I went down to
Williamsburg this weekend for yet another fabulous
Burnley and Trowbridge workshop. For this workshop, we were constructing backs made out of four pattern pieces, and then fronts that were either sectioned or had drawstrings (like the late 18
th century chemise dresses).
Here, I'm at work draping the back of my fitting partner's gown.
These were the pattern pieces that when my partner draped the gown for me. A 'quartered back' or four pieces make up the back of the dress. This back style was the basic difference between the Robe
Anglaise and the draping back of the Robe
Francaise.
Here's a photo of me once we finished draping the front of the dress.
Finally it was time for
pinning and fittings.
Many of the dress pieces are simple pinned together at this point, but the back has been completely assembled and finished. This is what the back of the gown will look like (I'll cut a rectangle of fabric...probably 108 inches long, and pleat it until it fits into the dress. The skirt sews right onto the finished bodice).
Here's what the front looks like. The stripes are supposed to do that - I didn't mess up when I cut them. You can see the line where they have been pieced together. I'm doing to cover that line with some trim to dress it up a bit. This is what I walked away from the weekend with - I have more sewing to do to finish up assembling the bodice, and the it's up to me to figure out the skirt and petticoat. I'm pretty confident I can do it.
The owner of the Silly Sisters was at the workshop, and brought a period gown from her own collection for us to look at. The stitches were amazing, and it was interesting to see how the seamstress worked with what she had, piecing where she needed to.
Here is a close up of the trim. As usual, I love the pinked edges. How pretty! Amazing that it has survived for over 300 years.
There is talk of
beginning 1812 workshops so that we'll all be ready for the 200
th anniversary of the war of 1812. In honor of this, we got to see a replica of early 19
th century stays. Given how much trouble I had making mine, I might take this course if they decide to offer it.
There was lots and lots of inspiring costumes on display this weekend. I love this cap made out of silk gauze (what we could call organza today).
The color and detailing on this jacket and petticoat combination are simply gorgeous!
I especially liked the back - it's a pet-en-
l'air with a hood. I had never seen that combination before.
Here is a quarter back
round gown, worn by one of the ladies that works in the Milliner's shop in
Williamsburg. I love the little detailing at the bottom of the dress and the sash.
This gown has the
drawstring front that was one of the options in this course. The gown is based off of a portrait that we were shown during the workshop - it's a dead ringer for the original, right down to the purple hem.
This is
Janea Whitacre, Mistress and Mantua-Maker of Colonial Williamsburg, the teacher for this workshop. She's wearing a beautiful zone gown with a raspberry colored petticoat.
I love how the stripes on the
indian print cotton worked out in the back. The bunching that you see is because she is wearing the back bustled up. In the 18
th century, this was called a gown "En Polonaise."
Sarah, the apprentice at the Milliner's shop, is wearing a chemise gown with a drawstring front. I LOVE the sash she is wearing. Her hair is styled in the fashionable '
hedgehog' style of the later 18
th century.
On Sunday, Dave went
to the museum in
Williamsburg (somehow neither of us had ever made it there). He wound up on a once a week special tour of the historical fashion display and was very thoughtful and took pictures for me. Pictured above is an amazing stomacher - all the trim and detailing is just amazing.
These are silk quilted petticoats (they would have been worn on the outside of the garment as a skirt...this was not an undergarment).
The green skirt under the red is quilted, but that is lost in the photo. However, I thought that the red gown was pretty.
Here is a quilted petticoat that is meant to be worn as an
under petticoat (undergarment). The stays are a late 18
th century style (one of the girls in my sewing group made this pair of stays in her own size). They give a bit more of a curve to the front of the body, instead of the ridged straight front that earlier corsets provided.
This is an example of the ridged, full boned pair of stays that would mold your body into a triangle torso, and the front is ridged and flat. The keen observer will note that these are the exact pair of stays my blue 18
th century stays were patterned from. I actually have the pattern pieces that would create this corset in the size shown here. Pretty neat, huh?
I hand-bound the edges of the stays with a very soft goat leather. The wooden bones don't poke through the leather. Any future corsets that I make with wood will have leather binding! 
The inside of the stays are lined in a checked linen. Apparently plaid and stripes were the most commonly found linings in 18th century stays.
I picked up this handy little tool at the Williamsburg stays' workshop. It's a bodkin, and is used to help lace up your stays. Sure is a lot easier than using shoe lace plastic tips (and more period correct)
So here I am modeling the corset. Caly wanted to be in the picture too. You would not generally wear a petticoat underneath the corset like I am doing, but my shift is very sheer so it's for modesty's sake.
Here's the side shot. I have the perfect mid 18th century flat front. Without the flat front, you can't properly fit the 18th century gown which requires a rigid foundation.
Whoa...cleavage shot. What I'm really trying to show here is the nice triangular shape that my torso has taken by wearing the stays. Again, this is part of the 18th century aesthetic. 
Here you can see how the corset is laced up. Rather than using a modern lacing technique (where it looks like you're tying a shoe), this corset is spiral laced. The eyelets are off center, and the corset is laced from the bottom up. This pushes everything up as you lace the corset, which is the desired effect for the 18th century. I never realized how lacing can be so important to giving the corset the right shape: this same corset looks different if I start lacing from the top and doesn't look correct. Victorian corsets are laced and tied in the middle, so that the waist is nipped in.
On an unrelated note...I've been finding old childhood photos, and I found this picture (I'm on the far left, my sister is the next one over). In one of those "as-luck-would-have-it" moments, my sister and I got to be walk-on girls for the Opera Eugene Onegin. I was nine years old. The Opera was in Europe, and this was long enough ago that the visiting opera troupe was known as the Opera of Leningrad. Wow was their costume room fun!!
I loved having the little curls at the side of my head, and I thought my dress was so lady-like (my sister was very unhappy when they put her in a shorter gown and bloomers because if her age, but she was as cute as a button!). As we were leaving every night, the performers would come out in their enormous white ball gowns that seemed to stand out a mile, with lots of tulle and satin (if you've ever seen the movie version with Liv Tyler, this is toward the end where Onegin sees Tatiana at a ball and finds out she's married). I think these photos mark the beginning of my fascination with historical costumes.
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