Tag Archives: 18th century dress

Pink Thing Debut and Postmortem

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Pink Thing had a debut at Tavern Night at the Depreciation Lands Museum, and I wore it again to Fort Ligonier Days.  Overall I think it turned out great.

Postmortem analysis: add a strip of boning down the inside center front to keep it smoothly fastened and deflate the Georgian bum pad by about 1/3.

Inside the tavern at Tavern Night, Depreciation Lands Museum, Hampton Township, PA

Inside the tavern at Tavern Night, Depreciation Lands Museum, Hampton Township, PA

The back of Pink Thing, in the Tavern at DLM. My curls have fallen out and I think I need to deflate this bum pad just a tad.

The back of Pink Thing, in the Tavern at DLM. My curls have fallen out and I think I need to deflate this bum pad just a tad.

In the garden at Depreciation Lands Museum, Hampton Township PA with my husband Bill in his silver brocade waistcoat.

In the garden at Depreciation Lands Museum, Hampton Township PA with my husband Bill in his silver brocade waistcoat.

Pink Thing, with a better cap, in Bill's teaching room before I left for Fort Ligonier Days.

Pink Thing, with a better cap, in Bill’s teaching room before I left for Fort Ligonier Days.

Pink Round Gown Front

The original I copied for comparison.

18th Century Round Gown: Pink Thing Construction

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I looked at the calendar yesterday and realized – to my horror – that the DLM Tavern Night event is THIS WEEKEND.  As in, 2 days from now.  Ahhhhhh!  So last night I pulled a marathon and got Pink Thing sewn together.

The bodice went together quickly since I invested a lot of time in fitting the pattern mockup:

Pink Thing's bodice on the dressform, which is too small for it.

Pink Thing’s bodice on the dress form, which is too small.  It is too small because I am too fat.

Next pleat the skirt.  I had to piece it together somewhat from the larger parts of its previous incarnation’s skirt.  It proved to be an advantage in the front, as it conveniently left me two seams to use to make the drop front.  The drop front allows you to put the gown on.  The ties on the drop front are wrapped around back and tied in front, holding the apron front up.  Then the bodice is fasted closed which hides the apron front:

Put On 1 Put On

The ties are tucked under the waistband, but I left them out in the photo to show how the whole thing works.  The image on top shows how the apron front is attached to the rest of the skirt.

Fastened Closed

Fastened closed with ties tucked inside waistband

At this point I have to stop and thank one of my favorite vintage sewing tools, the Clinton Pleat Maker:

The Clinton Pleat Maker

The Clinton Pleat Maker

This awesome tool allows you to make lots of even pleats quickly – just stick it in the fabric, turn, and viola!  Pleat!  The legs are adjustable to allow you to set the pleat depth, and there is a measuring gauge so you can keep the space between the pleats consistent.  They are usually available on Ebay.  They have been out of production for a long time so look under vintage sewing tools.  Every time someone blogs about them there is a run on the bank, so to speak, so be patient.

The pleat maker in action

The pleat maker in action

Given that the event is days away, I don’t have time to make a new fichu and sleeve ruffles.  So I will wear a cotton net fichu I already have.  For the sleeves I turned to my stash of cheap-ass but decent looking lace.  I have not had good experiences using antique lace and fine fabrics for decorative elements than hang from sleeves.  It gets caught on things and dragged through the guacamole in the buffet line.  Some jobs are just better suited for cheap lace.

So here it is, ready to go – as much as it is going to be:

Ready for Saturday

Ready for Saturday

Too Small Dummy is wearing correct underpinnings to help the skirt stand out – a Georgian bum, a corded petticoat, and a silk over petticoat.  In the 18th century there was a large market for fake rumps!

The Georgian Bum Shop

The Georgian Bum Shop

 

I like big butts and I cannot lie!

I like big butts and I cannot lie!

I used this example as a model to copy, from Two Nerdy History Girls:

Reproduction of late 18th century bum pads.

Reproduction of late 18th century bum pads.

Stay tuned for the event report, complete with root cause analysis of any wardrobe malfunctions!

Late 18th Century Round Gown: Pink Thing Planning

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Since this year’s goal is to shrink the UFO (UnFinished Outfit) pile, I thought I needed to do something with the pink damask.  I bought it on Ebay years ago and began to cut it out into a robe a la francaise.  Problem #1: I was thin back then.  I tried to alter it – not!  It was so small it wouldn’t even fit across the back!  Time to re-cut this into something else.  There is not enough fabric for a robe and petticoat, as I discovered back then.  Why not make a round gown!  Round gowns were made with a continuous skirt with an apron front instead of the robe and petticoat worn throughout most of the 18th century.  On my Pinterest board I’d saved two damask round gowns from various museum collections.  This green one is my favorite, but unfortunately I have not been able to find any silk damask in this color:

Green Round Gown from Met Museum

Green Round Gown from Met Museum

There is also a pink one from Museum at FIT, which is a good choice given I have pink damask piled on the cutting board:

Pink Round Gown Front

Pink Round Gown Back

And here is another one that once belonged to Martha Washington.  It is part of the First Ladies display at the Smithsonian.  I have seen this display in person twice and it is wonderful:

Martha Washington's Pink Damask Gown Circa 1780

Martha Washington’s Pink Damask Gown Circa 1780

The pink FIT is the primary design, although I am not crazy about those white undersleeves.  I prefer Martha Washington’s, so I will use those as a guide for the sleeve trim and fichu.

Once I got cutting I found I had plenty of fabric to recut as a round gown.  I used the JP Ryan robe a l’anglaise pattern.  Fitting it was much harder than I remember, but after a couple nights of swearing and re-cutting I had it fitted, and copied the mockup onto Pattern Ease for future use.

Looking at this fabric again I am glad I am not using it with a design that is earlier in the 18th century, as is the case with the JP Ryan Pet-en-l’air pattern I started back in my skinny days.  This fabric is very neoclassical and much better suited to late 18th century.

Pink Damask fabric with neoclassical motifs

Pink Damask fabric with neoclassical motifs

Since I bought it so long ago and it is was old then, I don’t know the exact fiber content.  I did a burn test on it and there are no synthetics.  I suspect it is a blend of linen and silk, with a small chance of rayon so this will definitely need dress shields (old rayon reacts in very bad ways with sweat).  I can iron it on the highest setting and it is perfectly happy, although it smells a bit dusty when heated.

Pink Thing is now cut out – will try to get it together to wear to Tavern Night at the Depreciation Lands Museum.