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/1974/13582">The Multiple Lives of Clothes: Alteration and Reuse of Women’s Eighteenth-Century Apparel in England</a>" by Carolyn Dowdell. PhD thesis, Queen's University, 2015.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Enlarging the Body of the Bodice, Part 1</h2><p>This process suffered an initial hitch although the results ended up well. At first all that seemed needed was adding a narrow panel of fabric under the armscye, adding width where I was thicker than 10 years ago. So I disassembled one side of the dress, removing the sleeve and the front piece. </p><p>Why just one side? So that</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I could look at the hand stitches used originally, and replicate them -- each section is sewn using the seam and stitch best meant for the purpose, mostly lapped seams and spaced backstitch. Boy, did this reduce thinking and worrying time.</li><li>I could see exactly how much fabric was added and test the fit a little compared to the original. That plan worked just barely well enough.</li></ul><p></p><p>I took as exact a pattern of the front piece as I could by laying it onto a large piece of newsprint and tracing around it, and worked out a little additional pattern piece to go next to the front piece under the armpit. Here it is, below.</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrVi7IgSHX-i3JIYGqsDNWjln5wSPQENTB_PILAwdiWh-Dec-AWFjS4B-fLWj3x0uhkO0p5gE3MuTgnG8bAKb4ywYz2-LFN6NHH2vtXbrQqm1lFMfb9Us1CGwxSuEPFnmC7aU/s2048/20210703_151114.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrVi7IgSHX-i3JIYGqsDNWjln5wSPQENTB_PILAwdiWh-Dec-AWFjS4B-fLWj3x0uhkO0p5gE3MuTgnG8bAKb4ywYz2-LFN6NHH2vtXbrQqm1lFMfb9Us1CGwxSuEPFnmC7aU/w480-h640/20210703_151114.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The fabric for the additions was furnished from my old silk curtains, which had been saved for recycling into costumes, and which are made of the same silk shantung as the original dress, plus leftover linen from "cabbage" retained from past projects. I cut the lining and fashion fabric for the new little side piece, and closely prick-stitched it on as a lapped seam, the lap facing the back of the bodice. Here it is in process.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8m9ivrpVNJKFBIKS-G0hM6rvHnqJaC-O5vxjpsSBHNwgiUlRdbJcPSg0QN0bryMYFfvOUErd7LXRFrJG3Fi1eOaayWSmcT5ICUUZ1WZ958G9P0HgwTJVr6I0Rb9-SRqawa1D/s2048/20210703_164428.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8m9ivrpVNJKFBIKS-G0hM6rvHnqJaC-O5vxjpsSBHNwgiUlRdbJcPSg0QN0bryMYFfvOUErd7LXRFrJG3Fi1eOaayWSmcT5ICUUZ1WZ958G9P0HgwTJVr6I0Rb9-SRqawa1D/w480-h640/20210703_164428.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>After pinning the front to the new panel, it became clear I had made a mistake...now the armscye was out of position. Oops...so much for a fast alteration. Had I just inserted a triangular piece with the width at the bottom and the point at the top, the alteration <i>might</i> have worked, but if you widen the top, of course that shifts the entire front and side of the gown. Plus, the fronts still didn't overlap for pinning like they were supposed to, so each side needed to be wider. Again, phooey.</div><div><br /></div><div>There was nothing for it but to add a new bodice front piece with extra width, a corrected armscye curve given the new underarm piece, and proper fit with the bodice shoulder strap. That meant drawing a new front pattern piece using the pattern piece I had just drawn. You can see the pattern below. If you look carefully you can see that I tried to mark <i>everything</i> so as not to forget to create enough seam allowances, etc. I added a little extra fabric at the center front just in case it was needed. If you look at the original front piece lying above the pattern, you can see that in the original robe, I had cut the front too deep and had had to fold it over. Not this time around...</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisi2Auyv_nOXihi42UtM0-0x_iLo2HPF7Q_6W1JmEy9hirIWf69JdLdZzhVADI3a2nleRcslsPU3RkSrxuXBl-8LqD6mZDg9XEKYXlx2hL_0-qZgOekP5R3DE_NxlcEwFi0SwI/s2048/20210703_150320.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisi2Auyv_nOXihi42UtM0-0x_iLo2HPF7Q_6W1JmEy9hirIWf69JdLdZzhVADI3a2nleRcslsPU3RkSrxuXBl-8LqD6mZDg9XEKYXlx2hL_0-qZgOekP5R3DE_NxlcEwFi0SwI/w480-h640/20210703_150320.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New front pattern piece with all of its markings.<br />Boy, are they hard to see in the photo. However, seam allowances have<br />been added all the way around. I've guessed at the center front seam<br />by sketching a dotted line from top to bottom: you can make that<br />out, at least, in the photo.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Next was cutting the fashion fabric and lining, basting them with red thread, and pinning them to the original garment to test the effect, per the below picture.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, to preserve the existing pleats in the gown skirts, in case I needed them, I basted them in place with red thread. </div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi72zfGdG2Y83abtzojQVDtz8iVEsIygIJ44N_BSIgAFvCjCUxVBGb0OxHNcF3p-LzCRxL2xerggoRUdR0e8aQ_b1pEt3duJ6jIo9WvTYTJTf-v8S2eCMrfCVqyIoV3iMvo7uXh/s2048/20210704_113053.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi72zfGdG2Y83abtzojQVDtz8iVEsIygIJ44N_BSIgAFvCjCUxVBGb0OxHNcF3p-LzCRxL2xerggoRUdR0e8aQ_b1pEt3duJ6jIo9WvTYTJTf-v8S2eCMrfCVqyIoV3iMvo7uXh/w480-h640/20210704_113053.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new front piece, both lining and fashion fabric, basted together <br />and pinned to the rest of the robe to test it.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Here I am testing the shoulder strap for fit by pinning everything. There's more basting...<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfX0-yKrA3mpmdbkijHSzyUzfyUpomfOT6unhPpiQ1tELlzsdDVCzkyBfKjwKWC6aWJJllnEip6jfalILODK2-bNDGs2GGiTL6gHeE_RmQHhS_uDrBE32rcYgGV0GH92izWpg8/s2048/20210706_212733.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfX0-yKrA3mpmdbkijHSzyUzfyUpomfOT6unhPpiQ1tELlzsdDVCzkyBfKjwKWC6aWJJllnEip6jfalILODK2-bNDGs2GGiTL6gHeE_RmQHhS_uDrBE32rcYgGV0GH92izWpg8/w480-h640/20210706_212733.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Because kitty helpers must be recognized, here is Nutmeg napping while I am at work. Can you spot her? She tired of trying to get at the fabric. And say, isn't that the 1890s petticoat on the dressform, waiting to be finished? Yes. And it's still waiting.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwEXILfZniDY3NOWN9SNBLb9t1VF-7wGFm16smpCDuvs74FMM_Da4khMjGytdyvXNWTTULmSyawQ_J2UJQA_lIco44BWIwjMY3yeogznOW-BCo8uM3SGCzWweLgHXJaviwjDH3/s2048/20210709_102856.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwEXILfZniDY3NOWN9SNBLb9t1VF-7wGFm16smpCDuvs74FMM_Da4khMjGytdyvXNWTTULmSyawQ_J2UJQA_lIco44BWIwjMY3yeogznOW-BCo8uM3SGCzWweLgHXJaviwjDH3/w480-h640/20210709_102856.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I checked the nature and stitches used in the seams in the part of the robe that was still not taken apart, and copied them on the new front piece. The new bodice front piece is lapped to the new little side piece with another lapped seam: the front piece overlaps the new side piece, just as the new side piece overlaps the existing side-back piece. The front center edge was left raw until the time should come to try the gown on and fix where I wanted the closure to be. The bottom hem was left unsewn too, so I could adjust it when fitting the bodice.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Sleeves</h2><div><br /></div><div>Then it was time for the first sleeve. Adding a strip to the existing sleeve would have been ugly, although I could have done it, of course. Instead, because I had plenty of silk and linen, I made a new sleeve altogether. The robe's original sleeve was taken apart, laid flat on the silk, and an extra half inch or so was measured on each side of the long seam, plus another half inch for seam allowance: I drew tiny dots on the linen to mark the new cutting line. A little tiny bit was added to the armscye so the sleeve wouldn't be so all-fired sausage-tight, too. Normally I'd have cut the linen first, but I had more silk than linen. In addition, I decided to cut both new sleeves at once.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the picture below, I have laid the new sleeve pieces on the what's left of the linen lining fabric to see if there is enough room in the fabric to cut the sleeves on the straight of grain without piecing...and there was enough.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj58B7wvngpun9YFU3flO96-I2xxdZwHLya3xMUlhnih0qNoLXfSGESYuZKw3RRKwdKsTYnUN3sbeq-kSxDWbsyGkgXSNXQvslgnm3IueOVxemZ6IUVnxV09Xehko0u94Jgbhx/s2048/20210704_121941.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj58B7wvngpun9YFU3flO96-I2xxdZwHLya3xMUlhnih0qNoLXfSGESYuZKw3RRKwdKsTYnUN3sbeq-kSxDWbsyGkgXSNXQvslgnm3IueOVxemZ6IUVnxV09Xehko0u94Jgbhx/w480-h640/20210704_121941.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>The sleeve lining and fashion fabric were basted together and treated as one, slipped into the armscye, and the bottom half closely backstitched. Since the shoulder strap didn't need any fooling with, I had already attached the lining part of it to the front and back of the bodice. All that was left was to spaced-backstitch the rest of the sleeve to it, easing to top in carefully. The sleeves are tight enough that no pleating of the top of the sleeve was necessary, just gentle easing of the little bit of excess. </div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUW-rvPVP-O6Tc4dAQxTWnH-Nre5_5jQbX1UGpHdwJ1G1-twwHIY67oChffZRhQ0t8jy3ty-nFvNNV7YiQOwXkXTFAUW0LsIlSRn9U340-5XJ8CkszpaJ4DXqpSNjs6SOhzFdL/s2048/20210709_102928.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUW-rvPVP-O6Tc4dAQxTWnH-Nre5_5jQbX1UGpHdwJ1G1-twwHIY67oChffZRhQ0t8jy3ty-nFvNNV7YiQOwXkXTFAUW0LsIlSRn9U340-5XJ8CkszpaJ4DXqpSNjs6SOhzFdL/w480-h640/20210709_102928.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spaced-backstitching the sleeve into place.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>Then I smoothed the outer fabric of the shoulder strap, which hadn't been stitched yet, on top of its lining, covering the sleeve stitching, and prick-stitched it down.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb5Nr9YiOegqPbIU7qhQZNo4tVCv18hjKxj5fPxEXBGnikdeE96HzDF_SAZz28zA1sBiCDiAjar6zQZAAnCWKGWz2E3Iq4eKyNk3_VeZLdGrKOAH5uHsXn4ZOP2rki02sqKtMN/s2048/20210709_104956.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb5Nr9YiOegqPbIU7qhQZNo4tVCv18hjKxj5fPxEXBGnikdeE96HzDF_SAZz28zA1sBiCDiAjar6zQZAAnCWKGWz2E3Iq4eKyNk3_VeZLdGrKOAH5uHsXn4ZOP2rki02sqKtMN/w480-h640/20210709_104956.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, all the basting was going to use a lot of thread, so wherever possible, when I pulled out the basting, it was set aside for reuse. Here's one such set of threads ready to go. No point in wasting it.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiagg5GUTsV3cL_jYwsG4hJn2jPTxFlXlgZSfRbuGetweAzl20VzX_xknJWByg1z5LbJwwbbHsWwt_V7GX9d6xDMGkGhduho_YqGSiVvBk1fEECqHGcs5Kt_BUzmCjOGjaHcXGF/s2048/20210709_112821.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiagg5GUTsV3cL_jYwsG4hJn2jPTxFlXlgZSfRbuGetweAzl20VzX_xknJWByg1z5LbJwwbbHsWwt_V7GX9d6xDMGkGhduho_YqGSiVvBk1fEECqHGcs5Kt_BUzmCjOGjaHcXGF/s320/20210709_112821.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>What next? Making a new front, wee side piece and sleeve for the other side of the robe. This went quickly.</div><div><br /></div><div>At this point the gown was slipped over my adjustable dress form, which fits no one well, to test the look, and I briefly slipped the new half of the bodice on over myself, in stays, to make sure the sleeve fit neatly, which it did. Phew.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Try-on and Completing the Sewing</h2><div><br /></div>Now to fit the altered gown closely. On went the necessary base to the dress, the <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2021/08/tutorial-renovating-1790s-transition.html">recently enlarged</a> stays.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGceXIurwWBHHCqJcmU2FaPsNFckuln0TMvqEP21XBQXPEluqE3tX1xCjSl3uoK4Zx_8VpnuENZ-uurXg7h540pvSAb9rLBBCb8BEFavgEPcB-C3DeSD2-IYFtglGveeIEByNz/s2048/20210709_125659.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGceXIurwWBHHCqJcmU2FaPsNFckuln0TMvqEP21XBQXPEluqE3tX1xCjSl3uoK4Zx_8VpnuENZ-uurXg7h540pvSAb9rLBBCb8BEFavgEPcB-C3DeSD2-IYFtglGveeIEByNz/w480-h640/20210709_125659.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Next came the bodice. I pulled the front pieces into position, smoothed them, and lapped one front piece over the other to the degree I wanted. In this case, I left plenty of extra on both left and right sides in case I gained weight. That's a delight with many 18th century gowns: since they're pinned closed, you can adjust where you pin rather than have to reset buttons or hooks and bars.</div><div><br /></div><div>I also checked the bodice bottom to make sure that the hem ran straight to the sides, and didn't dip or angle; the position was pinned.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijvfSytsruIzP7eTNtVCgHiYozdUk64KQwR__qTBhW5MfeQJjmrkgKLJg06A6xxyEV0aajeGqFn0qCQBNsj0DmM9VfrNFnfZdLMx51qWNxHYbJjHkI0Aapiis-NmADKZQhr8NH/s2048/20210709_131927.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijvfSytsruIzP7eTNtVCgHiYozdUk64KQwR__qTBhW5MfeQJjmrkgKLJg06A6xxyEV0aajeGqFn0qCQBNsj0DmM9VfrNFnfZdLMx51qWNxHYbJjHkI0Aapiis-NmADKZQhr8NH/w480-h640/20210709_131927.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Once fitted to taste, off came the robe. The edges in front and bottom being turned in already, they were prick-stitched to finish them.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Re-attaching the Robe Skirts</h2><div><br /></div><div>Then I reattached the gown skirts. They needed re-pleating. You've seen that process many times for 18th century skirts, most likely, and all that needs saying is that the pleats were whip-stitched onto the bodice. That way if I add a little pad at the back, then the skirts of the gown can hinge outwards nicely.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPwvlSdjz2L9eMnMU8VmN2b5BPg6z87vbD9IYxTY9qpyU6ncZMy9CpPMKehp-6TJ7UcYM0Svof7fMg0LrE0Cp-BtQh0wr3TXATUYdBbenPbrGLU6Kw4Hn4L-g0FabDk8CHY8ar/s2048/20210709_174818.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPwvlSdjz2L9eMnMU8VmN2b5BPg6z87vbD9IYxTY9qpyU6ncZMy9CpPMKehp-6TJ7UcYM0Svof7fMg0LrE0Cp-BtQh0wr3TXATUYdBbenPbrGLU6Kw4Hn4L-g0FabDk8CHY8ar/w480-h640/20210709_174818.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The back of the gown narrowly pleated and whipped to the finished bodice bottom.</td></tr></tbody></table><div></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Re-attaching Lace Trim</h2><div>After that, re-attaching the original lace. I can easily detach it for use in other garments. I had some more of the lace, which dates from the 1920s or 1930s and was recovered from a cutter slip over a decade ago, and so this go-round I doubled the collar lace. It makes for a much richer effect.</div><div><br /></div><div>Figure numbers 97 and 98 in Heideloff's <i>Gallery of Fashion</i> (<a href="https://digital.bunka.ac.jp/kichosho_e/index.php">Bunka Gakuen library</a>) show two ways in which lace can be applied: slightly ruched and tacked down to the outside of the dress through the center of the lace, and pleated and tacked inside the dress. </div><div><br /></div><div>Because my lace was edging style, with one decorative edge, I chose the latter option. The lace was very lightly pleated at intervals and then tacked, just inside the edge of the neckline. Because one row of lace was longer than the other, the shorter row went on first, centered at the back of the neckline; the second went over it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyYCOmbcIdXl9AfyAfFMFZtGxd4eyvc_jRBNk6F9WGQQXdvFLTYeRGmi9F_yuIPyAkzYpDTU6mgGLfWzQ5CkThyNIirH2b84aAD4V3r1SX4A197gs6BbUM4vWaeIHnkzWjMdn1/s966/lac-inside-or-outside-gown-Heideloff.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="871" data-original-width="966" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyYCOmbcIdXl9AfyAfFMFZtGxd4eyvc_jRBNk6F9WGQQXdvFLTYeRGmi9F_yuIPyAkzYpDTU6mgGLfWzQ5CkThyNIirH2b84aAD4V3r1SX4A197gs6BbUM4vWaeIHnkzWjMdn1/w400-h361/lac-inside-or-outside-gown-Heideloff.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Gallery of Fashion</i> concert dress</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7AIKVjDLcFcM8HmC9zrgeCFwr2ySnwuHFkMoBOOaMozH7XN7QzLx7PQDSNN-Zb7fWWxWLFE-JsU2k2x-RjJQ_dxg1MXt3WykERkkAOTBdn3qI0RwVE5_Iua4yDe9N66GjrhPH/s2048/20210709_174531.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7AIKVjDLcFcM8HmC9zrgeCFwr2ySnwuHFkMoBOOaMozH7XN7QzLx7PQDSNN-Zb7fWWxWLFE-JsU2k2x-RjJQ_dxg1MXt3WykERkkAOTBdn3qI0RwVE5_Iua4yDe9N66GjrhPH/w480-h640/20210709_174531.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lace, tacked on</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>There, you can see the doubled lace better. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvxbrTiEP1W2soWaJcP3GUn6baAvLweCSOK14H_h6KQn10WE3wtvymU3KGxb7SGD2yTciwi1-2ZDpQnkpA3DsSrnMFflB7ucoWRFuntK5oMaOf50FRCoeawlExUjMnqPzvU2kl/s2048/20210709_174556.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvxbrTiEP1W2soWaJcP3GUn6baAvLweCSOK14H_h6KQn10WE3wtvymU3KGxb7SGD2yTciwi1-2ZDpQnkpA3DsSrnMFflB7ucoWRFuntK5oMaOf50FRCoeawlExUjMnqPzvU2kl/w480-h640/20210709_174556.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Here's the dress from the back. It has yet to have the lace re-added to the sleeves and oh yes, to be pressed. Still, the silk does look luxurious in the way it puddles and trails. That's one of the things that's so appealing to me about it.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBXinkOKBTGAL0fZ9MyPLCcDY_TLQG-nq0MsCP-eaITNTlBrBZlSHzBsqj0ECjA-7lBBlBHsAhEYEY_kZCWhahgn51FDvhoYwBHyLzCmAFx_e08tF2PPS-dmCmnIx7lDEIL_Vo/s2048/20210709_174714.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBXinkOKBTGAL0fZ9MyPLCcDY_TLQG-nq0MsCP-eaITNTlBrBZlSHzBsqj0ECjA-7lBBlBHsAhEYEY_kZCWhahgn51FDvhoYwBHyLzCmAFx_e08tF2PPS-dmCmnIx7lDEIL_Vo/w480-h640/20210709_174714.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">Done!</span></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;">Worn to a Ball</h2><div>And so I wore the dress to the ball-on-a-boat; my friend Polly and I attended together. For the event, I wore the gown with the silk voile petticoat I had <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/search/label/goldwork%20petticoat">embroidered with goldwork</a>. The hair up in a chignon, I bound an ice blue long silk sash around it, pulled out a lock of hair in front and draped it, and added several short black vintage ostrich plumes. </div><div><br /></div><div>My hair had more loft before we left the hotel; you'll learn why in a moment. I have an aversion to looking at or fussing with my outfit or hair while out and about in normal life. That's probably not the attitude to carry to a ball, but there you go. It was only after looking at these photos after the fact that it became clear just how out of order I appeared. Had it been 1795, there might have been pointed comments and raised eyebrows.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKO4UycMU7zEN6y9zxuy2JnWRyeykuuR8VbUiLNeeW-EVba_G0OuCtE_gyfnrcLCyoqnIK6Ze2wRVY3Dn1LVGHEN4hLCYnCF8vmjJ0pdKYm76LX50ycXihnHKeE7Pq-2iU2ekQ/s1225/coiffure-side-back-ball-2021.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1225" data-original-width="1037" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKO4UycMU7zEN6y9zxuy2JnWRyeykuuR8VbUiLNeeW-EVba_G0OuCtE_gyfnrcLCyoqnIK6Ze2wRVY3Dn1LVGHEN4hLCYnCF8vmjJ0pdKYm76LX50ycXihnHKeE7Pq-2iU2ekQ/w542-h640/coiffure-side-back-ball-2021.jpg" width="542" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wrapping a vintage silk taffeta sash in the hair and draping a lock of hair over it.<br />Arrr, the wind blew the lace around.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>The planned cut steel earrings would have rusted, so I wore the pearl earrings I wear daily. No necklace this time: it would have been appropriate but I preferred a quieter look than was ultra-fashionable. New red American Duchess Dunmore shoes on the feet; a tad too early, but I couldn't find ultra-pointed, high-vamped shoes with the right tiny heel.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>What a wonder, the ball. We had a lovely time. Lively English country dancing, a fortune teller, wine, scrumptious desserts, and to watch the wide, wide Ohio slide past as evening descended. I didn't dance, sadly. Perhaps next time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, it rained. It started with roiling dirty dark brown clouds on our way to the boat and a wind that threatened to blow our gowns around our waists and our feathers into the river, and then it thundered and started spitting great drops as we raced up the gangplank onto the boat. After that, for good measure it poured a while and left puddles on the decks, covered though they were. Gathering up the yards and yards of gown skirt over my arm, not realizing I had trailed it in the water already, lace blown by a naughty breeze, bodice gapping slightly, we had a moment for an as-is <i>plein air</i> portrait. It feels very realistic to me, rather as if I was gathering up skirts, not entirely successfully, in an attempt to remain dry on a boat on the Thames on a rainy evening. Only this was a boat on another river, on another continent, in another century.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQua3udxObgW9vD_3-5nq03iVI-QJKtaWyCbYJvmRXcZnML6sLq2zh3T7dcdfhDLs48X5WlM4llkrcVKdEPJz_Dt-t8HRvDafiM-Ny6ekmr4TVj2RlmuoIRexVuD6X9vVLzmy/s2602/gown.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2602" data-original-width="1208" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQua3udxObgW9vD_3-5nq03iVI-QJKtaWyCbYJvmRXcZnML6sLq2zh3T7dcdfhDLs48X5WlM4llkrcVKdEPJz_Dt-t8HRvDafiM-Ny6ekmr4TVj2RlmuoIRexVuD6X9vVLzmy/w297-h640/gown.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy but attempting to remain dry<br />on the second deck</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span style="text-align: left;">A little bit like this painting from a slightly later period, only my feet are primly together, while the painting's heroine might be taking a dance pose. So the general effect when you draw your skirts up in the wet is rather accurate. Sure wish I knew what this painting was called, and where it comes from...if you know, please tell me.</span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIkiW-0Z2q9ERGdAV0YmnH0FFVKV2UD95XrSo4rs-HQgqKtauobRlWoThlJmBg_ktAWsdeN42SXsZSESgymTFLDSlA6onAxshdcmoUVo31HuKIckPq5kDgL3YCYp1mDvb-Pbvb/s1920/rain+in+regency.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1480" data-original-width="1920" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIkiW-0Z2q9ERGdAV0YmnH0FFVKV2UD95XrSo4rs-HQgqKtauobRlWoThlJmBg_ktAWsdeN42SXsZSESgymTFLDSlA6onAxshdcmoUVo31HuKIckPq5kDgL3YCYp1mDvb-Pbvb/w400-h309/rain+in+regency.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Here's Polly in portrait mode, too.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2InhMdEZYkkIxgUPmp6eHZyGnhtGUy6mAska5GDAmoWOZUJKDQbFlCnvkbnQkQwzSkTg7PO3j5db7DX8GiqyIiBrzjIoX6LqVGm5zdyRmRX2Y9Cj2uONseAAmm0PRRCb9fJ8s/s2048/20210818_211454.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1532" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2InhMdEZYkkIxgUPmp6eHZyGnhtGUy6mAska5GDAmoWOZUJKDQbFlCnvkbnQkQwzSkTg7PO3j5db7DX8GiqyIiBrzjIoX6LqVGm5zdyRmRX2Y9Cj2uONseAAmm0PRRCb9fJ8s/s320/20210818_211454.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>I've never been on a paddle-wheeler before and it was delightful in every respect. Here below, the paddle in motion: have just learned how to turn videos into GIFs and it's fun!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmZ0ohDCq231gsKtQaYTuenm6dfM8XvCW7e5pYnlWQZ9_48HNkuSFQ1oRyvO-7qUeBh1sT4ErlVGR6iH03NU7NpE36B-iJO5dha3DNvNkDPnGJ4P0Z26eb5MbWEdW7NfmEP_6/s600/Paddle-wheel-ohio-jul21.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmZ0ohDCq231gsKtQaYTuenm6dfM8XvCW7e5pYnlWQZ9_48HNkuSFQ1oRyvO-7qUeBh1sT4ErlVGR6iH03NU7NpE36B-iJO5dha3DNvNkDPnGJ4P0Z26eb5MbWEdW7NfmEP_6/s320/Paddle-wheel-ohio-jul21.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Now it's evening over a month later. My mother's Missy kitty is asleep beside me as this post is finished at long last. My husband and sons went to a family wedding in Nashville last weekend, and I couldn't go because of the immunocompromise issue. For safety, have come to visit my mother, a mile away from home, for 5 days and until a COVID test shows them in the clear, on the advice of the transplant clinic. It's lovely and quiet and so nice to be with mom. I'm bringing meals to my family and before heading out we did all the laundry and made sure the house was fresh. Still, I miss my family so...</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuB9jIKcO9_ImP7I5W4MvopyfJukIgb_wgGtW7ZX0crYXmYIVbCfsMjzPHBieGkYTb0ZkilFErSLXOa5fflwYXYm3J_zHCRjdiWDVY5D-2nUAzsRySZRWYAt5_-d9OZ3Fd4Vjy/s2048/missy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuB9jIKcO9_ImP7I5W4MvopyfJukIgb_wgGtW7ZX0crYXmYIVbCfsMjzPHBieGkYTb0ZkilFErSLXOa5fflwYXYm3J_zHCRjdiWDVY5D-2nUAzsRySZRWYAt5_-d9OZ3Fd4Vjy/w480-h640/missy.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Missy kitty napping in my mother's den. She's mostly Maine Coon, has<br />short little legs, big soft paws, an awesome amount of fur,<br />and a sweet, calm and affectionate nature.<br />Her fur curls on her tummy!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><p><br /></p></div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-23186530784346964012021-08-16T21:18:00.014-04:002021-09-04T12:04:59.867-04:00Tutorial: Enlarging the 1790s Transition Stays (Past Patterns PA-030)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzT1hesYs8FeaID9zwi9P9ARbI_KYCGBSH5g0_7x8C4oFIEcyyQl8klAEx7ShGO4D8_b9ka88B6443jdj2p7y0YZ7Po3zMdaOmk6zXLzfOKpfICn87cCDQbyE8Db1QoQehYD5e/s2048/20210623_201302.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzT1hesYs8FeaID9zwi9P9ARbI_KYCGBSH5g0_7x8C4oFIEcyyQl8klAEx7ShGO4D8_b9ka88B6443jdj2p7y0YZ7Po3zMdaOmk6zXLzfOKpfICn87cCDQbyE8Db1QoQehYD5e/w480-h640/20210623_201302.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They fit! The transition stays fit nicely!<br />I may look serious, but inside am smiling :}<br />Yes, there's a reason for the angled front lacing.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Way back in 2011 I spent many weeks hand-sewing a pair of <a href="https://www.pastpatterns.com/1789-to-1829-federalist-era/transition-stay-pattern">1790s heavily boned transitional stays, using the Past Patterns (PA-030) kit</a>. The directions, which produced a reproduction of an extant garment, were excellent and the kit materials high quality. Among the kit contents: a strong, fairly coarse linen as close a match as possible to the original, handsome corded blue silk embroidery thread to stitch the channels, white linen thread for the rest of the stitching, and quality reed.</p><p>I recall the process going smoothly; however, the written record states differently: "...those who prefer to examine the needles on the trees, even more than the trees themselves, should beware of the forest. Small, even stitching isn't worth a pile of pins when part of the stays have been assembled upside down." Ha! I rather like that analogy; especially apt since I have been examining a lot of fir trees lately (see the bottom of the post). Seems I always have had costume construction troubles. </p><p>Anyhow, the stays design bears more relationship to earlier 18th century stays than it does to later Regency ones. There are no bust cups, the waistline is shorter and there are no tabs (what <i>POF5</i> calls skirts), and the opening is front only. This makes for the conservative silhouette I prefer. Finally, the front is fully boned but the back is partially boned, and all the bones are straight up and down. These stays were made in America, by the way, so stylistically they vary quite a bit from other transitional stays I have seen.</p><p>The stays were comfortable to wear and I wore them plenty, but like several garments made during that period, I didn't write up the process. In this case, partly because it would not have been good to infringe upon the work the pattern company had done researching and creating the pattern.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf3Mm60L4IQ4nc73szV70Re0k0x6tN-l1AARow53fhKTPl10zgI5bo2BAAfh9PPez7x2L79hN2z8QuLt0XRgmBjkz1jf0nhJIb5VaRtCBpDzF3L8GYwBtKInIF_lJHu1rEyZ24lA/s400/cream-robe.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="217" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf3Mm60L4IQ4nc73szV70Re0k0x6tN-l1AARow53fhKTPl10zgI5bo2BAAfh9PPez7x2L79hN2z8QuLt0XRgmBjkz1jf0nhJIb5VaRtCBpDzF3L8GYwBtKInIF_lJHu1rEyZ24lA/w347-h640/cream-robe.jpg" width="347" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A good fit under the gown to start with, circa 2011.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>After 2017, when I tried them on, they no longer fit, producing a truly uncomfortable hotdog-encased-in-a-barrel effect. I toyed with enlarging them for years. In the end, I tackled the project in late June this year...and it was straightforward and resulted in stays I like even better. Their fit is more to my liking even than the original version, and the visible additions only adds to the authentic feeling.</p><p>So, do you have stays that no longer fit but aren't so small that that the pieces sit nowhere on your body near where they should? You can enlarge the stays without pain or hair-tearing, if you don't mind new <i>unboned</i> narrow panels inserts in a seam to each side. Or, add them with boning. Your choice. It's far less difficult than I thought it would be.</p><p><i><a href="http://theschoolofhistoricaldress.org.uk/?page_id=465">Patterns of Fashions 5</a></i> gives the example of stays enlarged by adding unboned panels. See stays No. 27, circa 1780-90: Half-boned Stitched Stays in Natural Linen for Horse Riding. P. 109. The stays pieces include "[a]n unboned panel, made of the same layers as the rest of the stays, was probably added after a fitting, as the stays must have been too tight."</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Here's How To Do It</h2><p>First, take out a side seam. In this case, the seam between the front and side piece. You will want to take out a seam that allows you to enlarge the sides of the stays, rather than the front or back.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFvUdzn1j0MAxnKxLn6L3n93kJUWdHDcB05qh_VbnAixFHJM5tLVWBh-5nLKve7-bekt4rhUxNpd27ilxGjJWBi0ia9ARqMJTC4VQL5YO1KihTSeAAwmH-zXaDnCD72IUksfqL/s2048/20210622_194814.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFvUdzn1j0MAxnKxLn6L3n93kJUWdHDcB05qh_VbnAixFHJM5tLVWBh-5nLKve7-bekt4rhUxNpd27ilxGjJWBi0ia9ARqMJTC4VQL5YO1KihTSeAAwmH-zXaDnCD72IUksfqL/w480-h640/20210622_194814.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>You can see the two fabric layers, inside and outside. The seam allowances were originally turned inwards and then whipped, making for a strong, 4-thickness seam.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrNGqG24xj_VGzJZsv9pWvxM2JBLgPNR22laNux16FJSKAJJOD4iOYkW6leV_kKu8uFcmb1VGTJQlq4CJGu7k9Zm9Qw4gJrlTSegsF6slOWN8Alka9R0uiZySLug8Lg5ddSa_V/s2048/20210622_195329.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrNGqG24xj_VGzJZsv9pWvxM2JBLgPNR22laNux16FJSKAJJOD4iOYkW6leV_kKu8uFcmb1VGTJQlq4CJGu7k9Zm9Qw4gJrlTSegsF6slOWN8Alka9R0uiZySLug8Lg5ddSa_V/w400-h300/20210622_195329.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Vanity, oh vanity. I remain proud of the backstitching on these stays. Then again, didn't need glasses to sew at that point in life, and the fairly coarse, strong linen made counting threads -- okay, estimating them -- fairly easily doable, and the stitching lines are marked clearly on the pattern.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPiRFTuzwAIdPxdkIf_QUMh4cRrfl5biyd2LSCZs18PaBFmYo-ZWQhV9-5dJOIZ37IQ9D0BR2I-kTVzAVV8-8ofpOxznlrkjsSi9LGojxckNkdyRzo95ifsW7M6X65TdHx56S/s2048/20210622_195313.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPiRFTuzwAIdPxdkIf_QUMh4cRrfl5biyd2LSCZs18PaBFmYo-ZWQhV9-5dJOIZ37IQ9D0BR2I-kTVzAVV8-8ofpOxznlrkjsSi9LGojxckNkdyRzo95ifsW7M6X65TdHx56S/w480-h640/20210622_195313.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Estimate how much width you want to add to each side of the stays. You will add a panel to each side of the stays. If you want to be extra careful, you can add little bits to several pieces, but I didn't think that was necessary in this case because there isn't that much shaping to these stays: they're pretty tubular as it is. </div><div><br /></div><div>In fact, the original stays, like in the drawing on the pattern cover, do not give much of a spreading front. They're not meant to, but that's not the look I was after. I decided to add a little angling to the leading edge of the panel -- that connected to the front piece. The angling would make the the stays wider at top than at bottom so as to create more room for the bosom and make for a bit of narrowing further down the stays.</div><div><br /></div><div>Remember, you can take your work in some if you make it too big, so it's better to err in that direction than half to cut more linen for a second try.</div><div><br /></div><div>Cut a rectangle of linen as close to the original linen as possible, one for each of the two panels that you will add. Include enough at the widest long point for a durable seam allowance, and seam allowance for top and bottom. </div><div><br /></div><div>In my case, I folded the top and bottom first, then the center, then played with the angle until I had added what I felt was enough. You might want to pin the results to your stays and see if you like the effect. I didn't for some reason; was feeling pretty comfortable, I guess: can't recall these months later.</div><div><br /></div><div>Below, the pre-folded piece of linen from one side. I pressed the folds sharply with the flat side of a ruler to make a sharp fold that would remain visible. If you're working with an outer silk or wool layer, that's not going to work: you would need to press the silk or wool with an iron.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQGIGY2j7fj1JNp2iTTpqxgIQIB73Wvjl6GEiPJn45Kb2f7WwCjGbxkPH4g6HInbAfkVIcCLLq_-3E3pkXHVbPk-1uMyX9y7dh4JCrj7laTIs5-PE4FxQRsilGuK0ZO9G5ouvy/s2048/20210623_180905.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQGIGY2j7fj1JNp2iTTpqxgIQIB73Wvjl6GEiPJn45Kb2f7WwCjGbxkPH4g6HInbAfkVIcCLLq_-3E3pkXHVbPk-1uMyX9y7dh4JCrj7laTIs5-PE4FxQRsilGuK0ZO9G5ouvy/w480-h640/20210623_180905.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Here below I am pressing the folds in place with the flat side of my short stainless steel doctor's ruler. Oh, how precious that tool is: it measures to tiny increments and it's excellent for marking seamlines with pressed folds. At one point I had stitches and the hospital gave the ruler and scissors used in the procedure. Have kept it close by ever since.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1c-hj2M4Tb5GxTQIGNiKQocD0pV0NKRaXEdOz-0e7pQWgLSRhrHZ59wuzMk003nopjoG09Nf0okbrZ8WYlqMDP1FUVmQKIT1hpK8qZrVngO2YrrRTfV4rWADOyVNLX_9nL_qA/s2048/20210623_180825.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1c-hj2M4Tb5GxTQIGNiKQocD0pV0NKRaXEdOz-0e7pQWgLSRhrHZ59wuzMk003nopjoG09Nf0okbrZ8WYlqMDP1FUVmQKIT1hpK8qZrVngO2YrrRTfV4rWADOyVNLX_9nL_qA/w480-h640/20210623_180825.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Starting to set the folds.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihNi5QK2LVCgckH248bza2jQiVWNmSOdMMpp4i9Gxeg6aviV4t8fOjaQia7NsN8ayY9hPOlswdh4vWz2XpyM1IwvebLw3VIs_jVuBEauv56Wp7D8alGZg0kZEmczBFYYaOF3Jx/s2048/20210623_181012.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihNi5QK2LVCgckH248bza2jQiVWNmSOdMMpp4i9Gxeg6aviV4t8fOjaQia7NsN8ayY9hPOlswdh4vWz2XpyM1IwvebLw3VIs_jVuBEauv56Wp7D8alGZg0kZEmczBFYYaOF3Jx/w480-h640/20210623_181012.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>One of the two panels just about folded, and pinned together for safekeeping until I sew it to the stays. I ended by adding pins all the way down the sides of the opening so that neither side of the fabric could shift when I stitched the panels to the existing stays. That would be a shame as the fit would be compromised. Could have basted it, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>As you can see, once the linen is folded, you have two finished layers with the turned in edges to make a 4-layer seam much like the original stays...except that they have no bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Again, if you like, you could bone them, but I didn't think it necessary.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyrYXBSPl6NAWqXr6xX55fBdLBXbLCCHyPZ39fstKrYYxIWoWCmMLqwwWhroR8cgsQDUGLnEy5CN6WmpFr_o6ET8OUnT5bfzazo5IHwE_QvU07ncxP1ofLCtY60VfqEd3T21W/s2048/20210623_181043.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyrYXBSPl6NAWqXr6xX55fBdLBXbLCCHyPZ39fstKrYYxIWoWCmMLqwwWhroR8cgsQDUGLnEy5CN6WmpFr_o6ET8OUnT5bfzazo5IHwE_QvU07ncxP1ofLCtY60VfqEd3T21W/w480-h640/20210623_181043.jpg" width="480" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Here below am checking the measurements of the completed panel so that the second panel can be prepared to the same dimensions.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZiaufg-OsGUqwI6__TohLoFlUbDPd7wSxVQzElmSdL4RA8FD2jiJzTmgURfjjkF-rOGtQEhNLNSvRXV1r6xbKzCxsQhJxvyx1hlJQT3nubMP8kDEoZBwOBWGaSN6yOVAnNjb/s2048/20210623_181135.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZiaufg-OsGUqwI6__TohLoFlUbDPd7wSxVQzElmSdL4RA8FD2jiJzTmgURfjjkF-rOGtQEhNLNSvRXV1r6xbKzCxsQhJxvyx1hlJQT3nubMP8kDEoZBwOBWGaSN6yOVAnNjb/w640-h480/20210623_181135.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>The next step is to stitch the new panels to opened seams in the existing stays. My original stay panels were tightly whip stitched together with strong, thickish linen thread. There was plenty of thread left over, and I had it still in the pattern kit package, so I used that.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here below you can see that I made sure to put the widest end at the top of the stays, so that the top has more room than the bottom.</div><div><br /></div><div>When you stitch, put right side to right side and whip tightly and closely, as exactly to the original stitching as possible.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUs3Jn6vObmZoPkuPClV2kRt6YzvtLRqW5LvbyshuFhOUIh77ylt1niZWMmAOx8iIHTUjzILMxHkRSDJLZ4nF8SVuyOmrWx992xeYRVqIsblB73d0N4PGgwjm7ko25PqAHAV1/s2048/20210622_201828.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUs3Jn6vObmZoPkuPClV2kRt6YzvtLRqW5LvbyshuFhOUIh77ylt1niZWMmAOx8iIHTUjzILMxHkRSDJLZ4nF8SVuyOmrWx992xeYRVqIsblB73d0N4PGgwjm7ko25PqAHAV1/w480-h640/20210622_201828.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Working on the stitching, below. Do you see how thick that linen thread is? It's quite strong.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl1daxRg1WiIeo6rGT3QLimU5N33RX35M6Dx-oiBC-bavOBQH15mzXiIRoE_D8ZVRKBuGwitMJzzj9wbXZrIdkWsz4CAMe3HHOO63GogFn-1QioajqhgCnSuddU2yCYYr86EMG/s2048/20210622_203026.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl1daxRg1WiIeo6rGT3QLimU5N33RX35M6Dx-oiBC-bavOBQH15mzXiIRoE_D8ZVRKBuGwitMJzzj9wbXZrIdkWsz4CAMe3HHOO63GogFn-1QioajqhgCnSuddU2yCYYr86EMG/w480-h640/20210622_203026.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>A completed seam of panel to original stays. Note that there are many stitches per inch for strength. Again, remember to stitch the panel right sides together to the original stays. That way the little bump in the seam that can be created by the stitch will be to the inside of the stays when you flatten out the seam. By hinging the seam back and forth and working the stitches with your fingers, you may be able to rid yourself of the bump, but...it doesn't always work. I tend to stitch especially tightly, so I usually have a little bump in seams like this. Exhibited below.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Jz2CnohfR-qL_ut4AuPgCFsaAESzer6teOQKKkeX6WTftUm3zIcEXoMzmaYN1031xvsXp94yu3VjvTDNKRhrpi7pjgDutMWvKniScPCzaL12MGeRttQKAbCnVogN73ecx2Q8/s2048/20210622_204218.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Jz2CnohfR-qL_ut4AuPgCFsaAESzer6teOQKKkeX6WTftUm3zIcEXoMzmaYN1031xvsXp94yu3VjvTDNKRhrpi7pjgDutMWvKniScPCzaL12MGeRttQKAbCnVogN73ecx2Q8/w480-h640/20210622_204218.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Working the stitches with a thumbnail to flatten them.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8pGqe98derNMww4AJ0HlsvUr1-cq_fF0PGL4JgK-b-gK5qZn_adrfhLiThZ_Rryz-xmmSRTCcWTIkX5k5AI7UtqPVasaEZjQDCDIgyQc6lroaPppANtlT3uLGqgzZjKw5JEuL/s2048/20210622_204241.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8pGqe98derNMww4AJ0HlsvUr1-cq_fF0PGL4JgK-b-gK5qZn_adrfhLiThZ_Rryz-xmmSRTCcWTIkX5k5AI7UtqPVasaEZjQDCDIgyQc6lroaPppANtlT3uLGqgzZjKw5JEuL/w480-h640/20210622_204241.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Completed seam. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEial6sh9vU-F4TgslowVEYT8JvQSbt1dYcDF6Qd_Z-jguyfy9IityoGtFP7CGMJPzjyxRTdPnPsWwyKJkSMyMKQJh3D8uhP3i3_eo-I_TeuCXQrnjov_tsU_89zOUP3uKx0OmFS/s2048/20210622_204226.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEial6sh9vU-F4TgslowVEYT8JvQSbt1dYcDF6Qd_Z-jguyfy9IityoGtFP7CGMJPzjyxRTdPnPsWwyKJkSMyMKQJh3D8uhP3i3_eo-I_TeuCXQrnjov_tsU_89zOUP3uKx0OmFS/w480-h640/20210622_204226.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>After both panels are inserted into the opened seams, bind the edges just like you did with the original stays. </div><div><p>My stays had room for a bent metal bar to be inserted at the bust to help shape the front, but I never liked the effect, accurate or not, so left the bars out. However, I sewed the bar pocket in place again just in case I decide to add another kind of bowed bar in the future.</p><p>Below, a shot of the completed inside of the stays, with that bar pocket. Whoopsie! The image is upside down... The binding is a little heavy, but I was trying to complete the stays and a redo of the cream 1790s silk gown before an event, so didn't redo it.</p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpjxTsismcdeoqjW78Pl4VxwV4pT9fXUtzow5OozDPF2WOx1B2R8HCkU7KAbkSvMqh7zHnR5uszfLhn4Yl8icK5x0-YaTcOGLUZfUKytYZiWY7Qi34cL80JvEhLlxfou3cNMEl/s2048/20210816_191409.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpjxTsismcdeoqjW78Pl4VxwV4pT9fXUtzow5OozDPF2WOx1B2R8HCkU7KAbkSvMqh7zHnR5uszfLhn4Yl8icK5x0-YaTcOGLUZfUKytYZiWY7Qi34cL80JvEhLlxfou3cNMEl/w480-h640/20210816_191409.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Here, the outside of the stays. I re-prick-stitched a narrow tape on top of seam next to the front of the stays. Have to add one to the back, but ran out of time.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhipdkrjT5-BBPm0TIZFp48IPgRp-U222IZfcukFw0i4QmOb5nOG_r6hlNaFI0mGYIItircsKrHoymyyu2fXbOYx-AOwbPWUx3DhA6MpcK6fXIs34MDaaaF7H80wb0IDK9kAmQz/s2048/20210816_191401.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhipdkrjT5-BBPm0TIZFp48IPgRp-U222IZfcukFw0i4QmOb5nOG_r6hlNaFI0mGYIItircsKrHoymyyu2fXbOYx-AOwbPWUx3DhA6MpcK6fXIs34MDaaaF7H80wb0IDK9kAmQz/w480-h640/20210816_191401.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Here are the completed, renovated stays laid out.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNtlw17umOk5ZBwchwwRELejHL0Xm34HfmsCtZ372zTQZcNNJXoTwa5MUwwK54TDOl7Edx4qJ7RmCwUPoLDLv2rDgoVGgQa9vMz-TbsTCpFr5XrgrdbdAckB37NAfhjoYAy1dR/s2048/20210816_191357.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNtlw17umOk5ZBwchwwRELejHL0Xm34HfmsCtZ372zTQZcNNJXoTwa5MUwwK54TDOl7Edx4qJ7RmCwUPoLDLv2rDgoVGgQa9vMz-TbsTCpFr5XrgrdbdAckB37NAfhjoYAy1dR/w480-h640/20210816_191357.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Here they are tested for fit! While the slightly angled new panels added a little more room at the top, in the end I decided to add a little more by loosening the tightness of the lacing at the top. You see this a lot of 1780s stays in which the front has a partial opening that can be loosened to <a href="https://thedreamstress.com/2017/04/a-quick-guide-to-corset-stay-styles-from-1750-to-1850/">round out the front</a>. It made sense to do it here, but I make no claim that this was done originally on transition stays. Suspect that lacing varied to taste in all kinds of ways, but don't know it for a fact.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyOIOXP85tjvt_jqmkcsGIqGmxqVPba2XmL-O3b2L3TbSZGJPiwqF63OJTb-vHdb5xJNOglVi5I8B1sw3jGss1Ztaa1XgpDw9CwAtm5PoyTQvwvuZzgZu4XbraHM-YI6UDZlAD/s2048/20210623_200938.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyOIOXP85tjvt_jqmkcsGIqGmxqVPba2XmL-O3b2L3TbSZGJPiwqF63OJTb-vHdb5xJNOglVi5I8B1sw3jGss1Ztaa1XgpDw9CwAtm5PoyTQvwvuZzgZu4XbraHM-YI6UDZlAD/w480-h640/20210623_200938.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yes, the fit is what I looked for: conservative, good for an older person in the 1790s who was used to earlier stays, but still providing uplift.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After this, I enlarged the <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/search/label/1795%20Full%20Dress%20Ensemble%20in%20Cream%20Silk">1790s cream silk gown</a> and will talk about that and the event I wore the stays and dress to in the next post. Then it's back to the 1890s silk petticoat. It's sitting on the dress form in the master bedroom, just waiting for me to return to it. It doesn't look reproachful, simply resigned to being part of the room decor for the moment.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In Other News</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We took a Big Trip out West! Over 4,500 miles (7242 km) in the car over more than two weeks, in a loop from Kentucky to Wyoming and back, with stops along the way. It's not that easy to see large swathes of the U.S. at once because it's pretty large, but I came home with some understanding of the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains, for sure. It became a little tricky as the Delta COVID variant started to take hold, but we stayed in cottages or wore masks when getting to our hotel rooms, cooked outdoors on a camp stove or had take-out.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A few pictures from the trip:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ZzOWUksOEtXfuk838Y9M5hwhTki-qDuNgamnFA-YL5FKSwpLXXnCoDl67USbq4sFv4yq0uz5hEtOGdyaQ5qlpK40ol5Bk68AF-Gc_v9JDhp3NN-p5PtkQlaCDcqTqq-JM2n4/s2048/20210724_103814_original.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ZzOWUksOEtXfuk838Y9M5hwhTki-qDuNgamnFA-YL5FKSwpLXXnCoDl67USbq4sFv4yq0uz5hEtOGdyaQ5qlpK40ol5Bk68AF-Gc_v9JDhp3NN-p5PtkQlaCDcqTqq-JM2n4/w640-h480/20210724_103814_original.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sod of the Great Plains is suddenly broken through, or was eons ago, resulting in severe erosion that created the South Dakota Badlands. I found them scary, so barren, but understand that mammals and plants do make it there, though humans have a hard time. The heat was unreal.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI3BzKXo8m_vcdI4ObB65QnvV5fyF23Opgg_DQGFMFDpZs8t478vgpHURTSPLxBuU1sOzRPjm22CSA5c2tk2dxOcA6qrfpiZ1nPE3x3Q1Jhaip8g6yntAAJ58t-EN4n5ZQcdHR/s2048/20210725_160241_original.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI3BzKXo8m_vcdI4ObB65QnvV5fyF23Opgg_DQGFMFDpZs8t478vgpHURTSPLxBuU1sOzRPjm22CSA5c2tk2dxOcA6qrfpiZ1nPE3x3Q1Jhaip8g6yntAAJ58t-EN4n5ZQcdHR/w640-h480/20210725_160241_original.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swimming in chilly Silvan Lake at 6,000 feet in the Needles part of the Black Hills of South Dakota, which pop up out of the plains. Mountains, actually, in this portion of the hills. Christopher tentatively stepped in. In a few moments, Curte went sploosh. I charged in, gritted teeth, and swam a little later, as did Noah. Once in, though, it was bracing and fantastic, and they dove off of the far side of the boulders. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_yCByq9Vq7ljlGmszGlq45cKinqzvgfHu4R2b1o7Pr7wWnrAoVwZNpMkooltJH_0lWbM7TG_F_eSTBHBzXqblgy-ENp-WuO7XLGmVCtd3cNKoD5moqtekBBikhqwqM9gREPy/s2048/20210728_133814_original.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_yCByq9Vq7ljlGmszGlq45cKinqzvgfHu4R2b1o7Pr7wWnrAoVwZNpMkooltJH_0lWbM7TG_F_eSTBHBzXqblgy-ENp-WuO7XLGmVCtd3cNKoD5moqtekBBikhqwqM9gREPy/w480-h640/20210728_133814_original.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A first view of a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park. It looks like something out of a myth, doesn't it? Couldn't you imaging the ring about it in standing stones, like a henge?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKwrw56KiIn8RiYWJbPUCnL0aM07cWc6MRGNRkpDT-K2b4C7IafFzQ4iHShjAjRthqqFXkBSSgmHU9jNjkUhabme8gofjpNu7iBl9JWp5rXJxKN_56zk_ElSHY87vV2XW_j0QF/s2048/20210729_200414_original.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKwrw56KiIn8RiYWJbPUCnL0aM07cWc6MRGNRkpDT-K2b4C7IafFzQ4iHShjAjRthqqFXkBSSgmHU9jNjkUhabme8gofjpNu7iBl9JWp5rXJxKN_56zk_ElSHY87vV2XW_j0QF/w640-h480/20210729_200414_original.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roadside bison, including a "red dog", or calf, next to his mama. They may not look terribly big but they are <i>enormous.</i> The herd is native to the area, present since antiquity. The bison, says Noah, have no notion of road rules. They go where they will, and we give way. Anyone who doesn't risks being gored or fined or both. We were in our car, and they talked to one another continually, in grumbly, rumbly voices, and their scent was grassy and musky at once.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcKR9UdtkXOhIxlZrA8AwkrPyoYDpdk7s9I3BOcQeUL87gUXVzxSVt8ql3FHtpetG33Ghd2HEtgI8s8HdeXxkF5Jx0p6Ha2yaO1jCGJ97WpOTL-TJJEEOF2CLe08EiY7tvkyrY/s2048/20210730_103931_original.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcKR9UdtkXOhIxlZrA8AwkrPyoYDpdk7s9I3BOcQeUL87gUXVzxSVt8ql3FHtpetG33Ghd2HEtgI8s8HdeXxkF5Jx0p6Ha2yaO1jCGJ97WpOTL-TJJEEOF2CLe08EiY7tvkyrY/w640-h480/20210730_103931_original.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone, steaming on a chilly morning, its colors only guessed. Most of them are caused by thermophiles, heat-loving microorganisms.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs_c1EbSaRU3vuCWZe_WEllXR8uSemCbNsoPAPhrQI7QXVrNfaOR8easFkmH1BuzUD85EihtfANFOUHPRY1I5okzHp8pCgeoPemgMy3tJZ48zhEy0AcdOAAhX02R6EgV3ic0Wx/s2048/20210802_125432_original.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs_c1EbSaRU3vuCWZe_WEllXR8uSemCbNsoPAPhrQI7QXVrNfaOR8easFkmH1BuzUD85EihtfANFOUHPRY1I5okzHp8pCgeoPemgMy3tJZ48zhEy0AcdOAAhX02R6EgV3ic0Wx/w640-h480/20210802_125432_original.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking up in Cascade Canyon in the Tetons. We were around 9,000 feet, I guess. The Grand Teton peak far above is enclouded -- rain was on the way, and cloud started quite literally rolling down the peaks at the end of this high mountain valley, bringing thunder and rain. If you look carefully at the Mount Owen, you can see small glaciers. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DJWHAVBlCrFFPbhQ0iZiFBzK56yBP85Wv_A-fb6lfIR-UG5_jTCCFkvVct4SyMMMZHcoTgc8Cwff0PAwslwsiN6W_K8BOacXEG-wIBWDlCw_chhKL37fFBz5DoD6LAXj55ld/s2048/20210802_130717%25280%2529_original.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DJWHAVBlCrFFPbhQ0iZiFBzK56yBP85Wv_A-fb6lfIR-UG5_jTCCFkvVct4SyMMMZHcoTgc8Cwff0PAwslwsiN6W_K8BOacXEG-wIBWDlCw_chhKL37fFBz5DoD6LAXj55ld/w480-h640/20210802_130717%25280%2529_original.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking a rest on the hike before the weather threatened. Noah is glum because he and Christopher plunged up the trail, which is quite steep at times and crosses rock ledges, and he was tired out. We had to coax him to come up further into the canyon, hanging high above Jenny Lake, beckoning. The subalpine firs, grasses, wildflowers, berries in sunshine, and rock produced a combined scent that I associate with heaven: sharp, clear, flitting, resinous, leafy, heartachingly wonderful.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was a trip you only make once or twice in a lifetime, and I feel so grateful to have been able to do so.</div><div></div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-2728962951184917362021-06-18T18:54:00.001-04:002021-06-18T18:54:23.040-04:00A Steam Train Trip Up a Mountain and from Early Summer Back Into Springtime: Cass Scenic Railroad<p>Two weeks ago it was early summer but chilly in West Virginia as we wended -- there is no better term -- our slow way east deep into the mountains to an early 20th century logging town called Cass. </p><p>This is what we were heading for: a nice, long ride on the <a href="https://wvstateparks.com/park/cass-scenic-railroad-state-park/">Cass Scenic Railroad</a>. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcZ1FBmIwJEWGi-CtDWBhaI7TXDjjWz9z3FYSP_CefgUGrsTAC0s9wLwrEIoC8iNI8VBGDeIk1-Dh8KIBVu5IWdAKs-2GtXPuVeIXQu8DIJZbFBlozC8FjrYugIDlvL-r_P-Nc/s2048/20210603_112719.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcZ1FBmIwJEWGi-CtDWBhaI7TXDjjWz9z3FYSP_CefgUGrsTAC0s9wLwrEIoC8iNI8VBGDeIk1-Dh8KIBVu5IWdAKs-2GtXPuVeIXQu8DIJZbFBlozC8FjrYugIDlvL-r_P-Nc/w640-h480/20210603_112719.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">First, Just Getting There</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL9mitKtyjmYmvt2Rz6gYIqX98jBuqE69BMU7rTDhEXu9Sybk6VtUYJpj3PM0EhgpPfPL8n1qJP04PHWvbBjlMayLr2TzEKMOnLRXUXMX1sBYnxoT_kbVxuBKwGzN6oITykHiO/s1711/road+to+cass.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="1711" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL9mitKtyjmYmvt2Rz6gYIqX98jBuqE69BMU7rTDhEXu9Sybk6VtUYJpj3PM0EhgpPfPL8n1qJP04PHWvbBjlMayLr2TzEKMOnLRXUXMX1sBYnxoT_kbVxuBKwGzN6oITykHiO/w640-h206/road+to+cass.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>The Appalachians start less than hour east of our home in Lexington, and only a few hours of the trip were on the interstate. The rest? It was very late afternoon when our family left the highway for narrow two-lane roads, often lacking a shoulder on the side in case we had needed to pull off, winding in tight curves and steep grades up and down the sides of heavily forested hills and then mountains, passing through gaps and passes, snaking along ridgetops or threading along creeks in valleys so narrow that they're mostly shaded year-round. Kentucky has plenty of land rather like this, but in West Virginia I swannee the hills are even tighter, and ever as we drove they became taller and steeper, and less and less peopled. </p><p>Evening drew on when the deer come out of cover to find water and graze, and so I slowed to a usual 35 miles and hour, passing a few deer within feet of the road and many more in meadows and glades in easy view. We met only a car or two, and by nightfall there were few lights in the few houses we passed, usually clustered in villages, but sometimes in ones or twos in the forest or in small farms in the few places where the hills weren't too steep for agriculture. </p><p>I'm originally from a <a href="https://www.visitithaca.com/">town</a> of roads that cling to high hillsides, too, where multiple rather terrifying clifflines drop hundreds of feet to the valley floor a quarter mile from my then home, but there at least when you get to the top it flattens out, or ditto the valley, so that your mind can rest. This was a whole other level of driving.</p><p>Then it was pitch black. By this point we were on a long, very narrow road leading into Cass, entirely forested, the trees meeting overhead and their boles just off the roadway, making a such number of switchbacks and steep winding ascents and descents. I know to use the engine rather than the brakes to slow the car, but even so we began to smell hot brakes and I stopped and downshifted into the lowest gear. By this point I was so tired that I had to ask my husband how to do it: the brain was completely fried. It began to feel like I'd been leaning forward towards the windshield, peering around blind curves for days. A fox rocketed across in front of us.</p><p>And then we left the forest suddenly into a narrow river valley, the road lined by matching white plank houses, circa 1900, and a few commercial buildings, including a long and tall white wooden building containing what was once a very large general store. And a depot. Cass. Golly, the whole body was trembling as I left the car to meet my dad and stepmother and sister and her family, in front of one of the old worker houses now made into plain but comfortable lodging. Good to be there at last.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Steam Train Trip: Upwards and Back Into Springtime</h2><p>Next day showed gray and drippy, but still good for a ride in open-sided train cars pulled by a steam engine, box lunch in hand.</p><p>The little village is rather pretty in its plain way, mostly courtesy the mature trees that shade the houses now, and the soft mountain grass, the wildflowers, and the shallow little river in its stony way, and the deep quiet, except when the engines at the depot squeal or puff.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFL-Zi_1q5EyDp_-GPMXQcbABNjbFaHvxPG1lqOn62EeeM11tK7OuC_IZKPWkSQASW2Fc1D2K9Ed_eJgVd2D-HOONwfyZdXtLPechAva9TLnrqvHOVBafqV76-jfLYImC0-6e5/s2048/cass+depot.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1235" data-original-width="2048" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFL-Zi_1q5EyDp_-GPMXQcbABNjbFaHvxPG1lqOn62EeeM11tK7OuC_IZKPWkSQASW2Fc1D2K9Ed_eJgVd2D-HOONwfyZdXtLPechAva9TLnrqvHOVBafqV76-jfLYImC0-6e5/w640-h386/cass+depot.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>A lot different than the raw landscape in 1900, when the village was new, peopled mostly by Italian workers there to cut red spruce trees, and from the pictures, much of everything else, too. Once the wood was gone, they mostly left, and the place sank into quiet again, and the forest has regrown, thick with the amazing variety of species that the Appalachians and all shades of green, misted with a reddish tone where the red spruce are.</p><p>Here, mostly in pictures and video, the way up.</p><div>As we were leaving the rail yard, we passed cars and engines, specifically engines loaded with coal and fired up -- it takes a day to get them to the proper pressure. They're ready to rescue any engine that might have a problem on the track.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNFQEjJmNKc):</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vNFQEjJmNKc" width="320" youtube-src-id="vNFQEjJmNKc"></iframe></div><br /><div>Riders, including my family, looking serious for some reason. The rain? The coming chill? Still, it was a nice group.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYDsViW2QFyjgvoQtVhansQaDFk2Y7qTigGVbDhm4Hrrm4qd7nC10xR2vp-sYRJvJgqCCqxFkdAYOFMvBRI9VOpPn-cnv-m52odKE6vH9wrLjvQvTaACei18oovKb_CMLfLbo/s2048/20210603_120313.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYDsViW2QFyjgvoQtVhansQaDFk2Y7qTigGVbDhm4Hrrm4qd7nC10xR2vp-sYRJvJgqCCqxFkdAYOFMvBRI9VOpPn-cnv-m52odKE6vH9wrLjvQvTaACei18oovKb_CMLfLbo/w480-h640/20210603_120313.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Puffing out of the valley, most of the riders at the open arches, looking out. A scent of coal smoke every once in a while. I am not a fan of coal, as a rule, but for a ride on an antique steam train...<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS-Jq8XSOMbqSVEzJQW5Q8SKM9_cCfaOL9oPtZLVGFe0rH-jLQnraFMuw0bg9G8lWlDoieUSvPnCc0_J9mGKDnnCYacsQi2fCgtUUtwqXd6MkcQcJEIg_a6L3j9jVeYcvHCq2e/s2048/20210603_120829.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS-Jq8XSOMbqSVEzJQW5Q8SKM9_cCfaOL9oPtZLVGFe0rH-jLQnraFMuw0bg9G8lWlDoieUSvPnCc0_J9mGKDnnCYacsQi2fCgtUUtwqXd6MkcQcJEIg_a6L3j9jVeYcvHCq2e/w480-h640/20210603_120829.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Beginning the mountain's ascent. We would end up high on top, up in the clouds we were looking at.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9JHFo34fe16ak0jHX2-Fulgkp2Cxb_xPFkEjBtTyzfWyRgEsWoj_woY4vICy2HbZ6sMX-VeS36F3JkZFfgdDdIMwI8E6fOo3cXQVQi1BWo2jV43rupKdzuPStSBvYXk6WLqJV/s2048/20210603_123830.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9JHFo34fe16ak0jHX2-Fulgkp2Cxb_xPFkEjBtTyzfWyRgEsWoj_woY4vICy2HbZ6sMX-VeS36F3JkZFfgdDdIMwI8E6fOo3cXQVQi1BWo2jV43rupKdzuPStSBvYXk6WLqJV/w480-h640/20210603_123830.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>A red spruce pokes up from the forest cover.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmbHPhGHjvn1js0RBN6nVfUHSxkNS-TVu1utNQpo0XQJo7orFypyhCr4xodoBjR5cHMjFvao5m1MSdQ_PGFEWGEW8V-JKcNWXNV_naKJHuQJjhfFbHBrClzi41iKIcOhc-OVmj/s2048/20210603_123833.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmbHPhGHjvn1js0RBN6nVfUHSxkNS-TVu1utNQpo0XQJo7orFypyhCr4xodoBjR5cHMjFvao5m1MSdQ_PGFEWGEW8V-JKcNWXNV_naKJHuQJjhfFbHBrClzi41iKIcOhc-OVmj/w640-h480/20210603_123833.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Looking out across the mountain ridges; we're perhaps a quarter or a third of the way up, and still in maples, a few oaks, wild cherries, and on and on.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjovTA8vv6S1SYOUORZ9A4xZCTO7yZHzPNosghNtG4UVas8tG1IzhXqKoCsqGoxSWc5ldg5iOw1iq0yu3TwUjUwblL8t705cDI8SMT1BfArBv647d2VbQyTe8hQXDCevtMKU2a-/s2048/20210603_123838.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjovTA8vv6S1SYOUORZ9A4xZCTO7yZHzPNosghNtG4UVas8tG1IzhXqKoCsqGoxSWc5ldg5iOw1iq0yu3TwUjUwblL8t705cDI8SMT1BfArBv647d2VbQyTe8hQXDCevtMKU2a-/w640-h480/20210603_123838.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The air was so thick with moisture that "Blue Ridge Mountains" makes sense, doesn't it?</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQjWxQWuCGJdI6Tg4U3eUZ-McdHjrkCD_ZhVs_ICY8qdRUowHprGPwTuqimkNxXOghR9vHo_omhyphenhyphenVuEivCotlaMR142V0qtI3LRExMBi5uI5gD4KD_KGw_zPkZwbumvn5Wbkjw/s2048/20210603_130958.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQjWxQWuCGJdI6Tg4U3eUZ-McdHjrkCD_ZhVs_ICY8qdRUowHprGPwTuqimkNxXOghR9vHo_omhyphenhyphenVuEivCotlaMR142V0qtI3LRExMBi5uI5gD4KD_KGw_zPkZwbumvn5Wbkjw/w480-h640/20210603_130958.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Every so often the train would stop to replenish water from a spring. At this point, the engineer had too much pressure in the engine so was letting off steam, as well. They run the train frequently but do not know the engines as intimately as the engineers who first used them did, and so this happens occasionally; apparently it happened less often when the engines were in constant use pulling logs.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtDYRwIxLKgB5jYStILVU97skXPBU7wpgEWFFGsrcf_ssMsqKWyh86jks4_9TMXRURL_g6QZa2Ed8G5_XBOQUWFVsFt1ZAZX83bztB_SN3xl8sk7gTTreJfpZtKLK5oaiIH33c/s2048/20210603_133531.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtDYRwIxLKgB5jYStILVU97skXPBU7wpgEWFFGsrcf_ssMsqKWyh86jks4_9TMXRURL_g6QZa2Ed8G5_XBOQUWFVsFt1ZAZX83bztB_SN3xl8sk7gTTreJfpZtKLK5oaiIH33c/w480-h640/20210603_133531.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Here's what it looks like in video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK_YNRcCyu8):</div><div><br /><div><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kK_YNRcCyu8" width="320" youtube-src-id="kK_YNRcCyu8"></iframe><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>As we ascended, the types of trees became to shift with the elevation, birches appearing, and increasing numbers of spruces, especially young ones. The leaves on the trees decreased in size, as if we were traveling backwards from early summer into springtime again. I drank in those views: the forest is lovely.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTjxFziWgQpccXV0wd3Hm7kThV_CSSCiNT78-WKuw7tTzGMPTseIbB5MHWNUo2bWCo4O_nlg6EeasWGdLPemhg0t0xTY9BEghfvZ_nCbgpY62T6BnUKGTfcdxqCqTcqBQC92yE/s2048/20210603_135353.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTjxFziWgQpccXV0wd3Hm7kThV_CSSCiNT78-WKuw7tTzGMPTseIbB5MHWNUo2bWCo4O_nlg6EeasWGdLPemhg0t0xTY9BEghfvZ_nCbgpY62T6BnUKGTfcdxqCqTcqBQC92yE/w480-h640/20210603_135353.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHE4uNnKbvNp5AU4CDrMn926_riR9tv9HpggAuQIcOlbuk2XcnICh81G1cvphYr3CK7Ne8JGIQXCCQZJrMI2pXj-sHnwfHPqOxpsovQEa6dRY3LUPmZqcVznlGf9czKvG_oaLE/s2048/20210603_135410.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHE4uNnKbvNp5AU4CDrMn926_riR9tv9HpggAuQIcOlbuk2XcnICh81G1cvphYr3CK7Ne8JGIQXCCQZJrMI2pXj-sHnwfHPqOxpsovQEa6dRY3LUPmZqcVznlGf9czKvG_oaLE/w480-h640/20210603_135410.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Replenishing water on the way up. Looks like the water is gathered into a tank from a spring, and fed into the side of the engine.</div><div><br /></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;">5,000 Feet In the Air, Looking Out, and Well Chilled In the Breeze</h2><p>From the top of the mountain we looked down into what's rather a bowl, a large valley -- a surprise -- with mountains all around. It was beautiful. The Appalachians are not the Rockies, or the Alps, or the Andes. Not that kind of spectacular beauty. Much, much older, and rounded down with eons of water and flora and fauna plashing upon, growing upon, gnawing upon their rock. They are, for the most part, friendly mountains, deeply green, a temperate rainforest. I adore them.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9DQs64f3kIMuuqv95lPEaub6c2M6oWxEp_c-2shxOeCaklL30zu8euQrDJeIJzG_aDms4p22qLluFjDdMxfY0s4FLQ9kcqCIVAWVfNQ9hvOHJXiZUxfTqCJx8oHQtF2arsxOD/s2048/20210603_143628.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9DQs64f3kIMuuqv95lPEaub6c2M6oWxEp_c-2shxOeCaklL30zu8euQrDJeIJzG_aDms4p22qLluFjDdMxfY0s4FLQ9kcqCIVAWVfNQ9hvOHJXiZUxfTqCJx8oHQtF2arsxOD/w640-h480/20210603_143628.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Noah and Curte out on the overlook.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp-zR__TpUvU7-2zD3jXDobEpIdLt9XgAq0DzoqXoB5_EdFe4C-I8-Oo0WXpO7jYVsoTO5UI46Sewx5YNw-L5-4PdkulYkfCboEEJfGxzbIi4Nm0HdY1DX_IL_tjijGvOZTSbD/s2048/20210603_143636.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp-zR__TpUvU7-2zD3jXDobEpIdLt9XgAq0DzoqXoB5_EdFe4C-I8-Oo0WXpO7jYVsoTO5UI46Sewx5YNw-L5-4PdkulYkfCboEEJfGxzbIi4Nm0HdY1DX_IL_tjijGvOZTSbD/w640-h480/20210603_143636.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>There was something odd down there, though you cannot see it in the photos. It looked like a white road making a sudden angle from that altitude, but I knew I was looking not at a road, but at part of one of the <a href="https://greenbankobservatory.org/">Green Bank Observatory</a> telescopes There since the 1950s a series of enormous radio telescopes have been discovering the black hole at the center of our galaxy, pulsars, the composition of parts of the Milky Way, and much more.</p><p>It's quiet in that valley. No bluetooth, no TV or radio over the airwaves. Microwaves and light fixtures and such on observatory property are shielded so as not to contaminate what the telescopes receive.</p><p>We would visit Green Bank the next day, and thoroughly enjoyed the peace, and watching telescopes as they turned with a minimum of motor noise, shifting for whatever it was they were watching. Much of the telescope time is shared: teams of scientists from all over get time on it. How neat is that?</p><p>My it was chilly up there, and waves of mist and curtains of rain blew through. The trees weren't short, but they weren't nearly as tall as in the valley, and it was quite clear that springtime still had a hold -- summer hadn't reached the mountaintop yet.</p><p>We had a bit to inspect the engine. The engineer and crewmen did too. The engine's gears got a thorough greasing</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9N0F61hV-IhIQCOSbaqNzBhhrA6jgsKlx_6PwDr38LDmlUFhYJZOLA-wnDb9V-xr3OmKAFj8COSp3P5h9YldT8AdZbOXyJE2IUZVqTgpskrketDGY0XBJht8Kc7YynuiXhBt0/s2048/20210603_142502.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9N0F61hV-IhIQCOSbaqNzBhhrA6jgsKlx_6PwDr38LDmlUFhYJZOLA-wnDb9V-xr3OmKAFj8COSp3P5h9YldT8AdZbOXyJE2IUZVqTgpskrketDGY0XBJht8Kc7YynuiXhBt0/w480-h640/20210603_142502.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT15eJiT6D8PK4iwv4zclm4DI-BBP5irmmno3d7ZDWwhFe3oPi-8TUAKZCwsWxwZaOeePQ5VR8cbQXYFuDCm6XdVHbHNH45IWuySr_l1nvWAAAuHWIHvRL6QntBYB2G5DpPsDN/s2048/20210603_142507.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT15eJiT6D8PK4iwv4zclm4DI-BBP5irmmno3d7ZDWwhFe3oPi-8TUAKZCwsWxwZaOeePQ5VR8cbQXYFuDCm6XdVHbHNH45IWuySr_l1nvWAAAuHWIHvRL6QntBYB2G5DpPsDN/w480-h640/20210603_142507.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Do you see two of what looks like a very wide gear, up against two wheels but back behind the horizontal shafts at the outside of the engine? Well, the shaft is driven by the steam pressure, and it turns those gears, which then turns the wheels. That's a Shay engine.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUCcUgBHBH2UusxqBS_pitFhHzM9ZhN6fB0zq8cBu4kpq40SMP2RclDTSMHPOLF8FdQPi5OuSMncfov246nQEsJ3gxi8F7vmSj3oW28hIFFwbiKABb5qairyLwlMuB2PH4R99_/s2048/20210603_142612.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUCcUgBHBH2UusxqBS_pitFhHzM9ZhN6fB0zq8cBu4kpq40SMP2RclDTSMHPOLF8FdQPi5OuSMncfov246nQEsJ3gxi8F7vmSj3oW28hIFFwbiKABb5qairyLwlMuB2PH4R99_/w480-h640/20210603_142612.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Here is where the steam is compressed and drives the horizontal shafts.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKkr7DAZbGbcLTcWbn49Y9aTc9l08QzEBg78FFKcw0AOmkWfAcCIfnGrCEBuoRqmUNuigaf6xYGNBx1gYPMneCKN6jLfwQ_dXnNr_dpFzxoLx7Q78pb05dFJ_n3LNzHruTUn2/s2048/20210603_142755.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKkr7DAZbGbcLTcWbn49Y9aTc9l08QzEBg78FFKcw0AOmkWfAcCIfnGrCEBuoRqmUNuigaf6xYGNBx1gYPMneCKN6jLfwQ_dXnNr_dpFzxoLx7Q78pb05dFJ_n3LNzHruTUn2/w480-h640/20210603_142755.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>The air cleared a bit, but it was still chilly. Time to head down the mountain.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Back Down, Watching the Gears Drive the Shay Engine</h2><p>Down through spruce, yound and old, through birches. All of us wrapped up from the damp and wind and cold.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijLRxNClAdVbxbLnryLFoCWhXEhcCLZ47wGsvr-hgb_Rsw5JBjzOfdrGueXyRGdzPZS0hg-UTtkZSos_XAP0Mt1TTdlvZwcEd_ArbNbbiZDBM2ZXUHs2t9n22GqEbLlZsJou0h/s2048/20210603_151423.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijLRxNClAdVbxbLnryLFoCWhXEhcCLZ47wGsvr-hgb_Rsw5JBjzOfdrGueXyRGdzPZS0hg-UTtkZSos_XAP0Mt1TTdlvZwcEd_ArbNbbiZDBM2ZXUHs2t9n22GqEbLlZsJou0h/w640-h480/20210603_151423.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Ridge after ridge...far beyond our vision.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI0-l1N7RWIwX0MOU8NcLWM6uXunWTfu62twVr1dGx8vzTjWU8JhU27s_rvY7UEUs51lIf0lwrezGOnCUxpwbqguqrakpcRl3ivS5jGcanoUEsr249B-MPVlphR_qP-Val7PRt/s2048/20210603_152016.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI0-l1N7RWIwX0MOU8NcLWM6uXunWTfu62twVr1dGx8vzTjWU8JhU27s_rvY7UEUs51lIf0lwrezGOnCUxpwbqguqrakpcRl3ivS5jGcanoUEsr249B-MPVlphR_qP-Val7PRt/w640-h480/20210603_152016.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Think about a train, loaded with heavy lumber, inching down a steep grade. They needed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shay_locomotive">Shay engines</a>, driven directly by big gears, to do the work: a regular steam train wouldn't do well.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifPF9fuuL47TTF8_eJCh8uD9F-Hr7WBkmjC9EFds1CdkzqCumtvN87oFzeNJ9OBH_AE7fbTBLNa8ZYfzxZfVpTpRvHhYFrjkjmKqZqi1laUVOdy_zDkX3UTgtZWAlgrNwV5vye/s2048/20210603_160340.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifPF9fuuL47TTF8_eJCh8uD9F-Hr7WBkmjC9EFds1CdkzqCumtvN87oFzeNJ9OBH_AE7fbTBLNa8ZYfzxZfVpTpRvHhYFrjkjmKqZqi1laUVOdy_zDkX3UTgtZWAlgrNwV5vye/w480-h640/20210603_160340.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Here's a video of it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0r3HBKo3tM):</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A0r3HBKo3tM" width="320" youtube-src-id="A0r3HBKo3tM"></iframe></div><br /><div>Replenishing water again, this time from a tower. </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JwfmmclSzoB0Wip85i3ono9uAXFAZ8-3Lj4om4ee5YTMjQNObARKBbh1yZC0gMXNzVkR2Obp9uYSXMae7nJiLPcQrX_b9I4z5xJ9KZTLWefktD8hYtwXU4CZppvmjivGqpld/s2048/20210603_161931.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JwfmmclSzoB0Wip85i3ono9uAXFAZ8-3Lj4om4ee5YTMjQNObARKBbh1yZC0gMXNzVkR2Obp9uYSXMae7nJiLPcQrX_b9I4z5xJ9KZTLWefktD8hYtwXU4CZppvmjivGqpld/w480-h640/20210603_161931.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Here is a video of it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_DYu5Ey6G8):</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2_DYu5Ey6G8" width="320" youtube-src-id="2_DYu5Ey6G8"></iframe></p><p><br /></p><p>I noted that the railroad employees, one per car, often leaned out and looked at the brakes on each car, to make sure that all was well. Even a scenic ride is a bit of an adventure on such steep grades.</p><p>As we came back into Cass, the engineer blew the achingly haunting steam whistle into the valley air. I never tire of the sound. Here it is in video (not mine this time, but a better recording). Believe it's the same engine; it has a particularly resonant voice. There are lots of videos of Cass trains, and different engines have different whistle voices. Wonderful, isn't it?</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pSnHMO9SVWk" width="320" youtube-src-id="pSnHMO9SVWk"></iframe></div><br /><p></p><p>So that was our ride. I grew up loving steam steam trains because my dad is a big train buff -- so is my husband -- but hadn't ridden one in many years. This trip was a welcome reminder of how nifty they are.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Working Eastward Again, the Mountains Are Easier</h2><p>Leaving Cass and heading east again, to the observatory and then Floyd, Virginia, was a far easier trip than winding our way across the mountains from Kentucky. The mountains run more north to south rather than gidget all over the place, and though the ridges are higher, the valleys widen and become soft and full of farms and woodlots, and there are more towns and eventually the city of Roanoke. It's beautiful country, too, in a softer way. Alas, I have no pictures, as again, I was driving.</p><p>If you ever get the opportunity, the railroad is a neat one to visit...I hope you will!</p><p><br /></p></div></div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-58674448854120850992021-05-23T22:45:00.035-04:002021-08-31T22:19:13.835-04:00An 1895 Godet Petticoat With Boning and Stiffened Frills: Trials With Forms of Boning, Cables, Reed, Rope, and Steel<div class="separator">You still with me on this petticoat journey? It's an extraordinarily long one, isn't it? The goal of figuring out how to make a godet petticoat with the proper flare is no longer me trying to make a costume, it's trying to figure out how original methods might have actually worked. After all, we have read about them, seen them in photos and film; let's see one in action.</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><i>(By the way, if some of the pictures aren't set to the middle of the page and the text looks wonky, I cannot seem to fix the HTML; the code view won't allow most of my edits and the "Compose View" tools don't always work as they should. It's annoying.)</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2021/04/an-1895-godet-petticoat-with-boning-and.html">Last post I added a buckram-stiffened tall hem facing</a> to the seamed-up silk petticoat, creating a perhaps unnecessary understructure to hold the boning/whatever and haircloth frills that are supposed to create the silhouette we're after. It's not likely that I will quite reach the look of the lady in a frame from an 1890s film clip, standing in Plaza San Marco in Italy, feeding the pigeons, but that remains the goal.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFBeK1kWFuNeT_CNvCVkJIFiwx5Phyphenhyphen1SXt4-dI2tNd7bT4kw7iB0DGJfKe_Kn3HtubiOdJwihEmf50_qXtH70uj5rwoMuoNtc2PvewAIxLHpVqJk2GLecIeSVWU6UrZuqb6xw2/s1199/towards+a+better+silhouette.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="1199" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFBeK1kWFuNeT_CNvCVkJIFiwx5Phyphenhyphen1SXt4-dI2tNd7bT4kw7iB0DGJfKe_Kn3HtubiOdJwihEmf50_qXtH70uj5rwoMuoNtc2PvewAIxLHpVqJk2GLecIeSVWU6UrZuqb6xw2/w640-h288/towards+a+better+silhouette.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From a workaday conservative silhouette to a fashionable silhouette</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>You can find all of the posts describing the design and construction of this petticoat on the <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/p/1890s-outfit.html">1890s Costume & Research</a> page, under the header <b>1895 Silk Godet Petticoat With Multiple Hem Stiffeners and Stiffened Frills</b>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>This</i> post describes the set of experiments I made on the bottom of the petticoat while winter still had its hold on Kentucky, and then a second round in May. I tested some of the means that dressmakers had employed to achieve amplitude and that are explicated at length in the posts </div><a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2019/11/1895-outfit-period-methods-to-add-skirt_13.html"></a><ul style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2019/11/1895-outfit-period-methods-to-add-skirt_13.html"></a><li><a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2019/11/1895-outfit-period-methods-to-add-skirt_13.html"></a><a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2019/11/1895-outfit-period-methods-to-add-skirt_13.html">Petticoats with Crinoline, Ties, Bones, Wires!</a>;</li><li><a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2020/04/1895-outfit-period-methods-to-add-skirt.html">Steels, Rattan, Candlewicking, and Dust Ruffles</a>.</li></ul><div><div style="text-align: left;">By the way, almost all of the posts in the series have been edited and expanded over the last year as I have returned to the primary resources looking for answers to questions that would come up as this project proceeded. There's nothing like making a garment to make you ask new questions, is there?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Also in the experimemtal mix were some unusual modern materials, because I wanted to see if recycled materials might work.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">What Shape Do I Want to Create -- The Godet Look Physics</h2><div>I wanted to echo the shape of Isobel Mallon's moreen and haircloth-frill petticoat* and add just a few of the lovely godet flutes present in <i>The Delineator</i> haircloth petticoat. Okay, clearly not as many godet flutes as the Delineator model which is brimming with them. More like two or three flutes. And with the boning or wires creating a lightweight result. After all, writers of the day complained about how heavy haircloth petticoats and interlinings were and how hot and tiring to wear.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvy7fZHJm5pygjgqmKZrlsLveskt14nqxkbcAbn5_A27XiEl_gYyHPn_sbYyx8G4fgilMWIbC7vwfVpIAmBCvEGfXt65IclFR-hGw1K-P41nQJwSMXgX3JfIqHllR00CpGuPxG/s810/godet+plus+frilled+petticoat+design+mix.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="810" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvy7fZHJm5pygjgqmKZrlsLveskt14nqxkbcAbn5_A27XiEl_gYyHPn_sbYyx8G4fgilMWIbC7vwfVpIAmBCvEGfXt65IclFR-hGw1K-P41nQJwSMXgX3JfIqHllR00CpGuPxG/w400-h304/godet+plus+frilled+petticoat+design+mix.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>This is a complicated shape to create, because the boning or wire or rattan has to both hold the skirt out at front and sides but also be flexible enough to collapse into godet plaits in the back when those flutes are forced into position by being sewn to elastic tapes set in 2-3 rows down the back. It truly is a physics problem because the boning or stiffening has to be good at two things, not just one.</div><div><br /></div><div>We know that creating this shape using other means than building it entirely out of hair cloth or grass cloth is possible because of all the period magazine, newspaper and book content discussing the matter that I have uncovered, and of course the sample of Warren's Skirtbone.</div><div><br /></div><div>*Note: The <i>Ladies Home Journal</i> petticoat description said that the petticoat had a godet cut, but the illustration doesn't show fully formed godet plaits up to the top of the petticoat like the <i>Delineator</i> design has. A godet shape could also be obtained by gathering the back of the skirt, according to some sources I've read over the lifetime of this project. A petticoat with a drawstring arrangement in the back would do the job, and because the magazine description and illustration did not include godet flutes all the way up to the top of the petticoat, I am inclined to think that the design was intended to use the drawstring method.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Were Wired Petticoats Usually Round? I Don't Know</h2><div><br /></div><div>However, I do NOT know how many petticoats that sported wires or boning were shaped with godet plaits. Yes, people took patents out for underskirts in the godet shape, but I don't know if any made it to market, and doubt any did or magazines and advertisements would have trumpeted it. None of the textual evidence is clear about what shape was created when boning or wires were used in <i>petticoats</i> as opposed to wired or boned <i>outer skirts</i>. For all I know, most petticoats stiffened in this way looked rather like a variety of hoopskirt, and only the outer skirt had the godet shape. Take the example of the petticoat and its matching outer skirt sold by Live Auctioneers. We don't know how the auction company mounted the garments, and so the petticoat may be held out by modern means, but it could be boned or wired...but not in a godet plait shape.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZrX4q_3SfxHWFJu1HwLvD1ljdHnooklRo8kHQ7KNVVUE0-KvYeIFLQ4olctykGLO7kfXR6DGwf28fU_I3YxroR-N5kPFPdsp0ppK4j3l8Y1GBjIZsjdxikwbZBrUjCTRcTMmC/s944/1890s-brocade-skirt-and-petticoat-liveauctioneers2019-combo.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="944" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZrX4q_3SfxHWFJu1HwLvD1ljdHnooklRo8kHQ7KNVVUE0-KvYeIFLQ4olctykGLO7kfXR6DGwf28fU_I3YxroR-N5kPFPdsp0ppK4j3l8Y1GBjIZsjdxikwbZBrUjCTRcTMmC/w640-h346/1890s-brocade-skirt-and-petticoat-liveauctioneers2019-combo.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1890s brocade petticoat and outer skirt. Live Auctioneers, 2019.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /><br /></div><div>I don't have extant examples or images of godet-plaited petticoats held out with boning or wires yet for evidence. I do have <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2020/02/1895-outfit-period-methods-to-add-skirt.html">images of extant wired skirts with the proper effect</a>. The search goes on :}</div><div><br /></div><div>It's only as the project has worn on that I've realized that I might be creating an outlier petticoat.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ah well, it's all a journey.</div><div><br /></div>As we learned in <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">Petticoats with Crinoline, Ties, Bones, Wires</a>, we could insert boning into the bottom to help hold the petticoat out. I thought about Isobel Mallon's directions in "Comfortable Dressing in Summer" (<i>Ladies Home Journal</i>, July 1895, p. 21):<br /><div><blockquote style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding: 0px;"><i><br />I would advise a skirt of mohair, cut exactly as if it were a dress skirt, and stiffened with five rows, quite close to each other, of the narrow whalebones that come for this purpose. They are mounted in the center of a braid that, extending beyond the bone on each side, makes it easy to sew the bands in position. This bone is pliable, as the best quality of whalebone is used, and it certainly will hold the skirt exactly as fashion dictates."<br /><br /></i></blockquote></div><div>Lots of other sources, which I have documented in the <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">Period Methods to Add Skirt Fullness</a> post series suggest needing only one row of boning or wire. I decided to start with just one row of boning.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's where we get to have some fun. The search for a good boning product that would allow the petticoat to undulate rather than stand out like a hoopskirt has been many months long.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some ideas were dismissed:<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Warren's Skirtbone is no longer made or sold, and it's too valuable an historical notion to use in a skirt. Warren's Featherbone is too big and stiff for the job.</li><li>We'd never want to use baleen.</li><li>Regular steel boning and tutu wire are too stiff.</li><li>Very thin and flexible zip ties connected with duct tape <i>might </i>work, but I'd have to buy some and test it. Zip ties of the quality used for corsets are far too stiff.</li><li>I thought of the wire option, also common in the period. </li><ul><li>Most easily available fine wires hold a bend when you put one in them (which feature is called memory). We don't want that for sure.</li><li>We definitely don't want that springy jewelry wire for stringing beads because it's is too thin unless braided, and then it would become quite expensive to use. </li><li>Sailboat stay wire for small dinghies was a thought, since I am familiar with it from my sailboat, but it won't produce enough curve for the organ or godet pleats.</li></ul></ul><p></p><div>That left the following stiffeners. I inserted each of them in turn at the bottom of the faced hem of the petticoat:</div><div><ul><li>round spring galvanized wire -- more of a wire rope, because it's composed of many wire strands</li><li>two kinds of boning</li><li>rattan cane</li><li>PET material from milk jugs (yes, really)</li><li>Cat5 cabling (desperation time)</li><li>1/4" diameter nylon rope, to stand in for 1.25" thick silk cord which was out of budget</li><li>And one more.</li></ul><div>Meanwhile, I had pinned and sewn the top of the petticoat into three box pleats and created three ersatz godet plaits with pins and bias tape straps on the inside. Two plaits is the minimum used originally: dressmakers sometimes created many of them across the back of the skirt. Then I stuffed each plait, in line with period suggestions to use stuffing to help hold the plaits in a rounded shape. To hold the stuffing, I pinned the plaits shut. I won't do that for the final plaits: they need to be open in back and I haven't worked out how to hold the stuffing in there. The resulting plaits are not shaped well, frankly. They need a lot more work.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Some pictures:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60JLtAdnETP8m37ovRoZSC3KcXIEhfsx9zksHPzMYuKUgKGi3Tngm0vsEnEYc0noQnpi9_DRZdTvCr0Ktr3orgxCthxcfROjQeLZ8J0AIYpPV5CvXFU3JByrgEbMskbJ_48UQ/s2048/20210306_165936.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60JLtAdnETP8m37ovRoZSC3KcXIEhfsx9zksHPzMYuKUgKGi3Tngm0vsEnEYc0noQnpi9_DRZdTvCr0Ktr3orgxCthxcfROjQeLZ8J0AIYpPV5CvXFU3JByrgEbMskbJ_48UQ/s320/20210306_165936.jpg" /></a></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>The pinned godet plaits. You can see that there are two box plaits. The silk shantung has enough body to ensure that there is already a bit of roundness to the pleats.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrW4buS9eY-AZp5OZbNzZhJIfb2prcgt1snVbXT4qM9rGXQfcVMVt_1mw9ZChjmsRkq9yKTneO3CMxSceZv87s-ZhmjUled-RIVnsoRcgfeba5MLzNTMi903F4-FjFJ5BgJqEt/s2048/20210306_165930.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrW4buS9eY-AZp5OZbNzZhJIfb2prcgt1snVbXT4qM9rGXQfcVMVt_1mw9ZChjmsRkq9yKTneO3CMxSceZv87s-ZhmjUled-RIVnsoRcgfeba5MLzNTMi903F4-FjFJ5BgJqEt/s320/20210306_165930.jpg" /></a></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Here are the finished plaits from the inside. The plaits are controlled by being sewn in place with elastic. Here, I am using just a single row of bias tape as a placeholder.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJEhKBvYBWVyTRyHwb0-5VA7W1U4hITDdPZAeZF2a_RemzUyQkiyiF5kesy0bkTgl4cUETYEiw6W8zI7o35hHuj8a8cCQYYUAH9PQeQY_rPkBu1eVentYHf92iX-Lq1mwC_vGh/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJEhKBvYBWVyTRyHwb0-5VA7W1U4hITDdPZAeZF2a_RemzUyQkiyiF5kesy0bkTgl4cUETYEiw6W8zI7o35hHuj8a8cCQYYUAH9PQeQY_rPkBu1eVentYHf92iX-Lq1mwC_vGh/w240-h320/image.png" width="240" /></a></div><br />Here are the placeholder ersatz godet plaits again from the outside, with the top 12 inches or so (a quarter yard, per instruction from <i>Ladies Home Journal</i>, stuffed with washed and carded wool from my sheep, Lana and her daughter, Nina. Real godet plaits are prettier. They are wider at the top, and less crazily tube-like. You can see, however, how the back at the hem begins to form wide flutes. They are far from perfect, but the idea is there.</div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">PET Milk Jug Strips</h3></div><div><br /></div><div>This was the first experiment, about which I was really excited in fall of 2020 when I ran a first test. PET is the acronym for polyethylene terephthalate, a plastic increasingly used as food packaging. It recycles easily, it can be melted at low temperatures, and it's really bendy. I cut up milk jugs into roughly 1" wide strips, literally ironed the strips together into a four-yard length, boiled them in a pot for a few minutes to relax the milk jug shape, and wrapped them around a steel water bottle to cool into a spring shape. I made two strips, one from Kroger milk jugs, and one from thicker Sam's Club milk jugs.</div><div><br /></div><div>The pieces of milk jug "boning" were nested next to the bottom seam, then held in place by oh so many pins. The petticoat was the mounted on the dress form to see how the edge held. <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">I compared it to the period photographs and film clips of how 1890s skirts moved</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I was so excited about the potential victory that I videoed it...but never used the video because, well, the PET strips didn't work.<ul style="text-align: left;"><br /><li>The Kroger thinner milk jug strip gave the petticoat hem some shape, but it wasn't great.</li><li>The Sam's Club milk jug strips partially reverted to their old shapes when the plastic cooled, and created too stiff a line anyhow.</li></ul><div>Here are some pictures.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrvOfcQPZAYC1Bx7aSZYG8gAEYvgFq9CCECdEceRRmwtpmrz4HitSYUKNwa3l1Cgzpd7uWhgU6vDAJTUn74q-K2UuuU5F3QLyn612R0xP0cBohzWCd2BYT46q1b_CnxBPtJZXn/s2048/20210228_142240.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrvOfcQPZAYC1Bx7aSZYG8gAEYvgFq9CCECdEceRRmwtpmrz4HitSYUKNwa3l1Cgzpd7uWhgU6vDAJTUn74q-K2UuuU5F3QLyn612R0xP0cBohzWCd2BYT46q1b_CnxBPtJZXn/s320/20210228_142240.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A roll of the processed milk jug "boning".</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Now for how it looks on the petticoat.</div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrm2-IeJkQA5ER42Tm-mdlovmSCNhcnwrOVE6WRJtxD2ggyYpcj99i6qumBjgkMZqtTZKWIKE6afsbDVVexk5ixIGv5A03vs5oZstsFXhUUGG5KqFjoPI5mWsB57zM_HvcFB2y/s2048/20210228_163027.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrm2-IeJkQA5ER42Tm-mdlovmSCNhcnwrOVE6WRJtxD2ggyYpcj99i6qumBjgkMZqtTZKWIKE6afsbDVVexk5ixIGv5A03vs5oZstsFXhUUGG5KqFjoPI5mWsB57zM_HvcFB2y/s320/20210228_163027.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Results, front.</td></tr></tbody></table><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Oog. The front of the petticoat is collapsing. The milk jug boning doesn't have enough strength to hold the fabric out.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqtnk2zjq4y8GdFferE3DkHQei9IA7KdbIbI1qnBnWLgayJpbLgGYOobcwoYgAv1IY9Tn6tYJRCX_nBDcwJCyIrxOLttUuXiMhixJk0abiWPGw-B3u4tJjeWJgHGtCrFuJnZgK/s2048/20210228_163049.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqtnk2zjq4y8GdFferE3DkHQei9IA7KdbIbI1qnBnWLgayJpbLgGYOobcwoYgAv1IY9Tn6tYJRCX_nBDcwJCyIrxOLttUuXiMhixJk0abiWPGw-B3u4tJjeWJgHGtCrFuJnZgK/s320/20210228_163049.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Result, back. Yuck.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div><p></p><br />It's hard to tell from a distance, but only one godet plait has been held out; that's the two sides of the skirt flaring out in imitation of godet plaits, but in the wrong place. Failure.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">1/8th-3/16ths Diameter Galvanized Wire Rope</h3><div><br /></div><div>Well, that experiment lasted oh, five minutes. Wayyyy too stiff: it turned the petticoat into a sort of hoop shape. Besides, it added more weight than was good. Maybe a smaller diameter wire might work? Didn't follow up, because entering a store during the height of COVID spread wasn't going to happen (I am immunocompromised due to a kidney transplant so that it's super-easy to get sick).</div><div><br /></div>The results:<br /><br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsP5JCxedS7kuEyctvkH9Jqqqy4JPg6LPZ8-VbLzQpjiKOANoJOCFtiXFmXnSDv2xukpoTEZ0bScjEX7abh3GY70vp7qn_C4eb3m8Lc0yjoxMgiFQIaLAu0WhTNFk9iLYHGSub/s320/20210228_164938.jpg" /><br /><br />Here is the wire. It's the same stuff I used for the sleeve puffers.<br /><div><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVLsyczNpqArcXxmrl5fuFkNTZWrbtLwd2GQB_eTn1rw41zsDJuUnTSRaam2MaiPGBcNxUKet9705p8giayuYzI45B1EH-oKwE0qZLgmyYAUzMv3lFyyzHGEkBz0TLs_oUXUZr/s2048/20210228_165547.jpg" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVLsyczNpqArcXxmrl5fuFkNTZWrbtLwd2GQB_eTn1rw41zsDJuUnTSRaam2MaiPGBcNxUKet9705p8giayuYzI45B1EH-oKwE0qZLgmyYAUzMv3lFyyzHGEkBz0TLs_oUXUZr/s320/20210228_165547.jpg" /></a></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on"><br />The back when the wire rope was threaded into the bottom of the petticoat hem. The spring was just too much: it created one giant swoop of fabric that ate the godet plaits, and would overpower whatever ties I created under the skirt to hold the flutes in position. Failure.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Very Thin Split Cane</h3></div><div><br /></div><div>Dee-saster. I used split cane, which is rounded on one side, flat on the other. Not only was the cane so stiff that it wouldn't hold godet plaits, but it's quite brittle: I broke it several times. It's also so light that the petticoat hem wouldn't stay even. Soaking it would strengthen the cane, but again, it wanted to go all hoop-like.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here are the results.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivES-8YflFQg0Hn-yl1-KtZ-EELnp41QFToU_UaSWdAAsTx2L8RbrTCH0vgMMyyh8byWjgvsuljXF1SBRaeQeDpG2fmXsOqPiLPyQGctZ3pGmofPjkR-LCz3_uykM8Ly7Zfs3r/s2048/20210228_173228.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivES-8YflFQg0Hn-yl1-KtZ-EELnp41QFToU_UaSWdAAsTx2L8RbrTCH0vgMMyyh8byWjgvsuljXF1SBRaeQeDpG2fmXsOqPiLPyQGctZ3pGmofPjkR-LCz3_uykM8Ly7Zfs3r/s320/20210228_173228.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Here is the front. It's rounded but the slides collapsed. Wish I had a picture of that.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs-_rqy-r_2fQ9Bsn9K31YFAMTjoK8078nxkT0gJinw9bxibwFxMZPfqzj2xtHD53GfcovFiO4OSR-ApH3kCi2-o02vQc8d5NRdhcW3ritvytbLbRdVnH3iPdv-XbLnI_RdAK3/s320/20210228_173207.jpg" /><br /><br />Here is how the cane at the bottom of the hem looks in back. Meh. Once again, the cane boning eats the godet plaits, and creates swoops at the sides. When I forced the back swoop into two godet plaits, the cane argued with me and then broke. You can also see that it's so light that the hem won't stay even at the bottom. No go: failure again. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Recycled CAT5 Cabling</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">By this time I was getting punchy, having spent probably 5 hours over several days readying materials, and sitting on the floor threading whatever material I was testing into the hem, then pinning it like crazy. A trip to the basement hunting for options produced this silly idea, but you know, it created massive flutes! Just a little too big for our purposes. I've always wanted an internet-ready skirt, haven't you?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Pictures.<br /></div><div><div class="separator"><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4b_puwafe0qEGt9qtV6X_Z-CoOvWMTwTikkUV4WK1f1ZdHulBtYTdimh9tmKCCfs74GiKN8rcNWf7QIuxQPhAG5-ikk7N1PbSkf1l1USd-EufABgS565QBAUR-eZy72zetU1/s2048/20210228_175507.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4b_puwafe0qEGt9qtV6X_Z-CoOvWMTwTikkUV4WK1f1ZdHulBtYTdimh9tmKCCfs74GiKN8rcNWf7QIuxQPhAG5-ikk7N1PbSkf1l1USd-EufABgS565QBAUR-eZy72zetU1/s320/20210228_175507.jpg" /></a></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">Here is the CAT5 cabling; it's ordinarily used for internet service. It has a little bit of spring to it, but not much.<br /><br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_3DBBs0XWEY69eAJoWygKQL7ZpObov2iXp0IZOcvWPihijWlOIfZ-hNVKuxj1fITnvg2kwXrXHZO2MM0oLyWvddTFRil838oOGKpg1BG4LdTJ9pZaNsialbewpsju-clTRqz/s320/20210301_153628.jpg" /><br /><br /><br />Here is the cabling threaded through the hem in the front. It creates nice swoopy folds, but we don't want that in front, we want a nice flare! Still we could plug it in, right? :}</div></div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnXrJHAaMh_AM1cM4c6i-PkXEWx7NgXb2coBp3zRaGiutV1pAPpmruiazGblNhYhc-qX5_3pnjzaR4bByadKhALVMdY-feFfbq6ECOJZylNQvoqIPMZyuwulPl7Hb0_HHi1QFw/s2048/20210301_154507.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnXrJHAaMh_AM1cM4c6i-PkXEWx7NgXb2coBp3zRaGiutV1pAPpmruiazGblNhYhc-qX5_3pnjzaR4bByadKhALVMdY-feFfbq6ECOJZylNQvoqIPMZyuwulPl7Hb0_HHi1QFw/s320/20210301_154507.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Here's the back view. Nope. The cabling is trying unsuccessfully to follow the lines of the two trained box plaits, but there is a giant "in-swoop" to the inside of the petticoat. Again, failure.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Rigilene</h3><div><br /></div><div>It's pretty soft for boning as Quinn of The Quintessential Clothes Pen warned, and doesn't give a whole lot of support in bodices, but people are using it to stiffen ball-gown skirts, so it seemed I'd better test it. Ordered a roll of 50 feet for a few dollars, and tried it. Was feeling good about the material's chances so took the time to sew it into the buckram-stiffened hem. What a bloody -- literally -- mistake. Blech.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXhHQvOwxgJ8HsxbbvLkoIzEEMnWdG9q1teUyA0bUSxVVQfHu7ZcLds_JbsYvQNWcoKDRe5j5AE5mJ0vPT8oMwr9496vQZ2uTTWCgJI-V_TaF3Xg11NDSi1gRH50BMZRkOxCw/s2048/20210308_180739.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><br /><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXhHQvOwxgJ8HsxbbvLkoIzEEMnWdG9q1teUyA0bUSxVVQfHu7ZcLds_JbsYvQNWcoKDRe5j5AE5mJ0vPT8oMwr9496vQZ2uTTWCgJI-V_TaF3Xg11NDSi1gRH50BMZRkOxCw/s320/20210308_180739.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The Rigilene boning comes plain. I decided to encase it in twill tape, thinking I could sew the tape to the buckram right at the bottom of the petticoat hem.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZPfdGwWkNL8Vr7ztt_Q-2UMhFq3fIOC7iS4kB3bpR8wyuqhWN9OZwd79e-ZnNyKTfwyMo8k76QOghOm9qAOjorxmfjm0MD2V1pYRZuE_xpgwitwyKTyQcR2how_-RUnxJ0Hi/s2048/20210309_155817.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZPfdGwWkNL8Vr7ztt_Q-2UMhFq3fIOC7iS4kB3bpR8wyuqhWN9OZwd79e-ZnNyKTfwyMo8k76QOghOm9qAOjorxmfjm0MD2V1pYRZuE_xpgwitwyKTyQcR2how_-RUnxJ0Hi/s320/20210309_155817.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Here we are in the painful process of sewing the Rigilene into the 4-yard hem.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptEBnT7Ndh71-IIQIOvurUzkExElAkce3YDq3N3BJcg_zALXUrm5tWTM_KTIv3m9EOF0X-B6KGAKqU65MrmnE24stHZa9KzmOLvsoWve2ImscYSuaSIBe0OLEq-HG_-dWaMHv/s2048/20210312_154642.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptEBnT7Ndh71-IIQIOvurUzkExElAkce3YDq3N3BJcg_zALXUrm5tWTM_KTIv3m9EOF0X-B6KGAKqU65MrmnE24stHZa9KzmOLvsoWve2ImscYSuaSIBe0OLEq-HG_-dWaMHv/s320/20210312_154642.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Here is the front of the petticoat after the Rigilene has been sewn in. Underwhelming. It sort of flares, but also collapses. The sides collapse inward, too, so that the petticoat has little backward thrust. Once again, wish I had a picture of that. Would a second layer help in the front and sides? Probably, but it already weighs a bit. I was worried that it would add too much weight.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxv7dXDzBOCwVDz0taRDA47EGxLiX4YUlFvoA2jL7J8v1B9itau9l8iMr81uoH3aPzxeScJgMsqpPw9jz4LB0w1LlqdhyPJ1SEAo_867Le8mmeW-eMMvdVXRSRn07TjP7_asXk/s2048/20210312_154630.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxv7dXDzBOCwVDz0taRDA47EGxLiX4YUlFvoA2jL7J8v1B9itau9l8iMr81uoH3aPzxeScJgMsqpPw9jz4LB0w1LlqdhyPJ1SEAo_867Le8mmeW-eMMvdVXRSRn07TjP7_asXk/s320/20210312_154630.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The back. I bet I could train the plaits into place with the second row of elastic sewn to the edges of the plaits inside the skirt, so it sort of works. Well, one criterion has been met, but not the other.</div><div><br /></div><div>At this point the plaits had been stuffed, by the way.</div><div><br /></div><div>At the time, I counted the Rigilene boning as a failure. In retrospect, with multiple rows of it in the front and sides, it might have worked. Someone else might want to have a go. It's inexpensive, especially if you already have yards and yards on hand.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Nylon Rope</h3><div><br /></div><div>By now, it was mid-March. Several period sources suggested using silk cording on the exterior of fashion skirts to impart simultaneously some stiffening and some visual interest. Silk cord is available, but it's terribly expensive and I couldn't find anything in the 1.5-inch-diameter class. Since so many cords for centuries have actually been silk wrapped around a less expensive material, perhaps that's how the original 1890s cord was made.</div><div><br />Anyhow, being lean of purse, some 1/4"-diameter nylon rope in the basement looked like a good candidate. I cut it into the four-yard length, unstitched the Rigilene and pulled it out, and slowly coaxed the rope into the hem bottom. <br /><br />Hey, we had some nice undulations, but the front a sides were too likely to collapse, so I ran another length on top of the first cord around the front half of the skirt. Again, feeling good about the chances of this being the solution, I sewed it again, and added more blood spots to the silk. Nice.<br /><br />I made a 2-minute video about it. Watch it if you like. (If the video is not visible, please follow the link: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDvkNcN7j6Q">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDvkNcN7j6Q</a>.)</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SDvkNcN7j6Q" width="320" youtube-src-id="SDvkNcN7j6Q"></iframe></div><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on"><br />The results were not bad, really. There wasn't a whole lot of backward thrust in the petticoat but it did look rather like the silhouette of the Ladies Home Journal illustration. The rope is heavier than I wanted and I think that decreases the amplitude obtained. It was a decent if somewhat underwhelming candidate. We can't count it as a failure, any more than we can count the Rigilene as a failure. Unfortunately, you will have to take my word for the rope working, because I blanked out and didn't take photographs. After all this work, to miss documenting the results. Disappointing.<br /><br /></p><h2 style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: left;">The Project Sits Because I'm Unhappy With the Results, Until...Eureka!</h2><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on"><br />The costumer hack had worked but wasn't the boning I had promised. It was frustrating. The Rigilene was modern boning and in my view then had failed, and the reed was historical boning and it had failed too. Modern steel boning or tutu wire would produce a hoop effect, I knew for sure. <br /><br />I had the wild idea of purchasing a whole bunch of chicken feathers and processing them into homemade Skirtbone by core-spinning them on the spinning wheel with thread, for example, or using the information out there in the original patent. What a huge project replete with pitfalls that would have been.<br /><br />So the project went dormant. The petticoat left its spot on the mannequin and was banished to the shelf of an upstairs closet. We had three ice storms in a row, and then a week later springtime arrived. One day in April I decided to return to any primary source I could turn up about the wires: patents, newspaper articles, catalogs, advertisements, legal papers, magazines, surely more information would turn up. Although jeepers, in this overall project I've had to have spent over a hundred hours combing through primary texts and writing up thoughts afterwards, just like in the graduate school era. I guess you can't take the historian out of someone, even after they change careers. It's a rather insatiable urge, satisfied with little hits of dopamine, I suppose, whenever a lead turns something up.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">Back to history of this project. I struck gold this time and edited the <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">Petticoats with Crinoline, Haircloth, Ties, Bones, Wires!</a> post on April 25. Several quotations and an extant dress gave me what I needed. Here's one of them:</p></div><div>From a syndicated article appearing in The McCook Tribune (January 12, 1894):</div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p style="text-align: left;"><i>A swell dressmaker confessed recently that the reason why some of the flaring skirts hung out around the bottom with such a graceful flare was because of a flexible steel a quarter of an inch in width which runs through the hem. Some of the latest silk petticoats have two of these wires run through the folds, one at the hem and another a few inches above.</i></p></div></blockquote><div><p>Flexible steel is spring steel, which is ubiquitous today in industrial applications. 1/4" wide, too; that intimates that it's flat, not round. Because it's pretty narrow, and flat, and super flexible, it is likely a very thin steel. I was off to the races (an apropos choice of phrase because the thoroughbred racing Spring Meet at Keeneland was on just then). I was looking for an inexpensive source that wouldn't require me to talk an industrial supplier into selling oompty-tiddle feet of whatever. After rejecting a whole slew of options as out of my league, it seemed that repurposing an existing light industrial or consumer product was the way to go. A reel of steel fish line used to run electrical cords through walls looked promising, but it's pretty strong stuff, as I found by watching videos of electricians using it in houses.</p><p>And then, it hit me. I probably had the stuff already, in my house, all this time. Have you guessed?</p><p>It's a thin steel measuring tape, the miniature purse size that I carry around everywhere, ready to measure lumber, furniture, fabric. Pulled mine out, waved it around, bent it. Ooh! It bends into narrow flutes -- so it meets criterion #1. It springs back into a soft curve -- so it meets criterion #2. Plus, it's light as a feather. Holy cats! Eureka! (Maybe) I have found it!</p><p>I pulled up a ten-foot Stanley brand 1/4" steel measuring tape online, and bought two. So here's the experiment.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on"><b>1/4" wide steel measuring tape </b></p><br />After ripping out the stitching (again) that held the rope at the bottom of petticoat hem, I disassembled one of the measuring tapes, to find that not only did it hold the steel tape, but a nice long length of plain spring steel in the same bendiness and size. That's the steel spring that drives the pull of the measuring tape itself. It meant that I had more than 10 feet of steel in one container and would need only one measuring tape to create the four yards needed to go round the petticoat hem. I cut the steel off the reel, unhooked the measuring part that's barely attached to the spring part, overlapped them and duct taped both sections together, measured out just over 4 yards (12 feet) so there would be overlap once the steel was threaded through the hem, and duct taped each end, both of which were sharp.<br /><br />Then the metal strip was nested into the bottom of the petticoat. It was a slow go threading it in because there was no way I was going to take out the finished stitching holding the buckram. I'd had enough of that. One of the twins helped guide it through -- it's so thin it wants to try and bunch up. <br /><br />The results? At last. Even with ersatz godet plaits, you can see that the measuring tape offers the front and sides of the petticoat the desired flare. The back? It can be guided into the handsome godet plaits.<br /><br />Here are pictures.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyN2W2dWsSN4TQ3d2Ok3W4mepBEZthlpl0QzzS-7ObdGqDQb16SrfX95fNygHuHyBeAvpKDmT7QcpTMndcnk4ayBma4t_fK52KVBpcx4KrlskhjQcIzZ_GoprR4bUl7kF3cqLS/s2048/20210517_153841.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyN2W2dWsSN4TQ3d2Ok3W4mepBEZthlpl0QzzS-7ObdGqDQb16SrfX95fNygHuHyBeAvpKDmT7QcpTMndcnk4ayBma4t_fK52KVBpcx4KrlskhjQcIzZ_GoprR4bUl7kF3cqLS/s320/20210517_153841.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The spring steel from the disassembled measuring tape, with the second measuring tape (still whole) beside it for comparison. It's a small measuring tape that you can hold in the palm of your hand.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzAKWGNPm58J8P8b3MUBciB_EktGGNkzM5tY5m4KSXKzkNUWyOoBjPuUiG2fj0EJT1OuHO-WnilnEjVOWwmEQW1QoUG93SjMO4Sw3ev6IidRj4Y8oI4e-b1SkW_qsdK4UHaJB/s2048/20210517_160015.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzAKWGNPm58J8P8b3MUBciB_EktGGNkzM5tY5m4KSXKzkNUWyOoBjPuUiG2fj0EJT1OuHO-WnilnEjVOWwmEQW1QoUG93SjMO4Sw3ev6IidRj4Y8oI4e-b1SkW_qsdK4UHaJB/s320/20210517_160015.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Here you can see that I have run the final length of spring steel into the petticoat. The ends, protected by duct tape, just overlap each other. I could have used fabric and thread to bind the ends, but did not. Patience with the endless project is waning by this point.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIQGiuNzsM4ioV7t8v8-jgacUdaC0uv9irv7yQJJxukX-_v7DN5pQ-Tq-V10zYtuhFVAOB8Q8v69SlZoUe3CI5Afj4ifMjmpfchhSbcD5wP2viS9vRAAWfRHZczS7fzsPPOQ7W/s2048/20210517_164708.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIQGiuNzsM4ioV7t8v8-jgacUdaC0uv9irv7yQJJxukX-_v7DN5pQ-Tq-V10zYtuhFVAOB8Q8v69SlZoUe3CI5Afj4ifMjmpfchhSbcD5wP2viS9vRAAWfRHZczS7fzsPPOQ7W/s320/20210517_164708.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Here is a view of the petticoat from just off the front. You can see that the front and sides flare out. The final darts haven't been set in the waistline, the yoke isn't in to strengthen the top, and the second row of steel isn't inserted above the first row yet, but we have a good shape emerging. The steel is super-light, but heavy enough to hold the hem pretty even.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4l2jfiK4pOPakdm2osBS9BeesPybUvljcb4h6IA8QiOC2G6unmm2eF9e5TuiknTH71hmx9aG_OeqhLOBafxy3nR2qVp53CJImCikdEIxN5ICU0h3iQO6ApVaqoZTqHwAIQ1y/s2048/20210517_164717.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4l2jfiK4pOPakdm2osBS9BeesPybUvljcb4h6IA8QiOC2G6unmm2eF9e5TuiknTH71hmx9aG_OeqhLOBafxy3nR2qVp53CJImCikdEIxN5ICU0h3iQO6ApVaqoZTqHwAIQ1y/s320/20210517_164717.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Here is the side view. Do you see how the back-thrusted cut of the petticoat shows? That's the line of original godet petticoats. You can imagine just how excited I was to see this. All those illustrations in magazines and advertisements, they weren't exaggerating too much, were they? Do you see the rounded end at the back? The steel can curve pretty tightly. Good.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZlJ-TdIRqT82kzSGJiV-gYHDlcoweenNTeOvjuZD2uTw_moeKrn_SWfjpJbubM7Ewl0NQOXCH2qFu0kF22Mh7d7UsMfs1NrVrR1Inc0quEUqtdLQQG_jLx75_GUKMTR4dLQB/s2048/20210517_164726.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZlJ-TdIRqT82kzSGJiV-gYHDlcoweenNTeOvjuZD2uTw_moeKrn_SWfjpJbubM7Ewl0NQOXCH2qFu0kF22Mh7d7UsMfs1NrVrR1Inc0quEUqtdLQQG_jLx75_GUKMTR4dLQB/s320/20210517_164726.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Here's the back. Now, I freely admit that the ersatz godet plaits have been eaten by the spring of the wire. However, I had removed the plait stuffing, and the interior placeholder elastic godet shaper, so there's nothing but two box pleats to create the shape. Why did I do that? You're not supposed to change the experiment from trial to trial. Dumb move on my part. You can see a curve emerging, however, at the top of the petticoat, and we already saw the tight curve on the side view. </div><div><br /></div><div>The back looks like a failure on first inspection, but I was still excited. It was the only material to create the back-thrust effect, and I could see that the spring steel was capable of holding a tight curve. </div><div><br /></div><div>I then held the wire in my hand and moved it into the shape of two funnel shaped godet plaits, and the steel moved easily and without resistance. </div><div><br /></div><div>This material, despite the lack of complete plaits in the back, I counted a better success than the others. Not only did the overall front and side shape appear, and hints of the back plaits, but it was made of a close approximation of the period material.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now I need to build the real plaits and hold them in place with three rows of elastic sewn inside the the petticoat, and probably stuffing. Two rows of elastic will not be enough. Then we'll have another gander at it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's a video tour of the pre-finalized petticoat hem. (If you cannot see it, please see the link: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJPTO8J1W8w">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJPTO8J1W8w</a>.)</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UJPTO8J1W8w" width="320" youtube-src-id="UJPTO8J1W8w"></iframe></div><div><br /></div>Mmm, I've just noticed that the buckram is tipping in towards the interior of the skirt. The fix, below!<br /><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Petticoat Project's Next Steps</h2><div><span style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>The next step is to add a second row of spring steel at the top of the buckram so it won't tip inwards and to strengthen the flare. The second row of steel will perhaps go only on the front and sides, perhaps all the way around. Then I will test the look by making a beta test of the godet plaits. This is likely to take some experimentation, because the measurements in the German skirt pattern assume a smaller waist measurement than I have.<br /><br />While the rest of the petticoat has been handsewn, except for the frills to come, stitching through buckram has been a miserable experience, so the spring steel will be threaded through channels sewn on the Willcox and Gibbs machine.<br /><br />Then it will be time to sew the godet plaits into their final form, and to figure out how to stuff them so that they will hold their shape when the outer skirt is placed over them.<br /><br />After that, add a placket behind one of the box pleats, and sew on the hair cloth frills after box pleating them. I made the frill strips back in March. Then finish the waist with a yoke. Still a lot to do, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Boy, won't it be good to finish at last! I don't know how long this will take, however. Summertime is here, the boys are out of school, and so there is a lot going on.<br /><br />Hope you have enjoyed this part of the adventure. It took months and months, but it's so nice to have come up with a material that I believe is pretty close to the original. I'd like to schedule a visit with a museum in Ohio or Indiana at some point if they will allow it and see if a wired extant skirt is available for inspection. Then we may finally have full closure to this long-lasting puzzle.ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-10869905810170201722021-04-15T21:53:00.007-04:002021-04-15T22:12:17.415-04:00An 1895 Godet Petticoat With Boning and Stiffened Frills: Adding a Stiffened Hem Facing<p>While I haven't posted about the petticoat since February, it's not for lack of working on it. Oh no. There's been a ridiculous amount of work. Documentation simply fell behind. So. In this post I'll talk about a step I never meant to take: adding a stiffened hem facing before tackling the boning.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKoen4J_fSZS3ObWVOAsGohw9XtFrxsYgS1Wf0zbqciJNR-Y6Tv0A5w5StODLMA3aF7N22dCoJTKu_vtIzyOUnfz0MdycjU-yWCyiuKcD5G33QsJIbh0lm9_JTVsQYsl0tjLk6/s2048/petti+flat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKoen4J_fSZS3ObWVOAsGohw9XtFrxsYgS1Wf0zbqciJNR-Y6Tv0A5w5StODLMA3aF7N22dCoJTKu_vtIzyOUnfz0MdycjU-yWCyiuKcD5G33QsJIbh0lm9_JTVsQYsl0tjLk6/w480-h640/petti+flat.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The petticoat, laid flat, inside out, with facing sewn on <br />but not finished at the top.<br />The little lump of shadow on the sofa is Lily kitty in <br />the middle of a mid-winter nap.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>How did that happen? Trying the petticoat on the dress form is how it happened.</p><p>It seemed smart to see what the petticoat was like sans any stiffening whatever but with the godet pleats set in place. After all, without those large undulating flutes, the back is longer than the front and the entire thing looks ill-fitting.</p><p>So I set the petticoat onto the form, and then pinned the side darts approximately where my original pattern suggested to fit the sides into that hip-defining shape so typical of the decade, and pinning three very messy box pleats in the back, as close to where they are supposed to go as I could get given my larger waistline. The original pattern has oodles of initial waist room. Remember, it's the box pleating of that excess, and how the pleats are handled, that creates the godet plaits.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">No opening was cut. That can wait until the exact placement of the box pleats is set, and then an opening can go under one of the pleats.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">Here's what it looked like. My adjustable dress form isn't "me" at all: it's too wide across the front and two narrow from the side, especially if a corset were worn, and the godets are just pinned madly, but you get the idea.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPl12v0oM2gdSLjiM7A0x0AqwmF7WRmwXw8NM7mwzvX6AGEeMiV75K2X6ZU3TIvy0m_sYrl7twyyDE2KlaIC9BfhDBDoSwK7xi-uxXygGj_JIujGlAfWKsd-WDa5N9WjmOp2WJ/s2048/plain+petti+back.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPl12v0oM2gdSLjiM7A0x0AqwmF7WRmwXw8NM7mwzvX6AGEeMiV75K2X6ZU3TIvy0m_sYrl7twyyDE2KlaIC9BfhDBDoSwK7xi-uxXygGj_JIujGlAfWKsd-WDa5N9WjmOp2WJ/w480-h640/plain+petti+back.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The petticoat without stiffening, back</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH_3SgBhv8rVXdQ34vanOxUaobrg-FZFJQitbwLmbUuwfFOlgdPjxSYx8w9mZFi8uw798AiyFuDoADbqQTKb6kIC5V6sYRFz9w5Jm1BYvuuzYeJAzZa-92l0SNb-kKlXBfDYdR/s2048/plain+petti+front.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH_3SgBhv8rVXdQ34vanOxUaobrg-FZFJQitbwLmbUuwfFOlgdPjxSYx8w9mZFi8uw798AiyFuDoADbqQTKb6kIC5V6sYRFz9w5Jm1BYvuuzYeJAzZa-92l0SNb-kKlXBfDYdR/w480-h640/plain+petti+front.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The petticoat without stiffening, front</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhf-6_SyqrZqZvpAX9MVll2lzxjd4PfHHOiPDvbO1tT6TlnrQJ1DbJzhz6eAk2EF9eJQ6t4tT_W0g6voiVxa6DCD506PbZ2Hk2jUs-SpV9G4Uv4VZgBYD851zdoHvzTVT0Z8WX/s2048/plain+petti+side.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhf-6_SyqrZqZvpAX9MVll2lzxjd4PfHHOiPDvbO1tT6TlnrQJ1DbJzhz6eAk2EF9eJQ6t4tT_W0g6voiVxa6DCD506PbZ2Hk2jUs-SpV9G4Uv4VZgBYD851zdoHvzTVT0Z8WX/w480-h640/plain+petti+side.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The petticoat without stiffening, side</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">What a droopy back, but you can see that the godet plaits -- godet fluting -- organ folds -- whatever you want to call them -- have the potential to be beautiful if given something to help them puff, and that the full body of the silk shantung is a good match for that sort of effect. Something to keep in mind for outer skirts!</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Adding the Facing</h2><p>However, I looked at the silk and thought, putting boning or wires and especially the pleated haircloth frills from my inspiration petticoat is going to drag on that silk. I need a hem facing. Then I thought, whether it's overkill or not, I am going to stiffen that facing with interlining.</p><p>I am beginning to think like a mid-1890s home seamstress: stiffen, stiffen, any way you can! Beauty before ease... </p><p>The prospect of paying for more haircloth to use as interlining was not attractive, so out came milliner's crinoline (a bit different than tarlatan) from the stash. It proved too limp to do much. Here is some in my hand, so you understand what it's like.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7BWz7RCifwja5l8AGVJFb6G_DJ0OXHDlO2PoJFFPNiHVfICEHNzx1efMEbwkYaCU9V-zJdVpmmTSduAED08sr9wk3Pi2dc1fX9YFlymFmtpVeQrD6qs7EMr5bb7fQqSzbTw1A/s2048/crinoline.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7BWz7RCifwja5l8AGVJFb6G_DJ0OXHDlO2PoJFFPNiHVfICEHNzx1efMEbwkYaCU9V-zJdVpmmTSduAED08sr9wk3Pi2dc1fX9YFlymFmtpVeQrD6qs7EMr5bb7fQqSzbTw1A/w480-h640/crinoline.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Milliner's crinoline</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Out came milliner's buckram, a medium-heavy weight. That seemed about right in the hand, and probably too stiff, but I have what I have. Here it is.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkZBxUpMRxlV5NtuR4pvRtkMlko-LPd_5ERKrs4aDqB4qjqYxpB87miP_iYy6LO6srvbydojm2gqwbq_PhL0qu57pBBzbgzhW19ZPYsT3hRmpZWNXpz_uMNoZzpGziQgldJ2e/s2048/buckram.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkZBxUpMRxlV5NtuR4pvRtkMlko-LPd_5ERKrs4aDqB4qjqYxpB87miP_iYy6LO6srvbydojm2gqwbq_PhL0qu57pBBzbgzhW19ZPYsT3hRmpZWNXpz_uMNoZzpGziQgldJ2e/w480-h640/buckram.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Milliner's buckram, mid-weight. No flopping in the hand here...</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>So I cut the silk facing and the buckram interlining:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>5-inch wide facing pieces (including 1/2 inch for the bottom seam allowance and 1/2 inch for the top) was cut using the original pattern pieces as a guide, with 1/4 inch for each side seam allowance;</li><li>4-inch wide interlining, again using the pattern pieces as a guide.</li></ul><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">Because I had sewn the petticoat seams by hand, I hand-sewed the facing pieces onto the petticoat bottom too. Running stitch for two stitches, then a backstitch, and so on.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdRdNguqXGqv3JgMnrCMZhtMV_ui4W2gEqsyBq4455jNJSanmTXOShDgXUwNX-PE195aYZOjTtbCcJwq_8geXXQ_07jo-SbkyjHjIh1EAh4vosBcKPjts1x6qrCxR4ODsM2io4/s2048/20210222_160119.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdRdNguqXGqv3JgMnrCMZhtMV_ui4W2gEqsyBq4455jNJSanmTXOShDgXUwNX-PE195aYZOjTtbCcJwq_8geXXQ_07jo-SbkyjHjIh1EAh4vosBcKPjts1x6qrCxR4ODsM2io4/w480-h640/20210222_160119.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sewing the facing to the bottom of the petticoat while Nutmeg naps</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">...And tacked the interlining to one layer of the silk by hand. The tacking stitches will be covered by the haircloth frills. Dear Heaven, was tacking an <i>awful, unpleasant, bloody-hell </i>process. Why didn't I use a sewing machine? At that time we were in an icy cold snap, outside it was still getting dark early, and sitting at a machine up in the brr-chilly, shadowy upstairs was not enticing. </p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">So instead, stubborn -- but warm! -- silly that I was, the silk and buckram and I battled the entire four yards around the petticoat bottom, leaving multiple little bloody marks on the silk that never did come out completely. The needle kept hating to go through the silk and then would stop angrily on tough, thick buckram fibers and slip unexpectedly sideways and into my fingers.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">The facing was not hemmed over the buckram to finish the inside. That's a later step.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">That's the post for today.</p><div>Next up, the battle of the bones, wires, CAT5 cabling, canes, milk jugs, and cords to give the petticoat the delicious width and sweep it cries out for. Can you guess which one ended up staying in the petticoat hem?</div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-20530594195442861662021-02-18T17:02:00.009-05:002021-02-21T15:58:28.910-05:00Three Snows in a Row: Unusual Here in Central Kentucky<p>Good portions of the United States have had a miserable and dangerous time this past seven or eight days and portions of Kentucky have been trashed by repeat rounds of ice and sleet. The <a href="https://twitter.com/Kentuckyweather?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Twitter account of Chris Bailey</a>, our local weatherman, is full of downed trees and power lines, blocked roads and ice-sheathed everything, along with bizarre videos of sleet pouring off of roofs like barrel-fulls of ball bearings. Several friends were without power or power and water both, though the main damage has been to the east of us. The snow and cold will linger a few more days. </p><p>Outdoors, all is quiet except for the birds. Our street has been white and rarely traveled for over a week.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPtxtA12ScYUM-9X1z_yKAC6j_RoOKgwkfA4R_sstusnbwzIA4SWEBxeYcsaKPTK0EU0UQO1NbIc8PLdpzBKvlSyiareHo_YZNpcYMQU3Br1w_zKRKSQMKa1OVdzIif4efr6DX/s2048/20210218_144457.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPtxtA12ScYUM-9X1z_yKAC6j_RoOKgwkfA4R_sstusnbwzIA4SWEBxeYcsaKPTK0EU0UQO1NbIc8PLdpzBKvlSyiareHo_YZNpcYMQU3Br1w_zKRKSQMKa1OVdzIif4efr6DX/w480-h640/20210218_144457.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>At our house, we avoided a power outage this time, and the main concern has been feeding the birds, because everything is covered thus:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiedDnio0eYDIQuVO7q5wfSwApsnKsu08PLFd0uq-y-5PJraJfEQpOyDDJz-csHqURSXTYUJ-7lmwDrv3QKv_fxU8_sjUdf0Ns-P9LBDH2fcQYkDZEL9kGVs6IVu6nGHJ0K-_8c/s1251/snow+and+ice.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="751" data-original-width="1251" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiedDnio0eYDIQuVO7q5wfSwApsnKsu08PLFd0uq-y-5PJraJfEQpOyDDJz-csHqURSXTYUJ-7lmwDrv3QKv_fxU8_sjUdf0Ns-P9LBDH2fcQYkDZEL9kGVs6IVu6nGHJ0K-_8c/w640-h384/snow+and+ice.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>With two layers of ice on the ground, and most of the branches still encased, the birds can't get to food too easily. The below picture was at high magnification. The branches aren't blurry -- that's ice.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8G9AiEhugEUcCj6I2XayL1PMRV5XF19ODICJ1R3dalyoJgCLLnMOndthumMAKxPB9znHBiU3nJBkQF6PI2XZu0CLIjYckMndIh_8dc4ixSQ9W-S827n0RjhhqGncEgAInGGGB/s2048/20210212_142421.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8G9AiEhugEUcCj6I2XayL1PMRV5XF19ODICJ1R3dalyoJgCLLnMOndthumMAKxPB9znHBiU3nJBkQF6PI2XZu0CLIjYckMndIh_8dc4ixSQ9W-S827n0RjhhqGncEgAInGGGB/w480-h640/20210212_142421.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><p>We put out multiple feeding stations: the hanging feeder for the titmice and finches, cardinals, chickadees and sparrows; pans under the porch overhang and sprinkled over the snow for the robins and starlings -- who fussed at each other until realizing there was plenty of food for all -- and bluejays, and crows. I spread peanut butter and seed on a pinecone and hung it next to the arbor vitae for the wee birds, but the bigger birds found it until driven away by a squirrel, who hung upside down on it and chomped away.</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vRc5Pu8QwAk" width="320" youtube-src-id="vRc5Pu8QwAk"></iframe></p><p><br /></p><p>Here robins and a starling, feathers all puffed out against the cold, share the feeding pan in a protected spot next to the back door.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7JZepEUAmp6rJV9y_6u02M0YAm0GEezErM0tp8JRsa1NP2231wz2f4cmx9miJQC5RaIOkACSFqWQNqtJaNqWVC1hK6Z7qSDzg0HARgW3hZsvrcAPr4-0Qel4uC2OcWLPYrZsy/s2048/20210216_120531.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7JZepEUAmp6rJV9y_6u02M0YAm0GEezErM0tp8JRsa1NP2231wz2f4cmx9miJQC5RaIOkACSFqWQNqtJaNqWVC1hK6Z7qSDzg0HARgW3hZsvrcAPr4-0Qel4uC2OcWLPYrZsy/w640-h480/20210216_120531.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Inside the back door, the kitties watched and watched during most of the daylight hours, Nutmeg chattering and flattening herself, and sometimes pawing the door. Here they are after the first ice storm, when there was less white on the ground. The birds knew they are safe, so ate unconcernedly, and watched us all indoors as we watched them. It's a mutual watching society.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbqBuCSy9j-fVxyKeXiKFAZ18i8NH1MMofU7iOicS9JSWxPeDrcELPHqTHhlZqPA3ydusw1Rtnhp6PL91TnMPLwvO4YUi1GedR4aZWkkKww_mNrAc8GmuRDesYCEx3hE_DngO8/s2048/20210217_114148.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbqBuCSy9j-fVxyKeXiKFAZ18i8NH1MMofU7iOicS9JSWxPeDrcELPHqTHhlZqPA3ydusw1Rtnhp6PL91TnMPLwvO4YUi1GedR4aZWkkKww_mNrAc8GmuRDesYCEx3hE_DngO8/w480-h640/20210217_114148.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Over the week, some of the ice had not melted as much as evaporated in the cold, so the trees droop less, thank Heaven, and we no longer have 25 to 30 birds at a time. There is plenty of birdsong, so I think they are all right, or hoping so. Understand that ice storms can be really hard on the populations, although the spring nesting is usually highly successful, what with less competition. Oh my, the world is a hard place, even when it's beautiful.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the evenings, I'd cup my hands around my eyes to shade them, and peer outdoors to see if it might be snowing again. Sometimes it was, although the flakes were often small enough that the camera didn't catch them. I thought this picture was atmospheric: inside we have windmill palm trees, and the shadow of one is thrown onto the porch ceiling. A warm-cold contrast, I'd say.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMy5w-Y8SANkGz1IEun-_GTCmvbj55nAcNQRc0Cnz4Vf54vxUSOtE_KYw-G5Sg2hvOhTiivnt7ObDf1TT4QCDJK1oZD6NXACagHMCMree9HriMhZfcDpDty6i3aaloErMVDFZ/s2048/20210215_215347.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMy5w-Y8SANkGz1IEun-_GTCmvbj55nAcNQRc0Cnz4Vf54vxUSOtE_KYw-G5Sg2hvOhTiivnt7ObDf1TT4QCDJK1oZD6NXACagHMCMree9HriMhZfcDpDty6i3aaloErMVDFZ/w480-h640/20210215_215347.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><p>I took a walk this afternoon to take in the quiet and the sounds of the cardinals calling and a downy woodpecker somewhere up in a maple. Walking proved to be less than a silent affair:</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gLnxOkcfy0U" width="320" youtube-src-id="gLnxOkcfy0U"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>With each step I'd sink into fluff, then the boot would meet a hard surface that would suddenly give way down into the next layer. Like walking on a giant block of peanut brittle that kept falling through onto marshmallow or something.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then there was the sledding. The second-best day proved to be during the second storm, while it sleeted. That's not snow on the ground, those are ice pellets. The sledding was fast and furious, as one of our friends described it. Sledding on ball bearings would be :} </div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y9rTrUlbpFc" width="320" youtube-src-id="y9rTrUlbpFc"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>A sign of the times: masked sledding. The coverings did add warmth. And yes, one of our friends is filming the ride while sliding on a saucer sled, backwards. Fearless dude.</div><br /><div>One of the joys of being with your buddies:</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN3UTHf8nuwvO_cC8HnKAUOCiBxAoGnqWDGQ0tw6xImiA3S8a_2lgJh9yQyHtNSBMEesS-5CiACYs6dj21pCtEWlQ1b7iWNvqAPumAKlqKflR3nDKiahBjkhMw7QA74H0hyphenhyphen-L6/s2048/20210215_144917.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN3UTHf8nuwvO_cC8HnKAUOCiBxAoGnqWDGQ0tw6xImiA3S8a_2lgJh9yQyHtNSBMEesS-5CiACYs6dj21pCtEWlQ1b7iWNvqAPumAKlqKflR3nDKiahBjkhMw7QA74H0hyphenhyphen-L6/w480-h640/20210215_144917.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Yesterday's day on the slopes proved to be the best. The snow was thick and hard-packed -- the ice under cover now -- the temperature good and cold -- about 21 F when we arrived about 9:30 -- and our friends and a few acquaintances already there. Oh, did we have fun all morning! I was shaky-legged afterwards from walking up the hill so many times.</div><div><br /></div><div>I was entirely and perfectly happily a kid again:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QtQriFjhuQo" width="320" youtube-src-id="QtQriFjhuQo"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The thaw began this morning, Sunday. It's still thick in most spots, but the roofs are all dripping and where sunshine has warmed the surface, tips of grass are beginning to show. This was an historic week-plus, what with three storms. It didn't drop as much as we've had other years, but it's the longest lasting, and it was lovely to feel like I was in Ithaca once again, with the house bright with reflected light and the as bright with the prospect of playing or walking outdoors day after day in a world made wonderful. Once the animals were fed, that is.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>May you be safe wherever you are!</div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-27939529683632588082021-01-16T16:24:00.015-05:002022-07-24T17:57:07.338-04:00Examining an Antique Length of Warren's "Skirtbone", Boning for the Hems of Mid-1890s Skirts!<p><span style="color: red;">Edited April 23, 2021</span></p><p>Today I have something special to add to the research on period methods of adding skirt fullness in the mid-1890s. A length of antique, unused "Skirtbone" produced by the Warren Featherbone Company of Three Elms, Michigan.</p><p>At just a quarter of an inch wide and about 1/16 inch thick (NOT 1/32" as I have it in the video), it's a springy, sproingy boning. It weighs, well, a feather, and you'd not notice any additional weight in your skirt, I believe.</p><p>To understand it, you really have to see it close up, see it move, and see the insides. It's really remarkable, and perhaps the most interesting thing about it, is that it's not made of wire, but the quills of poultry feathers, set parallel to one another. I hypothesize that the quills were woven together with black thread and probably glued in place, and then covered by interwoven black threads that are again glued or perhaps starched.</p><p>I've made a YouTube video so you can get as close as possible to experiencing the real thing.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MoPdmef1vxo" width="320" youtube-src-id="MoPdmef1vxo"></iframe></div><p>Here's the reel that the length actually came from, below.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nuUzVDbEie_TFbflE-w2cqWokyHEQ8qVz0w04w_UKrOjcA7kud72-AtzsEGCmQI42fBRbuX3vy_uGtZ59x-xUw1wNWb3ems9NUz-CKaRrYJDrsiIt5e1bDXnQLEm7e4Cw5W2/s640/warrens+skirtbone+reel+cover.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="640" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nuUzVDbEie_TFbflE-w2cqWokyHEQ8qVz0w04w_UKrOjcA7kud72-AtzsEGCmQI42fBRbuX3vy_uGtZ59x-xUw1wNWb3ems9NUz-CKaRrYJDrsiIt5e1bDXnQLEm7e4Cw5W2/w640-h426/warrens+skirtbone+reel+cover.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warren Featherbone Company's "Skirtbone" hem boning. Photo from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnniesAntiques?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=857811239">Annie's Antiques</a> on Etsy.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hxzVT_eefG4kwj4CyEaftFhTpQuP5sRaWqdRvYBIXj3EH5aiC0fGh1WNMBWx-km2NbMscGWe1H1GU_BZgfur1aHd8qIZqvxFGirZcvMbmqHcxfoTyO7VzLAhLauEWbd39NK2/s1588/warrens+skirtbone+1qtrinchwide+annies+antiques.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1191" data-original-width="1588" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hxzVT_eefG4kwj4CyEaftFhTpQuP5sRaWqdRvYBIXj3EH5aiC0fGh1WNMBWx-km2NbMscGWe1H1GU_BZgfur1aHd8qIZqvxFGirZcvMbmqHcxfoTyO7VzLAhLauEWbd39NK2/w640-h480/warrens+skirtbone+1qtrinchwide+annies+antiques.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The skirtbone in detail. The actual boning in only 1/4" wide, so the photo is quite magnified.<br />It's really quite small. Photo from Annie's Antiques on Etsy.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>How would Skirtbone would be actually used? For that, if you haven't read it already, please see "<a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2020/04/1895-outfit-period-methods-to-add-skirt.html">1895 Outfit: Period Methods To Add Skirt Fullness, Part 5, Steels, Rattan, Candlewicking, and Dust Ruffles</a>".</p><p>Skirtbone and Warren Featherbone's other products are a clever use of easily available and renewable natural materials. Back in the day, Featherbone was an alternative to whalebone, and made from materials not otherwise used, say in <a href="http://info.fabrics.net/the-legacy-of-warren-featherbone/">feather dusters</a>. Skirtbone would have been an alternative to wire-based skirt hem products, too, which would have been subject to rust; somehow I can't see folks using stainless steel for a stiffened hem tape, do you? </p><p>Warren's Featherbone was invented in the 1880s by Edward Kirk Warren. His application for a patent is copied in full at the bottom of this post, and it explains the construction of the first featherbone product. As Randy Miller of the Michigan newspaper <i>The Herald-Palladium</i> explained it,<br /><br /></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">"The process for making featherbone was published in magazines and newspapers across the country in 1883 and was described as follows:</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">'The first thing is to strip the feathers of their plumage. Rollers, with knives attached, split the quills in half. Sandpaper rollers revolving rapidly removed the pith. Then, a series of interlocking knives reduced the quills to fiber. In this state, the material is fed into a machine that forms it into a strong fine cord; at the same time it is being wound with thread. In another machine, four of these tightly wound cords are wound together with thread, in such a manner as to form a flat tape.'"</p></blockquote><p>Here's an advertisement for it that appeared in towards the back of the August 1895 issue of <i>The Ladies Home Journal</i> (p. 27).</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxMkDOrZrRl8aq9YliqUVgE-lnn4_LJ0EISVGHpPj8dOoBI7zfVVOSjlTdPj-PhvetBjCko274I4sIj_DcQB-foZCQBA1s9hJpUcAcO3GQDKlQjt2rM9dQGObmtMUtkLDNZGZA/s373/skirt+bone+ad+aug1895LJHp27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="184" data-original-width="373" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxMkDOrZrRl8aq9YliqUVgE-lnn4_LJ0EISVGHpPj8dOoBI7zfVVOSjlTdPj-PhvetBjCko274I4sIj_DcQB-foZCQBA1s9hJpUcAcO3GQDKlQjt2rM9dQGObmtMUtkLDNZGZA/w640-h316/skirt+bone+ad+aug1895LJHp27.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warren's Skirt Bone advertisement, August 1895.<br />It appears that the product was pretty new. Other Warren's<br />products were already popular.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The sample of Skirtbone is still amazingly flexible, as we have seen. No, we don't know how how it stood up to sudden breakage or repetitive stress breakage. We do know that whalebone tended to become brittle, while this product isn't brittle at all, even now. That's some pretty good longevity, no? Am I going to bend it wildly or bash it to see how it takes rough treatment? Um, no. It's antique and a small but significant part of dress history. It goes into the collection.</p><p>Skirtbone wasn't the only mid-1890s skirt aid that Warren's produced. They also made "Bustle Bone", a wide bone strip that dressmakers were urged to shape into small hoops and install inside godet plaits to help hold the rounded funnel form. Here is an advertisement for it from December 1896, towards the end of the godet skirt's popularity, in <i>The Delineator</i> (Vol. 48, No. 6, , p. 108)</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBmkfTbIaMc5eYmTfIHVm96oxO899f_l_mu5uCMFmT-Gy3K2nKCvyvB1QlURZ1UvZKX-vG7i4xdilr9Empm3rjpbfnpYgJB0buLLtrnhONK3f44iil9MbcKi4aR9lUCO4NleC/s1989/warrens+bustlebone.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1989" data-original-width="1357" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBmkfTbIaMc5eYmTfIHVm96oxO899f_l_mu5uCMFmT-Gy3K2nKCvyvB1QlURZ1UvZKX-vG7i4xdilr9Empm3rjpbfnpYgJB0buLLtrnhONK3f44iil9MbcKi4aR9lUCO4NleC/w436-h640/warrens+bustlebone.jpg" width="436" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warren's Featherbone Company "Bustle Bone" advertisement<br />December, 1896</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>For those among us who are vegetarian or vegan, the prospect of reviving the use of feathers for boning likely doesn't appeal. However, it <i>is</i> a nice alternative to plastic. I sure wish Warren's would consider bringing it out again. Are you listening, ladies and gentlemen of the Warren Featherbone Company? </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">More About Warren's Featherbone Company and Its Products</h2><p>The Warren Featherbone Company is still in business, although it's no longer in Three Elms, Michigan, but in Georgia. There's quite a bit out there about the company and its history. Here are a few good examples, and if you run a search, you'll find much more:</p><p></p><ul><a href="https://www.heraldpalladium.com/how-turkey-feathers-changed-three-oaks-destiny/article_f167b84f-1484-5bf3-ac29-4caf1a5d261d.html">How turkey feathers changed Three Oaks' destiny</a> (<i>The Herald-Palladium</i>; <br />Aug 20, 1999 Updated Nov 15, 2011)<li><a href="http://info.fabrics.net/the-legacy-of-warren-featherbone/">The Legacy of Warren Featherbone</a></li><li><a href="https://onthebanks.msu.edu/Exhibit/162-567-76/warren-featherbone-company/">Exhibit - From Corsets to Philanthropy: The Warren Featherbone Company</a></li><li><a href="https://aspace.library.wmich.edu/agents/corporate_entities/273">Information from the archives of Western Michigan University</a></li></ul><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Warren Featherbone US Patent Application</h2><div>Copied from Google Patents, number <a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US286749">US286749A</a>. Text is optical scan from original document, available from that page as a PDF file.</div><div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">(Model.)</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">E. K. WARREN.</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">CORSET STIPFENER. No. 286,749. Patented 00's. 16, 1883.</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">' iff/y1.</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">WITNBSSES www# BY uw ATTORNEYS.</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">EDWARD K. WARREN, OF THREE OAKS, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR lOF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE R. yHOLDEN, OF MICHIGAN CITY, INDIANA.</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">CORSET-STIFFENER.</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 286,749, dated October 16, 1883.</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">Application filed January 9, 1883. (No model.)</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">.T all whom it may concern.'</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">Be it known that I, EDWARD K. WARREN, of Three Oaks, in the county of Berrien and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corset-Stiffeners, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">This invention has for its object the utilization as a rib or stiffener for corsets and other articles of dress or fabrics of the stalks, stems, or quill portions of feathers after they have been stripped-as, for instance, the feathers of turkeys, geese, chickens, and other fowlsmuch of which kind of stock has heretofore had little or noK commercial value. These I propose to use, among other purposes or uses, as a substitute for whalebone in corsets, Waists, dresses, abdominal supporters, surgical appliances, and other articles of wear and use. The growing scarcity andfincreased cost of whalebone for these and other purposes has led to the employment of various substitutes, including bones, horn, rubber, steel, and rat tan; also, the fibers of tampico held together by an exterior binding-as, for instance, by a wrapping of wire or thread. Many of these are expensive and much inferior in numerous respects to whalebone. My improved bone or rib, which I term featherbone, has many advantages, and the same may be made to form a compact stay or bone, which in some respects is better and has more enduring elasticity than whalebone, as it 'is not so liable to breakv or Warp, nor will it be injured by prespiration or boiling Water in washing. Such elastic substitute for whalebone I generally propose to make by splitting or otherwise reducing, either by hand or machinery, but preferably by machinery, the quills, into splints. These splints or bers may be held together by any suitable external binding. Thus I wrap them with either wire or thread by winding, braiding, twisting, or they may be cemented or be otherwise put up together to form a featherbone of any desired shape in` its transverse section, and may either be simply inserted in the article to which they are applied or be Woven therein, or they may be woven together, so as to form an elastic or 5o iiexible fabric.</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">`their entire form.</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specication, in which similar letters of reference indicate corsponding parts in all the figures.</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">Figure 1 represents any exterior longitudinal 55 view of a featherbone in which a number of quill splints are held together by winding a wire or thread around them. Fig. 2 is a similar view of a number of quill splints held together by a woven covering. Fig. 3 is a View 6o in perspective, upon an enlarged scale, of a portion of one of the quill splints detached; and Fig. 4 is a cross-section of Fig. l, and Fig. 5 a crosssection of Fig. 2, both being on an enlarged scale. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of 65 a stiffener made of the entire quills in a suitable wrapper.</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">In the drawings, b b represent a number of split-quill splints arranged longitudinallyto-` gether in any suitable manner to form afeathl 7o erbone, A, of any desired form in its trans versesection, and which maybe held together either by a wound wire or thread external binding, c, as in Figs. l and 4L, or by a woven external covering, c', as in Figs. 2 and 5, or 75 which may be otherwise held together, as hereinbefore specified.</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">By using the separated fibers or splints of the stripped quills or stems of feathers, produced by splitting or disintegrating them, the 8o resiliency of the quills is preserved without exposing them to breakage` in bending, to which they would be more or less liable if used in However7 the entire quills make avery good stiifener lwhen stripped and 8 5 bound together, as shown in Fig. 6 ofthe draw-- ings.</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters- Patentl 9o A corsetstiffener formed of quills or quill splints stripped of the feathers and bound together, as shown and described.</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">EDWARD KIRK VARREN.`</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">Vitnesses:</div><div class="description-paragraph style-scope patent-text" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-block: 1em;">HENRY A. MOGANN, RETTA HOLLETT.</div></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Additional Research</h2><div>Extensive research on mid-1890s skirt stiffeners is contained in a series of related posts available on this blog's <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/p/1890s-outfit.html">1890s Costumes & Research page</a>. Primary sources include books, magazines, newspapers, film clips, and extant garments.</div><div><br /></div><div>Okay, I've interrupted the petticoat project. Unless something else interesting shows up, which as we know from this blog sometimes occurs, we're back to it next time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Wishing you all health and safety during very dark days, literally and figuratively...</div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-35481617818691277752021-01-11T21:20:00.016-05:002021-01-18T17:27:53.042-05:00An 1895 Godet Petticoat With Boning and Stiffened Frills: Making Unusual Seams<p>Where were we? It's been a little while since I worked on this project. Oh yes, we're cutting the pattern to petticoat length and finally constructing the thing. The project has turned into yet another test of period materials and methods to see how they work. Nonetheless, if the petticoat works, it will give my cotton skirt the regulation -- to use the popular term of the time -- flare. </p><p>This time we're cutting and seaming, but the seams are not normal ones...</p><h2>Cutting the Pattern to Petticoat Length</h2><p>Petticoats are usually a little shorter than outer skirts. Therefore, I subtracted 1 1/2" inches (6.35cm) off the pattern, which is 40 inches/100cm in front. That works out to 38" long when finished, but leaving a 1/2" seam allowance in place. That allowance will be needed to seam the bottom facing and a hem binding to. Hem binding on a petticoat that doesn't touch the ground? What an oddity, but that's what's suggested. </p><div>So I copied the pattern pieces onto fresh paper (oh joy), and cut off the bottoms. This way, I have the original skirt pattern plus the petticoat pattern to go with it. </div><p>(In case you missed any posts in this very long petticoat series, you can find them on the <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/p/1890s-outfit.html">1890s: Costumes, Research, and Documentation page</a>.)</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Cutting the Fabric</h2><p>The next, rather obvious step was to cut out the fabric pieces.</p>I used silk shantung from some old silk curtains I made years ago. <p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNcsWGYgkxOEli7_hUtboKQeE0fQEhL7JdYZ-leQRpbU6ZWTus8qNtL6iL4pnKhw2ypNtgOYXBbjoSs8y37GVcnbPUUEHb1Ba_mlRsmb67CYC70Q2Rh3v91JqmOI9PTCLl5y6K/s2048/20210102_155559.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNcsWGYgkxOEli7_hUtboKQeE0fQEhL7JdYZ-leQRpbU6ZWTus8qNtL6iL4pnKhw2ypNtgOYXBbjoSs8y37GVcnbPUUEHb1Ba_mlRsmb67CYC70Q2Rh3v91JqmOI9PTCLl5y6K/w480-h640/20210102_155559.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The old curtains were rolled up. I used an entire panel, about 4.5 yards.<br />First I had to deconstruct the entire panel, removing the lining (bonus fabric!)<br />and the plastic curtain facing stuff at the top. Forget what it's called.<br />Fortunately, only bits of the silk were weak or shattered, so I could<br />use most of the fabric.<br />Oh, and yes, our hallway library doubles as a free-weight lifting station.<br />Pandemic creative space use :}</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />The silk fabric has body and resistance to wrinkles, although probably not to the degree that moreen has. The latter fabric was a favorite among dressmaking writers for silk petticoats (Davis, Mallon), as we have read. As it happened, the two larger pieces were cut on the bias, but not on the perfect bias and another was pieced, because I placed them puzzle-wise to conserve fabric.The bottom of the petticoat is to be faced, hence the 1/2 inch (1.27cm) seam allowance.</p><p>The side seams were cut with a 1/4 inch (.635cm) seam allowance. Note: I would have used all metric measures and forgone inches and feet, but the presser foot and markings on the treadle sewing machine are in inches, and they are wonderfully natural sewing guides.</p><p>The top of the petticoat has a 1/2-inch seam allowance, but the plan is to cut a yoke for the petticoat, so the extra is just in case I change my mind :}</p><h2>Stayed...and Bound...Seams<br /></h2><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">Next, all the skirt pieces were seamed together, but watch out! The seams are emphatically not normal ones. Because just about every seam is on the bias and thus at the fabric's weakest position, we have to <b>sew in a fabric stay on each one</b> so that the fabric doesn't stretch at the seam and cause ripples and puckers and a poor skirt hang. Sophie Klug writes in the 1895 book <i>The Art of Dressmaking</i>, "Where two bias edges are to be joined in one seam, a stay tape or strip of lining must be basted at one side and sewed in with the seam to prevent stretching." (p. 35)<br /><br />I was going to use bias tape for the job, but big thanks to Quinn of <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/u/1/#">The Quintessential Clothes Pen</a> for pointing out that using bias tape would have been bias over bias and therefore not much of a help. I looked back at documentation on an <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/u/1/#">1890s skirt</a> in my collection, and sure enough, there's a straight-grain stay there. Why I'd forgotten such an interesting detail, haven't a clue.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">Not only would the strip be a seam stay, but it would also bind the seam allowance for a neat, durable finish. Petticoats normally have nicely finished seams because they get so much wear. Twofer!</p><h2 style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: left;">Making the Stay/Binding</h2><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">So, I cut 1" strips of thin cotton (from the old muslin curtain lining fabric -- why waste it?) on the straight as long as each skirt seam. </p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">Then I ran the strips through a 1" bias tape maker widget (the Clover brand version; there are others). </p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">It's pretty easy to use. First, you start feeding the fabric strip into the channel.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiacA95Qq4_jPJWT_D9kgN0K79CFrIWp_0Rt_KgZZ-3EJsCnr5-b0hb_kH7StJ6oGicO9PkQZe9V4woFxiGdrLFijv35xIRM9qp5P1Z3LBdCNoOkBCJVAkbTpBbpJN3fRIwvkDO/s2048/20210103_150859.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiacA95Qq4_jPJWT_D9kgN0K79CFrIWp_0Rt_KgZZ-3EJsCnr5-b0hb_kH7StJ6oGicO9PkQZe9V4woFxiGdrLFijv35xIRM9qp5P1Z3LBdCNoOkBCJVAkbTpBbpJN3fRIwvkDO/s320/20210103_150859.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Help the fabric through the channel by sticking a pin into the fabric and pulling...</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi43wNU0S74Pth_9LQZ9t1xm39Dgw0RY_AjMsp0j9V5wvqHR_-FaVxyW5sfc7GaeUMPsr-oR5UilAnao-f3kFQuTAKYh0RX4_l682xYnwNDgTPAYH6LDn-s7URAf3G03UEcJfDA/s2048/20210103_150934.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi43wNU0S74Pth_9LQZ9t1xm39Dgw0RY_AjMsp0j9V5wvqHR_-FaVxyW5sfc7GaeUMPsr-oR5UilAnao-f3kFQuTAKYh0RX4_l682xYnwNDgTPAYH6LDn-s7URAf3G03UEcJfDA/s320/20210103_150934.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>...and pull at the tip to pull the fabric right out the end.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSKWVqbfeb-sr2w-ntI9ChK9EywnGZBCsomdUfaDVFBY92ahwYvZv2_gHeg1MZyiBidiKp3INDXy7RVcNsX_McyD07MLJRp66RYXO3oHrBa7CtO__hfHLVLU6Wa4KVW6hP-N2c/s2048/20210103_150945.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSKWVqbfeb-sr2w-ntI9ChK9EywnGZBCsomdUfaDVFBY92ahwYvZv2_gHeg1MZyiBidiKp3INDXy7RVcNsX_McyD07MLJRp66RYXO3oHrBa7CtO__hfHLVLU6Wa4KVW6hP-N2c/s320/20210103_150945.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Voila! You have bias tape, or straight tape, in my case.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3-LaSHfOsc01IgUxpD7ix_4U9f45zUOpaAnIN7KxRZ_NWklsePgXi0xS0dxO5qekV48R-pKqlOzMjeWm_corAVy7sT7gOeOutVXTJnetvV4dSZrzsTPO2l04-vlUid-8qsAjC/s2048/20210103_150958.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3-LaSHfOsc01IgUxpD7ix_4U9f45zUOpaAnIN7KxRZ_NWklsePgXi0xS0dxO5qekV48R-pKqlOzMjeWm_corAVy7sT7gOeOutVXTJnetvV4dSZrzsTPO2l04-vlUid-8qsAjC/s320/20210103_150958.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>You will want to make sure the fabric strip is out of the way of the little wire handle.</div><div><br /></div><div>After you start pulling the fabric through, go to your ironing board, pin a bit of the finished tape to the board, and heat your iron to steam heat level. Then slowly pull the gadget, feeding the fabric into it, and pressing the resulting tape immediately.</div><div><br /></div><div>I found that the fabric wanted to go in wonky sometimes, so the pulling process was slow. Other times the steam from the iron was so hot that I just pushed the bias tape maker along in front of it, like so:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/koPZHkxTgSI" width="320" youtube-src-id="koPZHkxTgSI"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Sewing the Seams</h2><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">To create a seam, the two skirt pieces that were to be seamed were laid, right sides together, ready to sew. On top, I laid the prepared cotton binding with its pressed edge at the fashion fabric edge and and the rest of it open and ready to fold over the top of the completed seam to bind it. All three layers were carefully pinned together, trying to lift, handle, and tug the fabric as little as possible. Every tug can stretch the bias-cut fabric.</p>Each seam was sewn from skirt top to bottom in case the ends should get a bit out of alignment. <p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">Immediately after sewing a seam, I folded over the prepared binding to wrap the seam allowance in it, turned in the already prepared fold so no raw edges would be showing, and sewed it down on the covered seam allowance to finish the seam.<br /><br />Readers, I started sewing the seams with the Singer 28k handcrank machine. The 28k came out during the 1880s, so this was a logical choice. However, we all know silk can be no fun to sew by machine, and the long and slippery skirt pieces were determined to be naughty, and I only had my left hand to guide the fabric, because the right hand was cranking the machine! Here's a sample, videoed by my son, Christopher.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JBJAx7Ip-Xo" width="320" youtube-src-id="JBJAx7Ip-Xo"></iframe></div><br /><br />I even tested the antique Singer binder attachment. It worked; the attachments nearly always do -- alas that I don't have a video, because it's interesting! -- but again, trying to do all this with a hand crank on silk was annoying and error-prone. The process became so unfun that I chucked that idea, removed the first seam, and hand-sewed them all. The main seam I made in running stitch with a back stitch every five stitches or so, 6-8 stitches per inch. Then the binding was of course hemmed. I enjoy hand-sewing, so it was a relaxed effort.</div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7eUOiYJmdL-XhIOLTFLVCfA81CXUTKqZ2UrZVXNY1wiQ1YoF7JzTSKAVJnSvETOOmaVPfDk0g0yAWDWEAHPveTwbDcokWVF7DK-o9VAAetpE0N-Y2PZ21XbdfD74x-6GyfPsZ/s2048/20210104_195033.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7eUOiYJmdL-XhIOLTFLVCfA81CXUTKqZ2UrZVXNY1wiQ1YoF7JzTSKAVJnSvETOOmaVPfDk0g0yAWDWEAHPveTwbDcokWVF7DK-o9VAAetpE0N-Y2PZ21XbdfD74x-6GyfPsZ/w640-h480/20210104_195033.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here I have pinned the two skirt pieces right sides together, and have pinned the stay/binding<br />to the edge. I am running-stitch the seam with a backstitch every few stitches.<br />Generally I pile up three or four running stitches on the needle, then pull the needle through, <br />then take a back stitch. It becomes a steady, rhythmic pattern of movement.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Here is an example of a completed seam. The sewing thread blends in so well that it's practically invisible to the camera this afternoon.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpvDejVtGRcuuUe09_oNrv8Ak-uEnCcQjSJ8GJY5mQl8GXCIU-5xUYMCTv2y5u4tpeYSSUEnlsvxAUmELPkuagzPIcCKQsXQ0XFqc3BfDIIbVCZSmvnRj1bgwHxKChyphenhyphenXDRmKhY/s2048/20210118_171120.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpvDejVtGRcuuUe09_oNrv8Ak-uEnCcQjSJ8GJY5mQl8GXCIU-5xUYMCTv2y5u4tpeYSSUEnlsvxAUmELPkuagzPIcCKQsXQ0XFqc3BfDIIbVCZSmvnRj1bgwHxKChyphenhyphenXDRmKhY/w480-h640/20210118_171120.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>The hand-sewing makes sense within the context of undergarments of the day. Hand-sewn underthings were desirable as being particularly dainty.</div><div><br /></div>I wasn't the only one relaxing. Nutmeg settled in, too. Here we have evidence that some kitties will sleep on just about anything. For some unaccountable reason, she found my sewing box to be a good pillow.<br /><br /></div><div>Interested...<div>(Yes, I made sure she wasn't into anything sharp.)</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghG4oP7UcURFvfSbc6DYbJiyR3NeSNUMjNHotQX4tO_v6oYAtfD82jxs4FCKLZyY5eRpyMoAAJS_4SSXSrYe0wBSqPq5LIjtApiA_Fd6R-mh-kIKIx3h67R2jBUSvmd3m4jX9z/s2048/20210104_195307.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghG4oP7UcURFvfSbc6DYbJiyR3NeSNUMjNHotQX4tO_v6oYAtfD82jxs4FCKLZyY5eRpyMoAAJS_4SSXSrYe0wBSqPq5LIjtApiA_Fd6R-mh-kIKIx3h67R2jBUSvmd3m4jX9z/w480-h640/20210104_195307.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Getting nappish...<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNjs77KQHE16Fm3N51tTeDTzBoy7xCKdAkDY0pBMYWYK5tqo4UUKc3gwTlxmnMIKLB9h-AoL33NwTxkeexef4O8KTBzQFceQpTCeug2gq5JZovovMKE55sYYIDw_1rS_O7tzQ/s2048/20210104_195318.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNjs77KQHE16Fm3N51tTeDTzBoy7xCKdAkDY0pBMYWYK5tqo4UUKc3gwTlxmnMIKLB9h-AoL33NwTxkeexef4O8KTBzQFceQpTCeug2gq5JZovovMKE55sYYIDw_1rS_O7tzQ/w480-h640/20210104_195318.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Oh boy, time to go to sleeeeep...<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLYp_ANpSZFdP98LZM31K_pyuPgiGkzAoVdmPlfu06EqDzYBJLQXDN0wyXxoNKNIWIpdJwZGHtew22BiuhbEE3XdODI-ucq1KXb1TuHN_cPA3DJIAHj544-ADxmUQE-lu7ylOI/s2048/20210104_201041.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLYp_ANpSZFdP98LZM31K_pyuPgiGkzAoVdmPlfu06EqDzYBJLQXDN0wyXxoNKNIWIpdJwZGHtew22BiuhbEE3XdODI-ucq1KXb1TuHN_cPA3DJIAHj544-ADxmUQE-lu7ylOI/w480-h640/20210104_201041.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>It's January. A good time for napping. Wishing you safety and many naps this month!</div><div><br /></div>Next steps with the petticoat? Facing the bottom and inserting the surprise stiffening. Yep, a mid-winter surprise for you.</div></div></div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-26796946027928941582020-12-24T15:42:00.003-05:002020-12-24T15:42:52.650-05:00A 1906 Sleighride: Happy Holidays!<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: xx-large;">Happy Holidays, everyone!</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vt8F9jl4bIc" width="320" youtube-src-id="vt8F9jl4bIc"></iframe></div><br /><p>As I look out the front windows, a soft snow is fluttering and the temperature is dropping rapidly. Snuggle up, Kentucky, and all safety and health these holidays, wherever you are.</p><p>Video from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCywuq7AxUM4uYrVmSFm3Ezw">Glamourdaze</a>: such a fun channel</p>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-35117762527748123312020-12-14T17:14:00.009-05:002020-12-14T17:33:41.367-05:00The Impossibly Precious Mitts, A Story of Sheep and Hands<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvjITSfLx5Db4UDT26ZwdL1-MZiFhHpQVZhZfN_YBh1-_11gAjdfrPfj3a85fX9bI9gYIAt0jvy_qGWAZwDHkzoKbOGY1pWbYfKPda2XSBHfI5f06ecCUxFEaeeIVu-tg6aUx/s776/sheep+to+mitts.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="776" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvjITSfLx5Db4UDT26ZwdL1-MZiFhHpQVZhZfN_YBh1-_11gAjdfrPfj3a85fX9bI9gYIAt0jvy_qGWAZwDHkzoKbOGY1pWbYfKPda2XSBHfI5f06ecCUxFEaeeIVu-tg6aUx/w640-h246/sheep+to+mitts.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Lana and Nina's fleece to mitts</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>My goodness, it is gray outside. So gray that, unusually for me, I am sitting facing away from the windows, view trained on the warm light of the lamps nearby. Saint Lucia's Day is just past. Winter has settled in here in the Kentucky Bluegrass, and the thick veils and clots of clouds that bring rain and snow that feed the numberless streams and creeks and ponds and the Kentucky River snaking deep beneath its palisades -- or the more realistically foreboding name, gorge -- are here for the next months. Gloriously bright days will be relatively few and valuable.</p><p>As valuable as the knitted mitts from my sheep that sit unfinished here beside me. A moment ago I cut a length of yarn to sew up the sides of the rectangle that will make a mitt, and quite suddenly was viscerally aware of the impossibly high value of that yarn.</p><p><i>--- Green, green grass on a Bluegrass farm<br />--- Sheep grazing <br />--- A year's daily shepherding, morning and night<br />--- Shearing <br />--- Fleece skirting <br />--- Picking vegetable matter<br />--- Scouring <br />--- Drying <br />--- More picking <br />--- Separating outer coat from inner coat <br />--- Carding<br />--- Winding into nests<br /></i><i>--- Spinning <br /></i><i>--- Plying <br /></i><i>--- Skeining <br />--- Washing and blocking <br />--- Yarn.</i></p><p>And, other than the mower that trims the grass if needed, every single bit accomplished by pairs of hands and the most ancient of tools: </p><p>--- fingers <br />--- shears<br />--- soap and water and tub<br />--- air<br />--- wood and wire hand-carders or hand-cranked drum carder (quite an old tool)<br />--- foot-powered spinning wheel<br />--- time<br />--- patience<br />--- persistence.</p><p>Hours and days, days and hours and hours. Months. Years.</p><p>Lana and Nina grew the fleece on their backs three summers and winters ago, munching on the grass of my friend Sarah's farm not far away.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXMCZBKwQSuoaV-Lo7WNzh1xF4kprVlKOvOKm42EKgj9G-hiTg5pxENf6yQgzJUJ-aDg_bzM9BOFQBvTcKFc2c_VdDO3c7edIv0FObrNT-bttFgGU-pgg-7MJcTTzw3L7ZzDkB/s2048/nina+liam+nina+neo.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXMCZBKwQSuoaV-Lo7WNzh1xF4kprVlKOvOKm42EKgj9G-hiTg5pxENf6yQgzJUJ-aDg_bzM9BOFQBvTcKFc2c_VdDO3c7edIv0FObrNT-bttFgGU-pgg-7MJcTTzw3L7ZzDkB/w640-h480/nina+liam+nina+neo.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nina, Liam the English gentleman, Neo the honorary Shetland, and skittish Lana<br /><a href="https://shepherdlife.wordpress.com/2020/10/05/shenanigans-2/">October 2020</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Every day, Sarah cares for the sheep, whether it's muddy or parched, icy or foggy, or finger-cramping or beautiful enough to cry and thank God for the peace of it and the sweetness and interest of the sheep. She is patient and loving and the sheep thrive and she knows each one and its character and society. I am lucky to have her as a friend.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpz68BUrO25LpAww93ecrGhRlvGxr0YAi-pKjvwC-oIvaIt4gW9YokI9CdPBkvXVjvg4j02Mhsl2Y95twg80wVJYV7LH659Q2xa3_xTuQs18KFOjXk3dYAaQ_9SCAkdm1OtTmT/s2048/liam+at+the+feeder.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpz68BUrO25LpAww93ecrGhRlvGxr0YAi-pKjvwC-oIvaIt4gW9YokI9CdPBkvXVjvg4j02Mhsl2Y95twg80wVJYV7LH659Q2xa3_xTuQs18KFOjXk3dYAaQ_9SCAkdm1OtTmT/w640-h426/liam+at+the+feeder.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liam at the hay rack. Lana is nearby. November 30, 2020.<br />Read about the drama just past in "<a href="https://shepherdlife.wordpress.com/2020/11/30/disruptions-due-to-snow/">Disruptions Due to Snow</a>" on Sarah's blog.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>On a nippy morning the next early spring, around about 8:00 a.m. when our breath streams in clouds around us when the rest of the flock leaves the barn for a day in their fields, Sarah and I have the task of separating out ever-fey Lana from her boyfriend Liam and daughter Nina in their stall, and she leaps and evades until by main persuasion with torsos and arms and legs we halter her, so that she could be sheared. The only time each year that she wears anything but her own self. In a month or so her fleece, her skin a hand's width deep under her blond-tipped locks, would start to separate and slowly, imperfectly shed. She needs shearing before that happens, and before the heat of a Kentucky summer makes life far too hot for her under such a blanket.</p><p>So the two of us, each with a pair of hand shears, lean or kneel the either side of Lana, haltered to a fence outside and in sight of her flockmates to calm her and begin to shear. She kicks and trembles and we work as softly as we can so as not to nick her so-tender skin. She calls out to her grown baby and pees so that you move quickly to avoid the piercingly nose-wrinkling liquid. We trade places frequently as muscles cramp, and Sarah's mother Peggy talks quietly to Lana and strokes her. Occasionally one of us runs to gulp a bit of tea from our Thermoses. Some of the wool is spoiled by dung and urine, other parts so full of VM (vegetable matter) that I cannot efficiently clean it. That lot goes to the hedgerow for birds and rodents to carry off for their springtime nests. We smell of lanolin and dung and trampled grass.</p><p>Sheared, Lana's halter is gently removed and she kicks and wriggles and runs to her family. A good part of the time the flock is non-plussed by the fleeceless stranger, and will butt and carry on until they are convinced and assured that she belongs with them. That can take a while because sheep are so visual, and seems to us humans grossly unfair, unless we should think of the day we wore an unpopular outfit to school and were laughed at and occasionally pushed by the more thoughtless of our classmates, until they tired of the game. In the last years, however, the flock is kinder and Liam and Nina welcome her with raised heads and low bleats and she resumes her life just a few yards from Liam, her life's love and companion, while her daughter pretends she's not Shetland, but Soay, and leaps and climbs and talks with her flockmates until returning to her mama, as an offspring usually will. A flock is made of clans and it is a complex society.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm-ZBilDdcMx4bRHM-eU0ip4CEyERZ8ZKADhCS-SUPo3pgyyO_OT6mcf_AoPV5pCv6w125FS5hFs5dxuxnxvvlqKsMM6irsgHLluEvn8vseXcQXlG60TeQMTNEuAsxWy6mlPZM/s2048/the+flock+spring+morning.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm-ZBilDdcMx4bRHM-eU0ip4CEyERZ8ZKADhCS-SUPo3pgyyO_OT6mcf_AoPV5pCv6w125FS5hFs5dxuxnxvvlqKsMM6irsgHLluEvn8vseXcQXlG60TeQMTNEuAsxWy6mlPZM/w640-h480/the+flock+spring+morning.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clover climbs the hoop house one morning...and <a href="https://shepherdlife.wordpress.com/2020/04/03/hes-practicing-social-distancing/">finds himself in a quandary</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I gather the mounds of yielding, springy brown and blond fleece and stuff it into an old pillowcase. It scents the Tahoe. We go and shed our outer things outdoors, and wash up thoroughly, and lunch together next to the kitchen, watching the flock from a bank of windows that look to the West.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAwsK3Xsir1gF1SlGujlHN6TgeHnzhpMyxGun0rAD97mxwHK_f0MnRgH2dHC0J3TMGFcnX1Ny3vjTFlx6TzfCvTsTE4EFXdWE82G5UH42RTuS6UjU6Gk7O0pQhccBWdsGYGXCv/s320/lana+bag+wool.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAwsK3Xsir1gF1SlGujlHN6TgeHnzhpMyxGun0rAD97mxwHK_f0MnRgH2dHC0J3TMGFcnX1Ny3vjTFlx6TzfCvTsTE4EFXdWE82G5UH42RTuS6UjU6Gk7O0pQhccBWdsGYGXCv/w480-h640/lana+bag+wool.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first bag of Lana's wool <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2016/03/early-spring-means-sheep-shearingor-how.html">I ever sheared</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>On other mornings it will be one or two more sheep, Nina and Liam, and sometimes one of the other Shetlands. Soay sheep are less likely to be sheared. Some roo, that is, the slowly shedding bits are pulled off lock by lock -- this is what humans did before shears were common.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3N_yKMUES2wPNdYWf3Av3tNkjDMunopByBOuE8rMitgM6MIfzgkODl4b9pK5l_8u_FDrFv32B3cDPuR8UUKDdXGMtPZwZeX37hvbboP36kVrS_KIJnkxOK9FIzSP77BL8j-t/s2048/liam+post+shearing+2020.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3N_yKMUES2wPNdYWf3Av3tNkjDMunopByBOuE8rMitgM6MIfzgkODl4b9pK5l_8u_FDrFv32B3cDPuR8UUKDdXGMtPZwZeX37hvbboP36kVrS_KIJnkxOK9FIzSP77BL8j-t/w640-h480/liam+post+shearing+2020.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://shepherdlife.wordpress.com/2020/05/25/the-hairdresser-is-open/">Liam, just sheared, 2020</a>.<br />I wasn't there to help due to COVID.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After that? The fleece is packed into a tightly closed plastic bag and goes into my deep freezer to evade the clothes moths that would entirely spoil it.</p><p>Then, when I have energy and time, the oddly pleasant pastime of picking. In springtime Kentucky can be a breezy, windy place. Just outside the back doors at home I sit on a step with the open bag of fleece, scented with lanolin and straw and a bit of dung. Picking up a lock or two in my fingers -- sheep grow their fleece in sets of hairs that tend to stick and curl together -- I pull at the lock, holding it in front of me so that the airs can toss the hairs and release bits of straw and grass and seeds and the occasional dead bug or tad of dung; they fall in a random rain to my lap and the ground and some makes its way, airborne, into the tall trees that rim our little property. Usually it's necessary to pick out individual bits, fingers pinching and pulling. The lock, a bit cleaner now, goes into another bag, ready for scouring, which is a gentle washing, not the rubbing and scrubbing that the word generally implies.</p><p>Hundreds of locks later, washing. Drying in limp bunches, like hairy Spanish moss or the wrack of a mummy's wrappings, in the basement. A little disturbing if you come upon it unexpectedly.</p><p>Packed again in an airtight bag until there is time to do what most fleece does not need. My dual-coated Shetlands are a crofter's dream, for they offer downy undercoat for airy yarn and long outer hairs good for socks and rugs, all on one small and delightful animal. Yet the undercoat grows in among the outer coat and the two must be pulled apart. This is slow, my friends, and after a time the hands and wrists and arms tire of pulling on the resisting locks of fleece as the tightly integrated parts release their hold on each other. Of course, some down is lost into the hairs and the other way around. A few fiber mills who take small wool batches have specialty equipment for handling this sort of uncommon wool, but the process is expensive and the only mill, a state away, that I could afford closed. This year I sent fleece to another mill, because I simply cannot hand-process it all and the freezer was full to bursting, but it will not be separated. It has been nearly a year, and the roving isn't ready. I fear it's lost.</p><p>The sorted wool is bagged again, and again waits for time to hand-card it, or to run it slowly through my hand-cranked carder, a largely wooden machine with two drums lined on their outer surfaces with closely set wires, which arrange the locks into a fluffy batt.</p><p>I pull and elongate the carded wool into a fluffy strips, roving, and wind them into nests. Back they go into a bag.</p><p>Later, months and months later, as fancy strikes I pull out the newer spinning wheel, a Kromski Minstrel from Poland, a beautiful and versatile machine, and spin the roving, unwound from its nests, into a thinnish yarn. Good for weaving as a "singles" yarn.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh65D4rDLWlfkNMzVAiZsGOyHkhoBeZ3FBG5vPTCCt8ijxaQmELUXV4E7MTalYuBYCrLarTBr6di3VPOXsXPU2YaShvxqzS963uAYb4r6OYrTu3jnxHy8acFcFX437FH6SxtF4n/s640/spinning+minstrel.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="426" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh65D4rDLWlfkNMzVAiZsGOyHkhoBeZ3FBG5vPTCCt8ijxaQmELUXV4E7MTalYuBYCrLarTBr6di3VPOXsXPU2YaShvxqzS963uAYb4r6OYrTu3jnxHy8acFcFX437FH6SxtF4n/w426-h640/spinning+minstrel.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spinning on the Minstrel, <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2020/01/midwinter-spinning-midwinter-sheep.html">early 2020</a>, not long before lockdown.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Again later, I pull out the wooden bobbins of yarn, and ply some of it into two-ply, Aran-size yarn. It's not always that consistent of course, because I am no very accomplished spinner, but it's still pretty wearable stuff.</p><p>The yarn rests a bit after plying and then it's out with the homemade yarn swift or skeiner, and the bobbin is unwound from the distance of half a room as I turn the yard-circumference tool to allow the twist to even out, and wind it into a skein. The turns are counted so I know and mark down the yardage.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U8gx0xn57Ig" width="320" youtube-src-id="U8gx0xn57Ig"></iframe></div><br /><p>Then goes the skein, which twists of itself into a braid, into a bag, until I am ready to swish it in some warm water with a tiny bit of soft soap, and to hang it to dry so that the yarn relaxes a little, and sets into a useful state.</p><p>And then, and only then, is it ready for knitting.</p><p>And so I knit the <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pluviose">Pluviose mitts</a> in garter stitch, the yarn now, from a moorit (warm brown) fleece with bleached tips, to a rich German chocolate color. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6CDF0Ra1kfu0TAXushdOQSXWQMG_SntG8hONozC_ZFi4X8Ur3lNfNEB46OBBo3Y_iRD9J7IeGiuTh4erH5ZHPctwyO_z3bt4Ysv9HGaG8wcBhvZdx4ocIBph7i5SysTtQxskm/s2048/knitting+mitts.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6CDF0Ra1kfu0TAXushdOQSXWQMG_SntG8hONozC_ZFi4X8Ur3lNfNEB46OBBo3Y_iRD9J7IeGiuTh4erH5ZHPctwyO_z3bt4Ysv9HGaG8wcBhvZdx4ocIBph7i5SysTtQxskm/w480-h640/knitting+mitts.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pluviose mitts are simply garter stitch, and thus<br />nice and stretchy over the hand.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_AMdIU65kSfAg7v5DPVVn2DYPLB9jePDdw120UUOaSmIToN2ct7l1bLpgaWEG1ebDz9__DsS6Zl71kdLduolBFWBOWXplHsH_Y1bm9vgAgfbDTQZbzmlM3ObCtoTUd7xXFnB/s2048/nutmeg+knit.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_AMdIU65kSfAg7v5DPVVn2DYPLB9jePDdw120UUOaSmIToN2ct7l1bLpgaWEG1ebDz9__DsS6Zl71kdLduolBFWBOWXplHsH_Y1bm9vgAgfbDTQZbzmlM3ObCtoTUd7xXFnB/w480-h640/nutmeg+knit.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Let's not knit just now, but nap instead, says Nutmeg. She loves wool and<br />seeks it out to rest upon.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Just now the mitts sit beside me, ready to be sewn with more yarn into their final shape, the leather button ready to be added to each wristband. Then they will be, after a three-year journey, complete and ready to be wrapped in tissue paper to go under my mother's Christmas tree. She will open the parcel Christmas morning, and wear the mitts, I hope, that started as grass a few miles away, to keep out the chill of a Kentucky winter. While Lana and Nina wear their fleece again this year, warm and toasty under it even in the sere fields lined with leafless trees, the damp and chilling -- or bracing, take your pick -- breeze soughing through the branches.</p><p>The cycle does not end, the sheeps' lives and the hands' work, so long as we remember to practice the skills that keep the sheep healthy and the yarns ready to envelop and warm us.</p><p>If you are interested, there is <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/search?q=sheep">more about sheep and their lives and the process of preparing yarn</a> on this blog. One or two non-related posts have snuck in, but you will find all of the related ones, full to overflowing with pictures and even a video or two.</p><p>Whatever your beliefs, and wherever you are, may you live in Thanksgiving, Patience, and Hope into the new year and the spring, or the harvest, that isn't so very far away.</p><p>Note: because of COVID, most of the images of the sheep are from Sarah's blog. We haven't been able to visit one another, which has felt very strange.</p>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-33913813417024786872020-11-18T16:31:00.003-05:002020-11-21T19:01:52.181-05:00Life With a Chronic Illness During COVID<p>This post isn't about a petticoat.</p><p>During a walk this afternoon, all bundled up against a sneaky breeze and November's weakening sunshine, I found fallen leaves to appreciate, and spotted mistletoe maybe 15 feet overhead, waxy white flowers blooming while it lives off the sap of the trees that support it. A neighbor waved and I wondered if she could tell that I was pretty tired out despite having walked rather less than a mile. Sure hoped not. </p><p>Tired or not, it was a mentally relaxing half hour, a time away from what is honestly is, and has been for years, a daily offensive to push through all the duties of mother and wife and worker before the daily afternoon or evening physical crash. All while knowing that COVID is spreading fast, and knowing that if, Heaven help me, I get the disease, this body cannot fight it very well. </p><p>I have a kidney transplant. Have written that before, so some of you have heard about it. Also high blood pressure and other issues, brought on by the disease for which a transplant is a treatment, not a cure, as well as the very medications that keep this person ticking. Like mistletoe berries, they are toxic, but paradoxically, in the right amounts keep the body from rejecting my mother's kidney, a gift beyond any that I tear up about in gratitude so many years later. Those same medications suppress the immune system, making me easier prey for a host of bugs, COVID among them.</p><p>When in health, I exercise to build a cache of strength. In health or not, I watch food carefully, am compliant about taking the meds, one of which, a half inch long capsule smells like skunk. Good thing have gotten used to that: the first while taking it was a battle against gagging. The healthy times are largely good, and gratefulness to Heaven and those around me is a daily wave that washes over, as my husband and I raise our twins, now half-grown, and try to be useful and loving to those around us. We live pretty unremarkable lives.</p><p>Take this life, and multiply it by the hundreds of millions. Change the circumstances, modest, or excruciatingly difficult, or easy. </p><p>As a student in public health, I helped with a quality of life survey in a public hospital in a large city -- in the oncology wing. Where people waiting to be treated for their cancer sat on a concrete floor if there was no chair left, prisoners walked, cuffed hand and foot, to their appointments with their accompanying officer. Some windows opened, some didn't, so the air was usually a temperature you didn't want it to be. And the staff worked against such odds. The patients, too. We talked about how they made their way to their appointment: could they catch a ride, how far was the bus stop from their home, could anyone accompany them to help them with steps or be there if something happened? Some had children, some were raising grandchildren. Some were holding jobs despite their cancer; some were too sick. Most spoke with humor, or upbeat tone, some were still, expressionless, holding it together in an endless tunnel of this-is-what-it-is, this-is-all-it-is.</p><p>When I had sepsis once, a hellish gift from <i>E. coli</i>, and had such shooting pains in my legs that I was crying out in the emergency bay for was it 24 hours, and...no, no...it's too hard to bring back; there was a woman nearby yelling imprecations at anyone who came close. She had overdosed on something. How we felt for her, through our own suffering. I got better, and that spring we hiked -- the boys were old enough to appreciate moss and the joy of wading a burbling stream, stick in hand, mud boots on. I hope that woman survived and recovered and is living clean and has happiness.</p><p>There was a girl at the transplant recovery house, a preteen, dragging an oxygen tank but cute as a button and talking with her friends on her cell phone. She'd had her second heart transplant, having been born with damaged organs after her family's apartment was sprayed heavily for pests, repeatedly. Her mother was pregnant. I imagine, with her grit, that she made it and maybe she has a family now. She will always take medications. She will always be at risk. Her fellow patient, and mine, a man in his 50s who had worked and raised a family while on peritoneal dialysis for a decade, and had a big garden he liked to talk about with us, as we recuperated in wicker rocking chairs on the porch. His transplant from his brother was a perfect match and he didn't have to take medications like we did. He had damage to his nerves, though, so walked with a permanent shuffle.</p><p>These millions and tens of millions of people have lives and stories and many of them have suffered, oh suffered unimaginably, but they are working and raising families and many probably have funds of empathy and understanding and love for others that bring relief and grace to those they meet who are in need themselves.</p><p>A few days ago, something had the chance of happening that might have brought COVID home. The environment would be conducive to spread. Hearing about the potential event -- details aren't pertinent -- I held my hand to the kitchen counter, felt the chest tighten, the pulse skyrocket, the ears attempt to ring, all in a nanosecond. Like the evening ages ago when a man stared at me on the sidewalk, then fell in behind as I neared the apartment building, matching his footfalls to mine, and was able to get in the door and into the hallway with me, staring, his face hard, before I made it into a full elevator and the door closed between us. Like the time the lady in the eggplant-colored van pulled into our lane on a highway when my stepmother, sister and I were out to look at wedding dresses, and the car went out of control and hit the median wall head-on. That kind of fear. Existential. I swallowed it down, gritted myself into normality, but not before squeaking so hastily that attending wouldn't be a good plan that I ruffled feathers. It's like that, living under this shadow, continous low-grade stress that blows up every so often. We're most of us humans very stressed anyway. we most of us carry extra burdens, for which God give us strength. The addition of an existing illness to the cocktail is an unwelcome splash of wormwood.</p><p>You all, that's what it is, this COVID thing. An existential threat to people who somehow have been dealt the hard hand -- already. Any age, infant to elder, people who already have faced trouble and pain, some physical, some the economic or social fallout of severe illness, many both. Sometimes over and bloody over. The cancer comes back, another brittle bone breaks, a heart attack, an organ fails. I was thirty-two when they told me, during final exams in graduate school, that I had a carcinoma, severe kidney disease, and pink eye, all at once. Who had to visit the dean to beg off exams for a while, and who could barely see to get down the hallway to his office. Felt pretty goofy doing it. That girl at the transplant recuperation house, she was still a kid, our fellow patient a father. We put our lives back together and went on. Most of us? You'd never know there had ever been anything amiss, or if you did, we had the grace to just accept (most of the time) and keep going. There are so many of us with such similar experiences, living right now.</p><p>This is going to be a long winter, and for those living way south, a long summer. I don't know what I am asking. Just that the person next door may have already had a bad bout with some awful disease. They're probably pretty good folks. Why not give them a chance? After all, we're all in boats that can tip at any time.</p><p>All the best of safety and health to you. Vaccines are coming.</p>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-8500517502679719272020-11-03T19:52:00.006-05:002021-01-11T20:06:34.988-05:00An 1895 Godet Petticoat With Boning and Stiffened Frills: Draft Correction and Pattern Cutting<p>Never trust your first draft, right? Edits are always necessary, and the truism held here, too. Only, for once it wasn't my fault, but a typo on the original 1895 <i>Illustrierte Frauenzeitung</i> draft! Despite the extra work, it's nice not to be saying, "Oh, noooooo".</p><p>(Oh! (In case you missed any posts in this petticoat series, you can find them on the <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/p/1890s-outfit.html">1890s: Costumes, Research, and Documentation page</a>.)</p><p>Anyhow, I cut out all the pattern pieces, and laid them on the floor, folding in the seam allowances where needed so I could check the fit.</p><p>Ruh-roh.</p><p>Something wrong with the side-back piece, which, in action, actually forms part of the back and gives enough fabric to allow the godet flutes or organ pleats to take shape. Or the back piece.</p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwx4CZQFhIBmUaK4_FwGphR-OAIRbwFXLXLAsPSGDRaiTrHNGlkIT7tR0cEwzVUUUPKR-IfTC2v7zcEXVK3uLZKYZAV-r-VbLEbzS3jru4JVDfHPB_8bGrnJUALv5DBNXDZPt8/s2048/frauenzeitung+draft+orig.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwx4CZQFhIBmUaK4_FwGphR-OAIRbwFXLXLAsPSGDRaiTrHNGlkIT7tR0cEwzVUUUPKR-IfTC2v7zcEXVK3uLZKYZAV-r-VbLEbzS3jru4JVDfHPB_8bGrnJUALv5DBNXDZPt8/w480-h640/frauenzeitung+draft+orig.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uh-oh, something's not right...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Thinking I could have mis-measured, the next eon was spent in running a meter stick along all the seams, measuring them, and checking them against the numbers on the draft. I couldn't find my mistake.<div><br /></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Pattern Draft Typo</h2><div><br /></div><div>Frustrated, and wanting to get the draft right so that we could see what a godet petticoat cut is really like, I went to bed. And thought about it, and thought about angles. That side-back piece was the one that confused me when drafting it, for the original draft of the piece had two different measures for the line that would be used to create the side-back seam angle. The top of the draft read 90, and the bottom, 99. What if one was wrong and it created a bad angle on the pattern piece?</div><div><br /></div><div>Urr, thinking about pattern pieces is just what I should be doing instead of falling asleep. On the other hand, I could be thinking of far darker things. Our poor, hurting world... Perhaps a quiet geometry problem before bed is what the doctor ordered.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxEy_VexTCnMU7SpB2lHu60VCpf3gYQv3pDsk6FG4sLz_1r0b0XOhjOtVNtwq367oZzM7GwrJxhy68dYy2QCh8moHSQwVwU28FKDcbglWbJFy0m0O4B_rYfjDsa7IIqtS7b24q/s674/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+mar101895p64-B-typo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxEy_VexTCnMU7SpB2lHu60VCpf3gYQv3pDsk6FG4sLz_1r0b0XOhjOtVNtwq367oZzM7GwrJxhy68dYy2QCh8moHSQwVwU28FKDcbglWbJFy0m0O4B_rYfjDsa7IIqtS7b24q/s320/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+mar101895p64-B-typo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Now, if you have compared the cut pattern pieces with the draft, you may already have guessed which measure was the correct one and which was the typo.</div><div><br /></div><div>The bottom measure -- the 99cm -- was the culprit. The <i>FrauenZeitung</i> typesetter may be having his little joke on me, all these years later, and you know what, it happened right at Halloween. OOOoo...</div><div><br /></div><div>By drawing out the draft's bottom measure to 99cm, the back seam on that piece strettttched out. When the pattern piece was cut out and its right side laid up next to the back piece, its right side was too long.</div><div><br /></div><div>Good thing I caught the mistake, or we would have even more fabric in the back than we meant to!</div><div><br /></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Fix</h2>Pulling out the meter stick and ruler and pencil -- and eraser -- I redrew just the mistaken draft line, this time 9 cm less than before, and that changed the angle and made the right side seam shorter, as hoped. Problem solved. Phew.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIgGRzjVVtYFIOQaA87hNE2OzSb9ZcVxLhvP2xxNFjZJRAsKvCzWW9NgtpOxY6rhw9ajatJDqakH1cfGv2wTA5FU2zl152UUvByLUKAtIevDIrFsTkKB31ZEkYj5ewXAgXeunn/s2048/frauenzeitung+draft+final.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIgGRzjVVtYFIOQaA87hNE2OzSb9ZcVxLhvP2xxNFjZJRAsKvCzWW9NgtpOxY6rhw9ajatJDqakH1cfGv2wTA5FU2zl152UUvByLUKAtIevDIrFsTkKB31ZEkYj5ewXAgXeunn/w480-h640/frauenzeitung+draft+final.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's better! Yes, I'll fudge the one little off bit<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p></div></div><div>Oh, and the little gap between the side front and side back piece length? Fudging it. A cm or so is not worth it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Rohrenfalten-Rock skirt pattern piece completed! Now I have a master pattern any time I want to make this sort of skirt.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Petticoat Pattern Pieces</h2><div><br /></div><div>This next step isn't illustrated. </div><div><br /></div><div>Petticoats are usually a little shorter than outer skirts. I am going to need to cut 2 1/2" inches (6.35cm) off this skirt that's ~ 40 inches/100cm in front, or 2 inches shorter with 1/2" seam allowance that I will need to seam the bottom facing and a hem binding to. Hem binding on a petticoat that doesn't touch the ground? What an oddity, but, that's what's suggested. </div><div><br /></div><div>So I will copy the pattern pieces onto fresh paper (oh joy), and cut off the bottoms. Then we'll be ready to cut the fabric, at long last!</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">In other news...</h2><div><br /></div><div>...the boys and Grandmother carved a pumpkin for Halloween, and the boys made Pan de Muerto for Spanish class to celebrate Dia de Muertos, which has a bit of similarity to our church's All Souls Day but which has, to my mind, more joyful elements. Our pumpkin's looking forward to noshing on some of that semi-sweet, orange-and-lemon scented yeast bread, and so am I.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5u6vyjtJhCLZInGwXJX59UXeF5HA4R1gboZLDMc7lXS-cD1LhoH8g6Fx8g8dVIVJj526TD1zgucS4Pa4I989D7pzicjJ45LISl2_mr5MNzT12VP8JwVJmlJKPW0qh-fFDuPAx/s2048/20201031_183934.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5u6vyjtJhCLZInGwXJX59UXeF5HA4R1gboZLDMc7lXS-cD1LhoH8g6Fx8g8dVIVJj526TD1zgucS4Pa4I989D7pzicjJ45LISl2_mr5MNzT12VP8JwVJmlJKPW0qh-fFDuPAx/w480-h640/20201031_183934.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The twins' jack o' lantern: he lisps!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwxM_MSnkbS4CWu0_6YcU6XG8ZcShdgP6_uok9MhDxNKixeJMUWqlWB7jmFLtTCOnA1yVaNAhXT0T6DpM8djZs4pEagKA1xf3aICDmjXetwe1kKerxaFZvSIGURTMotOwnryvn/s2048/20201103_122412.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwxM_MSnkbS4CWu0_6YcU6XG8ZcShdgP6_uok9MhDxNKixeJMUWqlWB7jmFLtTCOnA1yVaNAhXT0T6DpM8djZs4pEagKA1xf3aICDmjXetwe1kKerxaFZvSIGURTMotOwnryvn/w480-h640/20201103_122412.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pan de Muerto<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-2600041019462283402020-10-27T15:56:00.010-04:002021-01-11T20:06:47.545-05:00An 1895 Godet Petticoat With Boning and Stiffened Frills: Pattern Draft<p>The past few days saw me camped out on the den floor, stretching and leaning and murmuring "ooph, ow!" as I drafted the <i>Illustrierte Frauen-Zeitung</i> Roehrenfalten-Rock (a four yard godet skirt) pattern to full size. In case you want to use it, let me guide you through drafting it, for there are some spots that confused me and a pitfall that it's really, really easy to fall into.</p><p>In case you missed any posts in this petticoat series, you can find them on the <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/p/1890s-outfit.html">1890s: Costumes, Research, and Documentation page</a>.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Understanding the Draft</h2><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglnGgQbavnS5-EA_Jf-S8G-SJCsbHHdScC2C1ztT8q6UmGv2SGlbzLCnQ8Tc8Fn9pKTen2X4TbKjuvsWgQxYrvjV7fM4o0WxKPDDS_Pkg6-9fIdZKx22BopyEX01xrX9uDZ0Rw/s640/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+mar101895p64.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="640" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglnGgQbavnS5-EA_Jf-S8G-SJCsbHHdScC2C1ztT8q6UmGv2SGlbzLCnQ8Tc8Fn9pKTen2X4TbKjuvsWgQxYrvjV7fM4o0WxKPDDS_Pkg6-9fIdZKx22BopyEX01xrX9uDZ0Rw/w640-h336/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+mar101895p64.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>If you look at the original draft above, from left to right the skirt pattern includes four pieces:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>"a", the front piece; </li><li>"b", the side-front piece; </li><li>"c", the side-back piece; </li><li>"d", the back piece. </li></ul>I don't think the draft includes seam allowances, although I could be wrong. <p></p><p>The grainline is vertical, but none of edges of any gore fall on the straight of grain, so that "c" in particular, appears tipped. Cut them exactly as shown or the skirt will not work out as it's supposed to. Many 1890s skirt patterns tend to be cut such that one edge of a gore is on the straight of grain while the other is on the bias; this makes for a seam that's less likely to stretch or bag. This skirt is pretty much all bias seams.: I am a little worried about it but authors of the period say that keeping the fabric on a flat surface as much as possible while cutting and sewing it, and binding each seam with seam tape, are two ways to prevent problems.</p><p>The pattern pieces are marked in centimeters, and each number marks an important spot in the pattern. To draft up the pattern, you replicate the drawing, measuring out with a rule marked in centimeters. </p><p>I found out what the measurements work out to in American/Imperial inches. The skirt front measures about 40", while the back measures 44". This back length is NOT a train; the length is needed to create those wonderful godets that stand out at the back and brush the floor at the same level as the rest of the skirt. The skirt measures 145" around, or about 4 yards. There some room in the waistline; before darts and the essential godet pleats in the back are taken, we have a total of 44" to work with.</p><p>It's easy to simply draft up the pattern in centimeters, rather than fuss with converting the measures. This is especially so because some of the measurements are of less than an inch, and it would be a royal pain to squint at the 16th marks on your rule when you can simply use nice round centimeters.</p><p>Note: if you should need to resize the pattern, see the <a href="https://www.sensibility.com/">Sense and Sensibility</a> site's page called <a href="https://www.sensibility.com/blog/tips/how-to-resize-a-pattern">How to Resize a Pattern</a>. She covers resizing a gored skirt, or you could use the slash and spread method. Just know that you will affect the circumference of the lower edge of the skirt.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Let's Start Drafting</h2><div>Here below is the first piece (a), the front of the skirt. It's cut on the fold, hence the dotted line on the left side of the pattern piece.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's assume that you have a yard stick or meter stick and large sheets of paper ready to draw on, and a pencil with a good eraser. Also, a T-square or L-shaped ruler marked in cm is a great help, because it's nice to be able to lay one arm along a measured line and then measure up or down the vertical arm.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Before you start measuring,</b> <b>watch out</b>! Each vertical or horizontal line starts at the 1 cm mark, NOT at the 0 cm mark. Don't do as I did and merrily slide your ruler to its beginning point, which is usually zero, as you would with many American drafts. Instead, draw on your ruler at the 1 cm point with pencil so you will remember to start from there. If you measure at 0, you will add a cm to each part of your draft and it will be off, off, off. You can see the one I use in the photo of the first piece below; it's black with white marks.</div><p>I don't know why the patterns start at 1 cm rather than 0. Perhaps it's because wooden or tape rulers easily wear at their ends and the markings get a little off. Perhaps it's convention. If anyone wants to enlighten me, that would be so nice.</p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKF208EdEryAnQYg8WETsV7ZKB1G4kfad828Xg9_5a1AU6GR6V_EWGnWiSINN2BFrGvaBb88jWAa7VuAlVqPQ0osp3wxxCI2SKdFpi2AtAKg4AuJAsRnP2_4l5Cj-pmRqOBCe2/s624/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+mar101895p64-A-marked.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="624" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKF208EdEryAnQYg8WETsV7ZKB1G4kfad828Xg9_5a1AU6GR6V_EWGnWiSINN2BFrGvaBb88jWAa7VuAlVqPQ0osp3wxxCI2SKdFpi2AtAKg4AuJAsRnP2_4l5Cj-pmRqOBCe2/w400-h396/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+mar101895p64-A-marked.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Here's how I drafted the first piece, so you get the idea. Again, you're just replicating the original draft in the magazine, but at full size.</p><p>Each pattern piece is set inside a rectangle. Draw that out first:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>starting from the top left, at the 1cm mark on your rule, draw a line out to the right to 26cm.</li><li>starting again from the top left, at the 1cm mark on your rule, draw a line down to 103cm.</li><li>starting at the top right, at the 26cm mark, drawn a line down to 103cm.</li><li>starting at the bottom right, draw a line to the left from 26cm to the 1cm mark.</li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtSErhwuEKVsBajRrPqlUlFwcDt4-Lpm1gGkYQwgmWdlAHllaU1HpEPcOWAKIg5xFJDR49Gyrl864WRZcezY-0th6O4Bgurppb3DWX7RA0Y3-zK6zoQLGZTJEDby5kD_rYE-OC/s633/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+mar101895p64-A-drafting.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="633" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtSErhwuEKVsBajRrPqlUlFwcDt4-Lpm1gGkYQwgmWdlAHllaU1HpEPcOWAKIg5xFJDR49Gyrl864WRZcezY-0th6O4Bgurppb3DWX7RA0Y3-zK6zoQLGZTJEDby5kD_rYE-OC/w400-h356/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+mar101895p64-A-drafting.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Now you can draw in the pattern piece itself. Here's how I did it; I labeled each step from A to I:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>A to B: From the 1cm point on the left side of your pencilled rectangle, measure down to the 2cm point and draw a point. This is where the center of the front waistline is. </li><li>B to C: draw down the left side of the pencilled rectangle from 2 cm to 103 cm. This forms the center front of the skirt. Mark it darkly in a dotted line so that you remember to cut your fabric, which you have folded in half lengthwise, on the fold.</li><li>D to E: draw a straight line at the bottom of your pencilled box outwards from the 1cm mark to 9cm. </li><li>E to F: at the bottom right of your pencilled rectangle, measure up the right side from 103cm to 100cm. Now, from the 9cm mark on the bottom of your rectangle, draw a gentle curve up to that 100cm point. You've formed the bottom edge of the skirt piece.</li><li>G to H: at the top of your pencilled rectangle, measure from the 1cm mark to 9cm and make a point there. Now draw a very gentle, almost imperceptible curve from the 2cm point on the left edge to the 9cm point you made along the top. This is your waistline curve.</li><li>H to I: Draw an angled line from the 9cm mark on the top line down to the 100cm mark on the right edge. This is the outer edge of the front piece.</li><li>Draw in the darts lightly in the approximate place the original draft has them; you will set the darts to best fit your body when fitting the skirt to you.</li></ul><p></p><p>Now you have your first pattern piece!</p><p>The picture below my first pattern piece drawn on some newsprint my husband had stashed for some 30 years. It's getting age spots :} </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Q3ko-JQ0g_810gceB0RwLblKXlpTt33klnkKVAVOdfo8uCLV1WLE3iKsFh79S8fAaCOyE6u2nXYv-e1qNRQnkm5XGsGjJoFQ1tPVKM5mi84dJ5S2jFn9BFLbPihtiSM2jyz-/s2048/rohrenfalten-rock+pattern+a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1340" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Q3ko-JQ0g_810gceB0RwLblKXlpTt33klnkKVAVOdfo8uCLV1WLE3iKsFh79S8fAaCOyE6u2nXYv-e1qNRQnkm5XGsGjJoFQ1tPVKM5mi84dJ5S2jFn9BFLbPihtiSM2jyz-/w418-h640/rohrenfalten-rock+pattern+a.jpg" width="418" /></a></p><p>If you look carefully you can see that none of my pattern lines are closer to the edge of the paper than 2cm; I wanted room to mark everything carefully. </p><p>If you really squint you can see that I drew a dotted line 2cm outside the waistline and the right edge of the front piece. These are seam allowances. I didn't drawn an extra seam allowance for the skirt bottom because we are going to shorten it to petticoat length later. </p><p>I made sure to label the piece with the name of the skirt, which piece it is, and the grainline. As I drew my lines, I wrote down the cm measures just as they appear on the original draft. Obviously you don't have to do that, but I like knowing what everything measures.</p><p>I drew out each skirt piece in the same way, and only found the markings on the "c", side-back piece to be confusing. Here is the original draft -- we're looking at the large pattern piece on the left side.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz_X6KKJydao2RKaQQIiX109GYJ5OpmX0wlkxdLNQiq17hiYFFR2Z0gBksV_7-ciP7DMQw11H5fibQBh3kRm8OpqD4gDVlFTKxAVvPtbpnjq-uVA68uwe95ZhOFiVIrXC4Y5SV/s674/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+mar101895p64-B.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="674" height="572" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz_X6KKJydao2RKaQQIiX109GYJ5OpmX0wlkxdLNQiq17hiYFFR2Z0gBksV_7-ciP7DMQw11H5fibQBh3kRm8OpqD4gDVlFTKxAVvPtbpnjq-uVA68uwe95ZhOFiVIrXC4Y5SV/w640-h572/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+mar101895p64-B.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Here are the three spots I was confused:<div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Look at the little "6" and the "3" drawn inside the top left of the pattern. Well, the little "3", which sits on its side, reminds us that the waistline of the skirt starts vertically at the 3cm mark, where 1cm is the starting point. That part I understand. However, I cannot believe that the little "6" marks the spot where the top of the skirt gore begins horizontally. When I drew the line for the left side of the the skirt pattern piece from 6cm, boy! The angle sure didn't match that on the original drawing; it was too wide. So, I decided to start at 3cm.</li><li>Then too, I don't know what the 9cm mark is along the top of the rectangle that outlines the skirt pattern piece. Surely it isn't the spot where the first "X" on the pattern is placed...when I set it there, it was far to the left of where the pattern has it. </li><li>Finally, I don't know what the "90cm" mark is for that sits at the far right of the top. The bottom of the skirt flares out to 99cm wide, not 90cm. I can't help but think that's a typo.</li></ul><p>For those of you wondering what those star shapes are that appear on the side-back and back pieces? That's where you are going to attach the elastic band that holds the godet plaits into position. Once the skirt seams are sewn, you will see that the three star marks fall in a line. Be sure to include them on your pattern pieces! </p><p>The "X" marks and dots on these two back pattern pieces, I believe, show you where to set the box pleats, I believe, but haven't verified it as yet.</p><p>Here is the "c", the side-back piece, as I have drafted it.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgzhJfamvLhyphenhyphenN6zEXh0xQjOO0kvAy6B4jheBjMj5qNiTpdXISVx061Bz1V8CWBJXWVG9aHbiv5IxYp-jRzu12yqoqSZqEtjDpiDaSltwcz9OPH7JfUS5R7iaNUJavp0VX0mVnP/s2048/rohrenfalten-rock+pattern+c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgzhJfamvLhyphenhyphenN6zEXh0xQjOO0kvAy6B4jheBjMj5qNiTpdXISVx061Bz1V8CWBJXWVG9aHbiv5IxYp-jRzu12yqoqSZqEtjDpiDaSltwcz9OPH7JfUS5R7iaNUJavp0VX0mVnP/w480-h640/rohrenfalten-rock+pattern+c.jpg" width="480" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p>That ends drafting the skirt. The next step is to cut out the pieces and make sure they match up, and then compare them to my actual fashion skirt. I will want to copy the pieces and then trim the bottom parts a bit so that the petticoat doesn't show beneath the skirt. Two inches or 5cm should do it.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">May You Be as Snug as Nutmeg Kitty</h2><p>These are trying days, but they have their light moments. Nutmeg kitty has been very, very relaxed with the onset of cool weather. Look at those part-colored paws! <span style="text-align: center;">Then, a few days ago I was folding laundry prior to drafting out the pattern. She decided to interrupt the folding so that I could focus on the drafting. Good kitty...she gave me almost 2 hours of free time :}</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgCNcbNGHBJgFYHDMkD8WQ2LHCunnx8CYtR9KzUji9RwbVDsFNQ6zwTXH-s4B2IAto5zIECxVQHfCbX_5Z2ZDXpN1j9vNsImb3WKpX6IEjRTQiGXzUi49LSz3UdaUSNCHfIEXJ/s2048/nutmeg+naps+upside+down.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1180" data-original-width="2048" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgCNcbNGHBJgFYHDMkD8WQ2LHCunnx8CYtR9KzUji9RwbVDsFNQ6zwTXH-s4B2IAto5zIECxVQHfCbX_5Z2ZDXpN1j9vNsImb3WKpX6IEjRTQiGXzUi49LSz3UdaUSNCHfIEXJ/w640-h368/nutmeg+naps+upside+down.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW83UzvwP1FX7DZlJa2l15ea9VeCewZd6oAmxeQuaRIcCx0GEhjZ2p-CVbz9gQgTonK4giwj-2AsqO5nlDIN1l2IzOj7Zy55u6ehJC55ifmwTZJi5jfQq_haLwayKRcO9sfVR0/s2048/nutmeg+naps+laundry.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2039" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW83UzvwP1FX7DZlJa2l15ea9VeCewZd6oAmxeQuaRIcCx0GEhjZ2p-CVbz9gQgTonK4giwj-2AsqO5nlDIN1l2IzOj7Zy55u6ehJC55ifmwTZJi5jfQq_haLwayKRcO9sfVR0/w638-h640/nutmeg+naps+laundry.jpg" width="638" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>I wish you the snuggy feeling she has been feeling: we sure need a bit of cozy time...<br /><p>Next time, we will look at the pattern all cut out and set onto the fashion skirt so that we can see</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>how much should be trimmed off the bottom so that it's petticoat length</li><li>what I might need to do to the fashion skirt (!), if anything, to deal with the fact the petticoat is cut for godets while the skirt is definitely not.*</li></ul><div>* Yes, I know cotton "wash" skirts like mine weren't <i>supposed</i> to have godets, only skirts made of thicker materials, according to Emma M. Hooper in the <i>Ladies Home Journal</i>, but that doesn't mean that the petticoat couldn't be of a godet cut to hold out the skirt some!</div><p></p></div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-59770944013972711572020-10-16T14:57:00.022-04:002021-01-11T20:07:02.542-05:00An 1895 Godet Petticoat With Boning and Stiffened Frills: Design<div>Finally, life has a bit of sewing in it again. The energy simply hasn't been there, a common refrain during <i>annus horribilis 2020</i>. Behind the scenes I've been musing over what I've learned and re-researching as necessary, filling the email inbox with a sequence of emails to self, edited and re-edited to obsession, but touching a piece of fabric? Couldn't muster the muscles. Today's sunshine woke me up. It's so lambent with light and warmth and color, this lizard-chilly body finally felt ready to go, so we're off on a petticoat adventure.</div><div><br /></div><div>The petticoat is designed several goals in mind: to do the support work for the plain, unlined cotton skirt, as was common; to add as little bulk to the waistline as possible; to be adjustable in size.</div><div><br /></div><div>The wardrobe this project is a small part of is listed at <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/p/1890s-outfit.html">1890's: Costumes, Research, Documentation</a>.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Design Ingredients</h2><h3 style="text-align: left;">1. The Cut</h3><div>The cut is all-important, and boy, advice abounds. There's so much of it that an entire post should be added to the <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/p/1890s-outfit.html">Period Methods to Add Skirt Fullness</a> series, but that will have to wait.</div><div><br /></div><div>At base, I'd like the cut to produce a look close to that from <i>The</i> <i>Delineator's</i> petticoat, with its wonderful back godet fluting.</div><div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_JpJCtvXdWeq3_NIXZFX8D2F9aKyF_dmaJ6SdugmVUB1b-8rOOxC9pklv3m7D8zm8dys9nYf0FpoMtOjK5IV-GHBjgJIInHOragKkxiACuCsv_JO0mYO4rCho-zdcExwV8zrk/s823/gored-petti-four-godet-plaits-delineatorJan1895pp58-59illus.jpg" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #33aaff; font-size: 13.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="823" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_JpJCtvXdWeq3_NIXZFX8D2F9aKyF_dmaJ6SdugmVUB1b-8rOOxC9pklv3m7D8zm8dys9nYf0FpoMtOjK5IV-GHBjgJIInHOragKkxiACuCsv_JO0mYO4rCho-zdcExwV8zrk/w640-h456/gored-petti-four-godet-plaits-delineatorJan1895pp58-59illus.jpg" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: 0%; background-position-y: 0%; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; background: none 0% 0% / auto repeat scroll padding-box border-box transparent; border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: medium; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: currentColor; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: medium; border-right-color: currentColor; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: medium; border-top-color: currentColor; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: medium; border: medium none currentcolor; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The D</i><span face="&quot" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><i>elineator</i>, Jan 1895 pp. 58-59<br /></span></span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div>Elegant, isn't it? However, a copy of the pattern is elusive. Besides, it's 3 1/4 yard circumference. Now, writers have said that this is enough; Emma Hooper said three yards "wide" was enough (see quote below); she emphatically did not mean 9 feet across, but circumference. </div><div><br /></div><div>We know from previous posts that the petticoat could be cut just like the final skirt, so I could use the TV 291 1898 Walking Skirt pattern, which I used for my outer skirt. Its back piece is a straight panel gathered to fit, though, and I want a godet look. However, using oodles of fabric to create a godet cut with the pattern isn't an option, nor have I the design chops that <a href="https://ateliernostalgia.wordpress.com/portfolio/1890s/">Atelier Nostalgia</a> has with redrawing 1890s skirt patterns. </div><div><br /></div><div>The pattern I took from <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2019/10/an-antique-1890s-black-skirt-with-brush.html">An Antique 1890s Black Skirt With Brush Braid In My Collection</a> could work too. It has an interesting back in two pieces, with straight edge on the outer sides, and a bias seam in the middle. However, I wasn't comfortable experimenting with it because I don't know how the back was originally handled at the top, the finishing band having been taken off at some point before I bought it. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, enter once again The <i>Illustrierte Frauen-Zeitung</i>, a favorite magazine. The March 10, 1895 issue offers a pattern for a Roehren-falten-Rock, or pipe-fold skirt. Here it is:</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYYXsw5fiTQnqo1Y7jtzI7pN1Wh-0EaFugg2zffNBMZv9Xu6Vd8ISmwa431Obnymn4hX_atkEmqIFL9lo9HIQtt1P9J_8NrZygbhoB_LK1yxhgL38W_h5j-o5ro8GxHXf4Ja4M/s857/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+illus+mar101895p68.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="857" data-original-width="455" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYYXsw5fiTQnqo1Y7jtzI7pN1Wh-0EaFugg2zffNBMZv9Xu6Vd8ISmwa431Obnymn4hX_atkEmqIFL9lo9HIQtt1P9J_8NrZygbhoB_LK1yxhgL38W_h5j-o5ro8GxHXf4Ja4M/w340-h640/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+illus+mar101895p68.jpg" width="340" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Illustrierte Frauen-Zeitung,</i> March 10, 1895, p. 68<br />Side note: you can clearly see the skirt binding or<br />brush braid at the skirt bottom.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHGCaj8NueXKz4t0RGTv0-pyInhn5CcnSL8VTClSMMSRRPe1iBAJJCCjoGKP3Qvf23uafgNJtEbfXTtLpCmQAe7tKBYRcUCpEU6IAuTWqImhfXzEf_PP5hmSXQWjaozc7tJFo/s1023/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+mar101895-textA.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="1023" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHGCaj8NueXKz4t0RGTv0-pyInhn5CcnSL8VTClSMMSRRPe1iBAJJCCjoGKP3Qvf23uafgNJtEbfXTtLpCmQAe7tKBYRcUCpEU6IAuTWqImhfXzEf_PP5hmSXQWjaozc7tJFo/w640-h388/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+mar101895-textA.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Illustrierte Frauen-Zeitung,</i> March 10, 1895</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioyX_6VxJMC2-TnxZK2Vx7DvoSTAKDP7lXll-k7k0NPBR38tcLjMAflUkg8wXnFd8TWpPewZq4X6vSZcocrX4gGGDZDrdRKvokb_YAATV9IVMm253Z5H-n0PYwdtrsedBhOR6Q/s1039/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+mar101895-textB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="1039" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioyX_6VxJMC2-TnxZK2Vx7DvoSTAKDP7lXll-k7k0NPBR38tcLjMAflUkg8wXnFd8TWpPewZq4X6vSZcocrX4gGGDZDrdRKvokb_YAATV9IVMm253Z5H-n0PYwdtrsedBhOR6Q/w640-h402/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+mar101895-textB.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Illustrierte Frauen-Zeitung,</i> March 10, 1895</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglnGgQbavnS5-EA_Jf-S8G-SJCsbHHdScC2C1ztT8q6UmGv2SGlbzLCnQ8Tc8Fn9pKTen2X4TbKjuvsWgQxYrvjV7fM4o0WxKPDDS_Pkg6-9fIdZKx22BopyEX01xrX9uDZ0Rw/s1145/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+mar101895p64.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="1145" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglnGgQbavnS5-EA_Jf-S8G-SJCsbHHdScC2C1ztT8q6UmGv2SGlbzLCnQ8Tc8Fn9pKTen2X4TbKjuvsWgQxYrvjV7fM4o0WxKPDDS_Pkg6-9fIdZKx22BopyEX01xrX9uDZ0Rw/w640-h336/godet+skirt+frauenzeitung+mar101895p64.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Illustrierte Frauen-Zeitung,</i> March 10, 1895, p. 64</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>The skirt base comes to just about four yards (the original pattern is in metric). That's perfect. The top has plenty of room for different waist sizes, including mine, and comes with helpful directions. (The translation will sit in a construction post.) I don't even have to grade it! For those of you who might, do see the <a href="https://www.sensibility.com/">Sense and Sensibility</a> site's page called <a href="https://www.sensibility.com/blog/tips/how-to-resize-a-pattern">How to Resize a Pattern</a>. She covers resizing a gored skirt, or you could use the slash and spread method. Just know that you will affect the circumference of the lower edge of the skirt.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some of you might be alarmed by all those bias edge to bias edge seams. Yikes! Ripe for fabric stretching and sagging and all kinds of trouble. The 1890s dressmakers had a cure for that. Miss Davis of <i>Elements of Modern Dressmaking, </i>along with others, suggested that each bias seam be held with a cotton tape, after handling the pieces on a flat surface, trying not to stretch them. The <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2019/10/an-antique-1890s-black-skirt-with-brush.html">skirt in my collection</a> has just that. It's pretty thin cotton, not today's thick twill tape. A little trepidatious, am still going to use the pattern, and trust to bias tape :}</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">2. Godets Made from Box Plaits (Pleats)</h3><div>Look at the <i>Delineator</i> and <i>Illustrierte Frauen-Zeitung </i>pictures again. There are those wonderful godet flutes supporting the back of the skirt, and you can clearly see how each flute is rounded right up to the waistband. It's just ducky. However, for maximum skirt support, the magazine suggests that it be made of haircloth. Well, that's a no-go for me, as it's beyond the budget I've set for this project. Still, I can riff off of the godet idea.</div><div><br /></div>"Each back gore is arranged in a box plait, the plaits being narrow at the top and flaring into godet or organ-pipe folds" (The Delineator, Jan 1895 pp. 58-59). Box pleats, or plaits, as I've been calling them because that's the word usually used then, were a primary, but not exclusive way of creating the actual folds that grew to great, lovely undulations at floor level. To shape the increasing width of the folds and to hold them into place, they were "held well to the back by an elastic strap tacked underneath." (ibid.) Naturally, we'll use both of these methods.<div><br /><div>There were different plans for how far up or down the strap would be set, and indeed, how many straps would be used. See <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2020/02/1895-outfit-period-methods-to-add-skirt.html">Skirt Godet Plaits and Interior Ties</a> for more about shaping the folds. By the way, I've learned so much about them since that post that it needs an overhaul.</div><div><br /></div><div>By back gores, they mean that the back section would be made of multiple wedge-shaped pieces narrow at the top and widening quite a bit at the bottom, each with two edges on the bias -- a version of today's triangular godet. </div><div><br /></div><div><h3 style="text-align: left;">3. Yoke and Drawstring</h3><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">A yoke for a top finish makes sense, too. The wide yoke holds in the abdomen a bit, and the shape is smooth, where a belt can make the fabric below it puff out in the front and sides, something nobody wants. Here's the February 1895 <i>Delineator</i>:</p><div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: both; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9yKK_AtEjHdhLbrvkdnfeeKH9zsOPok39ElRfNaxOSMb98nNkAmxTSC_wAXjDxpuEKUsdiLEUszqQZ5QBc4P0WDKz6DNMuLylLRvosNNfbzTULcHWvRbMWvL_xfPuwE50X_aw/s1600/petticoat-yoked-delineator-feb1895-pp197-198.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="1600" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9yKK_AtEjHdhLbrvkdnfeeKH9zsOPok39ElRfNaxOSMb98nNkAmxTSC_wAXjDxpuEKUsdiLEUszqQZ5QBc4P0WDKz6DNMuLylLRvosNNfbzTULcHWvRbMWvL_xfPuwE50X_aw/w640-h254/petticoat-yoked-delineator-feb1895-pp197-198.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">The yoke doesn't have to go all the way around the waist, though, a bonus if you want some good godet flute action as well as size adjustability. Listen to Emma Hooper in Home Dressmaking Made Easy (p. 27):<br /><br /><i>Make it on a yoke; have it three yards wide, well faced, and then bind with the bias velveteen featherbone binding, which will keep the petticoat comfortably extended; add three bias gathered ruffles, overlapping each other, each five inches wide and the top one with an erect heading; finish the top with a yoke four inches deep; no opening, but a drawstring in the back from the side seams where the yoke ends, the back being faced.</i></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">There's a lot packed in there, but for now we're focusing on the yoke:<br /><br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>it's 4 inches deep</li><li>there's no placket opening</li><li>the fabric in the top back has a facing</li><li>two tapes, each attached to the side seam, are run through the top of the facing to make a drawstring</li></ul><br />Hooray! No placket (the <i>Delineator</i> petticoat calls for one) and no closure. If I need one I can make an opening with folded edges. I've done plackets for Edwardian skirts, and they're nice, but fiddly and I don't see the need in a petticoat.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, Ms. Davis' petticoat doesn't have godet plaits itself. So how to merge the godet plaits I want with the faced-back on a drawstring? Make three godet plaits in the center, backed with their elastic, then have a small portion of faced fabric in between the godet plaits and the side seam, with two sets of drawstrings. This gives the adjustability that we need, although I may have to cave and put in a hemmed opening in one of those two sections. Complicated, but I want this petticoat to last a while.<p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">4. Boning</h3><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on"><br />Boning the petticoat to hold it out was suggested by so many sources in both the <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">Petticoats with Crinoline, Ties, Bones, Wires!</a> post and in <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">Petticoats Redux</a> that I had to do it. There are lots of ways handle the boning, from encasing it into the hem binding (yes, binding petticoat hems was a thing too), to inserting one to five rows near the hem at inch or less intervals. Obviously, the more you use, the stiffer the hold. And the more like a hoopskirt it gets, I deem, but I have not found a wired example still extant, so I can't say.<br /><br />Because godet skirts could include a bit of boning or wiring, rather than five rows, that's the way we are going.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">Researching replacement boning consumed well over a month, and there were multiple points at which the Grail seemed found --Eureka! -- but then I'd find a deal-breaking flaw. The special products invented to do the job have gone the way of the dinosaur. However, I have two options waiting in the wings. One can cost you nothing, the other is taken from another of my hobbies and is an example of the benefit of having multiple interests. I will start with the no-cost option and if it works, we're done. Otherwise, I will invest the cash for option two. <br /><br />Lest the wires be too in evidence, frills, ruffles and flounces go over them, so we come to the last ingredient.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">5. Specially treated frills</h3><p></p>Mrs. Mallon's silk-plus-haircloth godet box-plaited petticoat (see <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">Petticoats with Crinoline, Ties, Bones, Wires!</a>) has been a favorite for its tiered haircloth box-pleated frills.</div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiQiwGknUVtZqZf3smqMvSvtNGtk4aiQX1vnSDYNqOMZBrtcDBjqJvCrOYSuKDUElKp0fJi0z_E5i3zC421Kl6AmE0r-E2EYnXEwCTW3gFUakAa1ExeK0jBhRQekQGGcByYxdL/s1600/petti+with+haircloth+lhj+july+1895+p25.jpg" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #33aaff; font-size: 13.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="381" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiQiwGknUVtZqZf3smqMvSvtNGtk4aiQX1vnSDYNqOMZBrtcDBjqJvCrOYSuKDUElKp0fJi0z_E5i3zC421Kl6AmE0r-E2EYnXEwCTW3gFUakAa1ExeK0jBhRQekQGGcByYxdL/s640/petti+with+haircloth+lhj+july+1895+p25.jpg" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: 0%; background-position-y: 0%; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; background: none 0% 0% / auto repeat scroll padding-box border-box transparent; border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: medium; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: currentColor; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: medium; border-right-color: currentColor; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: medium; border-top-color: currentColor; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: medium; border: medium none currentcolor; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="294" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="&quot" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #666666; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 12.8px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">Petticoat with haircloth box pleating .</span><em style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #666666; font-size: 10.53px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">Ladies Home Journal</em><span face="&quot" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #666666; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 12.8px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">, July 1895, p.25</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on"><br /><br />Let her describe the petticoat once again:<br /><br /><i>The newest skirt, however, is the one shown at Illustration No. 2. It is made of white moreen, and is to be worn under cotton, silk, or any light-weight material that will not stand a stiff lining. It is cut by the godet pattern and has as decoration three box-plaitings of the white haircloth, the top one having as a finish a thick silk cord. </i></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">Yum.</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on">I could use true haircloth from B. Black and Sons or Bias Bespoke, but again, there's the expense. Instead, I've chosen Takach Press stiff tarlatan, a tried and true stiffener much used in the decade for such jobs as giving shape to sleeves.</p><h2><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;">Next Steps</div></div></h2><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" trbidi="on"><br />Next up is drawing out that pattern onto large sheets of old drawing paper.<br /><br />The petticoat body will be made from a set of silk curtains I made for the living room years ago. Just a bit of the silk started shattering due to getting direct sunlight so they were replaced, but I kept the fabric.<br /><br />Off we go...<br /></p></div></div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-37305273403719621332020-09-23T15:03:00.014-04:002022-03-01T21:27:55.578-05:001895 Outfit: Period Methods To Add Skirt Fullness: Part 2B: Petticoats Redux<div><span style="color: red;">Updated August 28, 2021 to add additional information</span></div><div><br /></div>Goodness gracious,<a href="https://draft.blogger.com/u/1/#"> the set of posts</a> about 1890s skirt fullness, of which this is another installment, has gone on for nearly a year. It's getting ridiculous. I mean, really, do we need two posts, 2A and now 2B, about petticoats? Yes: there is quite a lot of information in magazines and newspapers that fills out the picture of the myriad ways petticoats could be designed to give the desired silhouette.<div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Petticoat Circumference</h2><div><br /></div><div>Since publishing <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/u/1/#">1895 Outfit: Period Methods To Add Skirt Fullness, Part 2, Petticoats with Crinoline, Ties, Bones, Wires!</a>, I have been bothered by questions about petticoat hem circumference and how it could make my skirt look fluffy or flat, and until recently, I hadn't found this:<div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5kkTlDzomyr4MBn5lxdAwhPDS15ERtbfVYZNuTLuAEIPzRGTD8ohTbAcvTV-XNycKi41Q-QExyX5ykbdVBU4e2D4MDmf2W6xv1GJOEN_EOxftcNtKXiGvLtHWW_cfMSElFJyc/s855/petti-draawstring-back-spec-back-gatherg-delineatorMar1895p337illus.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="855" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5kkTlDzomyr4MBn5lxdAwhPDS15ERtbfVYZNuTLuAEIPzRGTD8ohTbAcvTV-XNycKi41Q-QExyX5ykbdVBU4e2D4MDmf2W6xv1GJOEN_EOxftcNtKXiGvLtHWW_cfMSElFJyc/w400-h311/petti-draawstring-back-spec-back-gatherg-delineatorMar1895p337illus.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>Petticoat pattern with front and back views...and circumference! </div><div><i>The Delineator, </i>March 1895, p. 337<br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </div>Still outstanding too were questions about appropriate petticoat fabrics that I can actually obtain today. Also, I wanted to know more about constructing those so-tempting petticoats loaded with boning or wire at the bottom. Fashion writers were careful not to utter the word "hoopskirt" or "crinoline", and I daresay they were smart not to do so. Less than a decade previously you might carry a half-grown kitten on your bustled derriere and not know it. I don't think women were really ready for a full-on return of wires in their underthings.<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikabq8MbkKKIpGsLheXn8rf3ixV64f7F2lNRIIuIcb8TUsW228wOvR0BsmHft0fDHv_fRI5L3zwiAdvcO-Y-qNI8P7lf0MbJ_w0Z_PT0t2bzf_GvMK8sQ3UnzImGVdloRdWu2h/s531/kitten+on+bustle.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="340" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikabq8MbkKKIpGsLheXn8rf3ixV64f7F2lNRIIuIcb8TUsW228wOvR0BsmHft0fDHv_fRI5L3zwiAdvcO-Y-qNI8P7lf0MbJ_w0Z_PT0t2bzf_GvMK8sQ3UnzImGVdloRdWu2h/w256-h400/kitten+on+bustle.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>What? There's a kitty getting a ride? Where?</div><div>And no, this is clearly not an 1890s outfit,</div><div>but a first, unfinished experiment in the 1870s.</div><div>Darling kitten courtesy</div><div>Leijurv - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, </div><div>https://commons.</div><div>wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90553702<br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Wait, really? <i>A kitty riding on top of your bustle?</i> I imagined that image, but decided to look it up, because that's what we do these days when we're homebound, and it happened, sort of... Read about Feline Dress Improvers: <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/u/1/#">The Victorian Fashion in Bustle Baskets for Cats</a> on Mimi Matthews' site. It's too funny!<br /><br />Back to mid-1890s petticoats. Back I went into available literature and pictures of extant petticoats. Therefore, in this post we look at two period petticoat patterns for hem circumference and design information, then mine 1895 newspaper articles for more ideas on how to make petticoats stand out. In between we talk fabrics. Then let's be done; I just want to make the petticoats already!<div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Two 1895 Petticoat Patterns Address the Problem of Flaring the Skirt Bottom</h2><div><br /></div>Petticoat circumference issues have been driving me nuts. We know that <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/u/1/#">heavy linings and interlinings, wires, bones up the seams, and cording</a> held out heavy skirts, making them quite heavy. Just look at this dress from Live Auctioneers.<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-NuLd0xLtf0y9wPzg4BU31m7WSRhY7Qi4nIr3hx6PTBUuRBn4wbyjW2lDJFhx9488-UBhbpIotTNBPSOwNwd0kjlZndht09Qoe2ytV-ButhuBM6_Ck1EKONIb6061R2y2E9S/s545/1890s-brocade-skirt-and-petticoat-liveauctioneers2019-2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-NuLd0xLtf0y9wPzg4BU31m7WSRhY7Qi4nIr3hx6PTBUuRBn4wbyjW2lDJFhx9488-UBhbpIotTNBPSOwNwd0kjlZndht09Qoe2ytV-ButhuBM6_Ck1EKONIb6061R2y2E9S/w353-h400/1890s-brocade-skirt-and-petticoat-liveauctioneers2019-2.jpg" width="353" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front of 1890s brocade skirt and-petticoat, from Liveauctioneers<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikh58iyPtcOstYLCfTYFGWnHh0EsOQ933DIXjYT7EvXNlrbd-FcGO2PsQNW0NgvE10y7hwiMDcrVNLS0Sao1G_W6B5vq1jBVe8xmSSs_nR3NNQ3yv43UTejafzbP8Hoj11W1FG/s496/1890s-brocade-skirt-and-petticoat-liveauctioneers2019-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikh58iyPtcOstYLCfTYFGWnHh0EsOQ933DIXjYT7EvXNlrbd-FcGO2PsQNW0NgvE10y7hwiMDcrVNLS0Sao1G_W6B5vq1jBVe8xmSSs_nR3NNQ3yv43UTejafzbP8Hoj11W1FG/w388-h400/1890s-brocade-skirt-and-petticoat-liveauctioneers2019-1.jpg" width="388" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Side view. Such back amplitude!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMopU8xwblcMuCtl76I1wt_XBnUkKvhXHnBe3GtSUSQ-Jzhb1axcThuthyphenhyphenxaVhROZ45soGjKfRgNs6K-AFC8lm2bJt645ubyhq6ZGnSjEkS1EHC4btbJk5VOZM2gw9WyXaNEnx/s639/1890s-brocade-skirt-and-petticoat-liveauctioneers2019-3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMopU8xwblcMuCtl76I1wt_XBnUkKvhXHnBe3GtSUSQ-Jzhb1axcThuthyphenhyphenxaVhROZ45soGjKfRgNs6K-AFC8lm2bJt645ubyhq6ZGnSjEkS1EHC4btbJk5VOZM2gw9WyXaNEnx/w300-h400/1890s-brocade-skirt-and-petticoat-liveauctioneers2019-3.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>The petticoat, from what appears to be a side-back angle. </div><div>Notice that it's cut more narrowly. I wonder if they</div><div>stuffed it to make it look so stiff...or if part of it</div><div>contains wires?</div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Such a heavy skirt did not need petticoats that were roughly the skirt circumference to hold them out. So we don't read oodles and oodles about exactly what petticoat hem circumferences should be. I did find a mention in the<i> Evening Star </i>(July 13, 1895, p. 15), saying "The petticoat should be only moderately full, two yards and a half is ample width for a medium-size woman, and three yards and a half of embroidery, a big allowance for a ruffle, no matter how wide." Advice like this tended to change over time, however. For example, by 1896 fashionable petticoats had a larger hem circumference.<br /><br />Other writers appear to say something quite different. Here is the<i> Ladies Home Journal</i> writer Isobel Mallon's advice:<br /><br /><i></i><blockquote><i>Except for a greater fullness the petticoats are cut almost exactly like the dress skirt. Lawn or cambric is used for them, although when thin white dresses are worn petticoats of dotted muslin are chosen, and being light tend to make the whole costume very cool and pleasant. The skirt of lawn with three ruffles, having upon them a group of tucks on each side of the lace insertion, and then below that a lace edge, is one that can endure much soap and water, and, not being over-trimmed, is good form. The fancy for setting lace in the skirt itself no longer obtains, and if anything, the trimming, which is all put on by hand, is simpler than ever before. A ribbon belt is usually drawn through a casing at the top, so that one may have one's skirt belt as loose or as tight as may be agreeable, and then, too, the doing away with the old close belt, to which the skirt was gathered, makes it much easier to iron the petticoat itself. </i>("Dainty Styles in Lingerie", by Isobel Mallon, Ladies Home Journal, August, 1894, p. 23.)</blockquote><div><i></i><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div>I simply don't understand the "except for a greater fullness" part. Should I pull out my skirt pattern<br /><div>(TV 291), and cut it a bit fuller to make a petticoat, or is it the dress skirt that is cut fuller? What are my design options? </div><div><br /></div><div>Well, I finally have located two petticoat patterns with circumference information, and two different ways of handling a fullness, especially on the all-important backside.<br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">A Haircloth or Moreen or Sateen, Etc. Godet Petticoat</h2><br />Here's the first pattern, dating to January, 1895. Do you see the pencil marking 3 1/4 yards? Whomever owned this <i>Delineator</i> issue was concerned about petticoat circumference too, for that's the actual circumference of the petticoat. It's actually not a super-flaring petticoat. Not surprising: fashion would decree much more flare later in 1895 and 1896.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_JpJCtvXdWeq3_NIXZFX8D2F9aKyF_dmaJ6SdugmVUB1b-8rOOxC9pklv3m7D8zm8dys9nYf0FpoMtOjK5IV-GHBjgJIInHOragKkxiACuCsv_JO0mYO4rCho-zdcExwV8zrk/s823/gored-petti-four-godet-plaits-delineatorJan1895pp58-59illus.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="823" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_JpJCtvXdWeq3_NIXZFX8D2F9aKyF_dmaJ6SdugmVUB1b-8rOOxC9pklv3m7D8zm8dys9nYf0FpoMtOjK5IV-GHBjgJIInHOragKkxiACuCsv_JO0mYO4rCho-zdcExwV8zrk/w640-h456/gored-petti-four-godet-plaits-delineatorJan1895pp58-59illus.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The D</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><i>elineator, </i>Jan 1895 pp. 58-59</span></span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7tyTinhUk2H4xl9EOfFJEWc08CrgHUKxLefGBssxfCpilb6-4ubKoKd8_iBjDKSI_dTH8uDmA8hn2hNpDGGp8c_chyphenhyphenbG24HTkCpdmmDYD-JhccXhBgpm6wqnxyes19jQxtaUF/s550/gored-petti-four-godet-plaits-delineatorJan1895pp58-59textA.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="306" data-original-width="550" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7tyTinhUk2H4xl9EOfFJEWc08CrgHUKxLefGBssxfCpilb6-4ubKoKd8_iBjDKSI_dTH8uDmA8hn2hNpDGGp8c_chyphenhyphenbG24HTkCpdmmDYD-JhccXhBgpm6wqnxyes19jQxtaUF/w640-h356/gored-petti-four-godet-plaits-delineatorJan1895pp58-59textA.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>First part of the description</div><div><i>The Delineator, </i>Jan 1895, text pp. 58-59<br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbfaYeycRrPYKNBMWauw3hYdN86VPn8FAd-VSLFBBD8GS0Bt1uoYMONZPc82L5j6Do4Fisp-5b_c_gmIL_xDgXiVT0kwbXwQwvjucl6VuULuALP1R54NhsbjdKWeoH9b_9VTs6/s546/gored-petti-four-godet-plaits-delineatorJan1895pp58-59textB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="546" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbfaYeycRrPYKNBMWauw3hYdN86VPn8FAd-VSLFBBD8GS0Bt1uoYMONZPc82L5j6Do4Fisp-5b_c_gmIL_xDgXiVT0kwbXwQwvjucl6VuULuALP1R54NhsbjdKWeoH9b_9VTs6/w640-h376/gored-petti-four-godet-plaits-delineatorJan1895pp58-59textB.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Second part of the description</span><br /></div><div><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The Delineator, </i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Jan 1895, text pp. 58-59</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div><div><br /></div>This godet plait design wouldn't work for Isobel Mallon's recommended summer petticoats of lawn or muslin or dotted muslin. None of those thin, soft fabrics will hold an organ pleat. Instead, the pattern description recommends moreen (more on which later) or silk. The moreen has good body and the silk some body.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_DT_SMP6-QOiCGedyB9CqnZfzc86eHBQh4qO8Joa0SSlAtcX9FlI9p8MuMVBHNc0NIbH-lpTzNrFOei2ZztJinqj-nizNvUXhbp6-B_-UYdqIm9eO0-HAiMT6HUyhuDkBBSlR/s971/godets+vs+gathering.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="971" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_DT_SMP6-QOiCGedyB9CqnZfzc86eHBQh4qO8Joa0SSlAtcX9FlI9p8MuMVBHNc0NIbH-lpTzNrFOei2ZztJinqj-nizNvUXhbp6-B_-UYdqIm9eO0-HAiMT6HUyhuDkBBSlR/w640-h360/godets+vs+gathering.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>The pattern description also suggests the seamstress make it in haircloth. An outer petticoat could be put over it, as haircloth isn't exactly prepossessing. Then it would take the place of a heavy interlining in the skirt itself. We read about haircloth a good bit in previous posts. Now that we can see a pattern of a petticoat that uses it, it makes a great deal of sense. However, you can also intuitively that such a petticoat would be warm to wear in the summertime, especially in humidity.</div><div><br /></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;">A Lighter Petticoat in Taffeta, Muslin, Etc.</h2><div><br /></div></div>What of petticoat pattern option two? This one is a little more flared at bottom, at 3 1/2 yards in circumference. While it is designed to be made of taffeta, and would be very pretty indeed with its pinked ruffles, this one can be made in muslin or lawn, just as Isobel Mallon recommends for summer wear, if a little starch was applied to the ruffles. Remember from the last petticoat post that lots of starch was frowned upon.) In very thin fabrics the bunching of the gathers would not create a large foot flare, even if multiple were worn, but as the pattern description claims, in a taffeta it would offer some fullness and flare. Silk is hot to wear in the summer, though; be advised!<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBlxg-X4i3T8roUfR9oI1VEXi_LNl-C8rQI71zOLqPvNy_lS8fhAfNtcOO6RTlFv8_Ru6py-J6wnU4pgZl2r1YKVE-MgDutfBUHHsbkmhv2kvK5ZX5xGaVh0V49Tigt1R2CC2Q/s855/petti-draawstring-back-spec-back-gatherg-delineatorMar1895p337illus.jpg" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><img border="0" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="855" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBlxg-X4i3T8roUfR9oI1VEXi_LNl-C8rQI71zOLqPvNy_lS8fhAfNtcOO6RTlFv8_Ru6py-J6wnU4pgZl2r1YKVE-MgDutfBUHHsbkmhv2kvK5ZX5xGaVh0V49Tigt1R2CC2Q/w640-h498/petti-draawstring-back-spec-back-gatherg-delineatorMar1895p337illus.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Delineator, </i>Mar 1895, p.337<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnm0cxJpulgTj5vmbDhcMUT7OB-csNdnixKL9PKcHMqnYTE3CoiKFFtCWvNdqzo1dqn3SR6SivfOAuTLlOr8gaPA_0Stui_2db2u09An3We7tsDvQDaZC3BQs5lOQx56mHPuvQ/s709/petti-draawstring-back-spec-back-gatherg-delineatorMar1895p336text.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="709" data-original-width="523" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnm0cxJpulgTj5vmbDhcMUT7OB-csNdnixKL9PKcHMqnYTE3CoiKFFtCWvNdqzo1dqn3SR6SivfOAuTLlOr8gaPA_0Stui_2db2u09An3We7tsDvQDaZC3BQs5lOQx56mHPuvQ/w472-h640/petti-draawstring-back-spec-back-gatherg-delineatorMar1895p336text.jpg" width="472" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The Delineator, </i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Mar 1895, p.336</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Do note the waistline finish on this petticoat: it's smooth, no waistband! Instead, it relies on an interior facing (in the text labeled an "underfacing") to "avoid the need of a placket". They might also have written that such a facing would present a smooth finish, with no potential for poofing at the front or sides due to a narrow waistband, and that a facing, being wider, distributes the weight of the petticoat more across the body.</div><div><br /></div>If I were to use this pattern in lawn for enough petticoat-ery to add real flare, I'd need two or three! Speaking of flare...<br /><br /></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Aside: New Information About Skirt Fullness and Flare In Unlined Outer Skirts -- Not Every Skirt Flared</h2><br /></div><div>How much skirt flare do I want? I've recently discovered that some people felt that a flaring silhouette in a plain cotton "wash" dress, like the one I have made, wasn't good form, and that some illustrated summer dresses are narrow indeed, while there's a lovely extant with what looks like plenty of flare. I've edited the <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/u/1/#">Period Methods to Add Skirt Fullness, Part 1: Fullness and Flare</a> post with the new information.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Yet Another Look at a Widely Flared Petticoat: No Godets This Time</h2><div>For research's sake, I'd like to introduce you to another petticoat sans waistband at top, and also sans godet plaits, that relies on cut, drawstring, and flounce to set the silhouette. The description shows that this pattern was designed to use fabrics with some body to them and that it was considered "dressy". This pattern is also from the prolific <i>Delineator Magazine</i>, this time in June 1896. We'll let the magazine speak for itself again:</div><p></p><blockquote><i>Ladies' Gored Petticoat-Skirt, With Ruffle-Bordered, Bias Spanish Flounce Forming the Lower Part</i></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><i>No. 8392. Taffeta silk was chosen for making this dressy petticoat-skirt, which, because of its deep flounce, retains the stylish flare at the foot without unnecessary width at the waist. The skirt consists of a front-gore, two gores at each side and a back-breadth. It is fitted smoothly at the top of the front and sides by darts and the skirt is lengthened by a bias flounce, the upper edge of which is turned under and shirred on a cord. To the lower edge of the flounce is sewed a narrow, bias ruffle that holds the skirt out well from the figure and forms a dainty finish. The flounce is ornamented by a deep, bias trimming flounce that is turned under at the top to form a self-heading and shirred on cords at the top and hemmed narrowly at the bottom; the trimming flounce is decorated with two silk ruchings, the whole arrangement increasing the flaring effect and making quite an elaborate foot-trimming. The top of the petticoat is finished with an under-facing, which forms a casing for tapes that are tacked back of the darts in the side-gores and drawn out through openings made at the center of the back, thus regulating the fullness about the waist and avoiding the need of a placket. The lower edge of the petticoat-skirt measures three yards and a fourth round in the medium sizes.<br /><br />Silk, sateen, mohair and alpaca will be appropriate for petticoats of this style, and ribbon, beading, insertion and lace edging may be chosen for decoration.<br /><br />We have pattern No. 8392 in nine sizes for ladies from twenty to thirty-six inches, waist measure. To make the petticoat-skirt with the trimming flounce for a lady of medium size, will need twelve yards of material twenty inches side, or eight yards and an eighth twenty-seven inches wide, or seven yards and a fourth thirty-six inches wide. The petticoat-skirt without the rimming flounce requires seven yards and five-eights twenty inches wide, or five yards and three-fourths twenty-seven inches wide, or four yards and three-fourths thirty-six inches wide. Price of pattern, 1s. or 25 cents. </i></blockquote><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyjeO68pqzHEeJq_UC6mlbrychbVRsOPVIXtmeVavgnxAfIElBldpj_yi1ytqrdJdzJFd7dI6pcfSfix-6cmNiPT2w-dotLy7abu084EJ-6ynMYFUPczcvsWrCSUNYQAqc9Hs/s300/petti-delineator-june-1896-dressmakingresesearch-a.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="281" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyjeO68pqzHEeJq_UC6mlbrychbVRsOPVIXtmeVavgnxAfIElBldpj_yi1ytqrdJdzJFd7dI6pcfSfix-6cmNiPT2w-dotLy7abu084EJ-6ynMYFUPczcvsWrCSUNYQAqc9Hs/s0/petti-delineator-june-1896-dressmakingresesearch-a.jpg" width="281" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Delineator 8392, June 1896, front</i></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUxwfhwBJauxU3bgZ44Hz_yjBGugJqeIIKgnRYh9J3aF43O6U96YdwAb_9dulEQm_yVFIZqP2k0LrFCVSo2lS1y7OMy3ify0sEjG0VjCJmNyun7FB7skwLUrE5oupAaCKx3pLt/s300/petti-delineator-june-1896-dressmakingresesearch-b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="276" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUxwfhwBJauxU3bgZ44Hz_yjBGugJqeIIKgnRYh9J3aF43O6U96YdwAb_9dulEQm_yVFIZqP2k0LrFCVSo2lS1y7OMy3ify0sEjG0VjCJmNyun7FB7skwLUrE5oupAaCKx3pLt/s0/petti-delineator-june-1896-dressmakingresesearch-b.jpg" width="276" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Delineator 8392, June 1896, back, and showing<br />alternative, highly decorative fabric</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS4LhbLsON_jt0pfpaUdJu5Lr2_w9xUyqN0xKZJn_a7Gl5Ql4oSqhMBJ04dZNOdOoA98rUj59TZ_R55gi81EIkHWm0Cr04vgxSbupRMfFPaaFLuGn_YI19fKCaMd1P4eMEe_Xe/s300/petti-delineator-june-1896-dressmakingresesearch-c.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="274" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS4LhbLsON_jt0pfpaUdJu5Lr2_w9xUyqN0xKZJn_a7Gl5Ql4oSqhMBJ04dZNOdOoA98rUj59TZ_R55gi81EIkHWm0Cr04vgxSbupRMfFPaaFLuGn_YI19fKCaMd1P4eMEe_Xe/s0/petti-delineator-june-1896-dressmakingresesearch-c.jpg" width="274" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Delineator 8392, June 1896, plain version</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>N.B. Source: Internet Archive Wayback Machine copy of defunct Dressmaking Research site: https://web.archive.org/web/20160614084019/http:/dressmakingresearch.com/1890s_under_dress.htm. Ordinarily I would not pull such a large section of text and images straight from another site, but this HTML page was defunct, and was itself a direct copy of the original <i>Delineator</i> content.</p><div><br /></div><div>About the Spanish flounce: <i><a href="https://archive.org/details/homedressmakingm01hoop">Home Dressmaking Made Easy</a></i> (1896, p.59), defines the Spanish flounce as "A flounce extending fully half the depth of the skirt, gathered usually to form an erect ruffle." We will hear about it again in the section about newspaper articles, below: it appears to have been quite popular.</div><div><br /></div><div>This particular passage shows us just how fabric-eating these petticoats could be.</div><p></p><br /><div><h2>Newspaper Evidence: More Ideas for Designing a Petticoat That Stands Out</h2>Last go-round I dug around in women's magazines, but left the newspapers alone. I shouldn't have. The then-called women's pages (!) tended to cover all things fashion, as well as housekeeping and society doings. There is actually a good deal of petticoat talk, stashed among the doings of society women and beauty secrets and calisthenics, and advertisements for Dr. Price's Cream Baking Powder.<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTEOfHShvRuYt8rZi3a4r2G6ZfQZ0yTO2niFOLS6_psQFymQKvvE0CPOLpQFoXQSXSz7Xw3YNtUKcPaAAFV0J2_hWPgMYn3UhnrRsDbAC0KkOX6wDCInXJepMrfofj8EWzI3oF/s1013/womans-world-page-1895.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1013" height="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTEOfHShvRuYt8rZi3a4r2G6ZfQZ0yTO2niFOLS6_psQFymQKvvE0CPOLpQFoXQSXSz7Xw3YNtUKcPaAAFV0J2_hWPgMYn3UhnrRsDbAC0KkOX6wDCInXJepMrfofj8EWzI3oF/w640-h506/womans-world-page-1895.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>Let's see, we have illustrated calisthenics...now I like that. We'll skip the "Dress for Elderly</div><div>Ladies", for they'd assign me to that category without comment. There's "A Pen Picture of Rome" from a correspondent, a whipcord suit, and, bingo! a bit about a short lawn petticoat. Where this is, there's more.</div><div><span><i>Kansas City Daily Journal</i>. June 09, 1895, Page 10</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />I've gathered for you a nice collection of newspaper clippings from January through October, 1895. There are tons of them, and it's common to see the same article and photos syndicated in multiple newspapers, while content from other magazines and newspapers is quoted or referenced in the texts.<br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Springy Alpaca Petticoats Are Compelled to Stand Out...and So Are Their Corded Ruffles</h3><i>The Salt Lake Herald</i> reported that for warmer weather, alpaca "skirting" fabric had a stiffness that made it stand out to hold "expansive dress skirts". <div><i></i><i></i><i></i><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3BUSY3pmxX4X06OYkZuDA1R1LRGN6ziW-20xGZJQRxfAshlxJ5tSBp2D_amJzucgMfoi8hlHUZcv4lMtDUavK7PHejnldM033Cy_8f1kS2XH3tGLDVAmrR1MS3jD2HSLO5rZu/s1252/alpaca+pettis+corded+ruffles-The+Salt+Lake+heraldMay241895p5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1252" data-original-width="461" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3BUSY3pmxX4X06OYkZuDA1R1LRGN6ziW-20xGZJQRxfAshlxJ5tSBp2D_amJzucgMfoi8hlHUZcv4lMtDUavK7PHejnldM033Cy_8f1kS2XH3tGLDVAmrR1MS3jD2HSLO5rZu/w236-h640/alpaca+pettis+corded+ruffles-The+Salt+Lake+heraldMay241895p5.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Salt Lake Herald</i>, May 24,1895, p. 5<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div>Alpaca fabric that I know has lots of amazing drape but no stiffness, so this must have had some sort of treatment added to it. Perhaps it was a bit felted. Alpaca is hard to felt because the hairs lack the rough edges that wool has, but it can be done. Today, I don't believe we have this sort of fabric. On to the next article.<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div>Hidden in the text is another excellent fluff-making trick: "The ruffles, which for a portion of the decoration of every petticoat, are usually more or less corded". Corded ruffles! Why yes, those will stick out nicely. File that one in your memory.<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Petticoats Made Stiff With Embroidery</h3>The <i>Evening Star</i> reported in June that petticoats can be stiffened with large amounts of embroidery. <div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;">/<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinWzSFNJyEsy-HzDsF2-UsRl1Oji8j7TSGfN5uDPPcnVVp2HyQs0IbreiQ3SIop7gS0xtuDKU-KkXWbs_EVCoiG6lac5IbULZLFMdRXfpc4rwyjD0mklkc5EHhNrvfRkfGEQX8/s1827/circumference-decor+of+petticoats-Evening+starJuly131895p15.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1827" data-original-width="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinWzSFNJyEsy-HzDsF2-UsRl1Oji8j7TSGfN5uDPPcnVVp2HyQs0IbreiQ3SIop7gS0xtuDKU-KkXWbs_EVCoiG6lac5IbULZLFMdRXfpc4rwyjD0mklkc5EHhNrvfRkfGEQX8/s16000/circumference-decor+of+petticoats-Evening+starJuly131895p15.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Evening Star,</i> July 13, 1895, p. 15<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>A few embroidered petticoats are in museum collections, so we have independent confirmation of their existence. It could be possible to use machine embroidery to embellish a truly gorgeous petticoat, but this would be a massive project. <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/u/1/#">Sewstine</a> has videos about the process, and it's time-consuming. You might also think about using one of the new embroidered home décor fabrics; not all of them are heavy; but it might be tricky to get the right sort of design.<br /></div><br />The article talks at length of how ornate petticoats tend to be, with lace, ruffles, flounces, embroidery, and ribbons, especially in comparison to dress skirts themselves, which in this year frequently were entirely plain. <h3 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 18.73px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Pragmatic: Removable Flounces Make One Petticoat Good For Two Purposes</h3><div style="text-align: left;">One could make a single petticoat do double duty. Use it plain for a daytime or work dress outfit, and button a pretty muslin and lace flounce to add fullness and luxe to afternoon or evening dress, which generally have more amplitude. This makes really good sense for costumers, as so many of us do not have the wherewithal in time or finances to accumulate too many petticoats.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxntj7nDBZNDqEqhpVJ0MIMmvDXAch3F8Y8NYduDDnUmJ-l7OlVb_QBm6BUSzQAW0gTIEorZlPfbA_uS87YxMpMSNukoAUbI4S6qgHXVKRl59H-Ymod0VTkmeTBFa3otWR9LOZ/s407/removable+petti+flounce-The+Norfolk+VirginianMay261895p13.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="147" data-original-width="407" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxntj7nDBZNDqEqhpVJ0MIMmvDXAch3F8Y8NYduDDnUmJ-l7OlVb_QBm6BUSzQAW0gTIEorZlPfbA_uS87YxMpMSNukoAUbI4S6qgHXVKRl59H-Ymod0VTkmeTBFa3otWR9LOZ/w400-h145/removable+petti+flounce-The+Norfolk+VirginianMay261895p13.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Norfolk Virginian, </i>May 26, 1895, p. 13</td></tr></tbody></table></h2><h3><br /><br />Petticoats Themselves Stiffened Partway Up</h3><br /><div>Here's another useful tidbit. Why not stiffen the underneath of your silk or alpaca petticoat? Well, why not? "(L)iberally trimmed", as <i>The Stark County Democrat</i> has it, no one is going to notice. The flounce will hide the business part. Hair cloth would be a period lining, with strong interfacing a modern interpretation, and of course wires or cords would be natural features. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPTP-SXEKhwvRpw-09XXa3y1sQpzJTmggjkMwhxlZw6sD6zsNAMNt3XHP69ZfDgtR9OeK4lgN_kJHw6oxQ_qtSs2i144R4BckW9T3N3QwHmQjKPeXyllkqP6_rv5coAJKhCJug/s522/stiffened-lined-petticoats-The+Stark+County+DemocratJuly181895PART+TWOp9.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPTP-SXEKhwvRpw-09XXa3y1sQpzJTmggjkMwhxlZw6sD6zsNAMNt3XHP69ZfDgtR9OeK4lgN_kJHw6oxQ_qtSs2i144R4BckW9T3N3QwHmQjKPeXyllkqP6_rv5coAJKhCJug/s320/stiffened-lined-petticoats-The+Stark+County+DemocratJuly181895PART+TWOp9.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Stark County Democrat, </i>July 18, 1895, Part Two, p. 9<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><h3><br />The Ballet Skirt</h3><h3 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 18.73px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://thequintessentialclothespen.com/">Quinn</a>, if you happen to read this post, the next clipping is for you. It tells women about the fashion for especially "fussy" frilly petticoats that they can create<i> to make a divided skirt for dancing</i>.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1261" data-original-width="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWn5CwN9uRaBgl58Vd9_AgFpKklIOJVoDv3ifGqqWz1M4_iRGfp1lGknMYBovX9EMWndJwDQuNUPejN9oY-18FG_rG58XAD0W4FQllNqpNKw0YeEykiIKsVGuX-L98Bj9dm01g/s16000/The-ballet-skirt-The+Evening+dispatch-June+031895.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Evening Dispatch</i>, June 3,1895<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: both; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWn5CwN9uRaBgl58Vd9_AgFpKklIOJVoDv3ifGqqWz1M4_iRGfp1lGknMYBovX9EMWndJwDQuNUPejN9oY-18FG_rG58XAD0W4FQllNqpNKw0YeEykiIKsVGuX-L98Bj9dm01g/s1261/The-ballet-skirt-The+Evening+dispatch-June+031895.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><i></i></a></div><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></h3><h2 style="text-align: left;">Newspaper Articles That Confirm What We Learned Last Fall</h2><div style="text-align: left;">Then there were articles that quoted magazine articles we already learned about in the petticoat post last fall, or that talked about methods for distending skirts that magazines also covered.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Brocaded Silk Petticoats With Generous Flounce, Featherbone Hidden Beneath -- and Perfumed<br /></h3><div>The <i>Louisiana Democrat</i> article about ornate petticoats was lots of fun. It reminds me of <a href="https://thequintessentialclothespen.com/2016/02/11/project-journal-1880s-steam-molded-corset-finished-corset-photo-shoot/">Quinn's gorgeous 1890s petticoat with loads of lace</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit8fBD0jYb3PqE7bzOL9R7Mq0GfyggEYtnmIeqttfOb17I9XfOf47eYSsWbEpRLeWJmU9TH8L_xLcdrTvgkHO5xtlxLi7Oqu4-aBRjPIdrj1KNJURD3fpZG3YYKlSpVS99Cj0b/s1517/la-democrat-article-frilly-petti-w-wire.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1517" data-original-width="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit8fBD0jYb3PqE7bzOL9R7Mq0GfyggEYtnmIeqttfOb17I9XfOf47eYSsWbEpRLeWJmU9TH8L_xLcdrTvgkHO5xtlxLi7Oqu4-aBRjPIdrj1KNJURD3fpZG3YYKlSpVS99Cj0b/s16000/la-democrat-article-frilly-petti-w-wire.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div><i>Louisiana Democrat</i>, with content pulled from</div><div><i>The Chicago Tribune</i><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUuA55l5x627-ryEMXTdHYdMoFENXCcR26rjBj27uPIA_a6eRx_hOJIOdhaWAvE9rlDRJtvHFOwUlbBd_oNpveJOgAjNKAHnAZyRlDeyJOeIN8gPYOfVXgs_zSKiiv_28MLVL/s625/petticoat+with+back+gathers+back+ties+met+1895-1900+2009-300-3014.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="464" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUuA55l5x627-ryEMXTdHYdMoFENXCcR26rjBj27uPIA_a6eRx_hOJIOdhaWAvE9rlDRJtvHFOwUlbBd_oNpveJOgAjNKAHnAZyRlDeyJOeIN8gPYOfVXgs_zSKiiv_28MLVL/s320/petticoat+with+back+gathers+back+ties+met+1895-1900+2009-300-3014.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-size: 12.8px;">Metropolitan Museum of Art,</span></div><div><span face=""Trebuchet MS",Trebuchet,Verdana,sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #666666; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 12.8px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">2009.300.3014.</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Remember this Met petticoat? Look carefully, it has the rosettes the article talks about.</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>Then there is the boning mentioned: "frequently a featherbone inserted around the hem". Featherbone was a popular boning product made from turkey quills by the Warren Featherbone Company. Here then is another mention of the helping hoop, if you can call it that, that Isobel Mallon et al spoke of! More confirmation that this is a thing, a fashion movement, if not ubiquitous.</div><div><br /></div><div>Why, here featherbone is mentioned again, in the<i> Evening Star</i> article quoted above, "To make these skirts yet stiffer, white featherbone is stitched, three or four rows, into the hem under the narrow ruffle. It launders well." By the narrow ruffle is meant "a great many [petticoats] are made with a very full narrow ruffle of embroidery at the foot...." (<i>Evening Star</i> July 13, 1895, p. 15)<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>It's worthwhile to note that Warren's Featherbone was fabric-covered and thicker than Warren's Skirt Bone, which <i>may </i>have come out in late 1895, if an ad for it may be believed. </div><div><br /></div>I would think that the boning the writer discusses would be hidden by a flounce or ruffling, especially because all of the examples mention them, but it bothers me that the article doesn't say it explicitly.<div><br /></div><div>What also is not clear is what shape the petticoat carries. Is it round due to the featherbone? Does it have godets? Somehow I think not the latter, if pictures of petticoats are any guide. <div><br /><i></i></div><div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><h3 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: &quot; font-size: 18.73px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The Moreen Petticoat With Hair-Cloth Frillings, Again</h3><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></div>The Salt Lake Journal draws on Isobel Mallon's <i>Ladies Home Journal</i> advice that we read of in the last post about petticoats. However, this article highlights several bits of important information:<br /><br />Moreen is used for one of my favorite summer petticoat designs, the <i>LHJ</i> model, the one with the triple haircloth box-pleated frills, in the picture below. Moreen at the turn of the 20th century turns out to be a midweight or heavy wool or wool-cotton fabric, usually ribbed, that's treated with heat and moisture to give it a watered silk effect. (This makes sense to me: when pressed under heat, wool will take on a sheen, and the tendency to felt will be controlled by the cotton content.)</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Moreen is pretty, something that neither the Salt Lake Journal nor the LHJ picture show, so the petticoat wouldn't look plain at all, the wool and cotton don't have to be terribly hot, and it's a lot less hot and scratchy than a petticoat entirely made of haircloth.<h3 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: &quot; font-size: 18.73px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiQiwGknUVtZqZf3smqMvSvtNGtk4aiQX1vnSDYNqOMZBrtcDBjqJvCrOYSuKDUElKp0fJi0z_E5i3zC421Kl6AmE0r-E2EYnXEwCTW3gFUakAa1ExeK0jBhRQekQGGcByYxdL/s1600/petti+with+haircloth+lhj+july+1895+p25.jpg" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #33aaff; font-size: 13.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="381" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiQiwGknUVtZqZf3smqMvSvtNGtk4aiQX1vnSDYNqOMZBrtcDBjqJvCrOYSuKDUElKp0fJi0z_E5i3zC421Kl6AmE0r-E2EYnXEwCTW3gFUakAa1ExeK0jBhRQekQGGcByYxdL/w147-h320/petti+with+haircloth+lhj+july+1895+p25.jpg" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: 0%; background-position-y: 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; background: none; border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: medium; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-image: none; border-left-color: currentColor; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: medium; border-right-color: currentColor; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: medium; border-top-color: currentColor; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: medium; border: medium; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="147" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div><span face=""Trebuchet MS",Trebuchet,Verdana,sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #666666; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 80%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span></span>Petticoat with haircloth box pleatings. </span></div><div><em style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: &quot; font-size: 10.53px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Ladies Home Journal</em><span face=""Trebuchet MS",Trebuchet,Verdana,sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #666666; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 80%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">, July 1895, p.25</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table></h3><h3 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Alas, when real moreen is available at all, it seems to be a heavy type, sold expensively for upholstery, and finding enough of it vintage would be a real coup. Still, it's clear that the petticoat with the box-pleated haircloth is made of a thickish material, that already has some body. A cotton faille, which is ribbed, might work, a woven pique, or even a cotton ticking. Too thin a fabric and those pretty hair-cloth box pleats would have a hard time doing much.<br /><br />I wouldn't recommend using synthetic moire fabric to imitate the moreen. It's going to be hot as blazes, unless your summers are usually cool.<br /><br />The article also rather makes me feel better about my limited petticoat budget. Elaborate petticoats were always expensive, and we knew that. Still, it's nice to be told again that our plain costumer's petticoats are perfectly fine, and that confections still come at a price.</h3></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Finally, if you were interested in a short petticoat instead of a long one under your skirt, go ahead, costumer, here's how right in the article, below.</div></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjwS2ce9hUIo-CnXzA16y1yCbePrer9ZlowSQd5YNGtfPZGtuxasPOz5SnG12tm_YsuZOSG1JV93-zsVrJB4HLxRbiF3dLWL6us7Bd7Ki9ZlFKsm6LlIWv-fuvGItqCUmFL-1S/s1915/short+petti+-+The+Salt+Lake+herald+June+09+1895+Page+5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1915" data-original-width="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjwS2ce9hUIo-CnXzA16y1yCbePrer9ZlowSQd5YNGtfPZGtuxasPOz5SnG12tm_YsuZOSG1JV93-zsVrJB4HLxRbiF3dLWL6us7Bd7Ki9ZlFKsm6LlIWv-fuvGItqCUmFL-1S/s16000/short+petti+-+The+Salt+Lake+herald+June+09+1895+Page+5.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div><i>The Salt Lake Herald,</i> June 9, 1895, p. 5</div><div>If you look carefully, you can see that the newspaper has adapted</div><div>the LHJ drawing f</div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFvx1GNZvkz7WKsMn1O-EgXQWKZQVpyVOr3OMfWJBE5i8861_1OoYvKP6Ne8NuND-iyPBbzlk-HA6vfT3lMOAcdH0uUy5bc13VE1JD1gHkVE-cJYIkBoiiskcIh8t6RJq4SLG/s665/short-petti-salt+lake+herald+june+1895.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="460" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFvx1GNZvkz7WKsMn1O-EgXQWKZQVpyVOr3OMfWJBE5i8861_1OoYvKP6Ne8NuND-iyPBbzlk-HA6vfT3lMOAcdH0uUy5bc13VE1JD1gHkVE-cJYIkBoiiskcIh8t6RJq4SLG/w276-h400/short-petti-salt+lake+herald+june+1895.jpg" width="276" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The Salt Lake Herald,</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> June 9, 1895, p. 5</span></div><div>The above image goes with the article above.</div></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div>Have you had enough of petticoats for one sitting? I confess that I am worn out by all the options and constant mulling, figuring, and refiguring out how I want to adapt them for one or two of my own 1890s petticoats. That's what is supposed to be the topic of the next post, anyway...how I took everything I learned and put together my own interpretations. <br /><br />You never know, though. This blog is full of side trips. I have a half written post showing two 1880s wire bustles from my collection in fine detail and with measurements.<div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">In Other News</h2><h3 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">This year is an Annus Horribilis for our world. For a minute or two I thought I could broach a discussion of local events and how they are related to what is happening across the planet. I can't. Not now. All I can do is wish you all health and safety and secure work, and hope.</h3></div></div><div>(August 28, 2021) Here it is a year later and the Annus Horribilis of 2020 has morphed into Annos Horribilis -- in the plural. I've taken to calling this period the plague years. In contrast to the period from March 2020-March 2021, when we simply all stayed at home, in August 2021 my husband and boys are out and about and vaccinated while the Delta variant rampages and fills our hospitals and cases appear within a degree of separation. I am once again at home, though, on recommendation of the transplant clinic, and life follows a narrow round, while across the planet countless are suffering.</div>ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-68738037022771281992020-08-31T17:14:00.000-04:002020-08-31T17:14:19.537-04:00A Real, Extant, mid-1890s Crush Collar<div>Etsy, oh Etsy, what a treasure box you are. A Pandora's box, too, on occasion, but definitely a treasure box. Sometimes I do extant costume research by searching through the listings, and sometimes extant pieces turn up unexpectedly. A crush collar did turn up recently, and boy, was I pleased to see it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here it is.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSblo5cMb1_u-ArtjINpNCLeDCQLnOYbVcTruX-RaKu2mm5JSx5KIOxFMaq-dgQDVW39e_h6IgnKXjWh6sUqx1nTmBjlHY-BGkLOBPL9b37WaLAyx0YLqZNtMygiY2F9jlubrs/s875/crush+collar+extant+full+view.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Crush collar, extant" border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="875" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSblo5cMb1_u-ArtjINpNCLeDCQLnOYbVcTruX-RaKu2mm5JSx5KIOxFMaq-dgQDVW39e_h6IgnKXjWh6sUqx1nTmBjlHY-BGkLOBPL9b37WaLAyx0YLqZNtMygiY2F9jlubrs/w640-h334/crush+collar+extant+full+view.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Extant crush collar, from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/847819237/antique-mid-1800s-victorian-era-front?ref=shop_home_active_61&pro=1&frs=1">SirenCall</a> on Etsy.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Last fall --<i> last </i>fall! Has it been that long? -- <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2019/10/1895-outfit-tutorial-crush-collar-with.html" target="_blank">I made a crush collar</a> with one of those super-popular neck bows, following the instructions from a number of women's magazines. It turned out decently, given the plain cotton voile from which it was made.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZabKyX90P6hex5dlLXaXtvd_YhySkzaRevdfXUe8593F5350bODvDvv4l1qtykBIClnQyv5-4b8jAxV-Rvh3xTn1m24lFGmaXlCY4cVaivglGAFMF8rLFsuJXdcAk-MdvXxo/s667/collar+test.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="597" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZabKyX90P6hex5dlLXaXtvd_YhySkzaRevdfXUe8593F5350bODvDvv4l1qtykBIClnQyv5-4b8jAxV-Rvh3xTn1m24lFGmaXlCY4cVaivglGAFMF8rLFsuJXdcAk-MdvXxo/w366-h410/collar+test.jpg" width="366" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My own crush collar, made last fall<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>However, I found the front closure a little heavy-looking. Examining the photo I made while wearing it, part of the issue is that it needs more hooks and eyes, it might be a trifle wide, and it was cut from a straight piece of fabric, not from a curved piece, which would hug the neck better.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'd like to make another collar at some point, this time with rosettes, rather like the extant collar, and cut like it, too. In the meantime, let's learn what we can about the nature and construction of the extant collar.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></div><h2>Anatomy of a Collar</h2><div><br /></div><div>The collar, says its Etsy listing, is 14 inches long. Its width varies from 2 inches high at the ends to 2 1/4 inches at the center. We don't know how the width is measured: is it based on the width of the backing, or the slightly variable width of the fashion fabric, which has been puffed into a crushed look on the front? I don't know if the 1/4" change is really visible at all.</div><div><br /></div><div>I made a pattern based on the measurements from a scrap of paper, but without adding a curve to the cut, and tried it on. The extant collar would be about half an inch too small. However, it has a pleasing width. I compared it to a collar from July 15, 1894 issue of <i>Illustrierte Frauen-Zeitung</i> (p.159), which I featured in <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2019/09/1895-outfit-about-interchangeable-trims.html">About Interchangeable Trims, and Especially Collars</a>. The extant collar is a little narrower than that one.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here is the paper version of the extant collar.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitsXimtLhDU4yREADZe7lXQ-DZq2ry7DNfGdddAZ9eZroAeRsnyt46UOmpN3vdHQZaOE-YwntZWWCTuZvtYZBi4G8Ek6qtYcomlWgnRS2bgDBrI9ZT9F5DQZ25WQuC8el3NRgK/s2048/sample-collar-size.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitsXimtLhDU4yREADZe7lXQ-DZq2ry7DNfGdddAZ9eZroAeRsnyt46UOmpN3vdHQZaOE-YwntZWWCTuZvtYZBi4G8Ek6qtYcomlWgnRS2bgDBrI9ZT9F5DQZ25WQuC8el3NRgK/s640/sample-collar-size.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>A paper version of the extant collar. Oh, knit those brows...</div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></div>In the mid-1890s, a collar like this one often featured the rosettes to either side of the neck, although there is a small chance that the rosettes were worn front and back. Here are several examples of collars with trims to the side: they were quite the thing in the middle of the decade.<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJIjEmLYEBfgDEevO096ddxpjc3pk4YHax8o1NjrpPOAzJoDyVIYcQgEvCgrwURW7mujSDacuT2jkOvGz8MrKMVQeb4Sh44Hdbtz0c2DVFm7R79bqpdICxwRzZOjsCA5Icb8FF/s1266/collar+and+vest+with+side+puffs+demorest+may+1895.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="1266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJIjEmLYEBfgDEevO096ddxpjc3pk4YHax8o1NjrpPOAzJoDyVIYcQgEvCgrwURW7mujSDacuT2jkOvGz8MrKMVQeb4Sh44Hdbtz0c2DVFm7R79bqpdICxwRzZOjsCA5Icb8FF/s640/collar+and+vest+with+side+puffs+demorest+may+1895.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Demorest's Mirror of Fashions</i>, May 1895</td></tr></tbody></table><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKWJrBIBmd4Ohxji3IQBAspRCdV6aLqtlF5l3j_GEUakhBwe7dX_rrakxwJqFWlBAeuPVvT5CE0LiTsp0ybRYgM7fwq14wykoxzC_EcQx84yyE8BNtKqRxNde9L4DYA4ZOd10L/s698/collar+with+side+puffs+demorest+july+1895+p543.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKWJrBIBmd4Ohxji3IQBAspRCdV6aLqtlF5l3j_GEUakhBwe7dX_rrakxwJqFWlBAeuPVvT5CE0LiTsp0ybRYgM7fwq14wykoxzC_EcQx84yyE8BNtKqRxNde9L4DYA4ZOd10L/s640/collar+with+side+puffs+demorest+july+1895+p543.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Demorest's Mirror of Fashions</i>, July 1895, p. 543</td></tr></tbody></table><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44zCxZgL2hMQ74DHha0VnGJHVUiJD2I8glzX7lNDHKK4fuPRw97221ehC1_p6ue7f1DjADPjVsFfAOZoFuEY1kJeqUMdidhUKHiAw-ylgQyP4IRXkWuLU6t6uwxKxaHId41ZP/s871/collars-illustrierte-frauen-zeitung-juli-1895.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="871" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44zCxZgL2hMQ74DHha0VnGJHVUiJD2I8glzX7lNDHKK4fuPRw97221ehC1_p6ue7f1DjADPjVsFfAOZoFuEY1kJeqUMdidhUKHiAw-ylgQyP4IRXkWuLU6t6uwxKxaHId41ZP/s640/collars-illustrierte-frauen-zeitung-juli-1895.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div><a href="https://digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de/ihd/periodical/pageview/3111184">Illustrierte Frauen-Zeitung</a>, July 1895</div><div>The young lady in pink to the far left wears a collar with rosettes to the left. Also note the lady at center, with bi-colored very fluffy rosettes all around her neck.</div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>I wanted to see if I could determine if this collar would be worn with the rosettes to the side. I set up a Google slide, and inserted the Etsy photo of the collar from the back. Knowing the collar was two inches across, I drew a line from top to bottom of the collar. Then I copied the line, which became a sort of 2" long ruler, rotated it until it was parallel to the ends of the collar, and set a copy next to the little pile of wide stitching at the end of the collar, and then again twice from the collar's right end to the little pile of wide stitches marking the other rosette.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFnQzjW7pfg3Wdv6OwpoZEDhVOzI0wNCeNpEkKe-_vIjU6BQPjLoJ8hIDVBdpdNwOn6HNw2TtYYcdAHgVOZprr-TK-Cn8F0rc9KqTGb5wzwMu_ioDHDveiqODtAmB8Pg0PEN3m/s1020/extant+collar+rosette+positions+in+inches.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="1020" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFnQzjW7pfg3Wdv6OwpoZEDhVOzI0wNCeNpEkKe-_vIjU6BQPjLoJ8hIDVBdpdNwOn6HNw2TtYYcdAHgVOZprr-TK-Cn8F0rc9KqTGb5wzwMu_ioDHDveiqODtAmB8Pg0PEN3m/s640/extant+collar+rosette+positions+in+inches.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Finally, I transferred the markings to my paper collar, and tried it on. Well, given that the collar is a bit small, it's still a bit hard to tell, but the rosette positioning does<i> seem</i> to work better when they are set to either side of the neck. The collar would be much easier to attach and detach that way, anyhow.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's look at several more pictures.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-a6umuu32Ip8JS7J__rE36pPZqDDF_zKme0Obrk_JEfL6sik1GCujp5T4MjRspPppzqKPkHqGFBcSnEWbkznOSRF6Tk-pUlYqj9fx154rx4zpktf_s0gNkOegC08cWaY9wkb6/s1130/crush+collar+extant+2nd+rosette+closeup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="1130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-a6umuu32Ip8JS7J__rE36pPZqDDF_zKme0Obrk_JEfL6sik1GCujp5T4MjRspPppzqKPkHqGFBcSnEWbkznOSRF6Tk-pUlYqj9fx154rx4zpktf_s0gNkOegC08cWaY9wkb6/s640/crush+collar+extant+2nd+rosette+closeup.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>Here is a rosette. It's rather smashed down, and I believe it would have been fluffier,</div><div>if not as rounded as in some of the illustrations.</div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMUaC4OFdWwWwZk7ZZ7J9slLep_jzWeaCJWDSWwMwe6lrhtEyjUZIWzI6b0z1Kq1DtlgE8hCtzqfklySfK5z0O_FfKq0YO7jtEQKL_m-Z6Z0gghymn3M0dvN0nSvF2N7Bi-e6o/s1165/crush+collar+extant+back+hooks+construction+closeup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="1165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMUaC4OFdWwWwZk7ZZ7J9slLep_jzWeaCJWDSWwMwe6lrhtEyjUZIWzI6b0z1Kq1DtlgE8hCtzqfklySfK5z0O_FfKq0YO7jtEQKL_m-Z6Z0gghymn3M0dvN0nSvF2N7Bi-e6o/s640/crush+collar+extant+back+hooks+construction+closeup.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>Here is the left end of the collar. The end of the hook has been nicely hidden beneath</div><div>the edge of the lining, which is made of what looks like a silk rep, cut on the bias. Bias cutting</div><div>will result in a more clinging fit. That little pile of wide stitches? That's where one of the rosettes is tacked on.</div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38o-u8uXIqXtkqRZ3Dg8hXxFV9Hxho2vJKaxvuPL0UIcIjXi-KsxfDiKLHvchodyjoIbmBkgO3gJ2uwj5HGkkkKng7Pvsa6GXBvckbcDkGyxrddgRDr6wOGUhQBY4z8BOErgE/s1004/crush+collar+extant+back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="1004" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38o-u8uXIqXtkqRZ3Dg8hXxFV9Hxho2vJKaxvuPL0UIcIjXi-KsxfDiKLHvchodyjoIbmBkgO3gJ2uwj5HGkkkKng7Pvsa6GXBvckbcDkGyxrddgRDr6wOGUhQBY4z8BOErgE/s640/crush+collar+extant+back.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>The entire back of the collar. As with the hooks, the ends of the eyes are hidden</div><div>behind the lining. You can see the wide stitches to the right of center, marking the position of</div><div>the second rosette. Notice that the fashion fabric is overhand-stitched to the lining in rather large,</div><div>spaced stitches.</div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7bCVXNFPsoBcxNbJggnRuN8VCMsg1ECV8E60VuANlAHex5Uv3XjUAFWRjYx9iTdorSaA0_EVyyrHjh3LnCqyopRRxlscVCOKUeYNIXWHC6yS_4rcSbIzYyS0Eu3sAKJyNBTN/s1120/crush+collar+extant+fashion+fabric+closeup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="1120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7bCVXNFPsoBcxNbJggnRuN8VCMsg1ECV8E60VuANlAHex5Uv3XjUAFWRjYx9iTdorSaA0_EVyyrHjh3LnCqyopRRxlscVCOKUeYNIXWHC6yS_4rcSbIzYyS0Eu3sAKJyNBTN/s640/crush+collar+extant+fashion+fabric+closeup.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>A detail of the front fashion fabric. It appears to be silk in a loose weave and perhaps with not too tightly twisted individual threads, hence the high shine. It is cut on the bias, and appears to have a bit </div><div>of a crepe-like texture, that has flattened over time in some areas.</div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUEgU10setJYeeVSGB2X3IKOTi3XwKZsx7Vi3JO0EU1B309ygnBZbsTNYSKj0DUexyy5GoT4yZCS4RNSInZqEuuS1fGDXP3mrUDQiRp1aLAz-Ihot2-Zzulba1LTOz2q3osyGI/s1052/crush+collar+extant+rosette+closeup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="658" data-original-width="1052" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUEgU10setJYeeVSGB2X3IKOTi3XwKZsx7Vi3JO0EU1B309ygnBZbsTNYSKj0DUexyy5GoT4yZCS4RNSInZqEuuS1fGDXP3mrUDQiRp1aLAz-Ihot2-Zzulba1LTOz2q3osyGI/s640/crush+collar+extant+rosette+closeup.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>The end rosette. Again, I think it was a little fuller when first made. Look at how wide and</div><div>slightly random the folds in the fabric are that create the "crush" look, and how we </div><div>cannot see where the tacking stitches are.</div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>I find this last image very, very interesting, when taken in combination with the view of the lining. The lining doesn't show any tacking stitches from the folds of the fashion fabric. I suspect, then, that the construction is as follows. The fashion fabric piece, a very wide rectangle cut on the bias, was laid on a table, front side down. The worker pinched lush folds, some of them on an angle, and made tacking stitches where the folds joined up. She may have had the pattern template or the lining nearby so she could get the dimensions correct -- remember that the pattern itself is curved, not a straight band. She may have doubled the fabric into a tube, or just turned the edges of the sides and ends inward. Once the folds were in place, she overhanded the piece to the lining, which had already been finished and the hooks and eyes attached to it. She may have very lightly pressed the front so that the folds weren't overly puffy, but not flattened. She then attached the rosettes she had made. Voila - collar.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today I leave you with a little silliness to brighten up a pandemic-beleaguered world. Our table in the den has a tail...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMBOpXtxMZXweItLWHIqfToxNlb7KGoHDJ9N6vQvZgOV4rx1gIS_YEXSyiwGo5yEFmPrV2TNVxkXCKHSrvz1e_PdYJgR2NW9Fm8hDSM2_n29WlqhZ1VBvjoirJCNEbh1JTD9w/s2048/table+with+tail+-+nutmeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMBOpXtxMZXweItLWHIqfToxNlb7KGoHDJ9N6vQvZgOV4rx1gIS_YEXSyiwGo5yEFmPrV2TNVxkXCKHSrvz1e_PdYJgR2NW9Fm8hDSM2_n29WlqhZ1VBvjoirJCNEbh1JTD9w/s640/table+with+tail+-+nutmeg.jpg" /></a><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div>
Nutmeg kitty thought she was well hidden.ZipZiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086335016901683883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18213663.post-22774410361516831212020-07-08T15:04:00.007-04:002021-09-26T14:52:14.991-04:001895 Outfit: Period Methods To Add Skirt Fullness, Part 5, Steels, Rattan, Candlewicking, and Dust Ruffles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Edited September 29, 2020</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;"></span><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">At this point in the article series, it's very apparent that designers and
dressmakers, and ordinary women came up with all kinds of ways to achieve
the sartorial -- skirtorial? -- ideal of plenty of base amplitude and an
undulating, lush skirt back, while retaining a smooth waist and front.
</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br />
</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
Here is what we have covered so far.
</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2019/11/1895-outfit-period-methods-to-add-skirt.html">Part 1, Fullness and Flare</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2019/11/1895-outfit-period-methods-to-add-skirt_13.html">Part 2A, Petticoats with Crinoline, Ties, Bones, Wires!</a></li><li><a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2020/09/1895-outfit-period-methods-to-add-skirt.html" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Part 2B: Petticoats Redux</a> <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2019/11/1895-outfit-period-methods-to-add-skirt_13.html"></a></li>
<li>
<a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2020/01/1895-outfit-period-methods-to-add-skirt.html">Part 3, Skirt Interlinings
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2020/02/1895-outfit-period-methods-to-add-skirt.html">Part 4, Skirt Godet Plaits and Interior Ties</a></li><li>Part 5, Steels, Rattan, Candlewicking, and Dust Ruffles </li>
<li>
A tour of an underskirt with godets held in place, lots of stiffening, and
velvet(een) serving as brush braid:
<a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2020/03/1895-outfit-real-1896-underskirt-with.html">A Real 1890s Underskirt With Multiple Stiffening Aids</a>
</li>
<li>
A tour of a heavy, lined, faced, and brush-braided 1890s skirt:
<a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2019/10/an-antique-1890s-black-skirt-with-brush.html">An Antique 1890s Black Skirt With Brush Braid In My Collection</a>.
</li>
<li>
If you're interested in the project's entirety, please see
<a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/p/1890s-outfit.html">1890s: Costumes, Research, Documentation</a>.
</li>
</ul></div>
<div>
If you thought that surely we'd have covered all the bases,
guess again: there is yet more. Some of the these last methods to widen the
bottom of the skirt were, I am thinking, for the most determined of
fashion followers. Most of the methods involved additions to the exterior
skirt, not a petticoat.
</div>
<br />
<h2>
Using "Steels" Around the Bottom of Outer Skirts
</h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
The first mention I have read of the use of steel in outer skirts appears in
<em>Demorest's Family Magazine</em> for December 1894, (p. 121).<br />
<blockquote>
<i>"Some skirts have a narrow and very flexible steel sewed all around the
bottom; but better than this to secure slight stiffness is a thick cord
of candle-wicking covered with velvet or satin to harmonize with the
gown. This is seen on many gowns, and is a popular finish this
winter."</i>
</blockquote>
<i></i><br />
By "very flexible" I the author meant that the steel would have been
more pliable than that used for crinolines, bustles, and corset and bodice
boning in previous decades. Why do I know? Because I found some.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The reel says the Featherbone Skirtbone is made from quills. What do they mean? Treated turkey quills, actually.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZtbArBhu26ABD0XLGBALFcIIyApG4AJr7t44e4pKUdS2ye5ZUNE8sd_QixbBQwRxx9I_SxTqtujqEQ7zF1SumhR8n8REsn9BKjJ5pR7PzvELWa2gvqfzlEN6IkkiCF2JMDaaX/s1588/warrens+skirtbone+reel+cover.jpg" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1058" data-original-width="1588" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZtbArBhu26ABD0XLGBALFcIIyApG4AJr7t44e4pKUdS2ye5ZUNE8sd_QixbBQwRxx9I_SxTqtujqEQ7zF1SumhR8n8REsn9BKjJ5pR7PzvELWa2gvqfzlEN6IkkiCF2JMDaaX/w640-h426/warrens+skirtbone+reel+cover.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warren's Featherbone, from Annie's Antiques on<br />Etsy.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhCkhcxjom6HxVZhOndMg9a_L2ViUjNoTPzdtrh6f4TD069l9W9GGXvZR6hh3Wk8a5EkjRjMfwovpXpGmMQGNpTdXgk6rFXI8csd4X4tNmMGcgKeJGbuQ_4ffZJMu6nCvPg_k/s1588/warrens+skirtbone+1qtrinchwide+annies+antiques.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1191" data-original-width="1588" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhCkhcxjom6HxVZhOndMg9a_L2ViUjNoTPzdtrh6f4TD069l9W9GGXvZR6hh3Wk8a5EkjRjMfwovpXpGmMQGNpTdXgk6rFXI8csd4X4tNmMGcgKeJGbuQ_4ffZJMu6nCvPg_k/w640-h480/warrens+skirtbone+1qtrinchwide+annies+antiques.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the Warren's Featherbone Skirtbone itself. It's wrapped in thread.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Just because it's wound on a reel doesn't mean it's terribly flexible, but it is. Here's my post about it, <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2021/01/examining-antique-length-of-warren.html">Examining an Antique Length of Warren's "Skirtbone", Boning For the Hems of Mid-1890s Skirts</a>.<br />
<br />Skirt boning came also as wire, and it was called such. It was not likely crinoline steel covered with a layer of braided cotton that was used in an antique bustle in my collection. That sort of steel bends, but would definitely not undulate at the
bottom of a skirt.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4rlCn6hnYiM2CZYcYAIEbEaRcTk_1Q-lbO-3f1AZTH2-MNJF559B_hQg_-u1guiFeiXeQoPMGm4CDb6WZicwzF3yLHIiCwGyT0BImK_GPFwTVj11n-NFAhn8JYkiWbjmXDjLL/s1600/IMG_20200418_1614096.jpg" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4rlCn6hnYiM2CZYcYAIEbEaRcTk_1Q-lbO-3f1AZTH2-MNJF559B_hQg_-u1guiFeiXeQoPMGm4CDb6WZicwzF3yLHIiCwGyT0BImK_GPFwTVj11n-NFAhn8JYkiWbjmXDjLL/s640/IMG_20200418_1614096.jpg" width="426" /></a>
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<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<div>
Three rows of bustle steel wire, which is flat, covered in braided
cotton,
</div>
<div>
from a bustle in my antique clothing collection.
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">By the way, you might want to know that this thread-covered steel, which is about 3/16" in width, is still available in a similar form to that used in the 19th century. It's used for making tutus, and is very expensive for amounts needed for a bustle or crinoline. Check Farthingale's for what they call "crin steel". <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In May, Mrs. Hooper, in <em>The Ladies Home Journal</em>, remarked again
upon using steel bands to hold out the outer skirts (p. 24):
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqyVGmcrymeOLPt3nsvjoVhN2GnHDR5zcH2a8RWOoPXZC_RX7qe0GFmw9U0hY9r3l4t7Ul7vUOBzTeUDgLJSlXvYOE5Wo7SfAtqx22xQ8zXQZXEDMNlJp8DDS8mnUwWt-mRNF/s1600/godet+skirt+inrerlining+elastic+steel+bands+at+edge+lhj+may+1895+p24.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="557" data-original-width="431" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqyVGmcrymeOLPt3nsvjoVhN2GnHDR5zcH2a8RWOoPXZC_RX7qe0GFmw9U0hY9r3l4t7Ul7vUOBzTeUDgLJSlXvYOE5Wo7SfAtqx22xQ8zXQZXEDMNlJp8DDS8mnUwWt-mRNF/s640/godet+skirt+inrerlining+elastic+steel+bands+at+edge+lhj+may+1895+p24.jpg" width="494" /></a>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Well, what about that? A "tiny band of flexible steel covered with webbing".
Might this be a flexible wire covered with a flat tape? Cotton and linen
tapes -- the wider ones -- are sometimes known as webbing, in my anecdotal
experience.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Now, to our <i>Demorest's Magazine</i> writer, the "humps and bumps"
despiser of interlinings is not much pleased with wires, either:
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih8Xb5xr6ayx6WjFOemdilK8cw2K1Nzbrj3-ZV_xRrquXEX1G_-tUBWu25zvuc6R6NBbkphkuVDTXi7U1hlBalvRdSUnD-3sF9aeHojIWXyU78UPfxkUXDw-HL9EyomapEmyzA/s1600/wires+and+creased+underlinings+demorest%2527s+may+1895+p420.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="619" height="532" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih8Xb5xr6ayx6WjFOemdilK8cw2K1Nzbrj3-ZV_xRrquXEX1G_-tUBWu25zvuc6R6NBbkphkuVDTXi7U1hlBalvRdSUnD-3sF9aeHojIWXyU78UPfxkUXDw-HL9EyomapEmyzA/s640/wires+and+creased+underlinings+demorest%2527s+may+1895+p420.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</td>
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<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Demorest's Magazine</i>, May 1895, p. 420.
</td>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
She goes on:
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.8px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Demorest's Magazine</i><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 80%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">, May 1895, p. 420.</span>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
So, sensible sisters, if you do not want interlinings and want stiff
amplitude, it's heavy brocades and tweeds and cotton ducks for you! Or so the writer thought.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In the end, I did find detailed information about the nature of these wires, as well as what I believe to be a decent wire analog for use today. See my post <a href="https://zipzipinkspot.blogspot.com/2021/05/an-1895-godet-petticoat-with-boning-and.html">Trials With Forms of Boning, Cables, Reed, Rope, and Steel</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<h2 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Steels Up the Skirt Sides
</h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
In the March 1895 issue of <i>The Ladies Home Journal</i>, "The Gowns of
Spring" article on p. 10. has quite a bit to say about steels used in
the outer skirts, but the steels are going perpendicular.
</div>
<blockquote>
<i>"The godet skirt will remain in vogue, and the fashionable modistes
are inserting steels that reach up almost to the knee, setting them in
the seams lengthwise to cause it to flare."</i>
</blockquote>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<i></i><br />
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Oh, my goodness. Bodice-style bones in the skirts. That <i>is</i> what
Mrs. Mallon is saying, isn't it? "[L]engthwise in a seam" means following
the seam..."up almost to the knee". The seams are vertical, and Mrs.
Mallon knows the difference between a skirt hem and the seams between
skirt panels. Am I reading this incorrectly?
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Isobel Mallon describes an indoor dress that employs the steels:
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br />
</div>
<blockquote>
<i>"An extremely pretty dress, intended for wear in the house, and which
has a bodice differing from its skirt, is shown in Illustration No. 2.
The skirt is light-weight summer silk, the background being pale
green, while sprays of wild roses and their deep green foliage are
scattered upon it here and there. The skirt is lined and steeled so
that it has the usual fashionable flare, and its only trimming is that
which is arranged at each of the two side seams. This consists of to
straps of three-inch green velvet ribbon which start at the edge of
each side of the seam, are brought up almost to the knees, where the
two ends meet in a long looped bow."</i>
</blockquote>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<i></i><br />
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<i>The Ladies Home Journal,</i> March 1895, p. 19
</td>
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
<i></i><i></i><i></i><br />
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br />
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
Interesting...the velvet would cover the seams where the steels might
most be noticed.
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
If you're brave, why not try it? I might just. I have a box of narrow
antique steel bones, very light and probably for boning bodices. What if
I set a few into the seams of my 1890s skirt and see what happens? It's
not like it's difficult to do. </div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div>
</div>
</h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Using Candlewicking On Outer Skirts As Part of the Trim or Hem Binding
</h2>
<div style="text-align: left;"><b></b><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Now this I find very interesting. It reminds me of cording petticoats in the
1830s and 1840s. We know that helps them to stand out.<br />
<em><br /></em>
<em>Demorest's</em> wrote about using candlewicking to stiffen skirts
repeatedly. This was probably because the writer -- whose name I
cannot locate in the issues -- preferred more moderate styles that would
assuredly not stand out around the bottom in the way a wired skirt
would.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><i></i><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>Demorest's</i> December 1894, p. 121, recommended a thick cord of
candlewicking covered in velvet or satin to go with the skirt, just a few
paragraphs after deriding the humps and bumps of interlining.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
In this usage, the covered candlewicking cord becomes part of the gown's
trim on the skirt exterior, while also helping to hold out the skirt.
Remember that she specifies thick cord.<br />
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<div>
Skirt trim for which one might employ candlewicking covered with
velvet.
</div>
<div>
Mildred has found her companion, Grace, missing in the serialized
novel "Our Working Sisters". <i>Demorest's</i>, May 1895, p. 397.
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March 1895 <i>Demorest's</i>, p. 299: tells how to lay the candlewicking
when it's used as part of the binding at the bottom of the skirt:
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<blockquote>
"Bright, changeable taffetas are the first choice for linings; thus a
mixed cheviot of black, white, and green is lined with green-and-rose
taffeta...the fashion is not so extravagant as formerly. The binding
should be of velveteen, and it is better to buy the piece goods and cut it
at least two inches wide on the bias. It may form a cord on the bottom,
filled with candlewicking, -- a much more pliable and graceful "stiffener"
than rattans or wires, -- and should always be left to show like a piping
below the gown fabric; otherwise it affords no protection."
</blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
If I understand correctly, when the binding is applied, the cord is at the
inside-bottom of the binding, and looks like a piping brushing the floor.<br />
</div>
<p style="text-align: left;">
What can we use for candlewicking today? If it's the same thing, the cotton
candle wick material used in traditional candlewicking embroidery, is still
available but it looks quite thin, like a string. Mmm, probably not what we
want. Actual candle wick bought by the roll comes in several thicknesses. It
might be worth exploring. What about cotton piping cord? That could also
work. It comes in different sizes and will produce an undulating line. Even
the Sugar 'n Cream yarn might do, although one would want several rows.<br />
<br />
Boy, I really like this idea. Applying the cord either as part of hem
binding or as trim might be a doable skirt amplification method that would
result in pleasant curves and organ pleats and folds.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Silk Cording...as Stiffening Trim</h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="margin: 0px;">Heavy silk cording was an alternative to candlewicking, and it was
placed on the outside bottom of the skirt, just above the hem
edge. It was recommended as a way to help hold the godet plaits. This
would have formed a rather dressy trim, too. Without actually knowing by
testing it, I would suspect that the cording would want to run in large
waves, not into flat pleats, and would thus help hold the deeply
undulating effect created by the godet plaits. Mrs. Hooper, in her
advice column, wrote in March, 1895 (<em>Ladies Home Journal</em>, p.
35):
</div></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
Because she wrote "It is thought to keep the godet plaits in shape", I
suspect that she hadn't tested the method, either. </div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Think about how wide a 1 1/4" diameter cord is: wow -- that's big.</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div>
</div>
</div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Rattan Instead of Steels Around the Skirt
</h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><font face="inherit">
I have only found rattan used to hold out skirts in one place, in the quote
about candlewicking above. To repeat part of it (<span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">March 1895 </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Demorest's</i><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">, p. 299)</span>: "<span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">It may form a cord on the bottom, filled with candlewicking, -- a much
more pliable and graceful "stiffener" than rattans or wires". Was the
<i>Demorest's</i> writer joking, or was rattan, that is, cane, an option?
Gracious! Very thin-split cane is plenty flexible, but also readily
breakable. As costumers, we would find this an inexpensive option, but it
would have to be replaced early and often.</span> </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;"></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
A Balayeuse or Dust Ruffle, Fixed Inside the Outer Skirt
</h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Here is an interior skirt ruffle, illustrated in the <i>Frauenzeitung</i>,
1 Feb 1895, p 35. The illustration shows the outer skirt inside out, with
the ruffle attached around the skirt base.
</div>
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<br />
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
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The ruffle had several purposes. It helped to hold the skirt a bit away
from the feet. It
</div>
was also used to help keep the inner edge of the skirt clean.
<em>The Art of Dressmaking</em> (1895), described its use and making in
detail on p. 32:<br />
<br />
<em>"The balayeuse or dust ruffle is not considered absolutely necessary to
the finish of a skirt, although it gives a pretty effect. It is made of
taffeta or skirting silk, and is cut bias from five to eight inches wide.
Both edges are then pinked, or they may be hemmed and a lace edge added.
The latter is preferable as the pinking frays easily. Gather the ruffle,
leave a little heading, and sew to the inside of the skirt even with the
lower edge. Be careful when sewing not to catch through to the outside [of
the skirt]."</em><br />
<br />Here is what <i>The Young Ladies' Journal</i> wrote in 1895 (I have lost the
date):
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<p style="text-align: left;"><i>
"A silk frill or double ruche, of the same colour as the material, is a
great improvement. This should be about 4½ to 5 inches wide and is sewn to
the lining so that the edge lies just above the edge of the skirt."<br /></i>
<br />
I like the idea of a skirt ruffle, as adding a bit of swish to the skirt,
and as a a barrier to getting the skirt involved with the shoes and
the legs.<br /><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">That's All For Skirt Stiffeners</h2><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here we come to the end of our very long discussion of mid-1890s skirt stiffeners. I've found the process illuminating. I've not addressed it here, that I remember, anyhow, but musing about the language used in the magazines and books was as interesting as the directions and descriptions given. "Regulation" skirt silhouette, "sensible", "humps and bumps". Even the shift, in some magazines, from sharply rendered engravings to more watercolor-like, painterly illustrations. The manners, mores, and interests of the time jump out and live for me.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">What's Next?</h2><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Well, the pandemic continues to spread, and here in the United States is reaching its tentacles ever deeper into our society. I am so covered up in to-dos and keeping the twins engaged over the summer that sewing would simply not happen unless I took time away from the more important things. Plus, by the time I've any leisure for myself alone, rather than family-oriented leisure, I'm too pooped to do anything but read. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This summer, late 1860s and early 1870s <i>Peterson's</i> magazines have caught my fancy. Reading the sometimes sappy, often formulaic, sometimes original and really interesting stories, and the advice within them, and examining the plates and illustrations, has taken my mind far, far away. When I return, refreshed, there's a lot to muse about. I recognize how different the lives and mores and beliefs of the writers and target readers could be from ours -- and I could detail the race, class, and gender influences at length. What's stronger, though, is the pervasive sense in the magazine that time is short, life is always attended with times of weariness and sadness, even despair, and health and security are never assured and always at risk of fleeing. The responses, besides wearing layers of clothing and spending a good share of time nursing loved ones, are thrift, attending to responsibilities, reams of patience, and clinging to faith. All of this is pertinent at any time, but poignant right now.</div>
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