HSF '14: #16 Terminology: "Guimpe"

Friends, I have a confession. I feel like I cheated a bit with this challenge. There, I said it. I cheated.

This was another challenge where I had lots of ideas - I could make jumps, or work on some stays, or make something out of one of the many types of cloth listed in the glossary. Then I thought, but what about specific terms that aren't listed but are definitely historical terms, like bustles, or a habit shirt? But no - the challenge is quite clear that the item must come from the glossary. Hmm. What to do?

Guimpe caught my eye. From the glossary: A short blouse to be worn under a jumper, or a fill for a low cut dress. Similar to a dickey or chemisette. And then I looked it up on Google. From Wikipedia: From the early nineteenth century onwards, the term guimpe also described a form of short under-blouse or chemisette which was worn under a pinafore or low cut dress to fill in the neckline and, if sleeved, cover the arms. (Though if you look up the source linked with the quote, it's greatly paraphrased. The magic of Wikipedia...)

Further from Google, if you search guimpe in images, there are a few chemisette-like items listed as guimpes, and it seems to be a French term as the blogs that have these items are French. And while many are very sheer, a few are not, and that is good enough for me :D

I whipped this up EXTREMELY quickly. It was about 2pm on the same day I was leaving town for my sister's wedding. I was expecting my friend to arrive at 4, and my dad shortly after. That should be enough time to quickly make a chemisette, I thought, and still have time to shower. I put my fabric and pattern out and ripped and snipped and serged and stitched. Yep, it's 95% machine sewn and finished. I wanted it to be able to wear it with my new paisley dress for the pictures! I didn't hem the ruffle because I figured I could sew it in the car. I ended up leaving it ripped until I decided on the item I wanted to make for this challenge. I quite liked the fuzzy edges and the soft look it had in the light. Then it was just a matter of rolling the hem down (after giving the edge a "trim") and stitching. Et voila!

My biggest lesson learned from this is PRESS YOUR FABRIC before you lay out or cut patterns! Even though I had this folded nicely in my fabric bin, the end I cut from was a little "crunchy", which I ignored because I was in a hurry. It ended up being quite crooked and one shoulder is a lot narrower than the other. I really love how this looks with the entire ensemble and I will definitely be making more :)

The Challenge: #16 Terminology
Fabric: 100% linen
Pattern: La Mode Bagatelle
Year: 1810s-ish
Notions: thread, a metre or so of cording
How historically accurate is it?: Rather debatable. Most of the guimpes a Google image search turned up were quite sheer. Thoroughly modern construction.
Hours to complete: 2
First worn: August 2
Total cost: $5, perhaps. The linen was about half a yard ($4), and the cording was perhaps $1.

Closes with a single pin.
Serged seam under the ruffle to leave a smooth edge at the neck.