Challenge 2021:3 Small is beautiful - the fichu shawl
Kategori: Allmänt, Historic Sew Montly 21, Regency, tjenestepige project
Small project, small item, a short blog entry: I give you the tiniest project of 2021.
A part of the bigger project based on the picture of a Copenhagen maidservant c. 1810, this time I tried to at least approximate the shawl she's wearing. Long story short; this is not my final attempt, but a very useful step on the way.
In the print I have the shawl (of fichu, depending on how you interpretate it) looks either yellow or a ochre-ish yellow. I can't wear yellow at all*, it picks up on my yellowish skintones and makes me look either deathly pale or like I suffer from some kind of liver related condition. Instead I looked for something tending towards a light brown, which is a lot better. I found a checked scrap of fabric in the quilting fabric pile of my local sewing supply shop. I try to buy from them whenever I can, but they very rarely carry fabric I can use** - so I was happy to find something other than buttons, thread, ribbons and trim to buy!
The original seems to be fairly long and narrow, worn across the back of the neck, crossed in front and (my guess) tied or pinned in the back:
Tjenestepige (maidservant) by Johannes Senn and G.L. Lahde. Danish, Ca. 1810. From “Klædedragter i København” (Clothing of Copenhagen), detail.
I didn't have much fabric, just a tiny rectangle, approximately 30 cm long and 100 cm wide. Unfortunately it also had a slightly flannel*** like structure with a distinct right and wrong side, so I had to do a bit of piecing to make it into a very wide-based triangle. So one joining seam halfway down each side, and then hemming the hole thing, and then: done! Tiny project.
The finished result. As you can see, it is not long enough and can just barely be pinned together in the back and then it's not draping properly across the bust. Next time I will make it slightly wider at the "point" and quite a bit longer.
The facts:
How it fits the challenge: It is tiny. It was also a small, quick project. The material was purchased from a small business.
Material: Cotton flannel.
Pattern: None
Year: Late 18th-early 19th century
Material: Cotton flannel.
Pattern: None
Year: Late 18th-early 19th century
Notions: Left-over thread from other projects.
How historically accurate is it? It doesn't look to awful from six feet away, but I'm afraid the actual accuracy is perhaps 40% - the overall look is ok, but most actual things (fabric, thread, probably the shape) is more or less missing the mark.
Hours to complete: A few, less than an evening.
First worn: The larp The Austen Experience, mid December 2021
Total cost: Less than 5 euros.
How historically accurate is it? It doesn't look to awful from six feet away, but I'm afraid the actual accuracy is perhaps 40% - the overall look is ok, but most actual things (fabric, thread, probably the shape) is more or less missing the mark.
Hours to complete: A few, less than an evening.
First worn: The larp The Austen Experience, mid December 2021
Total cost: Less than 5 euros.
*Which is a shame. I love many shades of yellow and would love to be able to pull off a yellow dress - preferrably a warm, ochre shade.
**For good reasons, I should add: what I like fabric wise is sold mostly by specialists catering to our special brand of crazy for a reason. If you want to survive as a fabric retailer in Växjö, high quality wools and linen is really not feasible.
***No HA points there...
