Figured Silk Jacket

In my previous post, I talked a little about the inspirations that went in to the Figured Silk Jack and you’ve seen pictures of the thing here and there on me. But no construction photos. Here are some recently finished pics of the jacket with a few notes on it’s construction.

I draped my jacket on a form I padded out and added stays to. It’s much easier to do it that way, in my opinion, and you’ll have less fidgeting later. So I draped the entire bodice (out of the lining) on my stay’d form.

I love the lining! So happy!

After, I cut the pieces that were “exact” copies of silk and gave plenty extra for the “en fourreau” style back. Catherine at Koshka the Cat has a great tutorial on how to make a gown in this style. I did my folding/pleating on the separate pieces then sewed the center back seam using the crazy whipped-lining-stitch method, thus illustrated by Abby at Stay-ing Alive.

Evidence of the pleated “en fourreau” style back. The fabric is so luscious that everything just blends in.

Crazy whipped-lining-stitch-thing

The sleeves were set by my mother the 18th century way, I can’t remember who did the tutorial–probably over at Koshka— but it works out really nicely.

Front, garment alone

There aren’t really many things to mention, other than the fabric definitely had it’s own mind. It did not want to cooperate on anything but the grain. Despite, it turned out to be a beautiful jacket and in natural light it’s a beautiful bright blue. Check out the up-close pics, too!

Lovely shot of the fabric. Fabric purchased from Burnley and Trowbridge.

Inside! The stripes are fun

Look at the tiny topstitching

Front, unadorned

The back; Photo courtesy of Alicia at LBCC Historical

Figured Silk Jacket: Inspiration

Before setting off for Williamsburg, I had to have SOMETHING to wear. I was fortunate that my stays were completed, but I had little else. I whipped together a petticoat (it was finished by the day-of the workshop, by the way) and got to crackin’ on this jacket.

The outer fabric is made of a “figured” silk of deep blue with tiny green diamonds in it from Burnley and Trowbridge. It’s luscious. The lining is a green stripe linen I purchased from Walmart,of all places (do check their stock, they used to get “unidentified” fibers and a lot of them were actually really nice) that is intended to be used for a bustle gown in the future.

Figured Silk SUPER CLOSE UP

 

Green Stripey Linen

I had checked out a lot of jackets and I found a few I liked. I really like the 1780s over the 1770’s so I decided to go with a slightly later style, slightly shorter, getting closer to the “pierrot” style that was so popular mid1780s-1790s.

Here are the inspiration photos:

1780 Blue Silk Jacket- Kyoto Fashion Museum

May 1786, print, London, Lewis Walpole Library

1780s Jacket and Petticoat, Victoria and Albert Museum

 

Man and Lady 1789- Flickr

1787- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

A New Hat

The construction details are pretty simple. Straw Hat? Check. Silk Taffeta? Check. Silk Gauze (aka organza)? Check.

The Beginning of the hat.

Hat, 1st stage: THE CRINKLE

Pretty much, you cover the brim with a donut of fabric, then crinkle a large circle of taffeta in the middle on the crown, take some gauze and squish it there. Then cover the bottom (closest to the face) with your taffeta. Add ties. DONE.

I added a pleated ribbon of gauze to the crown of mine because there are a few pretty examples in some of my inspiration photos, and I wanted this hat to be slightly different than the one I made in Williamsburg.

For the pleated gauze ribbon, I had to make it myself, since they don’t sell gauze ribbon at 6 inches wide. Hems are hand-rolled and these ones worked like a dream. So little!

All in all, I love the hat and recently ordered an antique ostrich plume to set atop it for a little more extravagance. My only complaint is it’s very large and my hair be equally as large to accommodate it. I’ll write another post, later, on how to make short hair (like mine) 18th century-fabulous. But in the mean time: DAT HAT!

Lovely photo from Colonial Williamsburg taken Julie of The Fat Reenactress

unnatural lighting makes the color all weird.

The pretty giant bow. Eventually there will be a plume on the backside.

Another one from Julie’s vantage point.

A New Hat: Inspiration

Another project for Williamsburg was a hat. The sun can be brutal and with no sunglasses– which I’ve grown very accustomed to– and one has to do something about it.

Black bonnets were popular during this period and during my time as an intern, I learned that some hats were even lined in black to absorb the sun reflecting from the seashell roads/sidewalks ( Two Nerdy History Girls have a post about it, too). When looking for images of black headwear, sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s a bonnet vs a hat because both are so fluffy on the top. These are my inspiration pieces:

Print from Sep. 1782, British Museum I like the hat and apron on the right.

Parisian Print, 1780, pic found on the blog: A Most Bequiling Accomplishment This hat is delightfully large and fluffy. I love the silhouette of it.

Frances d’Arblay (Fanny Burney) by Edward Francisco Burney, 1784-1785, from the National Portrait Gallery This hat is BEAUTIFUL I just want it in black

Pearly Whites

Well, maybe not “pearly” but they’re definitely pretty.

I absolutely needed an matching Cap, Neckerchief, and sleeve ruffles (and desperately want a matching apron). I bought some stunning woven-checked cotton lawn/gauze stuff when I was in Williamsburg for my internship (Hello, 3 year old stash fabric) but it’s just so pretty, I couldn’t use it for anything except the 18th century and now I have a reason!

I decided that my ensemble would be mid 1780s. Why? -one must always have a reason- My reason is “Ohio founding”. Marietta, the oldest city/settlement in our territory, was founded in 1788. So if I have an occasion to be a pretty princess in Ohio, at least I’ll be….. plausible. So…. mid 1780s. Check. Now what style of cap?

From French fashionplate with lots of “bonnet” styles from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts

Bonnet a la pierrot! Bonnet of the sparrow, if you want to translate it out literally. I made a pierrot jacket, why not a cap, too!?

As always, it’s good to find at least 3 sources to make sure that you’re creating something that someone might have worn. When I first saw this cap I thought How ridiculous! I want straight up ruffles on my head then I forgot about it and continued on my researching way.

1780-1785 Painter Francis Alleyne

Ah! Isn’t it fabulous! And to go with my pierrot jacket, it only makes sense, right? From the three sources, I decided I’d make a Bonnet a la Pierrot from my lovely fabric from Burnley and Trowbridge (an excellent source for period accurate fabrics and supplies, bytheway) with only one ruffle/pleat in the front, more like the first fashion plate.

Here are the pieces to the cap before they’ve been put together. You’ll notice that I’ve rolled all the hems of the pieces so they are to be whipped together. This makes it more sheer and is normally done on gauze caps, to ensure it’s sheer-ity.

**Disclaimer** Cotton does not always roll very nicely. This one fought me if I weren’t in the non-stripey areas. A couple of times I lost my temper.

Then I pleated my brim-ruffle and my caul-ruffle then whipped it all together to it’s gauzy glory. I’m very excited to wear this frippery! It took me three days to make because of all the rolled hems. And VOILA!

Top view!

The neckerchief is super easy. Just a big triangle with rolled hems. Look at the pretty!

And then of course, sleeve ruffles! I didn’t put them together until the morning of our costumed day in CW, but I got them done. They’re super cute and easy to do.

Ahhhh the little details.

All together now!

Not the best picture of me ever (hello big nose!) but I’ve got all my pretty whites on!