Come to Stockholm for a whole weekend of lectures of period sewing

April 4-6 there will be a whole weekend devoted to period sewing, hair and makeup in Stockholm. You will have to understand Swedish to appreciate it, though. The focus will be on the Viking age and the 18^th century. I don’t know why one has opted to choose two periods so far apart, but I think it could give some fun perspective if you are mainly into one of them.

 

There will be visits to museums, Historiska for talk about Viking clothes and Nordiska for the 18^th century. At the visit to Nordiska, extant garments will be shown and allowed to take pattern from. How neat is that? There will also be lectures on styling wigs, embroidery, and makeup. I’m going to hold the lecture on 18^th century beauty and cosmetics. There will be sewing courses for 18^th century men’s and women’s clothes and a few other things. There will also be a small party in costume on Friday.

Linen stays, c. 1780

When binding them I did wonder why I thought it was a good idea to make man, narrow tabs...

I made these stays for The Historical Sew Fortnightly 2014, challenge #4, Underneath it All. It is also a project to cross off my UFO list, I cut these out in September 2012, but didn't start with the rest until January this year.

I'm not altogether pleased with them. It's years since I tried making stays that are just back-laces, so I had to make a new pattern. As I have a large bust, a narrow back and an extremely narrow rib-cage, stays patterns are a bit hard to make. And though I made this pattern even more narrow in the back and wider on the top front, you can see that it needs more room there, while still being laced shut in the back. I blame the linen for that, though, and also for the straps being too long- I had shortened those, because linen do stretch a lot. I thought I had accounted for that, but evidently not enough. I also feel that the front bottom looks a bit clumsy. I should have divided the front and made it with 9 pattern pieces instead of 7 and re-shaped the front to a more elegant point.

But the linen canvas and the plastic whalebone provides good enough support and I think they are rather pretty. I was inspired by these stays:

For the broader strip of leather under the arm, Stays 1780-89.

For the horizontal mock-lacing in the front, stays 1780-95.

The Challenge: #4, Underneath it All
Fabric: Brown linen for the top layer and linen canvas for the bottom layer.
Pattern: Self drafted, but heavily influenced by stays in Jill Salen's Corsets.
Year: C. 1780
Notions: Yellow buttonhole thread for the boning channels and lacing holes, plastic whalebone, chamois leather for the binding and some yellow ribbons for the lacing.
How historically accurate is it? Well the pattern is quite correct and the linen and chamois leather. However, the boning channel are made by machine as my hands can't handle sewing them. The binding are made by hand, though.
Hours to complete: No idea.
First worn: For these photos.
Total cost: Don't know. The linen canvas, the chamois leather and the plastic whalebones were from my stash and I have forgotten how much the brown linen cost.

Writing and sewing

It has been quiet here, but the rest of my life has been pretty active. Some time ago I was asked by Talia of The Gibson Girl's Guide to Glamor if I wanted to write an article about stage makeup in the 17th and 18th century for a website she runs about Commedia dell'Arte. Which I, of course, wanted and you can now read the article here.

I have also been sewing a great deal and have recently finished a fake fur coat and a tartan beret, but I haven't managed to take any pics of it yet. I'm currently working on three projects, all of them in rather tedious states right now. I'm hemming the purple 17th century bodice, making boning channels in the lining of the bodice for the white national gown and covering the seams of a pair of brown linen stays with strips of chamois leather.

 

I started these last Autumn, so when they are done I can cross off yet another project of my UFO list. They are made of brown linen with yellow boning channels and I will edge it with chamois leather as well.

The Historical Sew Fortnightly 2014

I jump on the bandwagon and will try Dreamstress The Historical Sew Fortnightly 2014 again. I loved the idea last year, but I found that my focus on finishing my old UFO's didn't mesh well with the challenges. I simply didn't want to add new projects if not completely necessary. I also found the cut off date of 1938 restricting as a lot of my sewing is for the 40's wardrobe buidling project. This year, however, my UFO's are drastically less and the cut off date has been moved to 1945, which really opnes up the challnges for my. As there will be two every month I don't think I will fulfill all, but I will try to do as many as possible.

The challenges so far:

#1: Make Do & Mend – due Wed 15 Jan. Let’s start of the year with a clean slate, and with a bit of a tidy up. Use this challenge as an opportunity to get your historical wardrobe in order by fixing any little bits that have worn out and gone wrong. Alternatively, you could focus on the historical precedent of making-do by re-making something into a historical garments, whether it be a bodice from a worn-out skirt, a chemise from old sheets, a bosom-friend from an old cardigan, or a new historical hat from an old modern one etc. Finally, you could just those people who had to make-do by making something for a historical character who would have scrimped and saved and re-made and mended until the fabric entirely fell apart.

I will skip this one because I honestly don't know what to do. I have nothing in need of mending and nothing to re-do of something old.

#2: Innovation - due Sat 1 Feb. To celebrate the way inventions, introductions and discoveries have impacted fashion, make an item that reflects the newest innovations in your era. Be sure to share the research you did on your innovation, as well as your finished item.

Another one I will skip, becasue I have no idea what to do. I have a rather long list of projects that I want to do, but none that I think will fit in and I don't want to make something up just because.

#3: Pink - due Sat 15 Feb. Make something pink!

I will make an early 40's pink tartan beret.

#4: Under it All – due Sat 1 March. Make the foundations of your outfit: the things that go under it to provide the right shape and support, and to protect your fancy outer garments from sweat and grime

A pair of brown back-laced stays that I cut out Autumn 2012. Something from my UFO pile, in other words.

#5: Bodice - Make a bodice – a garment that covers the upper body. You can either abide by the strictest historical sense (see the blog post for history of bodice terminology) or can explore the idea of bodices in a more general sense.

Easy. There is a bodice in the Swedish national court gown I have planned for this year, so this fit in perfectly.

#6: Fairytale – due Tue 1 April: imagine your favourite fairytale set in a specific timeperiod, and make a historical garment inspired by the fairytale.

I'm not sure of this. I could do a blue early 40's gown and be a semi-modern Blue Fairy. Or do the white petticoat to go with the bodice or, perhaps, finish the purple 1640's gown. And I do need a new shift and a nice shift could probably work in a number of fairy tales.

#7: Tops & Toes – due Tue 15 April. Create an accessory that goes on your head, or on your feet.

Another easy one, I already have a pale tan hat planned to go wiith a likewise planned spring coat.

Pre-orders for 18th Century Hair & Wig Styling are on

You can now pre-order 18th Century Hair & Wig Styling through Indiegogo. The pre-order price is lower than it will be if you buy it after the book has been published and you also get a chance to sponsor a unique book. You can read why at Kendra's blog here. And go and read more at Indiegogo.

 

European women's fashion, 1650-1700, an overview

The last half of the 17th century. This is an overview to cover popular styles, not a complete record of every particular fashion. For those who has missed the gentlemen, their turn will come.

In the late 1640's this style became popular and kept it popularity for several decades. It had a boned bodice, omitting the need for separate stays, a neckline that showed the shoulders and large puffed sleeves that could en under the elbow or be quite short. The bodice could be plain or heavily decorated. Most seem to have been laced in the back and worn with a matching petticoat, although some Dutch painting depict bodices and petticoats of different colours. The petticoat could also be split in front.

Eleonora Katarina of Pzalz-Zweibrücken, Princess of Sweden, unknown artist, 1640's, Skokloster castle

Woman washing her hands by Noortman Maastricht, 1957

In the 1650's the low-cut neckline could be hidden underneath a collar that covered collarbones, shoulders and the upper sleeve.

Jeanne Parmentier by Bartholomeus van der Helst, 1656

Riding habits were cut to mimic men's fashion in the coat, but worn with petticoats.

Kristina, Queen of Sweden by Sébastien Bourdon, 1653

 

Marie-Anne Mancin, Madame La Duchesse De Bouillon by Joseph Parrocel, 1670's

In the 16th century ladies opted to be painted in their most fashionable clothes, in the early 17th century it became fashionable to wear more relaxed clothing and the natural progression was, perhaps,  to be portrayed into fantasy clothing. That was what became popular anyway and Sir Peter Levy really cemented that trend in the 1660's with painting women wearing artistically draped fabrics, probably all along aiming to frustrate costume nerds in the future, and this remained popular for the rest of the 17th century.


Diane Kirke, Countess of Oxford by Sir Peter Lely, 1665

It was also fashionable to be painted in a night gown, a gown meant for leisure at home. It was usually cut along the same lines of the current fashion, but was more unstructured and worn without stays. It was usually fastened at the front by spaced buttons or clasps.

Kristina Drysenia by Martin Hannibal or daniel strahl, 1690

Dutch paintings from the mid-17th century often depicts women wearing a loose fur-lined jacket, but this seem to have been a fashion for the region. Numerous paintings by several different artists makes it an icongraphic garment nevertheless.

The Letter by Gerard ter Borch, 1655

Though rarely seen on portraits, the mantua came into fashion in the 1670's. It originated from a T-shaped garment meant for leisure, but though it was pleated in folds around the body, it was soon worn with stays, making it an altogether more structured garment than a night gown and soon worn for occasions that didn't call for the rigid bodice of a grand habit. The mantua was rarely painted, but can be found on numerous fashions plates. By the end of the 17th century it had stepped up and could be worn both for everyday activities as well as balls.

Late 17th century mantua for court

In Spain the farthingale grew larger and larger, biding it's time until the 18th century when it would, once again, take the rest of Europe by storm as the panier.

Doña Francisca de Velasco, Marquesa de Santa Cruz by Juan Carreño de Miranda, 1665-1670

18th century Christmas ball in Finland

Sanns, J and I.

Last weekend we visited Finland to attend to an 18^th century Christmas ball at Sveaborg, or Suomenlinna, a sea fortress just outside Helsinki. It was my first visit to Finland apart from Åland and my sole excuse is that I hate boat rides. I was pleasantly surprised in having a good time on the boat or way out, but going back I got sea-sick and I still get dizzy spells when the whole world heave around me. I had such a good time though, that I think I will brave the Nordic sea again. I forgot my camera, but Sanna of Rococo Atelier kindly allowed me to use some of her pics. It was a real treat to meet her again and I think you will agree that looked stunning in her new white gown! I also got to meet Merja of Before the Automobile, which was a real treat, though unfortunately she wasn’t feeling well and had to leave early. She was equally stunning in white as well and you can see her pictures here. There were a lot of very pretty and well-dressed people at the party!

Source

Myself I opted for a simpler garb, simply because I finished this gown in August and still hasn’t had an opportunity to wear it. I used the same pattern as I did for the yellow and the white gown and the material I striped linen. I hadn’t planned to make yet another 1780’s gown so similar to these, but when I found this painting and right after found such lovely striped linen, I just couldn’t resist. I usually combine machine sewing with hand sewing, but as an experiment I made this gown completely by hand and I wanted to see how ling it would take me. I can now say that a simple gown with no decorations takes me 51 hours to make. I only worked on it on odd times here and there and very often while I was watching the telly, so I am fairly certain that it would have been a faster project, time-wise, if I had just worked on the gown and not multi-tasked. I think it turned out very pretty, but it also gave me a complete surprise. As I have used the pattern several times it really, really fits me, so I blissfully worked away feeling secure that it would fit. Well, this linen stretched… So it turned out way too large! The back fits too loosely and the shoulder straps are much too long. I need to cut them shorter and re-fit the sleeves and also make the back smaller. Very annoying and I have only myself to blame.

Having cut my hair suddenly makes hairstyling a challenge. I really need to update my wigs now, but for the ball I opted for a turban with a few curls peeking out. I think it looked fine, but the turban kept trying to escape. Next time I will put in a few stitches to keep it together and a comb to make it stay put! I also realized that I have developed a go-to makeup when it comes to the 18^th century. I really like my Nun’s cream with real pearl powder. It is only slightly whitening- I can only see that effect when I’m a bit tanned, but the light reflecting particles in the pearl powder reflects the light and makes my skin look very even and nice. Rouge with Carmine suits my colouring quite well too.

But back to the party. It was held in what used to be, if I understood it correctly, the mill, but it was very atmospheric and spacey. There were plenty of good food and some vigorous dancing followed by some equally vigorous games. I had only met Sanna before, but we were about 10 guests from Sweden that I also knew. It would not have mattered if I hadn’t known anyone, though, because everyone was really nice and welcoming and I had a lot of fun. I was a little taken aback that everyone seemed to know who I was- I felt quite famous and J is still teasing me about it.

Sveaborg started to be built in 1748 as a protection of the Russians. At the time Finland belonged to Sweden and the man responsible for the project was Augustin Ehrensvärd, a Swedish military and architect. He was an interesting person who were also interested in art, botany and psychology and perhaps it was he latter interest that made him take the rather unusual decision to make sure the people who worked on the fortress had better food than builders usually got and also health care. It was a good decision because there were less accidents and deaths during the construction. It is really a very beautiful and interesting place and I hope we get to explore it better the next time we visit.

Construction of the Sveaborg fortress