Bodice Construction - Part II - The sleeves

36 days to go and the sleeves for the silk dress are complete.

Fashions for sleeves changed with amazing rapidity throughout the nineteenth century, veering from one extreme to the other.

At the beginning of the century, gowns tended to feature short, puffed sleeves or long, narrow, fitted sleeves depending on the type of dress.

A fashion plate from 1815 found here

By the 1830s, however, sleeves had achieved quite incredible proportions and were known as "Leg O'Mutton" or "Gigot" sleeves. Indeed they were so large that feather-filled pads were worn around the upper arms to hold out the sleeves! (Click on the image below to find out more about this dress).

Sleeve detail on an 1830s dress in the collections at The Museum at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology)

By the 1840s, with it almost impossible for sleeves to get any bigger, the reaction was for fashion to swing once more in the other direction. Slimmer, more fitted sleeves began to come back into vogue for day dresses. Evening dresses tended to feature very small, straight sleeves or little puff sleeves.

From "The World of Fashion" periodical, 1845 (found here)

The pendulum continued to swing in this way throughout the rest of the century with sleeves expanding and contracting almost with each decade.

For my 1840s silk gown, I have opted to make the sleeves convertible. Victorian etiquette dictated that during the day the arms and throat must be covered. In the evening, however low cut, short-sleeved gowns were considered both proper and fashionable. It was not uncommon for dresses at this period to be made with two bodices so that the same dress could be worn both during the day and for evening wear. There are also examples of wedding dresses with detachable sleeves and a fill-in for the neckline. This meant that the dress, worn for a morning wedding, could be converted and worn later as a ball gown or evening dress.

Inspired by this, I have cut my sleeves so that the lower sleeve is detachable. During the day, the bodice can be worn with the long sleeves and a chemisette (false blouse) to fill in the neckline.

The upper part of the long sleeve is made from lining material and when this sleeve is used it is loosely tacked (stitched) in place by hand temporarily.

The lower sleeve, showing the top portion of lining fabric that is tacked inside the bodice sleeve head

To transform the dress into an evening gown, the lower half of the sleeve is simply removed.

Just like the original gown that the pattern was taken from, the sleeves are decorated with two simple bands of fabric that form cuffs. These also disguise the join when the long sleeves are added.

Sleeve detail

Bodice Construction - Part I

39 days to go...

Work is progressing well on the silk dress and I thought I would share some of the stages of the bodice construction.

Preparing to cut the fabric

Firstly, I cut all of the dress pieces from both the silk and the lining. It took some time to carefully position the pieces to ensure that the stripes matched where I wanted them to. The darts and curved seams of Victorian patterns make it impossible to match all of the seams but I chose to make sure that the front matched on the diagonal to create a chevron on the centre seam.

Some quick research into original dresses showed this way of using striped fabric to create visual interest was used in the 1840s. Both of these dresses from The Manchester Gallery of Costume feature striped fabrics that have been cut to create a distinctive chevron pattern on the front of the bodice. You can click on the pictures below to find out more about each dress.

 1840s Day Dress, Manchester Gallery of Costume

Tartan Wedding Dress, 1849, Manchester Gallery of Costume

Once all of my pieces had been cut out, I matched all of the silk pieces with the cotton lining. The bodice is flat-lined which means that each lining piece is pinned to the back of its corresponding silk panel. These are then treated and stitched as one piece of fabric. To make them easier to handle you can edge stitch around the pieces to prevent the fabric from moving. However, I chose not to do this as I did not want visible machine stitching even on the inside of the dress. To make the dress more authentic I am hand-stitching the majority of the bodice, including hand-finishing the seams.

Matching silk and lining pieces cut out

Positioning and pinning the lining to the silk

I stitched the front pieces first as there is no piping on the front seams. First of all using the pattern and a tape measure I marked the seam lines for darts (the triangular slits at the front) on the lining side of the fabric. Closing these darts gives the bodice a three-dimensional shape which is slimmer at the waist and shaped to accommodate the bust.

Marking the seam lines for the darts

The darts stitched closed

 Before stitching the rest of the bodice, I then applied piping to the side and back seams. The piping cord is positioned on the outside of the seam line. When the pieces are stitched together, the piping sits on the outside of the seam.

Piping applied to the side back panel

I also turned in and slip-stiched down the facings at the centre back where the bodice will open and close.

Centre back facing slip-stitched to the lining

It was then time to attach all of the pieces together, paying careful attention to matching the stripes at the front and sewing as closely and neatly as possible next to the piping.

The inside of the bodice

The seams are carefully ironed on both sides to press them flat. Curved seams are clipped at intervals to allow them to lie flat. This can be done with a simple snip finishing just before the stitching but I chose to cut out small shaped triangles as this is the technique that I have seen used on curved seams in many original garments. It also creates an attractive seam finish on the inside. All of the raw edges where whip-stitched to finish the edges. This involves taking quick single stitches at a slight angle that loop around the raw edge and help to prevent the fabric from fraying.

Piping on the bottom edge

Finally, the top and bottom edges were finished with piping. On the top edge, the seam allowance of the piping was turned to the inside, folded over and stitched to the lining. However, on the bottom, I have left about 2/8" of fabric below the piping where I will attach the skirt.

In my next post I will share how I have created convertible sleeves which can be worn either long or short to make this dress suitable to wear in the day and in the evening.

The first dress complete - an 1840s striped day dress

43 days to go...

Apologies for the large gap in posting. I got rather carried away over the last few days with completing the first gown for Queen Victoria. This included a few late nights (including one where I found myself still stitching at 4am!) and as a result I haven't managed to squeeze in a post.

But here it is...the first gown.

Note: the neckline is very low so the chemise is currently showing at the neck. When worn, however, the dress will be teamed with a chemise that follows the neckline so that it doesn't poke out like this one does!

Strictly speaking, this dress is, in fact, a test run for the real thing. I will be making a second version of this dress in silk. However, it is always advisable, especially when using an original pattern that has been adapted like this one, to test the fit of the pattern in a cheaper material. Making a toile (a mock up in calico) is a good option, used by top designers in couture fashion, but in this case I also wanted to practise the techniques to ensure that all of the elements of the dress worked as I expected.

I therefore decided to make the dress completely from another fabric to test the fit and construction methods thoroughly before cutting my silk. This is, of course, more time consuming but avoids errors later and, on the plus side, leaves you with another completely wearable dress, unlike the mock-up method. It doesn't have to break the bank either.

The material I used for this dress was the lining of an old curtain. I bought (or should I say my Dad bought for me!) a pair of curtains in a vintage store. They were very large (about 3m squared) and were fully lined, with both the outer fabric and the lining suitable for making costumes. The fabric is a medium weight cotton and very easy to handle. Even better, I only needed the lining of one curtain for this gown so the fabric cost less than £12 which is not bad for a Victorian dress.

I started by constructing the bodice. Before stitching any of the pieces together I had to sew the piping along the seam lines.

Piping applied so that the cord lies just inside the seam line

The pieces were then sewn together, placing the stitches very closely along the edge of the piping cord. This means that the cord then appears of the outside of the garment along the seam lines. It is important for the stitching to be neat and as close to the cording as possible to achieve a neat line. I completed all of this stitching by hand. This allows for a neater finish as you have more control over the material when working by hand. It is also historically authentic as although the sewing machine did exist, it was not yet widely used at this period for making clothing, especially in the home.

Side view of the bodice showing the seam piping

As well as being decorative, this cording helps to emphasise the cut and shape of the bodice. The back seams in particular which sweep up and out from the waist create the illusion of a smaller waist and make the dress appear very wide at the shoulders.

The front of the dress has a deep point at the waist which is typical of this period and the bust area is shaped with long darts. Using the striped material to create chevron down the front of the gown is also something I have seen on original gowns from this period. Both of these features again help the waist to look even smaller than it actually is.

The skirts are attached following the line of the pointed bodice. The skirt fabric is folded to the inside along the top edge, with the fold tapering to a point at the centre front. The material is then cartridge pleated (find out more about cartridge pleating here) and stitched to the dress by hand. The pleating stands out over the hips, creating full skirts and emphasising the waist.

The sleeves also feature piping along both seams. They are cut with a curve that follows the natural curve of the arm. This allows the sleeve to be cut much tighter and still allow the arm to bend. The cuff are finished with piping with a slit at the wrist to allow the hand to pass through and are set into the bodice with a smooth sleeve head (no gathers on the shoulder).

Sleeve detail

All of the techniques worked with no problems so I am now ready to begin work on the silk version of this dress which will feature convertible sleeves to allow the dress to be worn in the day and the evening.