Janet Arnold Award

Its has been an extremely long time since my last post however i have been very busy at university.  This term i decided to complete an 1866-7 Day dress from the Janet Arnold Books for the competition.  This involves recreating the costume to the exact measurements in the book and near as possible to the original. 

Bath Fashion Museum (n.d) 1866-7 Day Dress, Object number: BATMC 1.09.1089,

The dress i chose is a day dress from the mid Victorian era at the end of the Civil War, Scarlet O Hara style dress as it has more puffiness at the back and flatter at the front.  i made the crinoline for this as well. 

Bath Fashion Museum (n.d) 1866-7 Day Dress, Object number: BATMC 1.09.1089,

To start i went to look at the original which is in Bath Museum of Fashion.   Its made out of stone colour silk satin with cotton back and silk satin cornflower blue double piping and fringing.  It had a false hem out of cotton twill and blue velvet ribbon binding the hem. 

It is such a lovely dress the colour drew me to it so that was the important part for me to get the colour an exact match. 

The fabric was the hardest to work out as i wanted it to look perfect and the contrast needed to be right in order for the dress to be that striking.  I started my search on the Internet with James Hare and found a few however they were not quite the right colour however they did have cotton back silk satin which would have worked well.  i then went to London to look and found the perfect silk satin in a gold/ stone colour which has lovely.  I compromised on the piping fabric as i couldn't find the right colour in satin so got silk dupion instead but it was a good choice as it looks brilliant.

The dress is lined with glazed cotton which i could not find in the correct thickness so i used Swedish silk cotton, and cotton lawn to line the sleeves which was in the original.

 The construction went together surprisingly well only a few alterations needed on the toile like the shoulder and hem line but everything else fitted well considering the she got the pattern off a garment already together.

When constructing the dress on top fabric the initial dress went together ok.  I had huge issues with the piping however as it needed to look authentic so cotton twisted piping showed through the dupion so i had to wrap it in Iced Wool (used inside jackets) this took time as each piping cord had to be tacked into place before being machined.  It did also twist sometimes which i couldn't use so many hours and days getting that alright.

The fringing was just the dupion frayed which was fun and then sewn on by had.  All the piping was sewn on by hand along with the sleeves and collar.

I wanted it to be historically correct so i constructed the sleeves using the authentic method of cresting the elbow,  Authentic Victorian dress making techniques book helped a lot with this.

I also used cotton and silk thread where possible but on the initial construction i used polyester just for strength as cotton just tend to snap.  I also over stitched each seam to neaten it.

It had two pockets as well one in the seam of the skirt and a watch pocket in the waist band.

The hem i used white twill cotton  and dyed in brown for the false hem and bound it in the blue dupion.  I may change this s time for the competition in April but only if i find the appropriate colour velvet ribbon.

i feel that this may have been added a while after the dress was originally made as a repair for a worn hem as the colour is quite a way of the piping colour suggesting that they either couldn't match it or want to use the blue fabric or it was added later.

The button and belt is all done by hand as well the belt will have some ribbon down it however i have been unable to find one appropriate so am still looking.    i am very pleased with the buttons, i used the same dupoin cut in a circle with tailors chest felt stuck onto just the top of the button with the shank cut off and stitched the fabric round it pulling tight.

 i am very happy with the dress and feel it will be an asset to my portfolio,  I'm not too sure about its ability to go far in the competition purely because i think they may feel it might be quite simple as it doesn't look like a lot of work has gone into it however there was in fact a lot of work which i feel they may not see.  i am incredible proud of my creation and you never know what might happen with the competition.

My crinoline was harder than i thought it took a long time too.  The pattern was taken from Jean Hunniestts period costume for stage and screen with adaptions made to make it an elliptical crinoline. Each hoop is sewn on by hand with two layers of box pleats at the bottom.

 Its been all handed in now so i am hopefully going to get my frock coat finished for my boyfriend for Christmas. 

My next uni project is Ballet again but this time we are creating the plate tutu for designs for sleeping beauty i am very excited as the designs are amazing, they are quite earthy with frills and feathers and sparkles all over so i can't wait!

xx

 

Frock Coat, cutting out in top fabric

Its been a while since my last post i have been busy sorting out a few things for when i go back to university in October.  i have finally got onto cutting out the coat in the top fabric. Also i ordered the structural fabrics as well with drab coloured French canvas, collar melton, hair cloth and chest felt from this brilliant website MacCulloch and Wallis Ltd.  Having got myself a bit confused over where this canvas all goes as the book is good for the pattern but lacks a bit of construction information in some areas, i emailed my tutor at uni.  My question was that the wool fabric was rather thin and floppy so i wanted to know whether i put the canvas on the back to structure it a bit more.  The answer was to use cotton to line the wool and treat it as one fabric.  A bit annoyingly i had already cut out and mark tacked my pieces therefore i had to try and match the cotton to the top fabric as i will be following the inside lines oppose to the ones on the top fabric.  This took up quite a bit of time.  I decided to do this on every piece except the front as i think with the canvas and felt it would have structure and be too bulky with the cotton as well.  I made sure i basted all the lines and balance points and marked the roll line on the lapels.
I basted all my lines in as well and balance points. 

I have learnt a few interesting points whilst doing this as in not to pin the pattern to the wool but use weights otherwise it distorts the pattern, i didn't think it did but after pinning a bit it really does and for tailoring which has to be accurate that little extra few cms could throw it all off a bit.

Next you have to do some shaping and stretching the pieces. When i first read this i thought  it sounded quite strange and thought that it can't be that accurate but you only stretch certain areas 6mm max.  On the front the shoulder, gorge and skye are stretched and the middle of the shoulder seam is shrunk by basting down the centre and pulling shorter and place a steam iron on it shrinking out the crinkles.   This did shape it very well.

Next step is sewing the sides to the front.  My chest line didn't match up which was annoying but i match the armhole and the hemline and stretched out the middle. This is as far as you go with sewing it.

Next is the pocket

Frock Coat Toile

As this is the first time i have made this coat i decided to do a toile as the fabric is rather expensive wool and would rather not have to adapt it on the real thing.  I will probably have to do a bit on the real thing still but just minor alterations.

i used calico for my toile I'm not putting the sleeves in as i will do this on the real thing.  I put extra seam allowance on the pattern i use an inch all around, ( which I'm glad i did as it had to be let out).  Sewing together was quite simple however the pleats at the back took a while to understand which bit goes where and what pleats.  i found that the design for skirt of the coat looked very strange along the design line of the jacket and to me looked as though it should have gone along the waist line at the front.

 

i sewed half of it together first and tried it on finding it too small at the sides.  i then adapted that half by adding an extra 1/2 inch to each seam except c/f and side seam on the front.  i then did the same the other side and finished the toile. 

Trying this one on there were still a few things to adapt:

• Shoulder to tight.
• Shoulder to wide. 
• Armhole too tight.
• Gaped at the back side seam.
• Too long in the front.
• Too big at the C/F.

Basically all i did was re pin the shoulder seam by cutting it open at the seam. This had to be taken out quite a bit probably due to the fact the person I'm making it for is quite broad and muscular upper body so it was tight on him than it would be on another person.  The book did specify that the shoulders may go out of proportion and they were far too long and the armhole too tight so i sniped into it until he was able to move his arm comfortable across his chest and up.  Its important not to let out too much under the arm as it would be more uncomfortable to have to lift the entire side of the coat when lifting the arm as it puts more strain on that area. I then continued to pin around the armhole.

The Hem line needed to be changed as it looked as though he was wearing a dress and he didn't like the length at the front.  I initially sorted the c/f by taking it in 1 inch which made it a much better fit. I then pinned down the c/f into the skirt sloping it slightly more towards the back.  i didn't take anything off the length as it looked strange with a little skirt and big top part, a bit out of proportion.

The final adjustment was the gape at the back i just pinned it where it gaped and will take that off the pattern pieces.

Transfer all the adjustments to the pattern pieces using measurements and by laying it onto it and I'm ready to cut out of the fabric. which I'm very excited about!!!



1870 Frock Coat

Having previously made a waistcoat i wanted to build on this knowledge to create a men's frock coat.  After scouring books for the right pattern i Purchased 'The Victorian Tailor by Jason Maclochlainn' Which is by far the best book i have found on the subject ever.  It explains all the proper techniques used at the time and how to do them and has lovely tips and snippits from other authors.  I will however be cheating and using a sewing machine as this will be worn daily not for a show so needs to be durable. 

The pattern i have chosen is an 1870s American Cut Away Frock Coat as it is closest to the brief which is to look like the short coat worn in the 'Tombstone' film. 

The pattern is drafted with a rather complicated looking table however its not so bad once drawn out and it is done in the way it would have been done then so it was  quite exciting.  As suggested in the book over a 40inch chest may throw the pattern out of proportion so i will be making a toile first and adapting if needed.
A few of the measurements were not on the pattern so i had to do it by eye and looking at the similar patterns in the book.

Here are a few pictures of the drafting process the pattern i cannot up load as my scanner isn't working.

Creating the pattern

Using pattern tape i have marked out the design i wanted onto my mannequin,   It is meant to be a small mannequin size 2 but mine is a 10ish so it will be a bit bigger than they are meant to be.  i have tried to create a different shape for the bust this time with a low dip at the c/f.  I think i will have to put either power net in between the bust or put more that one strap in order to keep it all in place cause you need to think about the movement of dancer and how this could effect the costume.

Here are a few pictures of the pattern drafting:

i really wanted to create a pointed waistline to it.  Having not done this  shape before i wanted to give myself a different shape to try out and advance my skills more.

 My bodice will also have 13 panels in it as i will do the c/f cut on the fold instead of 2 pieces.

After marking it all out i have used calico pieces to drape onto the stand making sure the front grainlines face forward and back one go towards the c/b in a v shape.  This emphasises the waist hopefully. 

Here are a few of my draping and the final pattern pieces marked up and ready to place onto the top fabric and drill to cut out.

i am please with how quickly i have got this far as before it did take quite a while however it was all  new that time.

Romantic Ballet Tutu

After making a romantic ballet tutu for my final project this year at uni i decided to continue and develop this throughout the holidays.  This gives me a bit more creative ground to work from, what decoration i want to use, inspiration etc.  Hopefully i have learnt from my mistakes made last time and should be a far quicker process as i have previously done it. 

Inspiration:

The inspiration for my costume is from the Birmingham Royal Ballet 2012 version of Beauty and the Beast.

I wish to make a dress for Belle using a romantic tutu style.  i really like the colourings of the ballet costumes and the fluting around the bottom of the tutu.  I assume they have used chiffon or a silk crepe as the fabric is kind of crinkled however as it is for a sample piece and being a student i cannot afford to have 5 layers of chiffon.

i had  an amazing shopping trip to Goldhawk Road in London to pick my fabrics and had so much choice so it was hard to narrow it down.  i found a wonderful polyester chiffon which has the same floaty properties of silk chiffon but 1/4 of the price along with this i got a pewter/ purple/ greenish colour silk dupion for the bodice and matched the purple colouring with lilac tulle to go underneath. i really like the colour combination and the peach colour of the skirt with the dupion takes the costume in a different direction but still keeps the same palette as i wanted.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my new blog.  I have set up a new one so it doesn't involve all the extras i had to do with my last university project.  I will still post a bit about what i am doing at uni it just won't be so in depth about reflections etc.  I hope you enjoy my blog i have a few projects in the pipeline including finishing a frock coat and making another Romantic tutu.  Along with this i am going to enter the Janet Arnold Award this term at uni so have been spending my summer in museums looking at the dresses in detail.  I am going to have a practice over the summer with a Regency style dress. Anyway i hope you like my blog and i will try to post as often as i can.

xx