Emily Hudson - Costume Construction

Unit Evaluation

2011-05-17T23:04:00.000+01:00

This project has required a lot of dedication and has been very stressful but ultimately rewarding. At reaching its end I feel it was definitely the best unit choice for me and I have developed my abilities further than I thought would be possible. I think I have achieved my goals which I set in my learning agreement, at the beginning of the project, and feel much more prepared for level 6. I am a lot more confident about my skills in pattern drafting and cutting on the stand and feel more able to problem solve and make my own decisions about the direction of my work. I have also developed my knowledge of women's clothing in the 19th century a huge amount, creating a file of my research, as well as my advancing my construction ability, due to the high standard of finishing on the National Theatre piece.

I have improved my planning,and found it interesting, and challenging, to construct my own time management frame, not having constant guidance as to what stage I should be at with my work. I think I may have possibly taken on almost too much work, as I have been non stop everyday throughout the project and felt much more pressure than on previous units. However this has also pushed me to work faster and prioritise. Looking back on what I have achieved in the time frame, I think I have picked up speed in the way that I work, without loosing any quality. Having said this I have only kept one of my deadlines throughout the project, and this was because I took the mannequin home over Easter. This has made me consider where I might have gone wrong, and was possibly because I was a bit ambitious with joining the two separate projects, the national piece being the major set back which delayed my last toile. At the time I found it quite stressful however now I am pleased to have done it as it is a nice piece for my portfolio and will look good on my CV.

Despite writing in my brief that only one toile was to be fully finished, I completed all three toiles to a neat standard to make them more presentable and clean looking for photographs. Although this altered my ability to keep to my time frames I am pleased I chose to do this, as I now have three completed pieces rather than just one, and it generally only set me behind by one day. Each toile was a challenge in its own way and I think I made the right choice in the patterns that I picked with Dexter, as each has developed my learning further, through varying techniques and problem solving. I have a much greater understanding of patterns and the way information can be interpreted from them, and have learnt to use them as a guide only, due to the changing shape and sizes, the design being much more important overall.

I think at the beginning I got behind partly because lack of confidence in my decisions and work, without a tutor to guide me when I was stuck, but later on I developed much more confidence in my own ability. With the reduced amount of tutor support, I really had to problem solve and come to my own conclusions. Finding that my choices worked was assurance that my ability to do the project was there and has given me more determination to try and work things out for myself.

I also feel I have developed my understanding of the appropriate fabrics to use for cutting on the stand and different weights of calico and how they relate to different fabrics, the more expensive pre-shrunk and washed calico being a step above normal calico for draping. As I am hoping to produce more period pieces next year I am pleased I to have more knowledge of what is available from the costume store and the way different items can be used to create the right silhouette, but may not necessarily be historically correct.

I did not find the project too pressured until the last week when I was really pushed for time, and generally it has been a lesson in perseverance and patience. Learning that mistakes happen or that a guess was not quite right, was one of the main things I had to deal with, not being under tutor supervision, and dealing with that frustration of doing things over and over until they worked. I feel this has developed my ability to work with stress and being able to carry on under pressure to get the job done. Overall I think this project had made me more competent as a maker and my experiences, developed skills and confidence will transfer positively into my work in my final year on costume.

Bibliography

2011-05-17T23:03:00.000+01:00

Arnold. J. (1972) Patterns of Fashion - Englishwomen's dresses and their construction 1 - 1660-1860. London : Macmillian

Arnold. J (1972) Patterns of Fashion - Englishwomen's dresses and their construction 2 - 1860 - 1940. London : Macmillian

Bradfield. N. 1981. Costume In Detail, Women's Dress 1730 - 1930. 2nd Edition. London : Harrap

Cumming.V and Ribeiro. A. (1989) The Visual History of Costume. London : B.T Batsford Ltd.

Ewing.E (1981) Dress and undress - A History of Women's Underwear. London : Bibliophile

Gernsheim. H. (1951) Masterpieces of Victorian Photography. U.S : Phaidon

Moynahan. B (1999) The British Century - a photographic history of the last hundred years. London : Seven Dials.

Willett Cunningon. C. 1990. English Women's Clothing in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Dover Publications Inc

V&A (1984) Four Hundred Years of Fashion. London : V&A publications.

V&A. (1981) Old and Modern Masters of Photography. London : HMSO

Waugh. N (1968) The Cut of Women's Clothes 1600- 1930. New York : Routledge.

Willett Cunningon. C. 1990. English Women's Clothing in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Dover Publications Inc.

Lomax. J, Ormond. R, Singer Sargent. J (1979) John Singer Sargent - and the Edwardian age - an exhibition organised jointly by the Leeds Art Galleries, the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. UK : Leeds Art Gallery.

1973 Toile Final Evaluation

2011-05-17T20:39:00.001+01:00

I was disappointed I didn't get to finish all of the buttons as I think this would have really completed the overall finish of the piece.

I was very happy with the quite neat silhouette of the toile and the subtle contrasts between fitting and volume which the calico shows nicely.

I think the pleats of the skirt look neat and follow on well from the line of the box pleats above. Despite taking me a very long time to get right I was pleased with the underskirt in the end.

This toile has been the most stressful of the four total pieces I have created for this unit. This was mainly down to the limited time in which I had to complete it, which in the end turned out to be only a week and a half, and also to it being the most decoratively complicated and only full toile. I have worked really hard to complete the toile to a neatly finished standard, with all the different design elements included, in the short period before hand-in and feel quite proud that I managed to achieve it.

I have had to use all my developed skills from the last few pieces to create this toile, including draping technique (from the previous two toiles), working under pressure (trying to keep to the set deadlines) and finishing to a high standard (National Theatre blouse). I think my development shows through in this piece and although I have tried to work to the best of my ability with each part of the unit I think this toile has shown and proved to myself what I can do under pressure and working with a tight time frame.

I think the overall silhouette is quite a good representation of the design, although on reflection I wish I had had more time to spend on getting the overhangs of the rouching, on the underskirt, more loose looking, as it was on the design. I think it has the right feel but in comparison does not match as well as the rest of the dress to the design. One of the key principles I have learnt from this piece is to give myself enough fabric to work with. I found my eagerness to form a shape lead me to cut off too much fabric, resulting in having to attach some when I want to change a shape dramatically. I think the decorative elements of this last toile really complete it and make it something I would be happy to present. I was particularly pleased with my decision to represent the mauve edging shown on the design with two lines of stitching. This wasn't a very time consuming process but is quite effective in representing its decorative attribute by exaggerating the changing hem line.

Originally my intention was to attach fastenings to the toile to hold it shut, rather than pinning it. I inserted placket to one side, and then was going to have poppers to close it, however ran out of time. This is not how I would have finished the toile as a costume piece, I would have used eyelets and lacing as suggested by the pattern. However for the ease of presenting the piece and displaying it on the mannequin I was going to use poppers as they are quick to fasten. I had also brought and covered enough buttons to complete the decoration of the toile although I felt attaching all of these would not have been a good use if time in the end, and although it would have completed the look more fully, it was not necessary as they would not have demonstrated any developed skill. It is frustrating that I did not get to complete these last elements but as a whole I was happy with the piece

Overall I was happy with this toile for the time frame in which I had, however I do feel that if I had more time to complete it I definitely could have improved it by taking more time on the hand stitching of the front panel and getting the drape of the underskirt right by changing the pattern and experimenting with different ways of getting the right drape using the tape. One of the defining elements of this last piece I have noticed is that I have developed much more ability to cope with stress, especially in the last few days.

1973 Toile Development Evaluation

2011-05-17T19:18:00.000+01:00

The darts of the front of the bodice were my first challenge to make aesthetically pleasing. This was because of the different shape of the mannequin to that of the original garment, the underwear, although I attempted to replicate the shape as accurately as possible, would have been different and generally the sizing and body shape would have not been the same. This resulted in me having to extend the length of the darts much further down the front of the bodice than that of the design and pattern. I tried my best to keep the as short as possible but to achieve the right fit they had to be made longer. I was not happy about this at first but as the toile developed this feature was not really noticeable.

The length of the dart here can be seen to be much longer than that of the pattern, in particular the dart nearest the centre front. This was necessary to make the piece fit and did not end up being noticeable as the longer dart was covered by the front decorative panel.

This was my initial attempt at the shape of the hem, later on it can be seen to drop quite a bit to match the length of the underskirt which shallows out the curve. It is almost a shame as I quite liked the curve created here, however the designs hem line is somewhere between the two, which proportionally to the length of the underskirt in the pattern does not work.

I found with the first part of the construction of the bodice I was not giving myself enough fabric to work with. I discovered, with this later style of princess line dress, the change in shape from the top half to the lower half is more than it looks and the volume of fabric needed is much more.The box pleats at the back of the bodice were another example of this. I had followed the pattern in its sizing for the pleats but when constructed on the mannequin there was not nearly enough depth in the pleats for them to sit right. I have learnt steadily through out the project that the pattern is only a guide and that I should allow my self big allowances of fabric when drafting on the stand.

The pleats initially looked a little flat and were creating knife pleats rather than box pleats as specified by the design because there was not enough fabric. The pattern of the design has the seam, of the back and side pieces, sitting in the fold of the pleat rather than the pieces being evenly spaced so it was a bit of a challenge to space them evenly but I achieved it in the end.

I was pleased with the result although on reflection I think I could have made the depth of the pleats even larger. I was particularly pleased with the decorative stitching that I added to represent the edging and I think it works well with all the different levels of hem.

I found the hardest part of this toile was the rouching of the fabric with the tape pieces. It was very time consuming trying to get the opposite sides semetrical especially with the pleats that had to form again from underneath. I re-worked this section of the dress at least four times until I could get it to work. The pleats I did even more than this as I found once swing catched they could sometimes move exposing the stitching so I had to start again. The placing of the tape was not as straight forward as I had thought as I added it after sewing the skirt together, this was possibly a fatal flaw and resulted in the challenging factor of getting the underskirt even. The pleats also contributed to this, as the tape was not wide enough to cover the length of some of the pleat one side would drop ruining the whole shape of the rouching and the pleat. I solved this by adding an extra length of tape that hung off the main tape to hold the other side of the wide box pleats.

This was one of the earliest attempts to create the rouching effect with the skirt. I was not happy with the way the fabric was falling and went on to change it numerous times after right up until the end.

The levels of the under-skirt look right from the side in proportion to the rest of the dress here , and these didn't really change, it was just the sit of the pleats underneath that was the main problem.

The general construction of the under-skirt I found quite interesting. The pattern did not explain how the large amount of fabric fitted into the small space at the back so I had to look at the design for a solution. Eventually our assisting tutor Dexter and I worked out that the skirt was pleated at the top. This pleating followed through to the pleating lower down, being interrupted by the tapes in the middle. This was really hard to make work and took a long time with many attempts to get the pleats straight and looking nice. As I've said this was partly due to the tape but also because of the seams in the underskirt which made the pleats twist. I think this element of the piece would have worked better if the underskirt had been constructed from two opposite panels. If I was going to produce the piece in top fabric I would have tried this method to see if it worked. I think the reason for the three panels of each side of the underskirt may have been due to the limited widths of fabric in the 19th century meaning they would not have been able to create such a large piece.

I think the finishing inside of my underskirt does not match the standard of the rest of the toile and I am slightly disappointed with this. I did not have enough time to complete it to a high standard and just had to focus on getting the pieces to look right from the outside. I was also slightly dismayed that I didnt have enough time to attach all the buttons I had covered, as this was quite a design feature of the piece. However other things had priority and I think I managed to complete everything necessary.

To compensate for not managing to complete all the buttons I had to draw on in pencil the remaining buttons. This was not the effect I wanted but had to be done to save time. I may sew on the rest of the buttons after hand in to complete the piece.

I was most pleased with the result of my piping of the cuffs and decorative panel. These were elements to the design that I had some apprehension about undertaking as I knew they would be time consuming. But as I had stated in my brief that this final toile was to be a presentable costume piece, I felt it would look much more aesthetically pleasing if the decorative parts were fully complete. This put a lot of extra stress on myself up to the deadline, leaving me a day to finish my blog however I was glad I completed it as it really makes the piece.

1973 Toile Planning and Evaluation

2011-05-11T22:51:00.035+01:00

Proposed Time Plan 09. 05 - 18.05
The hand in time for this final week of the project has been extended by the course from Monday morning to Wednesday afternoon. This gives me extra time to complete the unit and my final toile so I feel hopeful that I will be able to complete the piece to a finishing standard I am happy with.

Monday

Draft basic shape of toile, front, side and back panels

Tuesday

Refine toile shape
Add collar shape and front panel shape
Start drafting underskirt panels cut in calico
Experiment with pleating skirt at waistband
experiment with creating volume with tape

Wednesday

Draft sleeve
Draft underskirt in pre-shrunk washed calico to see drape in softer fabric
Mark up calico toile on stand and remove
Start putting pattern pieces on paper

Thursday

Complete putting pattern pieces on paper
Cut pattern from pre-shrunk washed calico
Put decorative marking on pattern pieces, stitched in coloured thread?
start sewing pieces together
Over-lock edges
Start hemming edges

Friday

Complete hemming edges
Start decorative elements

belt with bow piping

Piping around edge of front panel

Piping on sleeve

piping on collar

Saturday

Blog

Sunday

Blog

Monday

Complete decorative aspects
Take photos of final piece

Tuesday

Complete blog

Wednesday

Hand-In 15.00-15.30

Record of weeks time frame

Monday

Constructed front

darts

hem line

collar and decorative panel shape

back and side with box pleats

Tuesday

back underskirt drafted and draped

experimented with tape on underskirt to create volume

Wednesday

drafted underskirt in pre-shrunk and washed calico

re drafted shape of underskirt

redrafted shape of box pleats on jacket

draped front panel

Started to put pattern pieces onto paper

Drafted sleeve

Swing-catched pleats and further experimentation with tape

Thursday

marked up calico pieces to create pattern
took first toile of mannequin
marked out all pattern pieces onto paper and made some adjustments and neatened some lines
transferred into paper pattern pieces and cut from pre-shrunk, washed calico

Friday (Not allowed into studio until 13.30)

Hemmed all pieces of bodice and skirt
Stitched decorative lines on to represent edging
Completed box pleats at back of bodice and stitched into place
Sewed skirt pieces together, pleated and attached to waistband
stitched underskirt into jacket
stitched front and back pieces of bodice together

Saturday

piped collar, cuffs, front decorative panels and bagged out

Sunday

covered buttons
put sleeves in
inserted front placket to dress
pinned in place the front panel and cuffs

Monday

slip stitched, swing catched and buttons cuff to sleeve
slip stitched front panel
created and piped belt and bow, and centre front strip decoration (slip stitched on)
attached tapes and re-arranged pleats and swing catched in place
sew buttons onto front

Tuesday

Blog

Wednesday

Hand-In 15.00-15.30

Time Frame Evaluation

I was very grateful for the extended date of our hand-in as I was very much needing the time. The National Theatre blouse had set me back in my weekly planning quite a bit and I was seriously debating whether I would be able to complete this last toile to the standard I had set myself in the brief. The piece was still a big challenge to complete in the time frame that I had but I managed to get it done with some courage and perseverance!

When I began the cutting it was helpful that I had already sourced the undergarments from the costume store, as this allowed me to go straight into the drafting and gave me at least an extra mornings cutting time. Although I indecision on the shape of the darts possibly cost me longer.

The main time consuming factor was all the decorative features at the end, once the main construction had been done, as lots of hand sewing was involved as well as the piping. As I had specified that my last toile was to be fully complete and neatly finished I could not cut corners and had to make it as presentable as I could despite the limited time.

There were a lot more elements to finishing this garment than I had previously considered, and only discovered them when I came to the next step in my making. All the details of the design meant I had to take the mannequin home and spent some very long weekend completing all the elements of the toile until it was at a standard I was happy to hand in. I do not think I would have been able to complete the toile if I had not taken the work home. This has lead me to consider my overall time keeping. If the factors of the extended deadline and ability to take the mannequin had not been there I am not sure whether I would have completed this last toile in the 2 and a half days at uni that we had in the last week before hand-in. I think this was because I fell behind earlier in the project, with everything taking me longer than I anticipated, and this has had a snowball effect to the end of the project. However all things considered I think I have done well to complete this last toile fully having been under a lot of pressure.

1873 Toile The Beginning

2011-05-11T21:04:00.081+01:00

This is the third and final toile that I shall create for this project. I shall be drawing on all the techniques and skills I have previously learnt to help me complete this toile in the short time that I have. Due to this short amount of time I shall only be creating the bodice section of this design as I do not feel I would learn any more from drafting the skirt as well and this would make finishing for the deadline impossible. This toile is to be a fully constructed piece with neatly finished edges as to be a presentable piece demonstrating my draping in a more finished form.

The pattern for this toile is from Norah Waugh's The Cut of Women's Clothes. The shape is an interesting mix between the princess line and a polonaise and should be a challenge for draping. I shall start by drafting the pattern pieces in calico on the stand and then transfer them to a paper pattern. From this I shall use to construct the full toile from pre-shrunk, washed calico which is a much softer fabric and will drape and show my pattern cutting nicely.

This crinoline I had spotted in our initial research into the costume store and knew I would probably use it for a later toile. It has the right flatness at the front with the sloping back that had potential to be padded out. It had a small amount of volume and length two factors which I thought would suit the design.

This was the next stage of building up the silhouette on the mannequin. I found this great flounced petticoat and then lifted the back even more by placing a bum roll underneath the second layer of flounces. This really created the volume needed for the back of the bodice and skirt.

The final stage was to add the last thin petticoat to help smooth out the layers of the petticoat underneath. I also added some flounces to represent those on the underskirt which I would not be creating. This gave me a sense of proportion and height to make it easier to work from the design. Overall I was pleased with the silhouette I created with the undergarments and felt I had used the costume store to its capacity to create my required shape with various undergarments. I was also quite grateful to having made it ready to start before I began on the last toile week as this saved me a lot of time.

National Theatre Blouse Final Evaluation

2011-05-08T20:06:00.004+01:00

Final garment complete. I could find a large enough mannequin to fit the blouse properly so it looks a little large and baggy here.

I was very pleases with the profile of the blouse, the sleeve shape is elegant with its small amount of gathering.

Again due to the small mannequin the shirt can not be seen to fit in as nice a manner as I would like to present but I took photos anyway to demonstrate its general shape.

The production of the blouse for the National Theatre hire department turned out to be more of a challenge than I had anticipated. I had to work out in what order the construction process would be in, with some referral help from our guiding technician. I found the process interesting as I was having to add more finishing details to the garment than there were on the prototype. This took more time to complete than would have done if I were to copy the blouse stitch for stitch.

It was interesting to work under the 'workroom' environment, being given a prototype and pattern and also working with supervisors. I enjoyed the experience and found it useful, although it was a little stressful. My main drive for doing a piece for the National Theatre Project was to gain this taster experience but to also have the prestige of creating a piece for the National Theatre hire department on my CV.

It is one of the first times I have used someone else's pattern to create a garment and I am not sure I found the process enjoyable. As I was using thicker and more rigid fabric for my blouse than that of the prototype, and the pattern for the knife pleats for the cuff and collar was too short, so the piece of fabric I had cut for them was too small. However I only discovered this as I was pleating it and then had to spend time correcting this and extending the length of the fabric so I had enough pleats to fit all the way round these areas. This set me back a lot of time and was one of the main reasons I was so behind on my time schedule.

The nature of my fabric made the pleats very hard to press into shape of their own so I had to tack them individually into place, the whole length of the pleat, to make sure they remained neat and fresh for when they were inserted into the blouse. This process I was happy to do to achieve the right finish however it was again a time factor that I had not planned for and so set me back again.

Due to being so behind on my schedule I am under alot of pressure to complete the last part of my project which is my full toile, I had hoped to have at least a week and a half however this has been reduced to only a week. I shall do my best to complete it in the time frame although I am nervous it may not be finished to a standard I am happy with

The lace provided by our supervisors was slightly thinner than that of the middle piece for the blouse so I had to extend the pattern by 4mm each side where the front joins the side panel. This allowed me to keep the same shape on the front where the extra fabric would have been too noticeable being at the centre front. I think this was an elegant solution as it is not noticeable at all and did not have a knock-on effect to any other part of the blouse

I felt I have developed my finishing skills on this section of the project, having to pay close attention to my stitching working, on the decoration with just top fabric. Also working with a white garment I learnt a lot about keeping it clean, and pristine looking, for the hand in, constantly washing my hands and keeping it on the hanger in a cover bag when it was not being worked on. This technique of hanging my fabric pieces, rather than folding them, was invaluable in keeping the item looking fresh and new rather than over-handled. As a whole I found creating the blouse quite stressful, due to the nature of the project and having to do processes numerous times to achieve the perfect result, when being confined to a short time frame. However I am pleased with my finished garment and am happy for it to be presented to the theatre. Despite it setting me back quite badly on my time frame, the result I achieved was worth it and the blouse I feel will be a good asset to my portfolio.

Here is the garment with its sister blouse on the project, created by my good friend Emily Manning. I created a size 14 while hers was a 12.

National Theatre Blouse Development Evaluation

2011-05-08T20:05:00.004+01:00

Initially I was looking forward to producing the National Theatre piece as it was a chance to get a taste of working in a workroom environment and to use the process of recreating a prototype. I did not find the process too challenging as a whole, but found some of the elements of its creation more frustrating than anything. The fabric I was given to produce the blouse from was thicker than the prototype and as a result my blouse looked and was more stiff than the original.

The pin tucks was the first stage I wanted to complete, being the most time consuming area of the blouse and the front panels being the central structure. I spent a day in the studio carefully marking and sewing these. I used a domestic machine as it was a delicate process and I wanted to feel like I had full control at a slow speed. The result I was very pleased with, knowing the straightness of the pin tucks was very important to the overall finish of the blouse.

My next stage was to sew on the cotton braiding across the pin tucks and down the centre front to join the two front panels together. The braiding, which was also used to decorate the collar and cuffs, proved to be a little awkward to machine stitch. Due to its flexible nature I had to be very careful when stitching and it edges still did not remain as straight as I would have liked. This was because the weave of the braid was quite loose and had a natural uneven edge. I attached it as straight as I could, to not contrast with the rigid lines of the pin tucks and I think I it still looks quite presentable.

The knife pleats of the blouse turned out to be one of the most time consuming processes in the whole making of the garment. In the first instance my fabric, a heavy, rigid, almost corded, cotton was much thicker than that of the prototype and so would not hold the shape of the pleats when pressed. To keep a crisp finish to them that would last throughout the making process of the garment I decided to tack each pleat individually. I tacked the length of the pleat to keep them straight for pressing and also inserting into the seams. The pattern for the pleats I only discovered was too sort when I had the pins in place ready to tack. I solved this by joining an extra length of fabric onto the end of each and hiding the seam in a pleat. I had to do this rather than cutting new strips as I had only scraps of fabric left. I was pleased with the result and I ensured that the seam could not been seen on the topside of the cuff. I think the thickness of the fabric was a contributing factor to the pleats not fitting, however the pattern was also too small.

In this image the pleats can bee seen to be at least two inches short of the cuff length.

Here are the pleats inserted into the collar. I left the tacking in until I completed the garment to keep a neat finish.

We were also required, under guidance of our technician, to improve the finishing standards from the prototype. This included finishing the button stand so no raw edges were visible, and double turning the hem. One of the major changes made was to the collar, cuff and cuff placket. In the original these were top stitched to finish. On my piece I machine sewed the front seam and slip stitched the back. This left a much neater finish with no visible stitching, and made the garment look cleaner in its finish. Looking at the blouse closely I noticed that the knife pleats of the cuffs were travelling in the same direction, I decided it would look more aesthetically pleasing if the cuffs were opposite in the pleats as they are in all other features and so applied this to my blouse.

I had trouble with getting a neat overlocker finish on some of the seams because the overlockers in the studio were not stitching correctly. This has resulted in some of the overlocking on my seams being a little baggy and although I am very unhappy with it the problem with the machines has not been fixed, and I had to get the blouse finished to start the next part of my project. This is the only element I am unhappy with on the blouse and am very proud of my work on this piece.

National Theatre Blouse Planning and Evaluation

2011-04-23T12:14:00.107+01:00

Proposed Time Plan (25.04 - 04.05)

I have given myself a week and a half to produce the blouse for the National Theatre due to their being two three bank holidays during this time frame, not allowing me to be in the studio. I am hoping this will be enough time as it is quite a complex piece however the pattern is given to us already drafted.

Monday (Bank Holiday)

Planning for week
POP Essay

Tuesday

Cutting out pattern from top fabric and marking necessary lines
Start pin tucks on blouse

Wednesday

Finish pin tucks of front of blouse
Sew on braid onto front across and down middle
Button Stand on Back

Thursday

Start cuffs and collar, pleats, sew on braiding, sew together and turn through
Sew together front and side piece with braid in the seam.

Friday (Bank Holiday)

Blog

Saturday

Essay

Sunday

Essay

Monday(Bank Holiday)

Blog

Tuesday

Create placket in sleeve
Gather cuffs and shoulder
Sew Front and backs together
Start sewing in cuffs and collar

Wednesday

Finish cuffs and collar
Hem bottom of blouse
Mark and sew button holes and buttons

Actual Time Record of Progress (25.04 – 08.05)

Monday (Bank Holiday)

Planning for week
POP Essay

Tuesday

Cutting out pattern from top fabric and marking necessary lines

Wednesday

Pin tucks on blouse

Thursday

Started Cuffs, sewing on braid
Pleating fabric for cuffs and collar, had to tack in place and produce extra pleats.

Friday

Tacking Pleats

Saturday

Blog
Essay

Sunday

Tacking pleats
Essay

Monday (Bank Holiday)

Essay

Tuesday

Sewed cuffs together, bagging out to finish
Sewed braiding across pintucks

Wednesday

Middle braid of front
Completed cuffs
Tacked lace at side of front
Decided on undergarments for next toile

Thursday

Completed Collar
Button stand
Sewn together front and side and back
Gathering stitches in sleeve
Placket in Sleeve

Friday

Over locked seams
Attached cuffs and collar to blouse, machined and the slip stitched
Pinned Hem
Tacked undergarments to corset on mannequin for next toile

Saturday

Tacked button holes and machined
Sewn on Buttons
Sewn hem
Machine in sleeves

Sunday

Blog

Time Frame Evaluation

My time planning these past two weeks was unfortunately hindered by so many days away from the studio in a short amount of time, as well as not anticipating the amount of time the decorative elements of the blouse would take. Having this limited time in the studio and our guiding technician away ill for a few days seriously impacted my time keeping.
I spent extra time cutting out and marking the fabric at the beginning, as I wanted it to be as accurate as possible to help achieve the best finish I could. The pin-tucks were another very time consuming process that I felt I should not rush, as the lines had to be straight and precise as well as each pin-tuck being produced separately. I was very pleased with the end result although each set me back a full day to complete.
The pleats for the collar and cuffs were one of the most time consuming processes as, instead of just steaming the folds into place, I had to tack the length of each one individually to maintain a crisp look, due to the nature of the fabric I was given. This paired with the pattern piece for the pleats being too small put me behind on schedule by at least two days.
I found with this garment each process took longer than I had planned for, with the need of it to be as accurate as possible and to the best of my ability. Obviously being the first time I have created this garment, and without instructions, I had to spend time considering my process and changing my plans, working out what would be the best way to put the pieces together, during my process of construction.
I feel I could have possibly stuck to a full weeks making time, in the studio, for the blouse if I were to produce it again, however this time round I feel I had too many opposing factors to have been able to keep to the time frame. I have worked almost solidly on this blouse when I could from the day I started, so I do not feel I could have shortened my working time on it with out changing some of the contributing factors, like the fabric and pattern.

1852-6 Toile Final Evaluation

2011-04-10T17:38:00.003+01:00

I was very pleased with the silhouette and half wished I had the time to create it as a full toile.

I am glad I chose to make the sleeve out of muslin in the end as I think light cotton would have looked too strong against the rest of the muslin. I think the bell sleeve compliments the wideness of the skirt well and helps to balance it.

Initially I was worried about the muslin flounces lining up but in the end they looked good and straight.

The production of this toile I found enjoyable but still challenging. Working with muslin was a new process for me as it is a delicate fabric which is something I have not worked with on a large scale before. I learnt a lot about its qualities of manipulation and its difficulties, in terms of fraying and loose weave. I had troubles with hemming/finishing, the toile being finished to a relatively neat standard but not completed as it would for a final piece, as the muslin moved and stretched a lot under the sewing machine. I over came thing by being careful and taking my time when sewing, pinning and holding the fabric in place with extra care.

The end shape of the toile I was quite pleased with and think it is a good representation of the design given with the pattern. As the fabric was of a light nature I spent extra time creating the right undergarment shape, and although this set me back more time than I had planned I think it benefited then end result. Creating the lining of the bodice I found easier this week, as I am now getting a feel for creating the right shapes as defined by the pattern and keeping the fabric smooth, and it did not take me too long to complete. The skirt however was more challenging, purely because of its sheer length and the amount of fabric required for creating the cartridge pleats the whole way round.

Due to the few set backs I had in the week with this toile, mainly the finishing off of the previous toile from the week before, I had a bit of a struggle with keeping up to date on my proposed time frame. This was much aided by taking the mannequin home with me enabling me to finish over Easter and have a fresh start for the summer term. I also strove to get as much work done as possible in the studio and I feel my late nights there paid off. As I was struggling with time I decided to leave out the few small decoration elements of the piping around the neckline, armhole and waist, which I was disappointed with but could not fit it purely for a presentation factor.

If I had a chance to produce the piece again I would have liked to spend more time on being more accurate with the flounces on the skirt. I had trouble with the bottom length and it ended up being slightly uneven on its attaching seam. I was not happy with this but due to the time frame had to leave it. If I had more time I would have produced a new layer for the flounce, as I think the strip I was using had become slightly stretched so was not even. Overall I was very pleased with this toile, I feel I've learnt a lot about working with an alternative weight of fabric and also my capability of picking up my speed when in a working environment.

1852 – 56 Toile Development Evaluation

2011-04-10T15:49:00.003+01:00

The process of production of this toile got off to an easier start than I had anticipated, the bodice lining I found quite easy to produce as I had already developed my skills on the first toile. I marked the neckline and muslin stitching lines in black tape so they could be seen through the top layer of muslin. The muslin was quite a challenging fabric to work with because of its loose weave and tendency to fray, move and slip a lot. I overcame this by taking my time when sewing but with the small time frame in which to produce my toile it was not as neat as I would have liked.

The cartridge pleats were a technique I had not tried before but was pleased with the end result. I put time into getting them spaced evenly and thought a lot about the process and the amount of fabric required before starting and this ended in only having to do one draft of the skirt which I was pleased with. The flounces however I had misjudged, making the muslin the same length as the skirt. This mistake meant I couldn't gather the fabric so I had to create another length of each to gather onto the cord which was a costly mistake and took extra time to complete. The technique of gathering the flounce on the cord was specified by the pattern so I stuck to this and it worked well over the very long length of fabric and normal gathering may not have, it also didn't have the added risk of the thread snapping which was useful. My only concern was the volume of the flounce, at first I though it may not have been enough, although once complete I think the skirt is quite an accurate representation of the design, the overall volume of the fabric creating quite a stunning effect. The flounces of the skirt have a very small overlap of each other, this is because I kept to the historical pattern, which probably had this small overlap to save on fabric. If I was making the piece for theatre I would have made this overlap much larger to allow for movement in the costume and to make sure the supporting calico was not seen.

This is my first cartridge pleating sample. I produced this with 1.5cm gaps between stitches and without wading. I realised the length of the stitch did not really effect the size of the gather but made the pleat deeper in width. The sample was made just with washed calico to see how the pleats would form.I found the pleats on this sample a bit too thin compared to that of the design so decided to try backing the stitching with wadding.

This is my cartridge pleat sample backed on wadding. I reduced the depth of the pleat to 1cm between stitches to reduce the bulk that would be created where the skirt is button hole stitched onto the bodice. On my skirt I applied a layer of muslin over the top, incorporating it into the stitching. I was pleased with this sample and used this process to create the cartridge pleats on my skirt.

The front of the bodice was another challenging area. The pleats from the shoulder took along time to get looking right as they were unevenly paced on the pattern and with the gathering at the bottom of the bodice the line of the pleats was quite important. The nature of muslin is quite unforgiving so I had to work carefully and managed to achieve the right shape. This was aided by the interesting sewing lines that connected the muslin to the calico lining underneath. Although it was a slight challenge to make sure it was hidden the seam did more than I thought it would in aiding the shape of the pleats to stay in place. A useful technique that I may use again in future pleating of delicate fabric.

The sleeves I found to be the most challenging part of this toile. This was mainly due to getting the different layers to work together and working out how to adapt the pattern to fit my specifications. Scaling up the pagoda sleeve was a bit of a mathematical nightmare but I overcame it with patience and perseverance! Getting this to sit well with the engagante sleeve underneath, which I had to find a pattern for, involved lengthening and reshaping the under sleeve, and then getting them all to work as one piece. This technical element I found stressful at the time but once complete I realised how much it had progressed my thinking and confidence in my problem solving.

This is the engagante sleeve and under sleeve. I had to extend the length of the under sleeve to ft my purpose and also extended the length and width of engagante from the pattern to introduce more volume to try and match that of the design.

I had also experimented with creating the over-sleeve in a light cotton, (unfortunately no photos) as the muslin I could not get to work initially, it was looking too messy and uncontrolled.. I found this looked too heavy and strong against the rest of the dress which will all be muslin. This made me try the muslin again and I managed to get it looking good with some tweaking so I was very pleased with that as it kept the piece looking delicate.

1852-6 Toile Planning and Evaluation

2011-04-10T14:30:00.016+01:00

Proposed weekly plan (04.04 – 10.04)

Monday

Finishing first toile as set behind from previous week -

Tacking over sleeve
wadding sample
apply decorative strip down front
mark hem with wadding lines
mark hem lines
tack belt, over sleeve and collar
make pattern from back of skirt
final photos

Tuesday

morning – obtain correct underwear from costume store, sew onto mannequin
POP and blog tutorials
complete bodice lining
cartridge pleat sample and start skirt
start drafting sleeves

Wednesday

finish drafting sleeves and cut from top fabric
make up sleeves
complete top layer of bodice in muslin

Thursday

put bodice pieces onto paper for pattern
complete flounces on skirt
sew skirt to bodice

Friday

Evaluation and photographs

Actual Time Record of Progress (04.04 – 10.04)

Monday

Finishing First Toile -

Tacking over sleeve
wadding sample
apply decorative strip down front
mark hem with wadding lines
mark hem lines
tack belt, over sleeve and collar
make pattern from back of skirt
final photos

Tuesday

Underwear –

creating extra frills for skirt, adding padding to skirt to get right shape

Tacking skirt and crinoline to corset to hold in place
POP and blog tutorials
Researched engagante sleeve
started lining of bodice

Cartridge pleat sample

Wednesday

Finished lining of bodice
Haberdashery for muslin and washed calico
Drafted under sleeve then adapted to make thinner and slant more to be more fitting
Drafted Pagoda sleeve
Drafted Engagante Sleeve
marked cartridge pleats on the top of the skirt, muslin on top and wadding
cut sleeves from top fabric, finished including hems

Thursday

put sleeves together
Started back and side of muslin top layer of bodice
sewn through cartridge pleats to gather
started to measure out and make frills for skirt
hemmed calico under layer of skirt
hired out mannequin to take home to continue work

Friday (no studio)

realised had made mistake with frills, so had to repeat creating them to double length
sewed on frills to skirt
Completed front top layer of muslin on bodice

Saturday

Copied bodice pieces onto paper
Sewed sleeve into bodice
Pulled in cartridge pleats of skirt and attached to bodice with button hole stitch

Sunday

Evaluation and photographs

Time Frame Evaluation

Sourcing correct underwear for the shape of the skirt was not as straight forward as I had anticipated, the design with the pattern stated that the undergarments were made of lots of layered and starched petticoats. As the costume store is limited I had to substitute the multiple layers of petticoats for a large round crinoline, with a layered flounced petticoat on top, to soften its edges. This worked well but did not quite have the shape that I wanted so I had to spend time creating and adding extra calico flounces to the petticoat, as well as padding out some areas with wadding, to achieve the more rounded shape I wanted. Doing this extra work to the underwear I hadn't anticipated as I had previously seen what I wanted from the costume store and thought it would be suitable so did not factor in time to alter it.

Skirt took longer as I hadn't anticipated including the muslin in the first layer of cartridge pleats to create the first flounce. I didn't loose too much time on this as it took a long time to mark the spacing for the stitches so I just marked the calico then left it to one side until I had the muslin the next day. Another element of the skirt that put me behind on time was creating the flounces, I had made a mistake with the measurement so when I gathered them along the cord they only had enough length for half the skirt. As I basically had to re-do the flounces again, adding the extra length this cost me double the time.

Simple things like hemming the muslin on the flounces and the sleeves also took much longer than I thought, as it is quite a difficult fabric to work with.

I was pleased with my time management of drafting the sleeves and bodice layers, I feel I worked efficiently in these areas and although the mathematical element, of scaling up the sleeves and altering some of the shapes, was challenging I stuck to it and managed to get it finished relatively quickly for the task.

One of the most time consuming areas was the skirt, mainly because of the mistake I made, but generally working with that amount of fabric is quite challenging and takes a long time to complete something, like the hemming of the different flounce layers, for the whole length.

As I was able to rent the mannequin from the studio I feel I managed to get the piece completed without too much stress. Having the extra weekend and bank holiday made a big difference and allowed me to complete the toile to a standard I was happy with.

I feel I have learnt quite a lot of technical skills on this toile production and feel my time management and focus on working is getting better. On the next part after Easter I feel I may need to try to stick more rigidly to my time plan if possible, however as we only have three days of the week in the studio due to bank holidays this might be an impossible task. I will have to consider changing my time frame for the remaining three weeks, to get a reasonable time frame to work to.

1852-6 Toile The Beginning

2011-04-10T13:00:00.069+01:00

This is my second exploration into cutting of the stand. I am interested to see whether the skills I have learnt in producing my first toile will be transferable to this one, being of a different silhouette and using different construction methods.

This pattern for a muslin dress I have take from Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 1. It represents quite an iconic shape of the 19th century for me and I am excited to start making it. I am going to start by draping the lining of the bodice and flat drafting the skirt and under-sleeve. On top of these I shall add the muslin layers in which the decorative elements of pleating comes in to almost every area of the dress.

I was pleased with finding this crinoline and feel it is a very appropriate shape for the period. It sits quite low at the back but this can be improved on with the adding of extra undergarments. As a basic under structure I think it is a good width and has the appropriate sort of volume I wanted for this toile.

The second stage of constructing the correct silhouette for my toile was adding the flounced petticoat and then adding extra calico flounces and padding underneath the existing ones to make it perfect. The images here are after I completed my alterations to the shape, I concentrated on rounding off the hips more to help the cartridge pleats of the skirt stick out. The extra flounces were for volume but also to create a more even shape down the shirt and to soften the bottom of the crinoline that was showing beneath the petticoat.

I was very happy with the resulting work of padding out the undergarments, especially as it took roughly a whole day in the studio to complete. It was quite a labouring process but the final result and the shape it will create for my draping was worth it.

1820 Toile Final Evaluation

2011-04-05T00:53:00.002+01:00

This 1820's toile came to be more challenging than I had originally thought. The basic construction of the bodice and skirt was quite simple and just needed a little common sense and relating back to the cutting on the stand classes at the beginning of the year. It was however the decorative elements that took a lot of time. I had not anticipated how demanding they would be and although I produced the patterns quite quickly the construction and experimenting to get the right form was quite time consuming.

I found the week of construction of the toile very stressful, this was mainly down to not anticipating the time that I would have to spend on other activities and classes, like our Candide performance and POP lectures. I feel I have done well to produce what I have in the time and am pleased with what I have produced, although I am disappointed to have finished a day later than my original time frame as this will have a knock-on effect into my next week and new toile.

I have learnt a lot about time management and being flexible, and am striving to use my time in the studio as best as I can with not being able to take the toile off the stand. I have learnt that I need to be better prepared in terms pre-buying the fabric I am going to need, and not waiting until the day, as this held me up on one occasion, although I managed to fill the time, it was not the most efficient or logical was of working as I had planned.

In terms of skills I have learnt more about relating a pattern to cutting on the stand and using the grain lines and proportions as well as the reference image to work out the size of each piece. I really enjoy the process of building it up and being governed by the fabric, finding an exciting way to work. I have also found that going away and coming back with fresh look really benefits my ability to see the design lines more clearly and judge if something is out of place.

Overall I have enjoyed the experience of my first toile on the project and have learnt a lot about improving the way I work as well as drafting skills. The main points I shall try and improve on in the next week of drafting shall be to record my changes as I do them, in written and photographic form so I can see how it was before and after. Planning ahead is also very key and trying to keep to the working frame I have created as much as possible.

1820 Toile Development Evaluation

2011-04-05T00:11:00.005+01:00

The creation of the 1820s toile was challenging but all problems that were presented I managed to overcome. Initially it started well and i found the front and back of the bodice reasonably easy to form as it was a simple shape and related almost directly to the cutting on the stand classes that were taught at the beginning of the year. It was decided in my tutorial that the main inspiration for the cutting comes from the draw images themselves using the accompanying pattern as a guide and not as a strict rule as to how the pattern should be shaped.

The front panel of the skirt threw up a small issue when i realised the pattern piece presented with the drawing of the dress had a curve in the waist line towards the back but a straight hem. I tried to achieve this with the skirt and managed it although my pattern piece has a slightly more sloping hem due to the more modern proportions of the mannequin.

The black tape the can be seen on the bodice was my placing guide for the lattice decoration. It was effective to get a clear design line and was useful when cutting the decoration on the stand as it could clearly be seen through the calico. I created the lattice decoration on the bodice first by draping it and then developing it with flat drafting. This was very effective as I achieved the basic line and lay of the fabric and then refined the complicated shape flat and put it back to the stand to shape it. I was pleased with how intricate the decoration looked and it became more delicate than I had expected as it was drawn in the reference image.

The next challenge came with the back of the skirt. As the design does not have any description more than its colour, I had to look at the fashion of the time and see how the fabric may be brought together at the back, whether it be pleating, gathering or cartridge pleats. In the Cut of Women's Clothes 1600 - 1930 book it states, 'Until the late 1840s the bodices and skirts were usually attached to each other by gauging. Gauging is the method used when a large amount of fullness has to be drawn to s small space...a series of running stitches are made...The threads are then drawn to the requisite size.' Waugh. N. (1968) pg. 149. This I related to the gathering technique.

Originally I used standard medium weight calico as I had for the rest of the toile. I followed the pattern quite closely to try and achieve the same sense of fullness as in the design. The toile stated that 11 inches of fabric had to be gathered into 2 inches at the centre back. I found this did not work with the fabric i had chosen. The draping of the back of the skirt was also effected and the skirt didn't sit in the folds as it draped as I wanted it to. It was suggested in my tutorial that I may want to use pre-shrunk and washed calico, as this has a much lighter and malleable drape. I was also shown another method of gathering that is much flatter and gives a neater finish that normal gathering. It involves zig-zag stitching over a length of strong thread, securing one end and then pulling the thread to gather the fabric.With this fabric and new technique I was able to add and extra 15cm of fabric at the centre back onto my pattern which created a better drape and more volume.

First attempt with medium weight calico.

Developed piece with pre-shrunk and washed calico and 15cm extra with the new technique of gathering.

After I had drafted the sleeve I realised, looking at the width of it in comparison to the pattern reference, that it was quite wide. This made me re-evaluate the size of my arm hole which I had drawn in without any real though to measurement, going on the reference image rather than my taken measurements. To adapt this I redrew my armhole to a more appropriate size and applied this to my sleeve pattern, also reducing the cuff size to less than suggested. This achieved the much thinner, sleeker shape that was required. I really learnt at this point that I need to be aware of defining how I am adapting the reference material, to a more modern body shape, rather than trying to follow it exactly. Once I had readjusted the sleeve and it fitted well, I had a better grasp on my boundaries of alteration of the patterns and how changing and bending different elements of the pattern works towards a better fit the shape I am working with rather than just sticking to what is given. Later I also changed the shoulder to sit slightly lower to achieve the more sloping effect. This had a knock on effect, also improving the shape of the space between the lattice decoration and the collar.

After completing the sleeve I created the top sleeve decoration. This was one of the biggest challenges. I drafted it flat using the sleeve head from the pattern drawn already and then flat drafted the rest. It fitted well in the armhole but the tendrils looked tangled and unflattering. It took a lot of patience and perseverance to finally get it right. I began to understand from this that some elements just require time and small adjustments to achieve what is needed.

Overall I found the decoration the most challenging aspect of this toile. This was mainly because it was very fiddly and not only did i have to achieve the right shape but also proportion to my piece. I used the reference pattern quite a bit but I found it proportions were not applicable to my toile so I spent a lot of time redrafting the lengths to achieve the right volume and form.

Once the main decoration was complete I decided to experiment with how the piping that is seen in the reference image would work on the garment. I found the smallest piping cord I could and used it to edge the collar and belt and inserted it into the seams on the back as shown in the reference image. This worked really well and brought another element of texture to the toile, as well as getting a better grasp of what the piece would look like if finished. It also showed that the edge of the lattice decoration is piped so I attempted this although the result was not satisfactory. I think the piping I used was too heavy and it would have to be really thin to be delicate enough for the intricate pattern piece.

I have applied my sample here to see the effect of the piping, it is definitely too bulky and clumsy and would have to be much thinner to keep the same delicacy.

The design of the lattice was too intricate to bag out with the thickness of the piping so I just sewed it around the edge. It is not a neat finish but gives an element of what the piping may look like.

I also created a small sample of what the padding at the bottom of the skirt may look like with calico and wadding. I did not have time to pad the whole thing but it would have been interesting to see how it would have effected the drape and sit of the hem line. I think it may have made it much stiffer and less flowing which i think would have been a shame.

The width of the padding I followed from the reference pattern.

1820 Toile Planning and Evaluation

2011-04-01T00:29:00.005+01:00

Proposed Time plan

Monday

Candide Performance
Start Bodice and refine bodice

Tuesday

POP Lectures
Complete front of skirt and start back

Wednesday

Complete back of skirt
Flat draft sleeve and cut out.
Draft top sleeve

Thursday

Drape lattice decoration transfer onto paper
Decoration samples
Start to transfer toile onto paper

Friday

Finish transferring toile onto paper.
Sew up toile
Photographs

Saturday

Write up notes and evaluate, photos onto blog.

Record of weeks time frame and evaluation
Monday

Candide Performance
Started Bodice

Tuesday

POP Lectures and discussions
Refine Bodice
Start front of bodice

Wednesday

Started decoration
Started back of skirt
Piping samples

Thursday

Reproduced back of skirt in washed, pre-shrunk calico, adapting pattern
Drafted Sleeve and start sleeve decoration
Transferred bodice lattice decoration onto paper

Friday

Transfer toile onto paper.
Adjust sleeve pattern
Sew up toile

I had a lapse in my time schedule this week, this was mainly down to not anticipating the time required for the production of Candide on Monday and also the amount of time the POP lecture and seminar would take in the afternoon on Tuesday. I started as soon as i could and grabbed moments in the first two days to work but it was not enough to keep up to date with my plan. I was further set back by finding, Wednesday afternoon, that the medium weight calico i was using was too thick and rigid and did not drape smoothly as i wanted for the gathering in the back panel of the skirt. As i did not have any lighter fabric to hand I had to improvise my time (and as i could also not find an available copy of drafting a historical sleeve instructions) I decided to start with the lattice decoration of the bodice. I was pleased with how this turned out as i cut it on the stand to achieve the right shape and curve over the bodice and only had to draft it once. I managed to get the lighter fabric, pre-shrunk washed calico, for Thursday and so could carry on with the main construction. The lighter calico was much more as i had anticipated, and draped smoothly, and because of its thinner weight I also managed to get and extra 15cm of fabric into the gathering giving the back of the skirt a much fuller look. I found getting behind schedule quite frustrating and stressful, knowing it will have a knock-on effect on the rest of my project if i didn't manage to get up to date. Overall I have enjoyed creating this toile and feel it is a nice warm up to the next which may be more challenging. It has given me a good insight into my time management and I have learnt that i must be prepared in advance to keep to schedule.

1820 Toile Beginning

2011-03-31T00:55:00.002+01:00

This is the first of my toiles that i shall be pattern drafting and cutting on the stand.

I shall approach the construction starting with creating the right silhouette with the undergarments, from there I shall start cutting on the stand the bodice and skirt while flat drafting the basic two piece sleeve shape. The lattice decoration I shall leave until last to complete.

The undergarments I chose from the store are relatively appropriate for the time period and although i tried to get them as accurate as possible, this was not entirely achievable with the stock in the costume store, so I decided to look more at what shape they would create under the garment rather than them being completely historically accurate. I had trouble with finding a petticoat with the right shape that was also a good fit so I selected one that was accurate and slightly larger and tacked it in place onto the corset. This also helped it stay in the high waisted placement for my 1820's toile.

Toiles Choices

2011-03-29T23:08:00.007+01:00

My final decisions on the shapes and time periods of the toiles I would be producing were decided with Dexter with the intention of developing my learning as much as possible and having different challenges from each. Therefore we have chosen 3 very technically different patterns of garments from 1820, 1852, and 1873, meaning I also have a good range across the time period. I will be confronted with very different silhouettes that will require different cutting skills that relate well and quite broadly to the century and will hopefully develop my learning as intensely as possible, having a week each for the half toiles and 2 weeks for the full toile.

1820

This garment should be a nice introduction to the project, relatively simple in its silhouette it must also be very defined. It also has the complication of the intricate tabs and lattice effect across the bodice and top of the sleeves. As a garment from earlier in the century I shall be learning how to create the empire line and see how this works with the undergarments and changing level of the waist.

1852

This garment from the middle of the century has a completely different silhouette and shall prove challenging in its shape but also with the amount of pleating involved. The pleats in the skirt are tiered in size and must be aligned to sit and look right which will be one of the main challenges as well as the very even pleats of the front of the bodice. There is also the interesting feature of the inner sleeve with a bell shaped cap over the top which could be flat drafted or draped.

1873

This garment from near the end of the century is an interesting mix of styles, somewhat between a polonaise and the princess line. It will be challenging to create the the long fitted shape and to try and create the rouching of the skirt with tapes, techniques which I will not have experienced with the previous toiles. As I am completing this last toile fully, there will also be the added time consuming factor of piping most of the decorative elements which will put pressure on me to work with speed while producing quality work.

Padding the Mannequin

2011-03-15T22:28:00.002Z

I decided to pad a mannequin to create my toiles on because it gives the mannequin a much softer and flexible shape so the undergarments will sit more like they would on a human figure. It allows my to pull the corset in and achieve the right curves that a hard mannequin would not provide. The mannequin I padded to fit a friend so it will have close enough fit for photos of my final full toile.

This is Jen whose measurements I am using to base my padding of a mannequin on.

I was pleased with the final result of padding out the mannequin, it wasn't very time consuming and achieved a very similar body shape to the friend I had measured. I chose a mannequin with much smaller dimensions so I could pad it up with a lot of wadding to get a softer body shape that could be pulled in a lot by the corset. I measured my friend with and without the corset on to replicate her body shape first with the padding and then with the corset on top to get it as close as attainable.

I am planning on using the same mannequin for all my toiles. This is because of the limited stock in the costume store and the time consuming process of fixing the right underwear, also the corset shape did not change massively throughout the century and I will be able to achieve the appropriate shape by changing the skirt undergarments to achieve the right silhouette.

Research Evaluation

2011-03-15T01:31:00.000Z

As one of the aims I set myself in my brief was to develop my knowledge of the 19th Century, I spent a lot of time conducting and gathering a large amount of research for this project, enough to create a large file of images and patterns. This was a very hand reference tool that I will keep it for future use and hopefully add to. Having the abundance of images was really helpful when it came to analysing undergarments in the costume store and seeing which would create the right shape for the period of my toiles.
The days we spent looking at original 19th century garments at MoDip and The Hampshire Museum was fascinating, and although I don't think it will influence my pattern cutting directly, the reference images I have gained from it and being able too see first hand the different types of decoration and ways of construction I think was invaluable. They also have helped to increase my knowledge, especially with having such an interesting guide as the costume assistant at the Hampshire Museum who passed on lots of interesting and quirky facts about the period and the garment we saw.
I think if I had more time I would have liked to go to a museum where the garments were on display on mannequins or models to get more silhouette shapes, with real garments, rather than just drawings, into my first hand research. It was hard to picture the fit of some of the bodices when they were lain flat and it would have been nice to see them in a more three-dimensional manner to be able to draw inspiration from when draping.

Research - Costume Store - Undergarments

2011-03-15T00:59:00.044Z

We looked in the costume store at university to see what range of undergarments there were and which may be of use and would be the right shape for our cutting. We studied the corsets and crinolines and crinolettes. The choice was a little limited in terms of accuracy for each changing silhouette of the period so I have decided to pick the garments based more on their shape and adapt them using layers of petticoats and bum rolls to create the right shape for my toile. It was really interesting to discover properly what the costume store had to offer in terms of undergarments and this morning had definitely expanded my knowledge of how the different structural under garments will work on a mannequin and what will create the right shape and how I can adapt this to fir my needs.

This short crinoline would be a day undergarment and is much like some we saw at the Hampshire Museum service, and like those could be dated to suit some of the 1850s silhouettes with petticoats over the top.

This crinoline I've judged to be a shape from around the 1860s although I could also use it for an 1850s piece with its wide base. Petticoats would have to be placed over the top to soften the hard edges of the hoops and create the nice soft shape to the top fabric.

I have had to take a guess with this crinoline and suggest the shape may be from the 1870s and worn with a back volume, flounced petticoat. I thought this because it is relatively slim and only tapers a little at the back. I may use this for a later piece as it gives a nice silhouette and could even be a good shape for a princess line dress or something similar if I choose drape one.

This bustle I have dated from research to be of the period around 1880 when the fullness of skirts moves to the back. With the flounces this undergarment would make the dress protrude a lot and would give quite a full bustle. The volume of this could also be adapted by shortening or lengthening the tapes that sit inside.

National Theatre Blouse - Example

2011-03-15T00:56:00.003Z

As well as my 19th century cutting on the stand I shall also be making a 19th Century Blouse for the National Theatre Hire Department. I shall be cutting the piece from pattern pieces the National Theatre have supplied and using fabric and accessories like the buttons and lace braiding that the supervisors of the project have supplied.

These are my photos I have taken on the example blouse and shows what I shall be striving to achieve a replica of.

Overall the blouse has a very delicate feel and is very feminine. All its decorative elements are quite fine and understated but as a whole give quite an impact. I shall try to reproduce this by paying close attention to my stitching and make it as accurate as possible.

The pin tucks and braiding are a key area, which I need to spend as much time as needed, getting straight and even in width and distance apart. It is also imperative the braiding is straight and matches up as it will be all to obvious if not and will spoil the whole look of the garment.

The collar is another prominent feature that will have to be sewn in correctly and with care to get the defined shape around the neckline. The pleats here also need to be accurate and even to get the pristine finish the National Theatre is looking for.

The small amount of gathering at the shoulder is subtle but must be even either side and fall across the same area width of area to make the sleeves look symmetrical.

Attaching the braiding will have to be done before the cuff is put together as it runs into the seam and the stitching is not seen through the inside of the cuff.

The cuffs will be bagged out the same as the collar, joining these to the rest of the blouse will be a question of following the same technique as the National Theatre and top stitching over the edge or possible machining one side and slip stitching the other which may produce a neater finish for the heavier fabric which I will be using.

This insert in the sleeve I will have to be careful creating as it involves cutting into the sleeve to create the opening for the placket that runs inside. Again I will have to ask whether this is to be top stitched the same or finished with slip stitching.

The button stand of the blouse has not been very neatly finished on the prototype and I should think that I will be required to double turn it to hide the raw edge and strengthen it.

The button holes I shall be doing myself and will make sure they are evenly spaced and are not too obtrusive on the overall effect of the blouse, and are just the right size for the buttons. I will probably do this on a domestic machine to achieve a delicate finish.

Research - Undergarments from the period

2011-03-14T23:40:00.000Z

This section of research is necessary as it is important to know what undergarments were used to give the different silhouette shapes of the 19th century. It shall also help inform my choice in which undergarments to put on my mannequin while cutting for the different styles throughout the period.

This image shows quite well the changing silhouettes throughout the nineteenth (and twentieth) century. All would have been supported by different structures and shapes of undergarments and these are essential in creating the shapes I need for my toiles.

Image from : http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__7s9GUTM-oY/S0B3bAiPIfI/AAAAAAAAM7E/LF1OQqvzZnM/s1600-h/timeline+historical+fashion.JPG

Corsets; 1831, 1862, 1879, 1880, 1886 from Dress and Undress, Ewing. E.
These corsets I compiled together show how the shape of the corset does not vary dramatically through the century, excluding the beginning of the century where bust improver's were worn. The length and style varies but not particularly the overall shape.

1890s bodices. Dress and Undress, Ewing. E.
Later in the century as the fashion was beginning to change, and under garments were becoming less restrictive, heavily boned bust bodices were worn. As I am not producing a piece from this late in the century I shall not be using this type of undergarment it is however interesting to compare silhouette with that of the corset.

Petticoats and crinolines; 1800, 1830, 1858, 1868, 1872. Dress and Undress, Ewing.E.
It is interesting to see here the changing shape of skirt throughout the century and where the volume changes from around to the back.

The silhouettes created by these different undergarments are dramatic and I find interesting the different draping and manipulation techniques required to cover these structures. I hope to learn some of this during my project and also learn more about how the different undergarments work together, for pattern drafting but also my general costume knowledge. I was interested to see that the corsets did not change dramatically in shape as the skirts had done, although some were more restrictive and tightly laced. I also researched into petticoats, and found they were worn on their own with a bustle earlier in the century, and then over crinolines later on, to reduce the hard lines of the boning and give a softer effect to the skirts.

Research - MoDIP Historical Garments

2011-03-13T18:01:00.033Z

In a studio session we had the opportunity to look at some 19th century garments that had been donated to AUCB's Museum of Design In Plastics (MoDIP). This was a very engaging session and allowed me to look at how the garments were constructed and get a feel of the materials as well as proportions and the way they were constructed. It was a really useful session as it gave me an insight to the reality of the clothes, rather than just seeing them two dimensional in pictures. It was really great to be able to touch the garments (with gloves on) and turn them over to look at all the details and construction inside.

This exotic looking bodice I have dated around the 1850's, it being almost identical to one found in Nancy Bradfield's Costume in Detail, Womens Dress .It is not boned and has signs of heavy wear, with sweat patches inside and possible watermarking on the silk top fabric. I was quite surprised at the extravagance of this piece and would love to see what skirt accompanied it.

This bodice I would guess is around the later 19th century possibly 1880's. It is quite plain with only a small gathered collar with lace as decoration. Its well worn nature and hand stitched repairs on the sleeve and underarm suggest it may belonged to a working to middle class lady.It was originally boned but the boning has been taken out. The boning channels sat along the seams on top of the seam allowance. It is interesting to note this construction method and how the lining has been sewn as one with the top fabric with the seam allowance on show inside.

This pin tucked chiffon bodice was particularly beautiful and in good condition. It is thought to be part of a bridal outfit. A particularly interesting feature was the fitted inner sleeve and how it worked holding the position while the large chiffon top sleeve created the balloon effect. The boning remained in the bodice and the waist strap can be seen clearly. This was in most bodices to prevent the bodice from rising up when bending over or sitting. The technique of having the supporting, hardy under lining and the light chiffon (or muslin) on top seems to be a relatively common technique and one I may have to use in my toile construction.

This dress was unusual as its pleating of the skirt was a-symmetrical having one side much more pleated at the back than the other. We thought this may be because of the pocket however we couldn't find a good explanation as to why. It was quite a simple dress that had a cotton lining through all of the skirt and the sleeves, this was probably for warmth and suggests it would be a day dress. The faux fastenings of the buttons can be seen in the lower to photographs.

Research - Hampshire County Museum Service

2011-03-13T16:53:00.133Z

A visit was arranged to the Hampshire County Museum Service just outside of Winchester. It was a very useful day and a great opportunity to get some primary research looking at the 19th century clothes they had in their collection. The pieces were in very good condition, making it easier to imagine how they were worn in the period. The Museums costume assistant who ran the day was very helpful and knowledgeable and enhanced our experience on the day, being able to answer our questions and providing interesting histories about the clothes and the period.

1860's dress with gathered and padded front panel. Has later period style of flat front to skirt with pleats and gathering at the back, would be worn over a crinolette. The decoration of this bodice I find is its most interesting feature, I do not find the gathering decoration particularly attractive in the colour of the fabric and the blue clashes with the colour quite a lot. The shape of the sleeve is unusual being notably wider at the elbow than at the cuff. I do not think I will use any features of this dress but it is interesting to see the different elements in their real form.

1850's corset, had few bones at centre back and was mostly corded. It has a large rigid wooden plate at centre front to help keep shape. I imagine this would have been particularly uncomfortable as the rest of the corset is quite flexible.

This corset was thought to be a young women's corset as it is small and only has a slight under bust support. It was a well kept specimen and had delicate lace decoration.

1870's corset, this was thought to belong to an more mature lady because of its larger size and being very heavily boned, there was not much of the fabric that did not have a bone channel and it was a particularly heavy undergarment.

Here is a working class corset, it is quite a rare example as not many clothes of the working class of the period survive as they were worn out, handed down, sold or the fabric reused to make something else. The corset is less boned for flexibility, and cost, of working or manual labour, and quite thick meaning it would have been warm and generally quite comfortable to wear.

It was very informative to see some actual corsets from the period, to get a better idea of the varying shapes but also to see their construction and decoration. It was particularly interesting to see how the more heavily boned corsets, how much structure was required of the fabric and how it bumps and curves when laid flat. I would have loved to see the corsets worn to get a proper idea of their shape and what effect they had on the silhouette.
I was most fascinated by the working class corset, having not seen one before, and how it was very functional as well as being a fashion statement. Quite thick and bulky, the corset seems very practical and I would have liked to see how it would sit under top garments.

1835 dress, presumed to be a maternity dress as has opening at front. Has sloping shoulders of early period with gigot or leg-of-mutton sleeves popular in the late 20's and early 30's of the century. The skirt was created with tiny cartridge pleats and fastened simply with hook and eyes without faux-fastening buttons. It had tiny, delicate piping on all of its open edges like the neck and centre front and also in the inside seam of the sleeve.

This dress I find to be one of the most engaging in its form. The sloping shoulders and mutton sleeves are classic of the period and bring fashionable elements to what should be a practical garment, as a maternity dress. I love the shape of the mutton sleeves with the gathering and may produce some in my toiles. The tiny cartridge pleats are another interesting technique that I may come across in my toile research. The pleats were sewn to the waist band of the bodice with a small stitch in each pleat.

1870's Princess line dress. Was not boned, but heavily structured, with panels and piping in a lot of the seams. The two tone fabrics enhance the shape of these panels and the decoration. The princess line was a dress shape that had no seam between the bodice and skirt.

This style of dress has a lot of impact and is quite a statement, possibly being an evening dress, because of its train, of a monied ladies day dress. I particularly enjoy the way the shiny and slightly more matt fabrics are played off against each other, and accentuate the lines of the panels. This would be an interesting dress to create and no doubt a challenging one with its numerous panels and decoration.

1878 Horse hair bustle. Wicker structure with padded front that would stand out when the bustle was bowed. This undergarment was, like many, able to be stored flat with the ties would hold the the structure in place when it was bowed. It would be held in place by ties around the waist rather like a backward apron.

It was nice to see an original bustle in its horse hair form, as the recreations I have seen have only been with ridgealine and calico. It was a lot stiffer and of rougher fabric than I imagined and didn't seem very much like a feminine undergarment, or been very comfortable to wear.

This bodice had an unusual curved pin tuck front that i thought was particularly interesting with its S shape velvet panels that run down the front. The small pocket at the front for a pocket watch was another delicate feature.

The shape of the panels can been seen clearly in this bodice which may be useful for my pattern drafting. The decorative elements are quite unusual but really beautiful and i would like to try the panel shapes if they are suitable with what I am producing.

1860s child's bodice and skirt. Children were dressed much like the adults of the period. The bodice displays the popular V-shape of the fashion at the time with attention to detail in the double piping and matching of the stripes of the fabric. The volume of bustle at the back was created by ties, one from opposite side seams and three vertically. The skirt may have been worn over a crinoline or crinolette but also may have been worn on its own or with a petticoat.

I find the feature of the ties to create volume in the skirt interesting as it is a simple solution to an elegant decorative feature. As I understand this was a widely used technique to create this effect and I would like to experiment with it if given the chance, depending on the patterns I choose. I think the technique to create the right shape and volumes, would take a little practice, and I may produce a skirt after the project to experiment with this.

The emphasised V pelerine on this bodice has the added detail of pin tucks. It is identical front and back with leg-of-mutton sleeves that are separate at the elbow creating a striking difference in volume.
It is possibly from the 1840s although the V shape bodice was popular through the century. Although it could also be later due to its strong lines of shape and quite controlled mutton sleeve.

This is another V-shaped pin tucked bodice however the shape of the sleeves give it a very different silhouette. The tight fitting sleeves with the high slightly puffed shoulders suggest it is from later in the century, possible 1880s or 90s. It is interesting to relate the pin tucks on this piece to the blouse I shall be creating for the National Theatre, of which are the same size (5mm). The tiny pin tuck seems to be quite a fashionable technique although I do find its placement on this bodice a bit odd.

This is a beautiful example of a crinolette which would have been fashionable from 1867 to the mid 1870's, it had binding around its scalloped edge and was fastened with buttons at the front and a draw string around the waist. The lacing that can be seen inside was to adjust the shape of the structure and also allowed it to sit flat for travelling and storage. The crinolettes were interesting as they came along with the growing air of more freedom for women, and were reported as being more freeing for movement and easier to walk in than the previous crinolines.

This type of crinoline appeared in the late 1850's. It was suggested that this would be more of a day-wear crinoline as it is quite short in length. The hoops are made of sprung steel and the tapes a heavy cotton. It has much the basic shape of any crinoline and would have been worn under petticoats which would have softened the steel hoops.

This Thompson crinoline shows a different style to the hooping and was again thought to be a day-wear item because of its size and width and the amount of hoops. The Thompson company were popular English makers of crinolines.

Late 19th century liberty bodice. This undergarment had no boning but was still heavily structured with cording, however without the boning it was quite flexible. It was seen at the time as a liberating garment, freeing women from the compressing nature of corsets. This was a garment worn like a corset to give support, but was also a popular garment for children with the idea of keeping warm like a vest. It was still a very structured and probably would not be comfortable by today's standards however I imagine after a lifetime of corsets this garment was probably quite liberating

All my images are of garments from the Hampshire County Museum Service's collection, I thank them in being kind enough to assist in my research. http://www3.hants.gov.uk/museum.htm