1790 Regency Dress

On Tuesday 23 March 2021Wednesday 24 March 2021 By DendariaIn Big mistakes, Doll clothes, Finished WorksLeave a comment

1790 gown with heirloom insert, modelled by Marie-Grace 1

Pattern:

1790 Open Pelisse and Regency Dress T&A 1790-01 2020

The pattern I used was the 1790 Open Pelisse and Regency Dress by Thimbles and Acorns, purchased through Pixie Faire.

I modified the pattern by removing the gathered overlay from the bodice, inserting an heirloom strip at centre front and adding a lining to the skirt.

Fabric:

For the dress I used the 100% cotton pique that I bought from Australian Needle Arts School last year. It’s a lot stiffer than cotton voile at doll scale and unfortunately it frays easily, but otherwise I was happy with how it handled. I was very pleased to find that the half-metre I bought is enough for two doll dresses, so there will be another white dress somewhere along the line. Because this is a fairly substantial fabric I didn’t use the overlay pattern pieces, just the base. For the lining I used white muslin.

As usual, all stitching was by hand. I used Superior Threads Kimono 100-wt silk thread for the seams and single-strand embroidery floss for the overcasting.

Construction:

Bodice:
I avoided gathers by having a plain bodice but I added lace and ribbon to echo the skirt embellishment. Making the bodice went well with no significant issues. The puffed sleeves are shallower than the ones in the previous dress and the gathers are concentrated into a smaller area of the armscye which made them more fiddly, but they are still very pretty.

Here’s what happens when I don’t pay attention:

I remembered to add 2 mm to the armscye of the bodice lining. This helped enormously and I was able to turn and stitch the lining over the sleeve seams.

The closure is off-centre, as is usual when buttons are used. I planned on using hooks for the closures rather than buttons, but I don’t like using the metal eyes at dolls scale because either they show or the hook has to be set so far back that the opening gapes. Instead I intended to baste a strip of 2 mm white ribbon to the proper right before stitching the bodice neckline … guess who forgot that step. Now I’m undecided between buttons (which will require buttonholes, and I hate making buttonholes at this scale) or snap fasteners.

Skirt:

I’ve wanted to do an heirloom-style insert for ages, even though it’s not really true to the period (it belongs to the late 19th / early 20th century). Rather than a true insert I chose to apply laces and ribbon to a fabric base, so instead of cutting one front skirt on the fold I cut a straight central strip to act as a base and then cut two side-front pieces. In retrospect I should have anticipated the slight shrinkage that happened while stitching all the lace to the base – an extra quarter-inch at each end would have made all the difference. I tried to remedy it by stretching it to fit the side fronts but there is a slight buckling that you can see along the seams. It ended up about 1/8″ short at each end, but the waist seam is covered and the hem is twice-turned so I don’t anticipate any issues.

I used various polyester laces that I’ve had for a while plus some ribbon beading and two puff strips made from the same white muslin that I used for the linings. My original intention was to use pink for the ribbon insert, with a wider strip of ribbon in the same shade on the bodice. The single length of pink ribbon I had was a bit too wide for the beading so I went up to Hobbysew and got what I thought was three pairs of ribbons: light pink, hot pink and pale green, all in 6 and 9 mm widths. Unfortunately the lighting in Hobbysew isn’t daylight spectrum and when I got home I found that the light pinks were slightly different shades. *sigh* The hot pink was too bright for the fabric and the green didn’t thrill me so instead I chose a 6 mm lavender ribbon that I’ve had for years … I could have saved myself the trip if I’d been sensible.

The actual stitching went together without any problems. Because I was making a skirt with a lining (rather than with a gauze overlay) I layered the skirt and lining wrong sides together rather than both sides facing up as directed in step 16 of the instructions. I made sure to overcast each seam as soon as it was done, and I pinned up the hems temporarily so fraying was kept to a minimum.

One thing I didn’t really like was the the two sides are different: the placket on the proper left is turned under but the proper right placket is finished first and then stitched with the raw edge at the bodice seam … I checked the pattern three times because it felt so wrong, but it’s definitely what the pattern says. It made a difference to the tightness of the gathers which I can see but I guess isn’t immediately obvious to the casual viewer. If I make this pattern again I’ll add additional fabric to the proper right so that I can turn the edges and still retain the modesty underlay.

The skirt back pattern is in two pieces in the document and I stuffed up initially by mistaking the joining mark for the point at which the centre back seam stops. I realised this when I came to put the dress on the doll so I had to remedy that– the lining made it a little harder but not impossible (and I had to fix the lining too). This would have been extremely difficult by machine so it’s one point in favour of hand stitching.

I added a small bustle pad, made from scraps of white fabric and some polyester stuffing. For this version I used a long half-oval rather than a rectangle, and made the outer layer larger than the inner, easing it in with not-quite gathers and a couple of pleats (rather like a biscuit quilt unit). The tie is 6 mm cotton twill tape.

Fit:

Unlike the bib-front dress, this bodice is a fixed size and was very loose on the first doll I picked up (Felicity 2, the Pleasant Company version). I tried it on Addy, my largest doll — the bodice circumference was fine but the neckline stood away from the body when the bodice back was aligned (her shoulders are too square) — if I made the neckline fit, the bodice fastening was at an angle and the waistline ballooned out. The colours looked fantastic on her, though.

I compromised with Marie-Grace 1, who has a chest only 1.5 cm smaller than Addy, and it fitted reasonably well, but it’s not great — it’s way too loose around the waistline and the neckline is still a little proud. If I make it again I’ll alter the bodice pattern to fit a particular doll (and no, it won’t be Marie-Grace — I do have other dolls and I need to dress them all).

The length was good and the dress was fairly easy to get on and off. I’m very happy with the way the heirloom strip looks, and I may try another insert later on.

Lessons learned:

1. Any applied trim will have a shortening effect. Plan accordingly.

2. When choosing colours that have to match, make sure you have a daylight spectrum light source to compare the colours.

3. If you are making any changes to the pattern, make a note in the instructions so you don’t forget!

4. Bodice fit is important but a fitted bodice won’t fit most dolls.

Notes for future versions:
1. I really think that the shoulder seams in this pattern are too slanted for most American Girl dolls, who tend to have very square shoulders. I’ll reduce the angle by 1-2mm at the neckline and see how it fits.

2. The bodice circumference is fine for pre-Mattel dolls but not the newer dolls. I could make the bodice a little narrower or add a ribbon at the side seams to pull in the excess fabric.

3. I’ll add another quarter-inch to the proper right bodice back so that I can turn the skirt placket on both sides.

How do you use Pinterest?

On Monday 22 March 2021Monday 22 March 2021 By DendariaIn Uncategorized2 Comments

I finally caved and opened a Pinterest account because every time I search for costumes more than half the links are from it, but now I’m really confused. I thought it would be a lot more organised than it is — I’m a very linear, numbered list type person, and Pinterest … isn’t. I thought I would be able to pin or compile a list of image boards, but it doesn’t seem to work that way — I can follow users and I can pin individual images but I don’t seem to be able to pin/bookmark the boards themselves without using the browser bookmarking tool, which irritates me. I didn’t sign up to this platform just so I can use a browser tool, and I don’t want to duplicate all the image links that everyone else has compiled. The menus within Pinterest aren’t helping, Wikipedia gave me a lot of info on the company (which I knew wasn’t particularly good, but a $20 million dollar settlement is extremely unsettling) but nothing on how to use it, and googling gave me tutorials that were either a decade old (which weren’t helpful) or with an emphasis on business (not applicable).

I guess that what I was looking for was a way to nest board links in a folder-like structure, similar to how my computer is organised, and what I’m seeing is a mess of top-level items (like saving everything to the desktop). Given that I want to use Pinterest as a reference resource rather than a social media resource, is there are way of pinning (and organising) boards without browser-bookmarking them?

[As an aside, there are way too many boards that include either modern reproductions or (much worse) 19th century paintings of 18th century outfits.]

1810 Bib-Front Dress

On Monday 8 March 2021Monday 8 March 2021 By DendariaIn Doll clothes, Finished WorksLeave a comment

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a champion procrastinator. Faced with the prospect of spending a maximum of two hours finishing the outline on the blackwork embroidery, I decided that I would spend twenty hours on another doll dress.

1810 Bib-Front Dress, modelled by Marie-Grace 4

Pattern:

The pattern I used was the Thimbles and Acorns 1810-01 Bib-Front Dress which I bought in February. I’ve wanted to make this style of dress for a while but the pattern I already had didn’t inspire me with confidence, so I was delighted to see this one had been released in 2020.

Note for non-US readers: the pattern pieces exceed the printable margins on A4 paper at actual size. If you don’t have access to US letter paper, print on A3 instead. [I actually have a ream of letter paper I bought in the US about six or seven years ago, but once it runs out I’ll have to use A3 like everyone else, because it’s impossible to get here in Australia and buying it via ebay does not make sense — a ream of A3 paper is $13-20, while a ream of letter paper via ebay is USD 7 plus USD 30 shipping and then GST as well, so AUD 50 or more.]

The fabric I used was a lightweight white-on-yellow quilting cotton that I’ve had for many years, and the lining was yellow cotton voile. Both were easy to use, though subject to fraying because of the long straight cuts. I couldn’t find my chalk pencils so I used a fine-point mechanical pencil instead, but the marks do show through in some areas.

All stitching was by hand. For seams and hems I used Superior Threads Kimono 100-wt silk thread. For overcasting I used single strand embroidery floss (possibly DMC but it’s so old I can’t be sure).

Construction:

(I apologise for the errant thread — I did brush the dress before putting it on Marie-Grace so I guess it came off my T-shirt while I was rearranging her.)

The bib in this pattern is supposed to have a gathered front overlay over a straight lining. I’m really bad at gathering so I decided to do narrow pleats instead. I measure the distance between the dots on the lining and added twice that to the pattern length. I marked off 1/8″ intervals in the seam allowance and made pleats. Somehow I ended up half an inch short after basting and pressing … I’m still not sure how that happened. I had to snip the basting stitch and relax the pleats a little to get them to fit, and unfortunately I was too lazy to re-baste, so a couple of the pleats slipped a bit too much when I was sewing the seam. If I do this variation in future I’ll cut a very long strip, do the pleats and then cut the strip to size. I used lightweight interfacing instead of a second layer of fabric between the outer layer and the lining.

The other goof was using 6 mm / ¼” ribbon for the button loops — I had already bought the ribbon to use as the tie and thought it would be narrow enough for the closure. It isn’t. I should have doubled it over or made bias cording as the pattern suggested. I also eschewed the Chinese knot buttons, using pearl buttons I had on hand instead. I’ll try the Chinese knots one day, just not right now.

The bodice went together really well. If making this again, I’d cut the back lining from a single piece rather than back + side back, since the seam is a straight line (it would be curved on a human, of course). Because I was using voile instead of “sturdy fabric” I added a layer of interfacing to the front flaps. I didn’t want a button in the centre so I added an inch in order to have two buttons/Velcro patches, but it was too much — a half-inch would have been much better. As I’ve noted previously in patterns where the bodice lining is turned and stitched over the sleeve seam, I ended up a few millimetres short and had to overcast instead. I had made a mental note to add 2 mm to all lining armholes before but of course I forgot this time.

The sleeves themselves are fantastic — I think they are the prettiest sleeves I’ve ever seen on a doll dress. They went together very well even though I am terrible at gathering, and the sleeve band was just the right width at 1¼” cut.

Skirt construction was very easy, being all straight lines. I was a bit perturbed by the amount of fraying — I think that temporarily basting the hems or pinking the long edges would help control this in the future. I made the tie channel a little larger than the pattern stated (3/8″ rather than 1/4″) because I knew I would be using a 6 mm / ¼” ribbon. Once the ribbon was in place I basted it to the centre front through the lining.

Fit:

Because the dress is fully lined I decided that a chemise/petticoat wasn’t necessary. I did, however, make a bustle pad, which was worn under many Regency dresses to add volume to the back. It was a folded strip of homespun filled with six layers of cotton batting, and tied with a length of 6 mm cotton twill tape. I think I’ll try for a half-oval shape for next time rather than a rectangle.

The dress fits Marie-Grace 4 perfectly. Even with the botched bib front it’s a very pretty dress.

I tried to get it onto my mid-1990s Addy (my chubbiest doll) but it just won’t fit over the shoulders and I didn’t want to force it. I would like Addy to have a Regency dress of her own, so I may use Josefina’s Christmas dress pattern from Pleasant Company, since it was designed for a mid-1990s doll (I know that with a nominal date of 1824 it’s a little late, but it does have the high waist and puffed sleeves of the period) or I may try the Simplicity 8714 pattern (by Keeper’s Dolly Duds) — in my experience, the paper patterns tend to be a little larger than the PDF patterns.

Conclusion:

A very well written pattern, easy to follow. All the issues I noted were due to changes I had made or poor sewing on my part. I’ll definitely make this pattern again with different bib variations.

Lessons learned:

Pleats take up more fabric than they are supposed to. It’s better to make the pleats and then cut the piece to the size required.

Graphite pencil will show through fine fabrics. Buy another chalk pencil if you can’t find the three you already own.

Bodice linings will always fall short in one area or another. Adding a couple of millimetres will save a lot of angst.

1920s Dress in Gold

On Monday 1 March 2021Monday 1 March 2021 By DendariaIn Doll clothes, Finished Works2 Comments

1920s dress 47 posed — 1920s dress, modelled by #47

Pattern

For this dress I used the Sweetheart Plaid drop-waist blouse from Fashioned by Rebecca, which was based on a 1915 design. I thought it included the skirt but it doesn’t — it recommended the Pleated Skirt by Liberty Jane Clothing so I bought that as well but ended up not using it. In adding the skirt and making the dress very columnar (no over-the-hips poofiness) I think I’ve shifted the year closer to 1924-25 so I’m calling this a 1920s dress.

Technically this is a mock-up but it’s turned out quite well. I used some rather unattractive (to me) fabric that I have previously used for laundry bag linings because the geometric design resembled those used in the 1920s. I was able to use the reverse of the fabric for the collar and trims.

The pattern was quite well-written and illustrated, though I believe that the original design it was taken from was a front-opening blouse rather than a back-opening and there are some residual elements that should have been removed or altered further in the adaptation. As I’ve said previously, I am constitutionally incapable of following a pattern as it’s written anyway, so it didn’t fuss me to make the appropriate changes.

All stitching was by hand.

Construction

1920s dress - neckline detail — 1920s dress – neckline detail

The top went together reasonably well. I changed the front neckline slightly because the front overlay was a couple of millimetres lower than the full front which was just awkward since the whole overlay was going to be stitched down. Instead I trimmed the full front neckline down to match the right front neckline. I also used only one layer for the right front instead of two as it was going to be stitched down over the full front.

If I were to remake this as a front-opening blouse then I would use two thicknesses on the right (or at least a wide facing) and extend the piping up to the shoulder seam. As it is, the buttons on the front of this dress are purely decorative.

The collar pieces as given in the pattern are slightly too wide/long. I left a 2 mm gap at the front but even if I had left no gap there would be insufficient space at the back for the closure without overlapping the collar ends. Removing 3-5mm from the collar should eliminate this problem.

1920s dress - sleeve cap — 1920s dress – sleeve cap

The sleeves were fiddly (as they always are) and I wasn’t happy with the set right at the top of the sleeve cap. If making it again I would trim 1-2 mm off the top arch. I also made a much narrower binding (cut 1″ rather than 1 ½”) to avoid the rather unsightly translucent portion below the seam. I’d like to try this with a piped edging next time, though it might require that the sleeves be lined which they aren’t in this pattern.

The biggest change I made was to the skirt.

Instead of making a separate skirt with a gathered bias-cut waistband I decided to attach the pleated portion of the skirt directly to the blouse. In order to attach the skirt neatly I had to ensure that the pleats would fit exactly onto the bottom of the blouse, and so I was not able to use the pattern provided by LJC. Instead I measured the bottom of the blouse (35.5 cm), adjusted the overlap (1 cm) to give me a whole number of pleats (23 @ 1.5 cm = 34.5 cm ) and then cut a strip that was three times 34.5 cm plus seam allowances (2 @ 0.5 cm). [I normally sew in Imperial units because I’m a quilter, but I wasn’t able to make the pleats fit using inches, so I tried it with centimetres and it was much easier.] I marked out intervals of 1.5 cm along the strip and folded the pleats. They were pressed while pinned, then basted and pressed again.

1920s dress - inside join with bias glue-basted — 1920s dress – inside join with bias glue-basted

1920s dress - outside join before trim — 1920s dress – outside join before trim

1920s dress - outside join with trim glue-basted — 1920s dress – outside join with trim glue-basted

Because of the large number of thicknesses at the front of the garment I decided that a normal seam would be too bulky. Instead I adapted the binding around the bottom of the blouse to be a trim that covered the join. I simply butted the two sections together and glued a bias strip on the wrong side to hold them in place until stitched, and then glue-basted the trim on the front. Once I had most of the top and skirt stitched down I stitched the side seam of the skirt and finished the edges, overlapped the back openings and resumed stitching the bindings down. Stitching through all the layers was manageable – I only had to resort to stab-stitching over the seams, the overlap and that front trim.

1920s dress - back closure — 1920s dress – back closure

The back closure had to be fudged a bit because of the collar. I made a small extension to the left back which will allow me to attach low-profile Velcro … when I can find the box it’s in. *sigh* The blouse was a little bit looser around the shoulders than planned, but it didn’t look too bad.

1920s dress - 47 front — 1920s dress – 47 front

1920s dress - 47 side — 1920s dress – 47 side

1920s dress - 47 back — 1920s dress – 47 back

I chose #47 as the model for this dress as she has warm golden undertone to her skin that complements the colour of the fabric. She’s from 2017 and fairly slim, so unfortunately the dress is a little large for her and sags in places.

1920s dress - Addy front — 1920s dress – Addy front

1920s dress - Addy side — 1920s dress – Addy side

I also tried the dress on Addy (my chubbiest doll) to check the sizing: it fits much better but the colour is absolutely wrong for Addy’s skin tone, which has a cool, almost blue undertone.

Conclusion:
Pretty good pattern; easy to follow the instructions; minimal alteration or fudging required if making it as the pattern dictates.

Lessons learned:
Check collar placement against centre back line before stitching.

Notes for the future:
If remaking as a front-opening blouse, do a simple paper/interfacing mock-up of the collar section so you can work out where and how to attach various pieces.

For any future version of a pleated skirt I would advise finishing the bottom edge after pin-pressing and before basting. Also start the fold at the second mark rather than the first, as that will allow the seam to be the inside fold of a pleat rather than the junction of two straight sections (though this might affect the hem).

[Note: I’ve almost finished the blackwork sampler but I needed to do something a little more practical for a few days.]

The Eclectic Needle

Month: March 2021

1790 Regency Dress

How do you use Pinterest?

1810 Bib-Front Dress

1920s Dress in Gold