2024-05: Gown 2.0
Kategori: Allmänt, Historic Sew Montly 24, Remakes, Renaissance, Stashbusting
For 2024 I had a goal (which I no doubt will carry into 2025) of buying as little (new) fabric as possible. Partly, of course, since clothes and fabrics are a Big Part of my everyday environmental impact and/or carbon footprint and historical clothes falls firmly into the non-essential category. But truth be told I should not get on my high horse just yet, since I have bought a lot of fabric over the years for projects that didn't quite come to be and my fabric stash is bursting at the seams.
Historical wardrobes tend to grow rather uncontrollably. The pandemic also brought some shrinking moths and I have sold off a few things that have had their lives with me and needs to go on new adventures. I also vow, in general, to fix that thing that bothers me with a garment rather than starting over. I can't say that's my favourite process when it comes to sewing BUT the dopamine fix when a project is remade into something better more than makes up for it.
This is such a project. In 2013 I needed something warm for a larp. Even in summer, late evenings and nights get cold after all. I dug out a blue wool which I picked up at an estate auction in 2009 and a black one from I don't remember where, with the intention of making a garment which could be worn either way. The inspiration was this gown from Patterns of Fashion:
A coat for a man, but then again it was for a larp and I kind of have a soft spot for the subtle cross-dressing/borrowing your boyfriend's shirt look.
Then a few things happened. The first was a bit of fabric constraints, so the pleating at the back couldn't quite be done. The second was time constraints (all you larp and event people know what I am talking about). The third was that this was my somewhat early sewing days and definately my very early piecing days, so I totally misunderstood the layout for the added piece in the side (see the left view in the picture above, where the seam is clearly drawn in a very helpful way). I read it as a gore rather than a piecing.
As you can see, the end result was a FAR cry from the inspiration. The sleeves are closed, the collar is different, there is a closure - all in all it looks a lot more like a loose woman's gown (if it looks like anything at all). And the side "gore" starts somewhere a bit below the hip bone, rather than flaring out from under the arm.
A close-up of the biggest problem: the garment falls straight down and then the too short gore flares out weirdly.
So, what to do? Basically, I took it apart entirely. The first step was to separate the outer fabric from the lining, both to be able to make adjustments but also since I wanted a bit more drape.
Lots and lots of seam ripping.
Then I ripped out the gore, used some scraps (which I was wise enough to save when I first realised my construction mistake) to elongate the bottom end of the gore and moved the whole thing upwards. This was made easier by that the original gown had side seams with slits/openings at the bottom, so that I had to piece the gores was more of a help than a problem.
Constructing and inserting the new gore: the old one is the part to the top left of the picture, new pieces to the lower right. Sorry about my less-than-elegant ironing board, will make a new cover any of these days - if only more fun projects didn't get in the way!
After that, I really needed to decide on a new lining. Ideally I was looking for something not too thick and sturdy, but on the other hand I wasn't very inclined to cut into NEW fabric for such a risky project as this, with no guarantee of success. So instead I opted to cut into a pair of old cotton velvet curtains - horribly bleached by the sun and only kept for possible use as a lining.
This, reader, is my go-to process for lining: this garment is fairly geometrical in its construction, so I could cut the pieces by measuring top, bottom and length and then wing it. I then attach it as above; by making the top fabric as flat as possible, placing the lining on top and turning seam allowances under, pin it and attach by hand, smoothing it out and checking the fit as a I go. It is not perfect but it actually works surprisingly well. I tried to put the pieces of lining so that the absolute worst of the bleached lines would at least not be just inside the open front.
The original is lined with a kind of fur-looking silk. That, I obviously didn't have. Again, though I was browsing fake fur (which is getting better, apparently!) I was not in a mood to buy stuff for this project and, tbh, did not have the time to wait for a fabric order to arrive - because I was late for an event again. Instead I found the next best thing, i.e. a spare piece of dark blue broadcloth. I added wings to the armholes (mostly using the measurements from the original pattern) and added trim - more about ALL THE TRIM in a later post.
The end result. Or rather the next-to-end result. The collar is still pinned down to coax it into shape and apparently I forgot to take a picture of the gown after I was entirely done attaching the lining. There was also trim later, but this is a two-part project and I have no pictures of this stage with the trim.
Back view. No pleats, sadly, as the fabric hadn't grown in storage. This photo shows the actual colour a lot better than the WIP photos, and though it (afaik) is not a period appropriate colour I like it.
What about the sleeves, I hear you ask? Well, there is another challenge this year for sleeves and they really were a project in themselves. So stay tuned for part two.
The details:
What the item is: A 17th century loose gown.
How it fits the challenge: It's a remake of an old project.
Material: Wool, cotton velvet
Pattern: Adapted from Patterns of Fashion
Year: Not later than 1615
Notions: Scraps of broadcloth-ish wool, polyester thread, synthetic trim
How historically accurate is it? Well, it's a lot better now but with all the changes in materials and construction mistakes I'd say that 70% is being kind.
Hours to complete: As usual I was bad at counting, but I'd say "too many".
First worn: July 2024
Total cost: Hard question... I can't remember what I paid for the outer fabric, but no more than 15 euros. I coun't the velvet curtains as zero, since the only other option would have been to throw them away (that is, the original cost was for curtains, not this garment). Some notions and trim - say 20 euros in total. If the cost of the original garment is deducted, less than 5 euros.
