Revamping a Pair of Shoes

What to do with an old pair of black leather 18th century style shoes?  The leather is beaten, worn, wrinkled, and as I now know, of very poor quality historically.  That relegates them to being rough shoes to wear in the mud and dirt.  Only problem is, the sole is so thin I'd feel every bump!  More like dance pumps than anything.  Solution?  Pull out some fabric, ribbon, and hot melt glue!

First step was to choose fabric.  I had a scrap left over from my white stays, a rather heavy herringbone weave of linen and silk.  I pulled some matching white silk grosgrain ribbon and light-weight white leather (for the heel).
I trimmed the tongue and straps to points for some variety.  I didn't want to work around a curve on the straps and you so rarely see pointed tongues now, despite such popularity in the 1780s.
You can see just how beat up these poor shoes are!

Next I clipped the stitching that held the quarters and vamp together.  It will make it easier to lay the fabric on the vamp, then stitch it all closed in the end.

I pinned the fabric to the vamp first.  It's a rough cut, but I'll trim the excess off before attaching it.  I leave a scant 1/4" around the sole to be turned under and glued.  The rest will be trimmed off when I bind.  The key to this fabric was getting the lines fairly straight with the shoe.

I used hot melt glue to fix the folded edges down, poking them as far in the crack between the sole and upper as possible.  This is where a darker or more solid fabric would have done better, since you can just see the color difference around the edge.  But, it's what I had and it does then go with all of my formals!

You can see the edges better here.  Not too bad for the easy way out!

I then pinned on two rough pieces for the quarters.  I cut the edges at center back, not folding them or attaching together as you'll see why later.  I did put a small line of glue under each side though.  Glue down the bottom edge just the same as the vamp.

Next comes the part that really makes it looked professional: binding.  I folded the edges under at the base of the vamp tongue rather than bind and end up with more bulk.  The quarters get stitched back on to that section so it isn't visible.  The rest is trimmed down to the edge or just past.  If you leave any allowance the binding is more likely to push back at it and bubble unless you use dozens of pins.  I just used a running stitch to attach the ribbon (small dot on the outside, longer on inside).

Before binding the quarters I placed a small strip of ribbon down the center back to finish the seams.  Since there is so many extra re-enforcement layers in the heel I just stitched to the fabric and not through the leather (reason for small strip of glue).  The bottom edge is folded under, the top left raw to be bound over.

Once the binding was done around the quarters, I stitched them back down to the vamp at the sides.  The heel I covered using white leather (pliver) and rubber cement.  I used a small flathead screwdriver to push the top cut edge into the small separation.   I had to put new sole leather on the heels anyway, so I just removed the old and pasted the leather down around the edge.  I'm not sure if I'll use these buckles, but they were with the shoes.

No where near as pretty as a properly made pair, but they'll do for the next few months until I finish my first official pair.  As long as the sole doesn't wear through that is!

Parasol

Parasols seem to be quite fashionable and diverse in the late 18th century.  I found images of tiny ones and "market umbrella" sized ones as well!  Check out The 18th Century Notebook for a great list of images.  So, I went onto eBay and started searching for antique parasols to see if anything fit the bill.  First rule was a wooden handle.  No plastic, bakelite, or bone (starts to crack if not cared for); tortoise or horn might be acceptable.  I was hoping for either a very simple ball end or a handle at a right angle.  I didn't expect to find baleen for spokes (metal started in the 1850s), but they needed to be functional and in tact.  The fabric was unimportant since I was going to recover it, preferably there'd be at least one panel together to use for measure.  And I wanted a medium size, about like a regular umbrella today.
What I found was that parasols sell for a wide variety of prices.  It all seemed to be centered on how pretty and in tact the fabric was though!  So, I found a plain black umbrella, late 19th century (the mechanisms say 1888 on them, but I don't know if it's a year or model number).  The wood stick and handle were painted black, there was a bit of carving, but nothing exciting.  The fabric was also plain black, minimal damage, with only a small fagoted seam for decoration.  Boring.  And therefore cheap!
I started pulling it apart before taking any pictures (oops!).

This parasol had obviously been well used and loved.  The tip was worn down and the areas inside fabric were storing a lot of sand and dirt.

They had added gathered pieces to hide the mechanisms, I wasn't really sure if I wanted to do that as well.

There were also small circles of fabric over each joint, probably to keep those from wearing at the main fabric.

I pulled out one panel (didn't take long since the stitching was rotting).  I added a bit of extra seam allowance to be trimmed away later.  I used a blue/yellow changeable silk taffeta.

Once the canopy was stitched together and seams were finished I went to work on the small pieces.  I added the small circles to the joints, then a pinked circle at the very top inside.

The original had a metal ring which had a long cord and tassel attached to it.  I couldn't find any examples where they used a closure, except for a small tab on a MFA extant (but no good closeups), so I didn't replace the cord.  I kept the ring on since it fits over the ends and keeps them closed, but doesn't get in the way.

I didn't have the sizing perfect on the canopy, so there is a little bit of wrinkling at the top.  I covered that and made a nice finished opening with a flat, pinked piece of fabric.  There are a few paintings that seem to show a top piece like that.

I also sanded and stained the wood.  The black paint was worn and chipping off, not to mention not very pretty.  I sanded it as well as I could, then used an ebony stain and oil finish.  The carving stands out a lot more now and the wood grain has a nice antique look.

You can see the small piece inside the top to hide the mechanism.  It also allowed me to stitch the canopy to it and keep it from pulling off the top.  I pinked two circles, folded them in half, then slit an opening in the middle.  Placed around the stick and stitched to two halves together.

Hopefully I'll get some better pictures out and around town soon!

In Between

I'm still around this week, I just don't have any recent projects finished to post about and the other topics I don't have time for at the moment.  The Accessories Symposium begins in just over a week, which I will take off from on Friday evening to drive up to Belair Mansion for the weekend and teach some rough militia men about fashion (or something like that).  Needless to say, there's a lot to be done, and there will be an equal amount to be posted after that week!  Hopefully I'll finish up a few key things this weekend and do a quick post next week of some value.  In the mean time, here are the three major projects I've got going (soon to be supplemented by a friend's linen gown and some sort of a bag).

Embroidered Mitts.  I have linen and wool galore, but no fancy ones.  A problem if I want to wear my Polonaise out and about.  The outside is silk twill with leather linings and taffeta facings.  I've got a lot of embroidery to do though!  They'll be copied from the pair in CW Collections.

My husband's suit.  I've got the breeches ready to fit again, if only he was ever home!  I'm hoping to have the waistcoat and coat in progress for Belair as examples of what goes on inside.  The coat and breeches will be a lovely burgundy color while the waistcoat is of gold persian silk twill (fidgety little thing).

Silk parasol.  I ripped apart a late 19th century parasol I got on ebay for very cheap (the fabric was a very boring and undecorated black).  I've got the taffeta stitched together, I just need to spend some time re-staining a few spots on the wood and cleaning up the mechanisms.

Un Grand Chapeau

With the Accessories Conference looming a short distance away, I keep reading blogs from ladies who are building quite a trousseau to bring with them!  Unfortunately I don't have the time to build a new gown, nor do I really need to with the number of things I have.  So, what better way to prepare for that conference than to build a bunch of accessories?  The Robe a la Polonaise I recently finished seems to show just about anything you can imagine with it in its fashion plates, so that seems like the best outfit to revolve around.  My new Brunswick jacket already has a fur muff and there's not much to do other than that.  I don't know how many items I'll finish by March 12th, but I will certainly keep posting them here as I go along.  First on the list is a GIANT fluffy hat.

I wanted something akin to these.  I have plenty of taffeta, silk gauze, ostrich feathers, and even paper flowers.

Making an aqua and yellow hat seemed way too matchy-matchy, so I started with just the yellow silk from the trim.  I decided to do a pouf in the middle, silk covered in gauze.  The gauze strips will gather around the edge and the silk donut will cover their inside edge.

I first gathered and stitched down the ruffle.  I'm trying to hold the back up with a few tacks so it can bend overnight.

Next I stitched down the silk donut.  You can see how the backside is already prone to curve a bit.  I used a spaced back-stitch, but kind of wish I had slip-stitched it instead, even if that would be more difficult.  I also ironed the gauze down a bit.

Then gauzy pouf!  I left the gauze 2" larger around than the silk for a second ruffle and gathered both pieces together.

 I found another taffeta in my stash that was a slightly pinker yellow, bordering on rose.  I took a 10" strip and ironed the edges over.  I did quick pleats at the flowers and the back to gather it down.

 The rest of the silk length I played around with for a bit, trying bows and fans, but finally settling on pulling it over the edge into the crown.

Next I played around with the flowers a bit more, tacking them down, and organized the feathers.  I have so many colors of each that it really was a bit of a challenge as to what to use.  In the first picture you can see the Polonaise it's meant to go with.  In the second, I've curved the feathers a bit more so they don't stick up so high and tacked the brim to the crown in back so it stays curved up.

Quick mirror pictures.  I need a bigger wig, mostly in width.  Certainly seems like an appropriate Spring outfit though!  I also need to tack the flowers and feathers more, especially in case of a windy day.

Today I'm working on recovering an antique parasol, if only I could get the MFA website to co-operate!!

Worsted Stays

My first pair of stays were beginning to show some major signs of wear, but I work too often to do any repairs to them.  Solution?  Make a second pair!  I decided to make this pair out of a lovely teal worsted wool, not only to show off all that channel stitching but to co-ordinate with the Robe a la Polonaise I was currently making.  They're still based on the same original stays that my white pair is.  The fit was just so comfortable I couldn't argue against using it again!

As always, I hand-stitch EVERYTHING.  I used a heavy, bleached linen thread for all of it.  Channels are all back-stitched except for the ones next to the center back which have a spaced back-stitch.  I usually end up with around 10 stitches per inch, a little on the tiny side.  Seams are butted and whipped together.  The center front is "open" part way down, but the laces keep it shut.  The eyelets are created using an awl, finished with double thread (the only other place double is used is on the seams).

The un-lined inside looks a bit rough.  You can see the heavy linen used for the structure and boning channels; two layers covered with the wool on the exterior.  The seams are whipped down before lining. The leather binding is stitched with running or back-stitches to the outside then flipped in and whipped down.  The heavy linen is cut to the finished edge, but the wool is left about 1/2 longer and whipped down before binding.  It helps to stitch the leather to an edge which isn't fraying.  You can also see the connecting thread between the eyelets, which will get hidden by the lining.

The linings purpose is to take all of the sweat, friction, and smell of the body.  It's easy to remove and has as few seams as possible (none in my case!).  The tabs are done separately, which I can vouch is much easier than trying to work around those curves with one piece.  It also means that you may not have to replace tab linings each time.

Notice how the leather binding curves over the ends just slightly.  Adds more durability to that corner so no fraying edges sneak out.  I'm thinking about adding leather strips around the eyelet holes as well to keep the lacing from wearing them down.

Polonaise History

This is going to be a very brief idea of what a Robe a la Polonaise is.  There's not a mass amount of reference material easily found on this type of gown and I'm certainly not going to make anything up.  However, and this is the fun part, Brooke Welborne and Kendra Van Cleave have done a lot of research on it for the last few years and should be coming out with a very in-depth article soon (squee!).

So, what I want to do here is show some fashion plates, and a couple extants, and talk about the many options you can see here.  As I mentioned previously, this gown was very popular in the 1770s and 80s. It can be full length, short jacket, or in-between.  Even though the gowns were polonaised in back, the short jackets weren't.  But, the separate and loose front still defined them both.

This is a solid silk taffeta robe trimmed with silk gauze.  As you'll see in many of the fashion plates, gauze is VERY popular.  The trimming continues all around the hem of the gown, with a deep ruffle on the petticoat.  Notice the placements of the bows is very far down compared to some of the following images.

Stripes were certainly common as well.  Notice how her polonaising is very uneven, with the fronts being much higher than the back.  She still uses gauze trim, which one the sleeves continues all the way up to the armscye!

This is one of the publicly findable extants, from the Met Museum.  It's just about the reverse of my color scheme.  The trimming is very simple, just applied.  The neckline has a collar instead of a typical open gown neck.  Most of the seams have cording sewn on.  The trimming on the long sleeves is at the top rather than elbow or bottom, it seems to be a hap-hazard puckering.  I'm assuming they have the skirt pulled up completely, and it seems to be fairly low compared to some other images.  I do love the applied "bows" at the ends of the seams.

There appears to be a tie in front, possibly to hold it together.  They've pinned the front closed further down, which gives it a very awkward puckering.  I'm assuming the bodice is missing on this extant.  It does clearly show the obvious widening of the trim as it continues down.  The full length sleeves are often found in the 1780s, rather than early on.

This fashion plate also has the cording along the seam lines, although her gown is again trimmed in gauze.  Yet another trimming option of flouncing on the petticoat.  The skirt in this case is pulled up by use of ribbon or cording, just barely visible.  Her sleeves also appear to have the random puckering.  And one must apparently have an equally grand wig to go with their gown, as all of the fashion plates show!

This is a perfect example of a short jacket.  Long sleeves were common on this style, which was more popular in the 1780s.  It also shows off a fabric option of "toile", what looks to be a cotton print at that.  The border trim would also be a really interesting challenge if you aren't the ruffly type.

The overall design isn't much different from the prints before.  The petticoat has a very deep flounce and the gauze trim on her gown appears to be stuffed.  She also has a few tassels hanging in front and back.

This is one of my favorite examples.  It's in the Colonial Williamsburg Collection.  They made a recent study of it, reproducing it three times over; once as a copy with all the defects, again by hand but adjusted to a pattern, and finally in a different size to be used by an interpreter.  It's an unusual piece with some strange stitching, but it goes to show there's no singular right way.  It's shorter than most of the gowns in the prints, the skirt is pulled up with a strip of fabric which hooks to the back.  The cuffs are made separately with very erratic tacking then stitched onto the sleeve.  There are also ties in front, but the bodice is missing and appears to have been a separate piece.

This is my favorite print for some reason.  It's a very simply trimmed jacket and the only time I've seen a contrasting petticoat.  All of the seams appear to be corded.  Make this out of a cotton dimity or cherry-derry and this would be an immensely practical summer garment.

This example is a bit unusual.  It appears to have no trim, but if you look very closely and read the description, there is a border on the petticoat and possibly on the gown of a different colored taffeta.  The back also appears to be separate from the skirt and there is an immense amount of fabric pulled up!  I can't tell if the neck ruffles are built in, but I don't see evidence of a kerchief.

This is the image I used for my trimming.  She also appears to have a ruffle around the bottom of her bodice, but I left that off.  You can clearly see a narrow gauze ruffle around the neckline on her gown as well.

She has a very interesting, almost wavy edged trim around her gown.  And the flounce is topped with an erratic puckering.  There is also a small line of trimming around a pocket slit.  I don't have a slit in mine, and the images often don't show one, but it is apparently an option.  She also appears to be wearing a bum roll rather than side hoops.

This again show the uneven polonaising, as well as a plethora of bows.

This print labels her fabric as l'Indienne, another type of cotton chintz, again with gauze trim.  The line of gathering on the trim is far off center, comparison to most of the others which use one or two lines equally spaced.  Her bodice also appears more waistcoat-like, though it doesn't distinctly show buttons.

This gown appears to made of a similar toile to the orange jacket above.  It shows just about every matching accessory one could imagine, sans a walking stick or puppy, but she is out of hands.  Perhaps a few ideas to attempt accomplishment before the upcoming Accessories Symposium in March?

And finally "The Spruce Sportsman, or Beauty the Best Shot".  This lovely jacket is not only shown with a contrasting petticoat, but a different color bodice as well.  The Margaret Hunter Millinery Shop at Colonial Williamsburg recently did a living version of this work.  You can find the making of it on their Facebook page.