Period Correct MY ASS

Sorry about that but I'm about to vent my spleen.  For some reason tonight the CRAP that I see listed in Ebay  as PERIOD CORRECT has burnt my butt.  WTF.  Okay, okay.  I know Ebay is not really a place you should go looking for period correct stuff, and I actually bought a domain name and hosting to start a new web site where people like me, who make period correct stuff, can list their new or used items for sale.  But again WTF?!

When I make something that isn't period perfect I say so.  When the inside seams are done in a modern fashion, guess what folks, I say so!  If I can't document trim I don't use it.  I don't use lace on my gowns because I am not going to put some cheap f.....g piece of poly ugliness on my work.  Yet there are those out there who will and then say it's period correct. Okay- you bought a good pattern.  But since when is poly taffeta period correct?  Since when, for the love of God will someone tell me, poly ribbons and poly lace period correct?

If you want to sell your stuff say it is period close but not period correct.  Or how about "My dress is period correct in style but with modern materials since real silk is expensive and who would plunk down that kind of money for it over an auction?"  Would that be too much to ask?!

I'm not saying I am the period correct Czar, and I do not profess to say I am the end all and be all of all 18th century gown construction. I admit to using my sewing machine and using modern interior construction methods (but I say so up front) and I have made mistakes and will continue to do so. But geez, is it asking too much to at least check if the print is correct before saying it is period correct?!  LISTEN WHEN I SAY- Cabbage Roses are NOT or ever will be PERIOD CORRECT!

And what about those out there that will list a gown as Colonial Victorian Civil War Prom Dress?  Okay, which one is it?  Can't make up your mind?  Or, as I've been told by one of them "My style does not follow any set tiime period." HAHAHAHAHA. Okay.

Let it go....just let it go.

Oranges In Paper

I'm a Dutch girl at heart.  Give me a Pieter de Hooch or a Frans Hals and I'm a happy girl.  I got to see Vermeer's the Milk Maid and stood there enthralled by sheer cleanness of the sunlight falling onto her headpiece.  If it shows everyday life or, even better, a still life of food, I become like a groupie following a band; I'll stand there for what seems (to everyone else with me) for a good deal of time drinking in the beauty of it all. When in Paris in September I got to see a lovely exhibit at the Jacquemart-Andre Museum.  There were all the other tourists, crowding around in huge clumps from painting to painting.  There was me pushing through the crowd with my notebook writing things like "strawberries, melons, quinces, gown has yellow fur trim...." you get the picture.   

Being an 18th century gal I understand that life was not so rosy or great in the 'good old days.' So what is it about these that captivate me so?  It is the excess of it all- the tables laden with food, the silver, the luminesent glassware. It's the gold of the peaches, the ruby red of the currants, the glimmer off the glass.  Do I think that everyone in 17th century Holland had that much food?  No, but what a wonder that someone thought that food, or a maid washing dishes, or a man handing off a letter, was worthy of remembering.  

It was shocking to me then, when I walked into the de Young Museum in San Francisco to see a painting that caught my attention to the point of obsession. And guess what? It wasn't even 17th century nor from Holland.  The artists name is William Joseph McCloskey, and the painting title "Oranges in Tissue Paper, Ca 1890." Wow.  It is as simple as the title:  a bunch of oranges wrapped in paper laying on a table.  I could smell them, I swear to you.  The paper looked as if it were made from real paper, not just pigment on canvas. I could see each of those oranges, deemed precious enough to wrap in paper for their voyage to who knows where, being wrapped by hand.  I could hear the paper crinkle.  Simple. Lovely. and Worthy of preservation.

 

I also got to see some of the ugliest stawberries in a painting I'd ever seen.  They actually gave me the creeps.  Shame on  you Severin Roesen. 

Trim

The pink dress is in the collection of the Colonial Williamsburg foundation. It is a pale pink silk dating to the 1770's. The photo on the left is the original gown which was in one of the drawers in the current quilted garment collections. Once a month they open the drawers and let you look at the garments up close and personal. This gown was also on display when they had the exhibit "What Close Reveal" but I didn't have a digital camera back then. Bummer. The one on the right is a modern reproduction of the gown made by Janea Whitaker (sorry if I've spelt it incorrectly), from the Millinery shop at Colonial Williamsburg.

Many of the work gowns I make (and wear) are devoid of any trim since they are plain linen, made to used as working garments, not fashion statements. But who doesn't like a little dressing up, even on an every day basis? Typically one does not see trim around the top neck line of a gown so this simple trim caught my eye.

To make it I began by ironing the fabric. I then decided that I would make the trim 2" in width. The size of your trim should be in proportion to your gown and the pattern on your gown. To make it an inch was too small, got lost in the print, but 3 inches was too big. Plus the ruler I was using was 2 inches in width…nice when a plan comes together.

I then cut strips of fabric using a scalloped edge rotary cutter. Though it looks like it is pinked it is actually a scalloped edge. This is period appropriate and works get if you can find one. I got mine at a fabric store where I also found a scissor with a scalloped edge. The difference between using the two is that the rotary cutter works faster when you are cutting strips of the same width and length of fabric. The scissor tends to move the fabric when you are trying to cut flat and straight.


Once I cut the strips out I then joined them together using a sewing machine. No need to finish the edges since it will be held flat against the gown and normally you tuck them under when you come to them but more on that later.

I then ironed the strips into an inverted box pleat- my favorite way to trim. Not only does it look nice it is historically correct. You can use a ruler to make sure that each pleat is the same width and the same distance apart. I've done so many of them that I can do it now without the ruler, the same with pleating the skirts onto the bodice.

They look accordion like when finished.

Starting at the front edge, pin the trim onto the neckline of the gown. I use two pins per pleat. This holds them securely into place, especially as you go around the curved areas. Remember to fold under the unfinished edge so that is tacked down. This way it will not fray and looks clean. Continue to pin the trim into place all the way around. Cut the strip if need be and tuck under the raw edge.

I tacked them into place by sewing them in the center of each pleat. Beginning with the first one I simple sewed through the center, making sure to bring the needle up and down in the same holes. I then ran the thread through the lining on the inside of the garment. This is to make sure the thread does not get caught or break and it makes the trim more secure.

I sewed the trim all the way around to the front and viola! Lovely simple box pleated trim. I also did the same trim for the sleeve edges.

Trimming a Gown

I know I said I was going to talk about the painting but I thought since I just had to re-do the gown on my last few postings I'd continue with that. It's my sewing room's fault. No, really.

Okay, I have to confess. I have a sewing room all to myself which is cool except you sometimes can't see the floor. It's a small room but with way too much fabric and stuff, and did I mention the dolls? Hundreds of them. They are all loved and I wouldn't sell any of them except I can't move in that room most of the time.

So every once in awhile I clean it up and when I do I find the most wonderful things. Like the cream and red floral gown that I was working on. Lovely isn't it? I thought so too until I put it on the dress dummy and thought "hmmm, something is not quite right." I then put it on and guess what? See where the skirts attach to the bodice? Are you wondering WHY the skirts are so far back? Me too. And then I remembered. This was suppose to be a jacket with a full short skirt now a gown! That's what happens when you start a project, it gets lost for two months and then when you find it you forgot what the plan was.

Now, I could have just worn it that way, with the skirts towards the back. My new love is the 1780+, all those lovely transitional gowns. Skirts headed towards the back at that time but the print...not quite right for that.

What's a girl to do? You got it. I opened the bodice up, removed the skirts, made them come closer towards the front bodice closure, re-sewed everything back into place, finished the trim and viola! Ready for the hem tomorrow.

The trim is a simple reversed box pleat that I put around the neck line and the edges of the sleeves. I based it off an original in the Colonial Williamsburg collection. It is a lovely pink silk that I've gotten to see several times over the past few years, up close and personal. The ladies in the milliners actually made a copy of it as well. Got to hold that one.

Anyway,to make the trim I used a rotary cutter with a scalloped edge. Fiskar also has a scissor that will do the same edge. I'd love to have a pinking iron but have yet to find one that actually works well. (if anyone knows of someone who makes them let me know). It works well on cotton and on silk, even linen if you press hard enough.  With the silk though I use fray check.  I know, it's not period, but when you spend that much money on fabric why in the world would you want it to fray into ugly strings?

Tomorrow I'll post the instructions and the photo. Right now I have to go get rid of these hiccups.

Harder than I Thought

Did you all see that movie "Julie and Julia"? I really enjoyed it, but mostly because I'm a huge foodie and my daughter went to the same school as Julia Child. But man, do I have to give that woman credit. Not only did she cook that entire book, she wrote a blog every day! This is harder than I thought. Not that I don't like doing this, I really enjoy it. I've got so much stuff I want to post, and I do think about it. It's just things get in the way. Laundry. Yep, laundry gets in the way. Cooking too. Oh and the cats. Yep, them too.

But in reality its me getting in my own way. So, instead of me trying to post every single day I've opted to be kind to myself and set a goal of three times a week.

So, after I post my latest creation for sale on Ebay I'll be back to talk about the most beautiful painting I've ever seen, show you how to put trim on a gown and talk about patterns.

Chow.

Roots and Redwoods

You know, it is so much easier to blog in your head. I mean, the whole time I was away in California I blogged in my head. I'd be looking at Amish quilts or 17th century Dutch paintings I had a running blog dialog going on in my head.Alas and alack, th ey did not make it onto the computer but they are still in my head none the less.

San Francisco, for those who've never been, is a lovely city in comparison to a lot out there. The streets are bigger, it's cleaner, the transportation system can't be beat period. There is less traffic (thanks to the transportation systems one would think). Every place I ate was amazing, including an artichoke and onion soup at the De Young museum. It even beat Paris as far as meals go. The people are eclectic to say the least, and the ethnic neighborhoods actually felt like, well,neighborhoods. And, DAMN,those redwood trees are tall!

Yet I came away with a feeling of disconnect that I haven't ever felt in any other city before. It lacked warmth- I don't mean physically as it was warm whilst I was there. It was something else that I can't quite put my finger on. Lack of 18th century history? Maybe, though the town of Sonoma had enough history to please even me. Lack of passion? No, I saw passion at the Fat Chance studio.
Lack of....lack of what? I'm thinking it was lack of roots. My roots are here with my family, my friends, my co-workers, my troupe. I don't think I really appreciated my roots, my connectedness to others in my life until this trip. I've come back happy to be here, happy I went, happy to go again knowing that my roots are here when I get home.

More later on the de Young.....

California, Here I Come

I like to think of myself as a well heeled traveler, but I’m not really. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’ve been lots of places. But in the scheme of the world I really haven’t. For instance I was only in California once for about 24 hours. Most of what I remember was how beautiful the water was and how freaking cold! I remember the harbor seals barking at Fisherman’s Wharf at midnight, and this ubber creepy wax museum with a Sleeping Beauty that was breathing. I kid you not. Her chest was going up and down like she was breathing. I can’t wait to go back! So I am off tomorrow to California to do some sightseeing and take some classes with Fat Chance Belly Dance. Yep, not only do I live this strange 18th century life I also belly dance. But before you get visions of I dream of Genie costumes in your head or think of all those lovely ladies in those itty bitty costumes let me say that is not what I do. I dance ATS Tribal which stands for American Tribal Style. It is an improvisational style that is more earthy and grounded and lovely. It celebrates the beauty of a woman’s body and her mind and her soul. I love it. I have now passed the first level of certification for FCBD, General Skills. Next up is Teacher 1. But I’m not sure how long my body will put up with the rigors of the dance. Believe it or not it is a lot of work. And at my age things get swollen and stiff much easier than before. So, should I give up? Stick to knitting those doll shawls? Hell no. I’m going to dance till I die. So here’s to all those older gals like me that go out and kick ass when they dance. May we be dancing at our great grandchildren’s weddings! Wish me luck…..