This bodiced petticoat is the inspiration for the first piece of my 1822-1824 ensemble that I need for December events. You can read more about the overview of the ensemble by viewing my last post: here. Despite the slightly later date given for this garment (later than my target of 1822-1824), the shape and construction are consistent with garments from the earlier 1820s, so I have no qualms about using this for my purposes in this case.
White cotton with high waist. Low, wide, round neck edged with embroidery and lace frill; piped armholes; front in one bias-cut section, back in two shaped sections, centre back fastening with drawstring at top and bottom of neck edging and at high waistband and two buttons; skirt front in one slightly flared section, two sections each side flared towards back, slit at hip in right back seam, centre back in two straight sections, closely gathered at centre waist; sixteen lines of piping at hem; edging of finer cotton scalloped and with openwork embroidery.
I used this description in combination with the 1820s patterns in Janet Arnold to create the bodice and skirt patterns. My petticoat is constructed out of plain white cotton. It is entirely hand sewn and has 16 rows of cording in the skirt. There is a edging of white cotton openwork embroidery at the hem. The seams are all flat felled in the skirt. The bodice seams are turned twice and stitched on each side of the seam. The petticoat closes in the back with ties.
Bodice of the petticoat with unfinished neckline.Near the hem: 16 rows of cording and embroidery edging.Super close up of a flat felled skirt seam, narrow hem, and whip stitches attaching the embroidery. The embroidery is whip stitched to the hem at the very bottom, and the top edge is whipped again on the inside (that’s the top horizontal row of stitches).Back of the bodice.
The only remaining work to be done is to add another tie between the current two since the back wants to gap open just below my shoulder blades, to finish the neckline, and to adjust the gathers across the back (secret tip I’ve learned through building these garments: to get that great 1820s triangle shape, your gathers have to be super concentrated at the center back area, not spread out across the entire back, as these currently are). I plan to finish the neckline with narrow white lace, but I want to determine the neckline of my ball gown before finishing the neck of the petticoat. You understand that desire, I’m sure!
Differences from the original include: that I have a seam up center front of the bodice (no particular reason, it’s just that’s how it turned out), my cording is spaced closer together (which I’m not sure I like as much as the original, but I’m not taking it out now!), my armholes are narrow hemmed rather than piped, and my skirt closes right in the middle of the gathers rather than off center at the side back seam.
Pictures of the entire petticoat will have to wait. It looks pretty foolish on hanger, doesn’t fit a dress form (because the bust is so high), and it’s super awkward to get a full length picture of oneself… so we’ll just have to wait until I’m wearing it!
Well, as you recently read, I have a 9 month sewing plan to get me through May of 2013. It’s not set in stone (which means that mostly I keep adding to it, not taking things away…), but it gives me a great overview of what I need to accomplish and by what month. Deadlines really help in getting things completed!
The first major portion of the sewing plan is an ensemble of clothing from about the year 1823. I’ve been doing lots of looking at fashion plates and extant clothing from the early 1820s, in books and online. Here’s a link to my pinterest board: 1820-1824. I had so many pins in the 1820-1829 board that I had to separate the decade, so I also have a separate pin board of 1825-1829.
The 9 month plan includes the following pieces: petticoat, ball gown, walking dress, muff, bonnet, and chemisette. I’ve added one more thing since the plan was created: a tippet to match the muff! Before I explain why I want these items (ie, where I plan to wear them!), let’s look at my inspiration for the items themselves!
Petticoat. Manchester City Galleries. (I’m making a petticoat out of white cotton. It is entirely hand sewn.)Actually a Dinner Dress (but I’ll use it as a ball gown). Ackerman’s Repository. May 1824. (I guess I lied about the year… I’ve been looking at the images so much I haven’t even glanced at the date in ages! Anyway… I’m making this in apple green silk with hand sewn silk organza appliqués.)Promenade Dress. Ackerman’s Repository. December 1822. (I am making this out of deep, rich pinkish burgundy wool with hand sewn lavender silk trim.) This is also my inspiration for the tippet. (I’m making the tippet out of white faux fur.)Walking Dress. Ackerman’s Repository. March 1823. (I think this is where I got the year 1823 from… This is another influence on my walking dress design, especially at the collar.) This is also my inspiration for my muff. (The muff will be the same fur as the tippet, lined with pale blue silk shantung.)Bonnet. C. 1820. The Met. (I plan to make this in lavender to match the walking dress.)Chemisette. c. 1810-1825. Snowshill Collection. (Yes, this is one of the ones in Janet Arnold. I plan to make this out of lightweight cotton and use my fluting iron! However, I have to say that if one thing in my December-to-do doesn’t make the cut, this would be it. I really want to take my time on this and play with my fluting iron, and I’m not sure I’ll have the time on this one…)
What is all of this for, you ask? I plan to wear the whole ensemble in December when I attend Fezziwig’s Ball, a 19th century ball hosted by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers in Salem, MA. Since it’s a ball, I’m sure you understand why the petticoat and ball gown are required! But why the outerwear? Before the ball begins, ball-goers have the opportunity to go caroling around the streets! It’s really fun, and usually pretty cold. I need to stay warm, hence the wool walking dress, tippet, and muff. The chemisette is to fill in the collar of the walking dress, and the bonnet is really icing on the cake to help pull the whole ensemble together! As an added bonus, later this winter my friends and I hope to go ice skating in 19th century dress, so this will also be my ice skating outfit!
Well, it’s turkey day, not moose day… but in the spirit of animal-related-sillyness… here are a few more Quinn-does-moose photos! You can see the original one in my Happy Halloween post! Don’t forget to count your blessings and be thankful today! Happy Thanksgiving to all!
There I am, on the right being a moose. It’s hard to lift your arms in an 1860 dress…Ok, this time I could lift my arms… but I had a fan in my hand. What to do? Use it as an antler, obviously!
As I shared in my last post about my recent stash additions, I have a 9 month sewing plan to keep me going on historical sewing through May of 2013. Now that it is November it’s really a 7 month plan, but regardless, in my head I keep calling it the 9 month plan. Here it is, with my progress noted on it:
By December 2012:
1823 hand sewn corded and bodiced petticoat (95% done)
1823 ball gown with hand sewn appliqués (40% done)
1823 walking dress (50% done)
1823 bonnet to match walking dress
1823 muff (50% done)
1810s or 20s chemisette (patterned)
By January 2013:
1780s petticoat with ruffle
1780s jacket
18th century basic pockets
18th century yellow shoes
By February 2013:
1812 evening dress (75% done)
By March 2013:
1860 ball gown
By April 2013:
1812 underdress for existing 1812 gown (75% done)
1812 bonnet to match underdress
1812 reticule
1814 pelisse (cut out)
1814 turban/hat to match pelisse (cut out)
1815-1818 day dress
1815-1818 bonnet
By May 2013:
1920s beaded evening dress
Other projects that will probably also get started but don’t have a deadline:
18th century hand quilted petticoat
18th century cloak
a new ballroom competition dress (started)
As I go along, I’ll start posting more specific information about the projects. Right now I’m really focusing on my 1823 projects, so I can get ready for events in December. (December is surprisingly close! Eep!) The 1823 things are going to be super pretty and exciting, and posts about them are going to come soon!
I really should post about my 9 Month Sewing Plan before posting about the additions I might have added to it (cough, cough). But oh well… These fabrics are exciting so I don’t want to wait!
The first fabric stash addition is 2 yards of Waverly Mineral Felicite. I was interested in the Curtain- Along created by Jen of Festive Attyre, but I wasn’t inspired enough by the three Waverly curtain colors (Cream, Noir, and Crimson) to actually hop on the train (and I didn’t want to make something super similar to what other people are making). But then I started researching other color ways online and fell in love with the Mineral Felicite at onlinefabricstore.net. You can see my Pinterest board of various color ways here. The board also includes some other similar fabrics. I haven’t done all my research yet so I can only generally say that I’m planning to make a 1780s jacket out of this fabric. (And possibly something else, because 2 yards of this fabric is actually quite a lot!)
My next fabric stash addition has two parts. The first is plain weave creamy yellow silk that I bought a few months ago when buying the whole giant mound of fabric that is for my 9 Month Sewing Plan. I bought a few sections of it from the remnant table for just $6 a yard! I love prices like that! It had no definite plans, until… I was starting to near completion of my current hand sewing project and started thinking (which is almost always dangerous!) about what to hand sew next. I’ve been contemplating an 18th century quilted petticoat for about a year, but never had a real need and considered it to be overwhelming. But now the idea is sticking… and I’m planning to hand quilt a petticoat sometime in the foreseeable future! I mean, I hand piece and quilt queen size quilts, and if I can do that, I think I can tackle a petticoat. In fact, I think a queen size quilt is actually bigger… The second part of this, and the recent stash addition, is a plain weave cream colored wool to back the petticoat with (only $5 a yard!). You can see both of the fabrics in the top photo. To the right you can see the wool by itself. I’m excited… It’s going to be really amazing!
While looking at the wool wall for the petticoat backing I stumbled upon this wonderful wool plaid. There were only about 1 1/2 yards left on the bolt and it was $8 a yard, but I loved it and couldn’t let it go, even though I had no idea what I would do with it. It’s really lovely and thick, and a little fuzzy and soft, and not itchy. It’s hard to see in the picture, but it’s forest green, plum purple, dark tan, and light beige. The repeat is pretty big (I didn’t measure it, but I’d guess about 6″). After taking down this bolt, I stopped at the wool remnant table… where wool was only $3 a yard! Really nice wool! There were about ten 1-2 yard pieces of that slightly fuzzy beige wool in the picture… and I might have bought all of them! I have visions of using some of them, with the plaid, to make a bustle dress either from the 1870s or 1880s (with a train!!!). I’m still open to inspiration for this fabric, though, so who knows what else I will come up with? Does it strike you as anything in particular? I also have visions of maybe using the beige wool for an 18th century cloak, and a modern skirt, and probably other things… I have a lot of it. Whee!
I also found, at the wool remnant table, two similar but different dark blue wools. There were two pieces of each, all under 1 1/2 yards in length (and I did have to dig through a lot of blue wool, analyzing the selvedge edges of each to make sure I found matches, before I was successful). One of the two blues will be used to make a 1780s petticoat. The other… I don’t know. Maybe a cloak, instead of the beige wool? Blue cloaks were more common than brown in the 18th century, I believe. And I’m not sure that the beige is the right shade of brown, anyway. I have more research to do on that before I make a decision. One of the blues is more purple-y than that other (and I think I do like that one best!) but I’m not sure if it’s too purple-y for the 18th century. Although if they are not next to each other they just look navy and are almost impossible to tell apart, so I’m not sure it matters. On the left is another view of the same fabrics.
Well, as you can see, I was sort of struck by an 18th century inspiration… so most of these new additions relate to new 18th century projects. Yikes, I had better go sew, or my stack of to-be-used fabric might just envelop me!
For my birthday a month or so ago I treated myself to a fun little accessory shopping spree at American Duchess and purchased two pairs of the new-ish clocked silk stockings Lauren has added to her offerings. Fun!
They arrived while the weather was still warm… so they just sat around waiting for my attention. Finally, I spent some time with them, trying them on, etc. I’m super excited to wear them! I think the red will be really fun and silly and good for picture taking at holiday events, and the blue is nice and light and appropriate for all year round without being white. I have nothing against white stockings, but I like the idea of colored and clocked ones! The elastic around the tops of the stockings is pretty tight, so they might get worn turned down under my knee. The only other thing about them is that the foot (from heel to toe) was bigger than my foot. Not for long, though! Inspired by a post from Lauren about adjusting the stockings to fit your foot, I went at it with the sewing machine. First, I changed my needle to a ball point to help sew through the knit.
First attempt at the red pair. I made the mistake of cutting the toe off before trying to sew it. It was frustrating to sew, so I suggest you don’t try it that way. You can also see the second line of zig zag stitching because I went back to shape the toe to my foot (my toes are not squared off like the first line of stitching).First attempt next to the second attempt. The second one was so much easier, since I hadn’t cut the toe off yet!Here’s the blue pair. They went so much faster than the red pair! You can see that I wasn’t exact with the line I sewed. I figured that as long as the general shape is right it will be fine on my toes.The blue pair after cutting off the unnecessary toe length.Success! And I actually think it’s more comfortable to have the toe seam on the tips of your toes rather than the tops.
Product links in this post contain an affiliate code, which provides a small benefit to my shoe fund. This does not affect my impressions and reviews of this product.
I’ve been meaning to post about my new 1893 ball gown since Newport Vintage Dance Week back in August… Well, I’m slow about getting it done, but but this is going to be a post with mounds of great detail, so I think the wait was worth it!
This gown is constructed of bronze shot silk shantung with pale pink slightly slubby silk satin. It is flat lined throughout with ivory waxed cotton. It is stabilized with cotton canvas at the hem and in the waistband. The bodice is trimmed with ivory net and bits of metallic bronze/gold net that have sequin motifs on it (in fact, it’s the same metallic net as the top sleeve section of my 1912 burgundy silk evening gown, which I also wore at Newport). The sash is trimmed with the metallic bronze/gold net. The sleeves have layers of ivory tulle inside them to help maintain the full shape.
I wore this dress with a combination, a corset, a slight bum pad, two petticoats (one silk, one cotton), stockings, and shoes. Exterior accessories include cotton/poly elbow length white gloves (I have lovely leather ones that come up above the elbow, but they are getting soiled from being worn while dancing with men who are not wearing gloves (breech of decorum on their part!), so I chose not to wear those to this ball); my handy Battenburg lace fan; my faux pearl drop earrings; a long strand of faux pearls (originally bought to be worn with my 1928 green silk evening gown); a nice bling-y necklace borrowed from a friend for the evening; and my fabulous almost-Victorian tiara from eBay!
My tiara shares a general design with the Lover’s Knot Tiara, below. Both tiaras have round elements connected by jeweled arches above a second row of round elements, both rows of which are surmounted by tear shaped pearl elements which are set above a final row of further round shaped elements around the base. Additionally, in both tiaras there is a high point in the center which then diminishes toward each side. Obviously, the two are not exactly the same, but I think they’re similar. Of course, wearing mine for an 1893 look is slightly earlier than the given date of the Lover’s Knot Tiara, which is c. 1913. But isn’t that excusable, when the tiara looked so wonderful with my dress and accessories? There’s a closeup of my tiara below so you can compare.
Lover’s Knot Tiara by Garrard c.1913.My eBay tiara.
It took a bit of work to come up with a hair style I liked that also worked with the tiara, I can tell you. I wanted to have a puff of hair not directly behind the tiara, but close enough that it would provide a dark background for the tiara to stand out from. Unfortunately, I don’t have any great pictures of my hair. Oh well! It also took A LOT of bobby pins to secure the tiara. I think I used about 20 for the tiara alone. I put one between each of the base pearls, then another to cross the first one. I also secured the ends of the tiara with extra pins. It was really stable and didn’t move at all during the entire night, so that part was successful!
Here’s a closeup of the jewelry.
In the picture above you can see the jewelry better. You can also see the one major flaw in this dress. The wide neckline wasn’t shaped quite right, so the sleeves started slipping off my shoulders, making the sleeves look slightly less impressive. This is one of those things that was perfectly fine in all my fittings. It’s during those pesky balls, when you move and sweat, that you really discover the flaws in your clothes! I’ll have to do something about that before I wear the dress again.
A full length view. This was the end of the night, and the end of the week, so that’s why I look tired.A full length back view. Again, you can see how the sleeves just didn’t want to stay on my shoulders.
Now on to the specifics of patterning. The bodice (and especially the sleeves) of this dress are from Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion 2, as is the skirt. The decorative sash and bodice trim were inspired by an image in Norah Waugh’s The Cut of Women’s Clothes. I looked at many images that had similar sashes with bows, so I’m sure I was influenced by those as well.
The next thing to discuss is the construction of the dress. It is in two pieces: a plain bronze silk skirt and a decorative bronze and pink silk bodice. The wonderful thing about this arrangement is that I can make other bodices to go with the skirt (I’ve got extra bronze and pink silk). For example, I plan to one day make a day bodice to go with the same skirt. Since the skirt takes the biggest bulk of fabric, this is an economical and practical plan in addition to adding to my wardrobe!
I’ve got some great closeup pictures of the bodice construction, but I didn’t take any close up pictures of the skirt, come to think of it. Honestly, though, it’s not as interesting. The skirt is gathered in back and set into a waistband which closes at the back with hooks. There is a placket opening that is hidden in the gathers. The entire skirt is flat lined with ivory cotton. In addition, the hem has a 12″ band of bias cut canvas tacked between the silk and cotton. The canvas helps the skirt form those wide folds at the hem as well as providing a certain weight and gravity to the lightweight silk. Finally, it also helps provide a clean sharp edge over which to turn the hem. For the hem, the bronze silk is folded to the inside over the canvas, turned again, and stitched to the cotton lining. The hem is about 1/4″.
The bodice, by itself. As you can see, the sash is a part of the bodice.Here is the net applique on the sash ends. The net is great because it doesn’t fray, so I simply had to cut out the motif I wanted and then stitch it around all the edges to the sash. The sash is a tube of bias finished at an angle on the ends with a slip stitch.A closup of the shoulder and top of the sleeve. You can see the ivory net trim around the neck of the bodice, which terminates in those cute bows on the shoulder. The bronze part of the sleeves are rectangles that are knife pleated radially at the shoulder, which you can see in this photo. And finally, you can see the gold net applique which is stitched over the ivory net around the neck opening.Then comes the question, where are the closures on this bodice? Well, the sash is stitched to the bodice from the right side front around the left side to center back. Then the bodice opens up center back.To keep the sash in place around the right side, there are three hooks that correspond to thread loops on the bodice. This keeps the sash in place. You can see the canvas backing of the sash in this picture.One of the thread loops on the bodice that holds the sash in place.The center back closure is hooks and thread loops. I like thread loops better than the metal eyes or loops because you can’t see them when the bodice is pulled tight, like you can with the metal. You can see that I added a placket that extends farther than the loops just in case something pops open.The inside of the bodice. I LOVE to make the insides of garments pretty, and I think this is one of my finest examples! Aside from the fact that it is modern materials, it looks just like an extant garment from the 19th century. The bodice is boned up center front, the front darts (which create a V-shape on either side of center front), the side seams, and each of the four side back seams. The neck and hem are finished off with self fabric bias with is then nicely whip stitched to the cotton flat lining. The armholes are bound with self bias. Then there is also a waistband, to help alleviate the tension on the center back closure. This waistband is cross stitched to each boning channel and closes with hooks and eyes.The right side of the bodice. You can see the bias bindings, the boning channels, cross stitched waistband, and hooks. Oh, and I just noticed that I also finished the exposed seam allowances by turning them back on themselves and whip stitching. (The seam allowances under the boning channels are trimmed and left raw.)Center front. The boning channels were whip stitched to the cotton lining along the sides. It was a bit of a logistal problem to determine how to nicely bind off the edges of the bodice with bias, since there is a sash part of the way around. You can see that there is a separate piece of bias covering the join between the sash and the bodice from the right side where the sash opens.The left side. On the waistband I did use the metal bars instead of thread loops, since I knew they wouldn’t be seen from the outside. You can also see how the sash was attached. It was flipped up and topstitched to the bodice (avoiding bones!), then flipped down to cover the raw edges and joined to the bottom of the bodice with bias.The interior of the pink under sleeve. The silk is gathered into a cotton lining. Of course, you can’t see up into the sleeve when there is an arm in it!
It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, to have such a beautifully finished bodice. And I felt like such a princess at the 1890s Soiree, to be wearing an all silk dress with silk petticoat and a fabulous tiara!
It was recently requested that I share more information about this dress, and maybe some extra pictures. This dress was lovingly placed in my closet upon my return from Newport, but as you’ll soon see, the silk charmeuse just LOVES to wrinkle! I didn’t steam the wrinkles out to take closer pictures, so you’ll have to bear with the wrinkly silk.
This dress may look complicated, but it’s actually just an L-shaped garment with neck and armholes.The bottom of the L-shape is stitched together on a diagonal to keep the drape-y bits from showing too much leg.Here are the drape-y bits hanging down, but folded open so you can see where the stitching stops. It’s about mid-thigh, but I didn’t have any problems with too much leg showing because it tends to hang closed all the way to the hem.All of the bottom hems and drape-y edges are narrow hemmed by machine, like this. The hem is about 1/4″This is a back view of the top of the dress. You can see that the front neck is a scoop and the back is a V-shape. The trim is from Heritage Trading on eBay. It’s is gold metallic threads/wires with sequins. Originally I had thought to trim the skirt as well, but decided against that because I didn’t want stitches to show on the inside when the skirt flipped around while dancing.A closeup of the neckline. I stitched hug snug around the neck and armholes then turned the hug snug and stitched again to enclose the raw edges of the silk. I then zig zag stitched the metallic trim on. It caused some puckering of the silk, but that’s not very noticeable when I have the dress on.Here it is!
The dress is a basic tunic with no waist, as you can see in one of the first pictures. I used my measurements to determine the basic shape, then held it up to myself (super scientific, I know) to determine arm and neck openings. I cut them, sewed the shoulder and side seams, then put the dress back on to make changes.
I didn’t want to put closures on the dress, but I did want those horizontal folds around the waist. Without a waist, the dress just droops and pulls on the side with the drape-y bits. So how did I fake a waist while still allowing easy access to the dress with no closures? Well, I took an elastic hair tie and scrunched the dress up while wearing it so that it sat the way I wanted! Then I pinned a (modern, ahem) sequined flower (left over from my beginning ballroom dancing days) to hide the scrunch. The sequins are bronze and gold, so while it didn’t match perfectly, I think it worked just fine.
It was a rather down-and-dirty sewing job. I wasn’t out to have the most beautiful interior of a dress (as I almost usually am). I was simply trying to get the dress done as quickly and easily as possible, so I could spend time making my other dresses really lovely, inside and out. As I have mentioned before, the 1920s aren’t super inspiring to me, so I didn’t have a whole lot invested in this dress, except that I wanted to look great at the Gatsby Ball at Newport with minimum effort. (My original thought was to hand bead a dress… but I didn’t have the time or interest for that, in the end.) However, I’ve got another 20s event coming up next year… and I plan to make a new 20s dress. And this time, it will be beaded. You’ll have to wait for a future post to hear about my plans for the new 20s dress!
I used to dream of going to a Halloween masquerade in an 1860s dress. I’ve never attended a real masquerade, but I do attend a fair number of events in 1860s dresses… so that goal is half completed! I don’t actually do Halloween things anymore. I don’t really like crowds and annoying people, so I tend to stay home in order to avoid those things (not that every person out on Halloween is annoying… but so many of them are, it’s just easier to stay home). Plus, I have that added bonus of wearing historic clothes and costume-y things year round, so I don’t feel like Halloween is my one-and-only-chance to wear something I wouldn’t normally wear. Anyway, for those of you dressed up or just plain getting dressed… or those of you staying home like me…
Making moose antlers is a favorite past time of mine when the camera comes out for silly pictures!
Happy Halloween!
PS. This is one my all time favorite pictures of me! I just think it is hilarious!!!
As an extra note, I’d like to extend my thanks to Caroline, of the blog Dressed In Time, for nominating me for the Versatile Blogger Award! When you are nominated for this award you are asked to share 7 things about yourself and also nominate 15 other blogs. You can read my responses here. Thanks again Caroline, for the nomination! I’m so pleased that you enjoy seeing my events!
This is another case of the delays… The Commonwealth Vintage Dancers performed at an event in June (cough, cough… I am so slow!) that was called something like A Picnic for Teddy, Mommy, and Me. It was at the Salem Athenaeum, a private library, and was targeted toward young girls, their mothers, and their teddy bears! Cute!
We performed in 1890s whites. I had been dragging my feet about constructing my own whites, so I took this opportunity to go for it.
Dancing “Teddy Bear’s Picnic.” It’s really a ridiculous dance, but it fit the theme of the event perfectly!It was super hot that day! Sitting, in the shade, was wonderful. As was my fan…CVD on the steps of the Athanaeum.After the event we walked across Salem to get some lunch. Of course, Salem often sees people dressed in odd clothes, so we didn’t surprise people, but they were curious about what event we were going to.
I’m not totally sold on the white skirt I made. It’s a gored skirt and it works fine, it’s just not super eye catching (aka, it’s great for performances, but won’t get worn for other things… maybe it will be a petticoat if needed?). Oh, and I also threw the hat together, thinking that the white and blue would be nautical and good for Newport. But then I totally re-trimmed the hat at Newport because it didn’t have quite enough oomph with the white and blue. But the blouse… I love the blouse! It’s super comfy and lightweight, it closes in front (yay!), is washable, and I like the fabric. Win!
It is based off of a fashion plate in one of my many books. I draped a basic blouse pattern and adapted the pattern as needed to add the gathers in the front and back. The exterior is mounted on a lining made from the basic blouse pattern so that they gathers will stay where they are supposed to be. It is constructed of cotton with swiss dots for the exterior and a lightweight woven stripe cotton for the base (which I bought for $1 a yard a while ago! Love that price!). It closes up the front with concealed hooks and thread bars. The sleeves are quite large gigot sleeves, but because they are not lined they sort of just droop. Here are some pictures! I think I got pretty close to that inspiration image, don’t you? I love the feeling of success that comes with really nailing the look in reproducing a garment! Don’t we all?
The inspiration image.Front of the blouse, on Squishy, the mannequin.Back of the blouse on Squishy.In the garden.
The Quintessential Clothes Pen 