A New Look for a New Year

Update: Days of Yore Challenge

I am now a month and a half into my Challenge. The first thing I set my hand to was working on period clothing. My pivotal exposure to Victorian clothing was watching Gone With the Wind as a 12 year old. I fell in love with the beautiful hooped skirts. It was probably pretty funny to watch me as a child trying to re-create my own using a skipping rope and a hula hoop or walking around the yard in a used parachute. Needless to say, it was a failure. While my tastes have changed over the years, moving from the 1860s to more 1890s, I still carry that dream of dressing like a period woman – from a lady’s white summer afternoon gown to a strong pioneer work dress.

In my late teens, I made my first pioneer dress. I wore it until it started to fall apart and was relegated to my Halloween props. I was very comfortable in the dress, but I was wearing modern undergarments. If I truly wish to know what it feels like to dress in period clothing, I need to make myself period undergarments, namely a corset, corset cover, drawers and petticoats. So, before Christmas I purchased the fabric and notions I would need to complete a corset, chemise and corset cover.

I will not be making these articles of clothing using period methods. In other words, I am not sewing everything by hand. It would take me forever as my hand sewing is not the best. Also, while sewing machines were not as advanced as they are today, they were available. So, I will be using my sewing machine to complete my projects. I will try to stick to natural fabrics, but I also have to work with what fabric and notions we have available today. I believe each of these projects will take me a couple of months to complete. Especially the corset, as I have no prior experience with making one.

I will be using patterns I purchased from Truly Victorian.

The Chemise

The first project I have completed according to the instructions on the pattern is my chemise. I used the Truly Victorian pattern TV102. The fabric was linen and the eyelet lace cotton. Unfortunately, I could not find a supplier for the ribbon, and it is polyester. If I find ethically sourced silk ribbon, I will replace it. The buttons are also plastic. Again, I am looking for nice wooden buttons.

I found the instructions relatively easy to follow with one exception, the shoulder straps. I watched several YouTube videos and read a few blogs just to see how other people had dealt with the reinforcement of the shoulder straps. I also ended up purchasing the book, Authentic Victorian Dressingmaking Techniques, as I felt this would not only be helpful with my chemise project but also with the patterns I have yet to complete.

In the end I completed my chemise. I do intend to make another and when I do, I will be changing the shoulder straps. The instructions had you place buttonholes and buttons to allow the shoulder straps to be lowered if you were wearing a lower cut or sleeveless gown. I found, even with using very light linen, the reinforcing of the area to account for the buttons and buttonholes, and the added lace, made the shoulder straps too bulky. If I were also wearing a corset cover and light blouse, I believe the shoulder area would look strange and be uncomfortable. This is not a fact, but my hypothesis. I will only know whether this is true when I finish the rest of the garments.

My chemise took me a bit longer to complete than I thought it would. However, this is mainly due to a day or two of researching how to sew the shoulder strap reinforcements. Still it took approximately 3 days to complete, not work on it exclusively. If I were to focus solely on the project now, I estimate it would only take a day.

My other sewing projects are currently on hold while I make a friend’s wedding cake, but I will be returning to them mid March. I think my next will be my corset.

Happy Sewing.