Chemise Gown

Last night I met up with a group organized by Julie Rockhold for a dinner at Christiana Cambells.  I had purchased striped cotton lawn from B&T a couple of months ago inspired by the famous Antoine Vestier portrait.  Being hot and humid outside, it seemed like a good excuse for a summer gown!

The gown is cotton, but the long sleeves are silk taffeta.  There's also a silk gauze piece which shows in the neckline.

The gown bodice is unlined- the portrait is so sheer it couldn't be lined in front at least.  The sash is a vintage 6" ribbon.  I haven't tried lighting it on fire to find out if it is silk or not.

Most of the hair is my own- just the long curls are pieced on.  I'm not quite shoulder length, but it's not hard to get a good sized hedgehog with shorter hair.  There's also powder in it; a mix of the Bumble & Bumble spray and cornstarch since the spray ran out.

The original 1785 portrait.  One of these days I'll powder my hair that much.

The photos below are of the group at dinner and after.  The ones without flash are blurry and the ones with look like a bad ghost hunt, but I can't leave out my dapper tablemates!

This photo is courtesy of Lyze.  And, yes, that is her real hair!!  Also, note Julie photobombing perfectly.

Cornwallis' Advance on Yorktown

In the summer of 1781 the British troops were advancing towards Williamsburg.  Just across the river from Jamestown is a plantation known as Smiths Fort (built in the early 17th century with some evidence still visible).  It's owner, Mr. Faulcon, was a patriot who helped the troops by allowing them to stay on his land after the British burned much of Cobhams Wharf.  I went out to show the shoemaking trade.

It's a beautiful museum inside- one of Virginias hidden treasures.

Mr. Balances coat I made up this week- based on the unlined extant at CWF.  The Virginia cloth used was very easy to work with, and very light!  The front has facings to cover the buckram layers and the back has a small section up at the shoulders to finish the collar, but the rest is unlined.

The Faulcons out for a light picnic (Bryan Kennedy and Taylor Shelby).

Dinner on Sunday was fresh corn and fish breaded with cornmeal and grits.  The day before we had a ham and vegetable stew.  Of course, there was plenty of bread, cheese, fruit, and spirits to go around as well!

I finished my new summer round gown just in time.  It's from B&Ts figured muslin (white with a tiny red stripe).  I made it unlined, based on a 1785 muslin gown at the Met Museum.

The kerchief is cotton lawn, on which I still need to put a few more tucks at the edges.  The hat is based on images like this and this.

Thank you to Kelsey Freeman for taking my picture!

There was, of course, shooting.  Although no one thought to bring any ammunition, so those turkeys we scared up in back of the house got away.

I just wanted to add this photo Wilson Freeman shot of me working on Saturday- it's just too beautiful!

Louis XV Shoes 2

I had an idea during this past weekends events (which I'll talk about shortly).  I found that people were extremely curious about shoemaking.  It's not something on which there's a lot of information floating about.  There were many misconceptions and questions.  It helped me to push what I know by trying to teach it to others and finding out what areas my knowledge lacked in.  So, what I would really love is for you to post any and all shoe-related questions here or on my facebook.  It doesn't have to be 18th century.  Technical, style, history, anything is up for an option.  Don't worry about sounding silly- I'll leave the Anonymous option open for comments and remember that I guarantee I got worse questions this weekend (No, the giant 1" nails don't stay in bottom of the shoe....).

This past weekend I worked as an artisan at OpSail in Norfolk.  The event was meant to be 1812 themed, because of the anniversary.  I brought a huge amount of millinery items on Friday from the time, but I had a number of people curious about my progress in shoe-making.  I had originally intended on bringing that instead, but the plans to order Regency shaped lasts were postponed.  Regardless, I gave in and brought shoe work on Saturday and Sunday.  Gwendolyn also attended showing miniatures and portraiture.  Samantha also joined us on Sunday.  Yes, that is a new dress I'm wearing.  No, I didn't get pictures of it (whoops).

Photo courtesy of Mark Schneider

I cheated a bit an worked mostly on my Louis XV shoes.  Wrong style and wrong construction method, but it seemed to be the technical aspects that were most interesting to people.  I made the second upper, skived down the second sole, and started stitching the first sole on.

The sole is now stitched on to the rand, but I need to take a hammer to the edges to make them look less messy.  This is also only a stand-in heel- I have to make mine from scratch since they're larger (off to find some beech wood later!).

Don't look to close at my horrible stitching.  Hopefully the right shoe will be better!  This technique is a very different movement of the awl than I'm accustomed to.

Brand-new (to me) french-pattern hammer Mr. Walker gave me!  The top is 18th century while the handle is a reproduction.  I think I love tools as much as my husband does now....

These are the pieces for the second shoe- upper lined in linen and bound with silk, insole with holdfast already in, and the out sole skived down so the edges are thin while the middle is still a good 1/4".

Louis XV Shoes

If the mystery shoes weren't obvious from the last hint, they certainly will be now!
I'm aiming for a 1720-40 style of English origin, constructed as a randed shoe.  Randed shoes were the typical way to construct women's footwear during that time.  Some "sturdy" shoes were made in other ways, but we'll talk about that when I get to making those.  I'll talk a lot about randed construction as I make them (pictures help), but it basically comes down to the small strip of white leather between the upper and outsole.
They should end up looking a lot like these:

V&A 1730s-40s Shoes

One of the things that will make them English is the toe shape.  Above is certainly pointed, but it's a very straight point.  Compare to this pair of shoes from the Shoe Icons site:

They have a toe shape more like a mole's snout (feel free to shout out more appropriate animals, we spend an hour coming up with ideas).

Here's my first assembled upper:

I splurged a bit on Scalamandre silk (just a sample size).  But it's so worth it!  What I wouldn't give to have a gown made from this (other than $800).  This pair is lined with linen instead of whittaw.

Mystery Shoes

In one of my last posts, I put up a picture of my modified last to see if anyone could guess the date.  I think it was quite an interesting exercise is how redundant style is.  The key thing to note on the last is the high toe spring (when I built out, I also built upwards).  I'm also using the same last, which bends in the middle a little to fit with a heel.  That being noted, here's a picture of the try-on I made.  There will be a few alterations- mainly the dog leg seam is too low.  Feel free to shout out what your adjusted date is, and, if you feel like really taking on a challenge, what regional style they'll be (aka French, Dutch, English, Italian, etc) and what construction technique (hint: that's my insole at the bottom).

Vintage Finds

There are a number of antique shops within a very short drive of where I live.  For better, or worse, my pocket book and I are gradually getting to know them.  One specializes in clocks, another in Asian pieces, some are every-which-way.  My growing favorite is about fifteen minutes North.  A collection of fun items- books, furniture, signs, pictures, decor, memorabilia, and a nice back room of clothing and accessories.  Most of the clothing is post-WWII, but they said they do get many earlier items in (they just sell right away!).  After drooling on a few 1920s/30s gowns that were too big for me I found a great little image tucked in corner.  Labelled as "Glamour Shots", it has numerous images of women with pretty, but everyday, hairstyles.  I'd date it mid-1910s, but it'd work quite well for 1912.  If you open the picture in it's own page it should be high-resolution.  Have fun!

Shoes 2

My second pair is now officially finished!  And fits perfectly.  I'll get to put them to the test tomorrow night, so long as the rain stops and things aren't too wet.  They're turn shoes, just like the first pair.  The uppers are wool pasted to whittaw leather and bound in silk grosgrain ribbon.  These only took a couple of months of sporadic working, unlike the first pair which took a year.  I could easily get a pair done in less than a week if I worked full time on it, and every time I'm getting faster.  The quality and stitching is much finer as well.  Particularly around the heel where I was allowed to work, delicately, with the tinier awl to make smaller stitches (no one makes that type of awl blade any more, so breaking one is really bad).  I can see a lot of places for improvement, but as long as every pair gets a little better, I'll be there fast.

I also purchased a 1920s pair of shoes recently.  I needed something to wear for 1912 evening attire, and these will do suitably.  They're a bit worn, but nothing a little cleaning and a few stitches won't brighten up.  They fit perfectly, which is the important part.  The fabric is gold lamé brocade, only a little worn and tarnished.

I started on my third pair of shoes this weekend.  We added a toe piece to adjust the shape of the last and I've made up two insoles, preparing for a randed construction.  Any guesses on the time period?

Regency Day Gown

I had sort of planned this outfit a while ago, having all of the fabric in stock, but hadn't planned on making it any time soon.  Then the newly started VA Regency Society contacted me about doing a presentation on Regency fashion.  I needed a good example of a drop-front gown, preferably something I wouldn't freeze to death in like my other gowns.  I pulled out the last bit of camlet mixed cloth I had from B&T and started perusing the books.  I liked the gown in Janet Arnold, but I wanted something closer to 1810.  Fashion in Detail has two very similar gowns that are dated just a little later.  The JA gown was mainly earlier because of the trained hem (something I definitely didn't need or want).  I used the long sleeves of one of the FiD dresses along with it's pleated skirt, taking inspiration from the JA gown for the small tucks on the bodice.
The chemisette is also in both of those books.  The bonnet is based on this one at the Met museum.

I'm hoping to put some gimp trim on the bonnet like the original, but I'd rather find the right stuff than rush it.  I also need to put some extra tacks on the chemisette pleats in back since they are very prone to puffing (the pattern said cut it on a bias....).  It doesn't help that I took off the gown at the talk and didn't properly adjust the chemisette when putting it back on.

Between the two of us, Gwendolyn and I managed quite a timeline of garments!  I still need to make some early 19th century men's wear I can keep around (it's all gone off to clients so far).