Embroidery and jacket update

After two weeks of sewing I need to attach the sleeves, basque and cuffs. I have the day off tomorrow when I plan to sew that, apart from the cuffs which will have to wait. I have also done quite a lot of the embroidery- so much fun! I think I may be finished in two weeks after all.

Black 1740's jacket

After much debating with myself I decided to make the 1740's jacket that I mentioned here, in black wool. There is something neat about it that I like, though to be fair, I am going to a ghost themed 18th century party on November 15 were more somber dress is welcomed. So far it has been quick work, so I guess a setback is due soon. The stomacher is finished, the sleeves as well and I'm putting the last stitches in the lining of the bodice very soon. I need to finish the pieces for the basque (they are half done) and then attach them to the bodice as well as set the sleeves. After that it is just the cuffs left.  The jacket is in fairly lightweight wool twill which I inherited from my grandmother. The bodice will be lined in black linen, the basque, sleeves and cuffs in black silk taffeta, which are the same materials used in the lining of original jacket. The front of the bodice, the basque and the cuffs are also interlined with black wool felt. also something from my grandmother. Everything in this project comes from my stash, which is quite satisfying.

Everything cut out. Or so I thought, but of course the cuffs has to be cut out four times, not two. Duh!

I plan to wear it with my black taffeta petticoat, the same fabric I use for the lining. As it can be nice to have some colour I also plan to make an extra stomacher with some colourful embroidery. I have been lacking an embroidery project for some time and I think a stomacher will make for a nice manageable project. After some searching I fell in love with this stomacher from The Metropolian.

Stomacher, Metropolitan Museum

It is dated to the first quarter of the 18th century which will make it a little early, but I have decided to ignore that and imagine it has been inherited. I like the design and I like that it is mostly in chainstitch, which will make it a quite quick project. I haven't opted for copying the stomacher, obviously, but I tried to follow the design quite closely.

I have decided to use the same colours, there are 12 (at least) different shades in the original, but I will make it in wool yarn. If I can get into an embroidery-flow I hope to have finished the stomacher on November 29. We have decided to go to Finland for the Christmas ball at Suomenlinna this year as well. We had a great time last year, but being on an island was a bit chilly, so a wool jacket would be rather nice to wear. You can find information of the ball in English here.

I realise that I suddenly seem to be part of a trend- people are suddenly making 1740's jackets all over. All due to Outlander I am sure and I don't mind. I love the 1740's and wouldn't mind it it will get a bit more love, even if it might not be the most flattering period for my figure.

Close-up on the embroidery.

 

Other sewing news; I have finished a small cap with pleated lace to go with the jacket. I'm still struggling with J's banyan, but it is slowly progressing. I'm also redey to set the sleeves on the 1630's bodice.

The tale of the cursed banyan and other sewing projects

The pattern, a manteau-de-lit, bed-gown from garsault 1769.

Lack of posts about sewing doesn’t equal not sewing at all. I’m trying to finish J’s banyan that I cut out two years ago. When I pulled it out again I couldn’t remember if I had abandoned it because I didn’t have enough fabric or if it was for another reasons. As it turned out, I do have enough fabric, but as the lining has a more narrow width than the shell fabric, there is a lot of piercing going around. Very period, very boring. Actually, I rather feel that this project is cursed because despite being such a simple garment, nothing goes right with it. First I managed to put in the gussets on the shell fabric (lovely thunder blue taffeta) the wrong way. Then the piercing on the lining was a total hassle as it is lightweight silk satin and therefore slippery. When done, I realized that I had measured the piercing on the sleeves too short and needed to put in another piece. And managed to cut those without seam allowances. Sigh. Well, at least the shell fabric and the lining are now ready to be sewn together. I wonder what will go wrong next…

I had planned to make a 1940’s blouse in green silk noil to have with me for our trip on the Orient Express on October 13 (and I look forward to it very much, we are flying to Venice, which I haven’t visited before and take the train to Paris.) However, it turned out that it wasn’t enough fabric for the pattern I wanted and lost heart about the whole project.

I’m slowly working away on the 1630’s bodice. I will start to put in the sleeves now and then it is just the stomacher left. I am also sewing on the collar; it is my “pocket project”, which I usually have on my bag to stitch on when I’m stuck somewhere like a doctor’s office or on the train.

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Working on a toile for the 15^th century brassiere, I’m just about to tackle the cups.
On November 15 there will an 18^th century party that I can actually go to. Apart from out of doors summer events I haven’t had the chance for that since December last year when we went to Finland, (and we will go again this year, yay!). And suddenly I feel that I want to sew something 18^th century, more precisely a little jacket. It ought to be a fairly quick project as I have a good basic bodice pattern. I want to make this c. 1740 jacket from The Snowshill Wade Costume Collection, patterned by Janet Arnold in Patterns of Fashion 1.

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I have wanted to make it before and even went so far as to draft the basque and sleeves, and I feel confident enough to cut the toile from the lining, thus saving even more time. The only problem I have is to decide which fabric to use. I don’t want to buy fabric, but I have enough fabrics in my stash to make it difficult to choose. At first I thought of using a piece of silk brocade, but on inspection it looked much too modern. I plan to wear it with a black taffeta petticoat and I have enough fabric to make a matching jacket, which will give me a complete black ensemble. But then I thought that I don’t have anything really warm in my 18^th century wardrobe, so why not wool? Only, I have wool in black, white, dark green and red and I just can’t decide. I think all colour could go with a black petticoat. What do you think?

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I do wish, of course, that I could get my mitt on the brocade it was originally made of. So gorgeous!

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