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I think I've mostly noodled out the Brunswick/Jesuit issue, at least to the point where I'm reasonably confident in the reasonable accuracy of what I'd like to do. So Epic Post on 18th Century Hoodies is coming, but I don't have the time to write it quite now.
I haven't really sewn since Costume College, but it's not really a sewing funk. First it was Hello, Dolly for 3 weeks, then recovery from that and getting back into choirs. Then it was helping plan and accomplish some 1950s clothing for the Impressions chorale. We sing mostly at retirement homes, so this year our program is mostly popular songs from the early 1960s or before (Fly Me to the Moon, When I Fall in Love, etc). Typical choir attire for this program is either formals (gowns & tuxes) or casuals (polos and khakis), but the chorale is a smaller and older group. So formals aren't quite right, and the casuals are too uniform-like. So I've been organizing guidelines for what to use and make/buy, including hosting a "sewing day" to assist with nice circle skirts (AKA not high school-appropriate primary-color felt & poodles). I also took a minor commission from one of the women to increase the waist size on a vintage skirt. $8.50 for a quilted circle skirt is great, but not quite as useable with a 23" waist!
That got me wanting to sew again. I'm not to the point of working out the robe de style pattern yet, although that needs to start happening soon so I can get beading. But I remembered I have a dire necessity for shifts, considering that my One and Only pre-1860 design was re-purposed into a 1690s smock with big sleeves and triple-layer starched lace cuffs!
I have the Country Wives 1800s shift pattern, which looks like awesome fun to put together. There's also Sharon Burnston's 18th century shift research. I've been stockpiling "doggie bag" lengths of 2.8 oz "gauze linen" to use for lightweight shifts. It's very loose and somewhat coarse in weave, like cheesecloth, though incredibly soft when washed. It's also not at all common for the period... but then, period shift linen is a difficulty anyway. So although way too coarse for even moderately nice handkerchiefs or caps, I figure it will make comfortable shifts for this Texas costumer. Particularly since I don't actually reenact either period.
So Sunday afternoon I did a lot of reading (Did you know the sleeves could be a nicer weight of fabric than the body?) and figuring, then cut out three shifts:
1. Sharon Ann Burnston's pattern, with the body of gauze linen and sleeves and neck/cuff ruffles of 3.5 oz hankie linen, for greatest versatility. Again, not a reenactor, so I'm most likely to want fancier linens. I still might make the ruffles baste-in.
2. Country Wives View A, entirely of gauze linen. This looks like the more utilitarian design.
3. Country Wives View B, entirely of hankie linen. With the bigger neckline, this is more likely to be an evening/low neck shift.
I have yet to cut the necklines for the first and third shifts (the second is formed by the pattern pieces), but I've cut body gussets already. I need to double check the neckline templates. The thing that annoyed me most about my first shift, and the reason I didn't mind re-purposing it, was how enormous the neckline was. Even for my widest/deepest gowns, it was still heavily gathered - even pulled under my stays in back - and uncomfortable.
I haven't really sewn since Costume College, but it's not really a sewing funk. First it was Hello, Dolly for 3 weeks, then recovery from that and getting back into choirs. Then it was helping plan and accomplish some 1950s clothing for the Impressions chorale. We sing mostly at retirement homes, so this year our program is mostly popular songs from the early 1960s or before (Fly Me to the Moon, When I Fall in Love, etc). Typical choir attire for this program is either formals (gowns & tuxes) or casuals (polos and khakis), but the chorale is a smaller and older group. So formals aren't quite right, and the casuals are too uniform-like. So I've been organizing guidelines for what to use and make/buy, including hosting a "sewing day" to assist with nice circle skirts (AKA not high school-appropriate primary-color felt & poodles). I also took a minor commission from one of the women to increase the waist size on a vintage skirt. $8.50 for a quilted circle skirt is great, but not quite as useable with a 23" waist!
That got me wanting to sew again. I'm not to the point of working out the robe de style pattern yet, although that needs to start happening soon so I can get beading. But I remembered I have a dire necessity for shifts, considering that my One and Only pre-1860 design was re-purposed into a 1690s smock with big sleeves and triple-layer starched lace cuffs!
I have the Country Wives 1800s shift pattern, which looks like awesome fun to put together. There's also Sharon Burnston's 18th century shift research. I've been stockpiling "doggie bag" lengths of 2.8 oz "gauze linen" to use for lightweight shifts. It's very loose and somewhat coarse in weave, like cheesecloth, though incredibly soft when washed. It's also not at all common for the period... but then, period shift linen is a difficulty anyway. So although way too coarse for even moderately nice handkerchiefs or caps, I figure it will make comfortable shifts for this Texas costumer. Particularly since I don't actually reenact either period.
So Sunday afternoon I did a lot of reading (Did you know the sleeves could be a nicer weight of fabric than the body?) and figuring, then cut out three shifts:
1. Sharon Ann Burnston's pattern, with the body of gauze linen and sleeves and neck/cuff ruffles of 3.5 oz hankie linen, for greatest versatility. Again, not a reenactor, so I'm most likely to want fancier linens. I still might make the ruffles baste-in.
2. Country Wives View A, entirely of gauze linen. This looks like the more utilitarian design.
3. Country Wives View B, entirely of hankie linen. With the bigger neckline, this is more likely to be an evening/low neck shift.
I have yet to cut the necklines for the first and third shifts (the second is formed by the pattern pieces), but I've cut body gussets already. I need to double check the neckline templates. The thing that annoyed me most about my first shift, and the reason I didn't mind re-purposing it, was how enormous the neckline was. Even for my widest/deepest gowns, it was still heavily gathered - even pulled under my stays in back - and uncomfortable.