I leave for California two weeks from yesterday. Nobody panic! :p
My marathon sewing session didn't quite meet its goals. I wanted to:
(*) Completely finish the Gala dress (1690s court dress)
(*) Muslin the 1790s curtain-along dress
(*) Muslin the sleeves and braces part of the plaid 1860s dress (the only parts that need it)
I didn't technically accomplish any of those things. But I did
effectively finish the Gala dress. I have small things left, like:
1. Sew in the tapes for swagging the skirt. (I already have the lengths and placement figured.)
2. Cut out and attach all the brooches. (I have a wide metallic trim with beads and sequins on it; I have already glued all the threads down on the back side so the beads and sequins will stay on.)
3. Tack the petals of the sleeves together.
4. Bind the front point of the bodice. (That's the only part that's visible.)
5. Attach the vertical lace to the petticoat. (If I decide to do it; and it really needs to be placed once the overskirt is swagged up.)
6. Buy tassels with a long cord for the waist girdle.
That's it!
I have lots of pictures; I'll upload them tonight. I was going to last night, but I had some cancellations and instead got another sewing evening.
Last night I went ahead and cut out the skirt for the 1860s plaid. The fabric is about 54" wide, so I cut three and a half panels. 150"-160" is an
average skirt width for this period, but nicer fabrics and sheers tend to be more voluminous. I also figured out the pleating pattern, and that I'm doing a deep 12" hem facing. Of stiff organdy, if I have enough. If not I need to order some.
In talking to
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girliegirl32786 , I've finally settled on how to construct the curtain-along dress. It's at the MMA but badly mounted; and although there are plenty of big pictures, they're out of focus.
So I can't be 100% sure about its construction. But from what I can see, and from other examples of early Regency construction, this is what I think is most likely and what I'll do:
* The gown is broadly classified as an apron-front round gown. The back piece is very small, with the shoulder seams far back over the shoulder blades. The back is either tucked or pieced with three seams on each side in a way that looks just slightly old-fashioned.
* I believe it is a
mock wrap front. The front pieces are very wide and tucked into the shoulder seams at the back. At the front, I believe the pieces are placed on top of each other and sewn together at the waist, and sewn to the side seams at the side. There is a single drawstring visible, and it is clearly tied in the
middle of the waistline, not to either side. This makes sense if the ends of the drawstring are sewn into the side seams and run through a channel to the middle of the waist - just like the neckline drawstring on so many later Regency gowns.
I believe a true wrap front gown could be accomplished with two sets of ties and drawstrings (or just ties if it's smooth instead of gathered), but that's not what seems to be happening with this gown.
--> The only thing that makes me uneasy with this solution is that it makes the neckline closed, so the gown goes on over the head. That's not something I can recall seeing documentation for. But then again, there are many crossover/wrap front gowns in portraits and fashion plates, but very few originals that show construction.
* I will make the skirt a regular apron front. I will cut it slightly higher at the waist than the rest of the gown, so that the bodice can be pinned to it easily if required to prevent gapping. The ties will be fastened underneath the bodice.
The gown itself is very unclear: There is clearly a waistband
or waist ties that wrap around; in front, it's barely visible that the tie actually ties at the center front. What's strange is that tie is not at the top of the center front skirt; there is clearly a great deal of fabric sticking up above it. I can think of two possibilities to explain this, both from poor mounting for display:
(1) The skirt is an apron front with a waistband and long ties of self-fabric. When mounted, the ties were wrapped neatly and precisely on top of each other around the outside of the bodice, then tied in front. The tie just ended up a little low on the mannequin, so the apron waist is invisible under the front bodice.
(2) The skirt is an apron front, tied around the mannequin under the bodice. The dress has a back waistband with self-fabric ties that extend to the front; the dresser tied them in front on top of the apron front.
I think (2) is more likely, from the way the dress appears, although it's not as usual a construction.
So I've got a plan for this! But while we're at it, what do you think about the Apron Front Conundrum? The apron front itself really
does need ties of some kind. I've seen those ties wrapped around the outside of the bodice before; do you think they could be wrapped inside as well?
From what I'm planning, this dress is most similar to
this one, in principle. The front ties are wrapped outside the bodice.
The skirt is an apron front, meaning it's not sewn to the bodice front at all.
The bodice itself fastens together securely at the waist with ties, unlike a bib front, which often just has flaps that pin together.
So I can imagine there being ties on the back of the dress, but I don't think they'd be necessary. Still, the question is: Which goes on top?
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