A man and his clothes

I have probably hinted here and there about making clothes for my husband. I think it's about time I presented the project, so at least I know what I have gotten myself into... I haven't sewed for anyone else but myself before and I can already tell that it's a completely different challenge. Mostly because you must nag about fittings here and fittings there to the victim all the time, which isn't always appreciated.

Anyhoo, the inspiration for my husband's outfit comes from this three-piece suit, worn by king Gustaf III in 1777 when he visited his cousin and neighbour, Catherine the Great.




It is merely for inspiration; I don't plan to recreate the clothes in any way.

So far, I have almost completed a waistcoat in silk taffeta. Here it lies on our rug, probably trembling with fear from the treatment it got when I worked on the five thousand buttonholes* (remove -on from the word, and we're much closer to the truth...).



The pocket flaps isn't attached yet and there are no pockets. Other than that, it's finished. It's more eggshell than snow white but my camera is worthless.



That leaves me with... Let's see:

1 shirt. I have already scrapped one shirt with one sleeve because it sucked. I think I'll leave the shirt to last.

1 pair of breeches. I purchased this pattern for drop front breeches from Eagle's View because I had read good reviews on it but I haven' touched it as of yet. If you don't count that time I opened the envelope, looked at all the lines and strange marks, quickly stuffed everything back and spent the rest of the evening under the kitchen table rocking back and forth. Breeches = scary stuff.

1 coat. The only good thing about the scariness degree of the breeches is that I still haven't realised how scary the prospect of making a well-fitting coat is. A coat must fit perfectly, it's pretty useless and a waste of fabric if it doesn't. I don't have a commercial pattern for this, I was thinking of using the 1770's frock coat pattern from "Cut of Men's Clothes". I see maaaany mock-ups in my crystal ball...

1 stock. This shouldn't be too much of a problem, I think.



I have this striped silk in design for the breeches and the coat.


Beige and brown - nice and earthy, and it also leaves me with a greater possibility of talking my husband into actually wearing the clothes! I love the more bright and what we may call feminine colours in 18th c male clothing but it's not worth the risk in this case.

There will be no embroidery or other embellishments; partly because my husband would disapprove, and partly because my embroidery skills are non-existent.

I will set the deadline to May 2011, I think. I agree, it's a little soon, but I was always the over-ambitious type, ya know. I think I'll make it.

*That's how much I love you, dear husband! Even if you probably prefer me showing it in other ways.

Gustaf III's clothes are described in the book "Kläder för tid och evighet" by Lena Rangström

Making a straw hat - the easy (and cheap) way

I mentioned on the forum that I once made a decent low-crowned straw hat out of three place mats hat and was asked how I did it.

Well, I'll tell you, as well as I'm able to, and show with my own fool-proof Photoshop illustrations spiced up with various clip-art images stolen from around the web. Even mad PS skillz like mine need a little extra help sometimes.

OK, here we go:



Hello! In this tutorial, you will learn how to make a basic low-crowned straw hat out of three place mats!

It won't be the kind of hat that a milliner would be proud of, but it's a cheap and fun way to experiment with different styles and trims and colours with little effort.

Note: I have used this method only once (and should have taken pictures...) and was very pleased with the result, but as always: use at own risk! And don't sue. This is a hat that is supposed to be pimped with trims and goodies, so that any unavoidable flaws won't be noticed.

Let's go: Buy three place mats of a size you think suitable in a store of your choice. I got four for ca 10 EURO, they looked like this (I used the purple - the result can be seen here). Make sure they're made from some kind of natural straw; synthetics may very well work but I haven't tried it so we don't want to risk anything.



Step 1: Glue two of the place mats together (skip this if your type of place mat is very stiff. I did this because the brim would be too floppy otherwise).

Don't use a glue that is too runny - it may bleed through to whatever surface you put the place mats on and leave marks on the hat - but it's better be strong. Remember to open a window if your glue is very strong, or you may experience a conga line of psychedelic animals or worse. Cover the place mats with heavy books and leave them for now.



Step 2: Soak your third place mat with water!


Step 3: Find an object in your home that is shaped just as you want the crown of your hat to look. I found an ugly, purple flower pot that had made no one happy until now. It was cylindrical and turned upside down it proved to be the perfect hat shape.
Put your soaked place mat on top of the object and gently but determinedly shape the place mat around it - remember, you're the boss around here! Try to get it as smooth and even as possible. Use a little violence if necessary but be careful not too make the soaked material rip or tear.



Step 4: (And here comes my pièce de résistance!) Tie a piece of fabric or a ribbon, or whatever you have, around the newly shaped brim (a helper may come in handy here).
Let it dry overnight or longer (I let mine dry for 24 hours but that may not be needed).




Step 5: Your hat crown should now be dry and ready to be removed from the shape. Trim away all surplus until you have only the crown plus an extra centimeter or so.
If you leave too much, you can always trim it down later but not the other way around! Put the crown back onto the shape used.




Step 6: Let's get back to the brim which should also have dried by now.
Check the diameter of the crown and mark on the brim where it will sit, but subtract 1,5 centimeters from the radius and cut out a circle, that consequently is somewhat smaller than the diameter of the brim.



Step 7: From the center of the brim (which is actually a hole), cut small cuts outwards, all way around the cut-out.
As always, it's better to cut too little than too much.



Step 8: Go back to the crown that sits on the shape and firmly press the brim down onto it.
If it won't fit, cut a little more as in step 7.




Step 9: Now the crown is surrounded by little tabs that will secure the brim to it.
Help them by gluing and perhaps sew a few stitches around the crown as you see fit.

When the glue has dried, check that it looks OK on the wrong side. You may have to trim down the bottom of the crown if it peeks out too much.



Your hat is now ready to launch. You can experiment by shaping the brim into any style you like, pretty much like you shaped the crown - soaking and some kind of outer force.

And now you're on your own, because I won't tell you how to doll up your brand new hat - I'm sure you will manage that perfectly. The possibilities are endless:

You can have a very pretty, simple hat...

like so...

Or something fancier and froufier...

...like so! Have fun!

Hope this was of any help to you. This will probably be the only tutorial you get from me since I'm usually the one who gets tutored rather than the other way around.

But I DEMAND to see what you make! You know where to find me...

All the best,

Madame B

NOW I'm impressed!

For a not very experienced costumer as my self, I sometimes think about how many details you actually can tend to in order to make your costume as authentic as possible. But where does it stop? When you have the right fabrics, the right patterns, the right sewing techniques, the right thread and needle and scissors an whatnot - what's the next step?

I know now, thanks to Carolyn (whose name is not Meagan... See comments. He.)!

Carolyn is reconstructing a middle-class woman's wardrobe ca 1750-70 as a part of her MA and is documenting the progress in this blog. This means extensive dress diaries galore, with details down to the tiniest stitch!

But there's more to it.

Needless to say, everything she makes is hand-stitched, but for the sake of scholarly work, the whole thing is also pushed to another, higher level...

This crafting heroine only does her sewing in natural light or candlelight. While sewing, she's wearing 18th century clothing (including stays) appropriate for a seamstress of the time, sitting on a wooden, uncushioned chair. 10-12 hours a day. Sewing day also means no bathing. Everything for authenticy's sake.

...wow..!

Impressive? - Are you kidding?

Inspring? - Sure (to some degree)!

Hilarious? - Absolutely!

I wonder if there are other costumers out there who strive this hard for authencity? I would love to hear about it. I suppose it makes sense, in a way, if you're truly hardcore, but it would never have imagined it (well, I once thought about trying to sew in a very dimly lit room, just to see what it was like, but my eyes protested before I even got the chance).

Carolyn has gotten much deserved attention for her work, and those of you who lives near University of Alberta can see some of her costumes on display until April 30.

Carolyn's blog
Carolyn on web TV

Make a list. Check!

As I mentioned here, I was going to attending a church service commemorating the death of king Gustaf III on March 28 (it's then 217 years since the king passed, minus one day).

But now the minister who was going to give the sermon has gotten ill and won't make it, unfortunately. Instead of completely cancelling the event, we will go to the church and put down some flowers. A transcript from the original protocol regarding the king's demise will be read and there will be some music. And then we'll drink to the king at a tavern nearby! Not bad at all (if you know Swedish, you can read about this event at Slottsfrun).

I had no clothes suitable for an event like this (everything's too bright and cheerful) so I made the silk dupioni jacket for a start. But as I went on, I realized that I also needed a few other new things and "a few" soon became "several", "many" and "let's just make a completely new wardrobeZOMG!".

But for once I had plenty of time (there's even I chance I won't have to sew hysterically with a watch in one hand on the day of the event. I might even rush off without pins and loose threads everywhere. Who knows?) and a quick check confirms that the most vital parts of the ensemble are finished or very close to being finished.

List? Why yes!

• Jacket - Is finished. Like, REALLY finished. Not one stitch off.
• Petticoat - Is finished. As above. RLY!
• New, smaller and cuter pocket hoops - Quite finsihed, I just need to replace the plastic failboning with something sturdier.
• New cap - Finished it yesterday! I had to remove the self-fabric ruffle from the band and replace it with some lovely lace to make it look less like a Victorian baby bonnet which isn't flattering for any face, least mine. Now I don't look incredibly stupid wearing it!
  
• Fischu - Finished. It was my first experiment with rolled hems, which worked out much better than I anticipated (but my fingers felt sore after the first 5,000 stitches).
• Hat - Nearly finished. Must fasten the trim around the crown. I don't know why this has taken me a month. I'll do it tonight, this I promise myself.
• Shoes - Haven't touched them yet. I bought these quite accurate-looking shoes for practically nothing in a thrift store in January and my plan is to add fake latchets and buckles. Somehow.
• Mitts - Half-finished. The lovely grey silk taffeta I had wasn't enough for outer fabric and lining and I feel that these mitts really must be lined. I'm not sure what to do yet because I'm so freaking broke right now!
• Necklace - I butchered a very ugly fake pearl necklace and all that is left to do is to add ribbon to tie it 'round the neck with.

(Hmm, this weekend will be busy so maybe I should start to feel a little bit stressed soon. Just not right now.)

Whaddyaknow: I also have long-term plans for this year and since you all DIE to know about them, here goes:

• Striped polonaise -If you lurk the costumers' diaries at LJ, striped polonaise's seem to be all the rage this year and I too wanna hang out with the cool kids! I have a pink-on-pink striped fabric that is very much destined to become a polonaise for parties in the summer (which is quite funny, since I've never owned a piece of clothing in pink in my whole life. I'm so making this polonaise into a little girl's dream-dress! Think lots of trims and frills!)
• Pet-en-l'air - Maybe, if what I have of the yellow fabric mentioned here is enough . If not so, i'll make a jacket of some kind. In either case, I'll need a...
• Black silk taffeta petticoat to go with it.
• Janet Arnold caraco - I have an Indienne-type printed cotton that I'd like to turn into a caraco à la Patterns of Fashion. A low-priority project.
• Finish the IKEA Robe á la Francaise That Guards The Gates Of Hell (will be referred to as "the IKEA robe" in the future) - Oh my, I don't know where to start. But you got it right, it is a robe á la Francaise, made from an IKEA fabric. But that's not the only reason why it sucks, I think the main reason is that I suck. I should have known better than even thinking about pulling off a project like this in the first place, but here we are and I will complete the whole thing, even if it kills me in the process. Even if I get killed for wearing it.
• New stays - This should be first on the list really. My current stays are OK but I learned much from the process of making them and if I made a new pair today, they'd turn out much better. I've also lost some weight since I made my current stays and the "gap in the back" is almost non-existant now, even though I managed to take a few seams in. All I need is the motivation to start this huge project. That, and time. Please? Send me your spare time.
• ca 1810 daydress - Because I've needed one all of my life.
• Masquerade gown from Russian painting - BIG "maybe" on this one
  

It seems I'm going to be busy this year, doesn't it? I'll be one happy camper if I manage to not only start but also finish half of the things on that list! Stay tuned...

Yellow fabric up for closer inspection

This fabric is actually a vintage curtain (my guess would be the 70's. It would go well with brown wallpaper and orange carpeting) that I bought from a thrift store.




I'm not sure about the material. It doesn't feel synthetic and it doesn't look synthetic (it doesn't look as shiny as in the pictures). I'm no expert by any means but my guess would've been some sort of cotton damask. Or something. But it didn't do very well on the burn test (recently explained by Fuchsia here) so I don't know.

I'm thinking I'm not too bothered. I'm no purist anyway, and if it looks good, it's good enough for me.

What's bothering me more is the pattern. Not that it's not an 18th century pattern - who'd be so lucky that they found a Period Correct patterned fabric at a price they could afford? Certainly not me! - no, I'm more worried about the size of the pattern. Methinks it's too large. Here I've placed a medium-sized cat on the fabric for comparison:


If I'm going to use this fabric for an 18th century project (and in that case I see a jacket, and I see a black petticoat to go with it!) I'll have to do a bit of research on jackets made of damask-type fabrics first, if any should exist, and see what the fabrics look like. Any input would be appreciated of course!

Jacket

And there was rejoice: I just completed my latest project - a frilly jacket!


It may not look much to the world, but it's actually the first piece of clothing I've sewn entirely by hand. And if you knew just how lazy and impatient I really am, you too would consider this an extraordinary accomplishment.




But it wasn't at all that bad as I had feared - on the contrary! It felt quite pleasing and relaxing, and it's nice to watch (or, in my case, mostly listen to) a film while you work. I'm not 100% converted to hand sewing, and I probably never will be, but I'm going to do it much, much more. Right now I'm working on a petticoat from the same fabric, and I'm going Old School on that one as well (but the new pocket hoops I just made was 100% machine sewn on the other hand, quick and dirty. Things must even out!).

The fabric of the jacket is a silk dupioni, slubby as hell, so not much Period Correct this time. But I'm on a rather tight budget right now (aren't I always?) and had to use something I had lying in the stash (and since this was kind of an experiment, both on the hand sewing and the pattern part, I didn't want to use something nice...).

The sleeves thankfully doesn't look so puffy and weird on me as they do on Glendora, the not-really-a-dress-dummy, but the jacket came out a bit too tight, no matter how nicely the toile fitted me. Sigh. I will re-work the pattern later on, because I want to use it for a lovely brocade I have. This jacket was more of a 1.0 really.

I'm going to wear the jacket and petticoat on March 28, on a church service in memory of king Gustaf III, and I really hope I fastened the hooks and eyes hard enough. I wouldn't want them to projectile on the minister, he's a very nice man. Yes, that's how tight the bodice is! But I guess there's still time to lose some weight.