Wednesday, February 26, 2014

HSF14: #4 Under It All



The Challenge: Under It All ... I ended up making 3 items so that I would have a full set of undergarments under my Natural Form dress.

Petticoat
Fabric: 10 yards pink broadcloth (7 from my Grandmother's quilt stash purchased in 1995 for the petticoat. 3 yard purchased new for the train). 3.5 yards tulle (purchased new).
Pattern: Truly Victorian TV125: 1879 Petticoat with Detachable Train
Year: 1879
Notions:  thread, buttons (from my other Grandmother's stash found in her closet), 1" twill tape (vintage - found at antique market for $.10!!!) 
How historically accurate is it? 90%? It's machine stitched and the buttons are plastic. 
Hours to complete: Unknown. Sorry, I don't keep track because I'm such a slow sewer. I can tell you that the train, except for the button holes, took 10 episodes of Law & Order SVU to complete and I did complete that part on one day. SVU is my new sewing motivation. :)
First worn: Broken Hearts Masquerade on Valentine's Day
Total cost: $13.56 total ($8.38 for the 3.5 yards of broadcloth + $3.58 for the tulle + approx $1.50 for a second spool of thread, first spool I have had for years + $.10 for the twill tape)


Chemise
Fabric: 3 5/8 yards white broadcloth
Pattern: Truly Victorian TV102: Chemise and Drawers
Year: 1885 
Notions:  thread, 2  buttons (from my other Grandmother's stash found in her closet), ribbon insertion lace, ribbon. 
How historically accurate is it? 90%? It's machine stitched and the buttons are plastic. 
Hours to complete: Unknown, but I think just a couple of hours all together. 
First worn: Broken Hearts Masquerade on Valentine's Day
Total cost: $8.77 ($5.78 for the fabric + $2.99 for the lace. Everything else was from stash.)



 Drawers
Fabric: 3 yards white broadcloth and scrap from the petticoat to make the ruffles.
Pattern: Truly Victorian TV102: Chemise and Drawers
Year: 1885 
Notions:  thread, 2 buttons (from my other Grandmother's stash found in her closet),  
How historically accurate is it? 90%? It's machine stitched and the buttons are plastic. 
Hours to complete: Unknown, but probably only a few hours all together.
First worn: Broken Hearts Masquerade on Valentine's Day
Total cost: $0 !!! :) (all material from stash)


Total Cost of the 3 Pieces: $20.73

These are part of an entire ensemble that Challenges 3, 4, & 5 will help to complete. The goal was to have everything complete in time for the annual Broken Heart's Masquerade Ball on Valentine's Day.... aka, My Birthday! ... And I did it with a few days to spare :)


Starting to cut out the petticoat.

 My awesome find at the Scott's Antique Market.... the booth of vintage clothing, fabric, crochet, lace, ribbons, thread, etc. I raided the 10 cent table for twill tape and bias binding for my future vintage dresses. 1" white twill tape had been on my shopping list for this petticoat and this saved me a trip across town to the fabric store.

Worked out perfectly!
The bias tape is used as a stabilizer for the buttons.
 
Hemming all the ruffle panels.


I started out wanting to put pleated trim around the bottom like the picture on the pattern....


But after 2 failed attempts at trying to get the right pleat ratio, I gave up and gathered it into a ruffle and saved myself tons of time. I will save the pleating for the skirt.



Working on the train...


Beautiful button holes courtesy of my new sewing machine!

Front of finished garment.
Back of finished garment.
 Close-up of the buttons. You can see that I had to use several different styles since I was digging them out of the jar that my Grandmother saved.

 I absolutely love the way this turned out! I love the feel of it on and how it hangs. I can't wait to wear the entire dress!

Here's the tag that was on the fabric from my Grandmother's quilt stash. Thank you Granny for dating it. :)

The Chemise and Drawers sewed up so quickly that I forgot to take pictures of the process.




Side view: drawers fasten on the side.
Played with the decorative stitches on my new machine.
Front
Back
The "sleeves"
The trim.

After the first wearing... the train on the skirt served it's purpose, the train on the dress suffered minimal alcohol and snow slush absorption. It washed easily and I air dried it.



Monday, February 10, 2014

HSF14: #3 Pink



The Challenge: Pink
Fabric: 4 yds taffeta 
Pattern: Truly Victorian TV225 
Year: 1879 
Notions:  thread, single fold bias tape, ribbon, pearl trim 
How historically accurate is it? 90%? The taffeta is most likely partially synthetic, it was on the clearance table and didn't have it's full description. 
Hours to complete: 1 afternoon for the base of the skirt. Unknown amount of time for the trim. 
First worn: Intend to wear at Broken Hearts Masquerade on Valentine's Day 
Total cost: $26.37 ($16 for the taffeta + $5.92 trim + $1.19 bias tape + $1.29 ribbon + $1.97 thread)


The initial plan:

The plaid fabric came first, found at a thrift store. I chose the taffeta after a couple of comparisons, the other choice was the lighter pink in the plaid. When I bought this taffeta, I actually thought it was burgundy, but in the light of my apartment, when I got it all spread out, it looked more pink. Not a bad thing because it enabled me to move some projects around


I forgot to take pictures until I got to the train of the skirt and had this lovely intersection of seams:

 Adding the bias tape to make the drawstring channel. This is after inserting the ribbon.

The skirt went together so fast after that that I didn't stop and take pictures until it was done.
Side view. The petticoat peeks out from underneath on the sides.
Back view.
Then, I decided to do pleats on the bottom to help give the train so weight so it would behave. The skirt is 4 yards around... I wanted 1" pleats..... TWELVE YARDS OF FABRIC had to be pleated!!!!
Hemming both sides. (my sewing machine sits on top of a treadle table)
Only a portion...
Pinning it in place on the skirt.
After stitched down.
The top of the pleats were a bit floppy because of how far down I stitched, but I planned on adding a trim of some sort. I found a pretty pearl edge trim that had the feel I was looking for. I really like the way it turned out.

I tacked on a scrap of the trim over the gathering in the back. I really want to make a large matching fabric bow to go there eventually.





I had contemplated some additional trims and even have the stuff to add a wide ribbon above the pleats and fabric to make ruching that I thought might look nice above the ribbon, but by the time I finished the button the bodice that goes with this my hands were too tired to do anything else.

Stay tuned for posts about the bodice, petticoat, chemise and pantaloons coming up for the next to Historical Sew Fortnightly posts.

Oh, and that pink plaid in the first photo... one day it will possibly be an over-skirt for this... or maybe a different dress, who knows.