HSM'15: #1: Foundations: A Corded Petticoat

I'm not really sure why I decided to make a corded petticoat. Three or four weeks ago, I might have been able to articulate it, but now, I don't remember. I guess I'd seen a few around the internet, and I loved the shape they give, so soft and lovely. And really, easier to store than a set of hoops.

So, after a bunch of research, I pulled out some fabric and random acrylic yarn and got to work. I would have preferred cotton yarn, but I'm still trying to sort my finances out after purchasing the car, and non-essential purchases are pretty much off the table for now (this will also make this session of belly dance classes very interesting since we're doing prop-work :D). But that's exciting in its own way, using only things I have on hand. We'll see how creative I manage to get with what I have :D

Front, over the 18th century bum roll.

At any rate, I had my heart set on a corded petticoat for the first HSM challenge this year. I googled "corded petticoat", which brings up lots of images, a few originals and lots of reproductions. There's a guide on ElizabethanCostuming.net, and I was completely inspired by Gina's lovely example, and it served as the basis of my "pattern".

Back, over the bum roll.

The petticoat is just two widths of fabric sewn together at the selvedges. I measured it to a finished length of about 30", with the length of the corded panel about 18". Some of the panel length was lost to off-grain fabric and of course the cording itself. The final length of the cording is 14.5", and there are 39 rows.

I debated for a couple of hours about whether to add another panel to keep cording, but then I found a list on Jennifer Rosburgh's old site with a chart of extant petticoats and the various lengths, widths, and rows of cording. I decided that 39 rows in 14.5" was plenty, and I could attach the waistband. I can always add the extra panel and more cording in the future if I decide to.

I'd also decided that I would starch the petticoat if I needed to. It was hard to judge how well the acrylic yarn would work out when the petticoat was a giant flat panel, but once I had the waistband on and could see how it looked, I was both startled and thrilled. It looked AWESOME! The cording providing so much stiffness and floof. I currently only have other time periods for undergarments, so it's shown here over an 18th century bum roll, an 1880s petticoat and an 1870s skirt.

Front, with bum roll, 1880s petticoat, and 1870s underskirt.

Back, with bum roll, 1880s petticoat, and 1870s underskirt.

I currently have it on Josephine (the dress mannequin) without the bum roll, but still in the skirts, which have a lovely A-line shape. I am just thrilled that it's done and how wonderful it looks, even without extra floof and no starching. Thrilled!

The Challenge: #1 Foundations
Fabric: poly-cotton broadcloth, acrylic yarn
Pattern: gleaned from the internet
Year: mid-1800s
Notions: a looooot of thread (I went through three bobbins-full)
How historically accurate is it?: The shape is wonderful! The materials are not accurate at all.
Hours to complete: SOOOOO MANY. Each row took 10 minutes, x39 rows... probably 8 hours of straight work.
First worn: Not yet.
Total cost: Free-to-me (all stash and also gifted items), but new materials would run in the $25 range

HSF '14: 19: Inspiration

The theme for the 19th challenge of the year is Inspiration: "One of the best things about the HSF is seeing what everyone else creates, and using it to spark your own creativity. Be inspired by one of the challengers item from HSF ’13 or HSF challenges 1-18 to make your own fabulous item." (Facebook)

While I didn't intend to make this item for a challenge, it happens to fit in quite nicely. I am submitting my quickie-"Candy Stripe" bustle :D

Version 2

I started going through the Facebook albums for inspiration. There are so many amazing things that people have been making and posting, it's been such a pleasure to take part in the challenge, even if I have been quite rubbish at making and posting my own items. Even just to see what everyone comes up with, it's been a wonderful 1.75 years! (Almost 2 years already?!) September was, as I'm sure you're aware from my previous posts, a giant time-suck, and I got precisely nothing done on the challenges due that month. October is a very short month, and then in November I will be writing a novel, so if I manage to get any sewing done, it will have to be small. The rest of the year is not looking particularly hopeful for challenge completions.

Then, as I was going through the albums, I remembered some lovely pieces, and sought them out specifically. In particular, there was two from Asa:

Lobster bustle (Photoshoot)
Mini-lobster bustle

and one from Michelle L:

Star Trek Lobster bustle

And not specifically from an HSF participant, or even made in these past 2 years, but an inspiration nonetheless:

Katherine's lobster bustle

The night before the train excursion, I knew I needed a second bustle since I would need to lend one to my sister. I toyed with the idea of a pillow or pad, and eventually settled on making a mini-lobster. I'd wanted to make one for awhile, and also try out some of the leftover tubing from my farthingale to see how it would hold up.

Spoiler: it holds up very well!

Adventures in: Corsetry (The Real Thing via A Very Long Post) & HSF'14 #2: Innovation

I had a moment of AAAHHH!! (as usual...) when it came time to start on the real thing. I had two choices of fabric: some white mystery fabric that is fantabulous for corsetry - no obvious weave, but just as sturdy and non-stretchy as coutil; or some black coutil my mum gave me in the Epic Fabric Haul. I didn't want to "waste" the coutil. I thought I had seen the white fabric recently, and I should have just enough left to make a corset. Plus, white goes with EVERYTHING! But when I went to retrieve it, it was hiding, and I couldn't find it. So, black coutil it would be.

Besides, I was probably panicking about the "waste" the same way I panicked over the pink Georgian dress I made earlier this year. I have a lot more mad skillz now than I did the first time I made a corset. Besides, a single-layer corset, like this one, only takes half a yard. I have enough for another corset :) (I might try a straight-seamed corset after all, but first I have to find the first mock-up I made 7 years ago and rescue the busk!)

Fronts only.

I wanted to construct this one a little more "professionally". Because I planned on topstitching the gussets in place like I did on the mock-up, first I had to open them, press back their seams, and then I used embroidery floss to overcast the points and corners. These will be weak spots where the fabric is stitched very close to the edge. Right away, I decided on a bright green to go with my thread. How fun is bright green on black?! It's not especially even (not to mention, my greens are totally different colours), but I don't mind. I don't plan on wearing it by itself, and I think people would be more stunned that I made it instead of buying it that they'll forgive a little lopsided stitching ;)

Why make a corset look pretty if no one is going to see it? I wouldn't say that no one is going to see it, per se... I just don't plan on wearing it as a fashion layer.

All of the seams are flat-felled for a clean finish :) Blinding flash included to show a little more detail lol.

Then came the scariest part, inserting the busk. Ooooh... Right way up this time! It's actually a lot easier than one might think, mostly I was scared of hitting the edge and breaking the needle. I had visions of it flying into my eye. This is why it's recommended to wear safety goggles! Luckily, I didn't break the needle and my eye is safe for another day. Hooray!

Setting the eyelets took the longest, partly because I now live on the second floor of an apartment building, and I didn't want to annoy my neighbours by hammering in a bazillion grommets. I took my backs (still separate from the fronts) to my friend's house and set them in her basement.

Then it was time to attach front and back, and give it another quick try-on. And then... they languished. For another 6 weeks. While I waffled on what kind of boning I wanted to use. I kinda remember this because I set all the grommets right before my last dance recital on April 13th, so it'd been sitting nearly as long. Whoops. Finally, this weekend I decided that enough was enough, and just finish the thing! (Also because I wanted to work on a costume that I didn't have nearly as many supplies as I needed, and then I wanted to work on a Victorian bodice and hey, I should really finish that corset...) I decided to go with the cable ties after all. I can always pull them out later if I change my mind. The other beautiful thing about this corset is that it is so lightly boned :)

And then we get to... the reason behind the name of my blog. A number of years ago I made a costume that I decided to bind. It was the first time I'd used bias tape as binding, and I announced to my roomies the night I started that I was off to have adventures with bias tape. It was quite an experience that I've never fully recovered from LOL. Now I think of "adventures with bias tape" every time I pull it out to sew with it again.

I have a number of packets of bias tape, and I waffled on which one to use while I sewed up the last few seams (flat-felling the side seams and finishing the short channels at the back). I had nothing that would work with bright green, and the only blacks I had were either single fold or wide quilt binding. I should just make some, I thought, but what black fabric did I have that I could use? In the end, I used the wide quilt binding cut in half lengthwise. It was almost 4" wide folded out! I don't really need pre-pressed binding anyway, and the centre fold became (more or less) the edge of my fabric. I started with the bottom, sewing it to the back first, then folding it around to the front and stitching it down. I decided to use black thread to keep more focus on the up-and-down lines.

Then it was time to put in the boning. This was both extra-complicated and really really easy. The really really easy ones were the channels that were wide enough to just slip 3/8" boning straight into, easy as pie. The extra-complicated ones were the centre back, on the outside (corset) edges of the grommets. My channels ended up being exactly 3/8" wide, when the cable ties, which are thick, need 1/2". Yikes. I fought my way through it anyway, and it took FOR-EV-ER. I even restitched the edge of one channel to make it easier, and I still ended up pulling some stitches in the tight spots. I eventually resorted to being able to getting a little fabric bunched up along the tie, put the encased end under my heel, put pressure on it, grabbed the top of the fabric and pulled. It took like, 45 minutes just to do those two channels. Yikes. Make sure you leave enough room in your channels!

But once that was done, I was very excited! I wanted to try it on again before binding the top to make absolutely sure! This would be my last chance to make any changes. So back in went the lacing, and then I tried it on. And I just realized how utterly dusty my mirror is. Eep.

Oooh lookit that waist!

Oooh lookit that... Well, you can see how much the front sticks out. Silly belly.

Uneven lacing :/

I was super excited. The waist is a little tight, but when I measured it, it's tighter than I normally lace anyway. I would definitely even up the back if I was going to wear it for more than a few minutes, naturally. But overall, I was pleased. There is a top-to-bottom bone near the side that I was a little concerned about, but it sits on the outside of the hip and should not aggravate my injury. I tried a skirt on, and even though the front sticks out really far, it's not very noticeable when dressed and should be nearly invisible with a petticoat or two. I do want to try hand-bending the bottom of the busk inward, as well, but this is fine for now. I was really pleased with the lift and roundness of my "girls". I am really excited in the near future to give this bad boy a "real" run, and wear it for several hours!

When I took it off, I thought, maybe I will take a break for a bit and then finish up. But self, I said, all you have to do is bind the tops. Literally. That's it. And they're about the same length as the bottoms, it won't take hardly any time at all. For once, I listened to that little voice and I sat down to bind the top. It really felt like, for several harrowing minutes, that this would be the moment where everything went wrong. The bottom binding had been easy, but that was probably thanks in part to being unboned at that moment. There were bones in place now. Some of them were dangerously close to the edges, having crept up during the trying-on, and hard to push down thanks to the narrow channels. The only thing that went really wrong was cutting the binding a bit too short, and stabbing myself with a pin. And once I pulled the last of it through the machine and cleaned up all the threads, I was overjoyed. All I need to do now is lace it again, and just wear it. It's done. It's totally, 100% done. DONE. What a great feeling!!

Since I've not been terribly concerned with lateness so far, and this was meant to be my #2 challenge anyway, here's the HSF info :)

The Challenge: #2: Innovation (due Feb 1/14)
The Innovation: 2 part separating busk
Fabric: 100% cotton coutil
Pattern: Simplicity 2890
Year: 1860ish
Notions: thread, floss, bias binding, busk, 2-part grommets, heavy-duty cable ties.
How historically accurate is it? In shape, and hardware. Fabric is iffy, poly thread and floss and binding deeeefinitely not.
Hours to complete: Uhm... a lot, and yet, not so many. Maybe 12 hours?
First worn: Not yet.
Total cost: The busk cost roughly $10-12, the coutil was given to me (but I know it was $25/yrd, and I used 1/2 yard), and the rest came from the stash. The project cost in the $30-40 range, but the total cost to me was more like $15.

I didn't do like, any research on busks that was worth sharing. What I do know is that up until the 1830s, corsets were generally closed-fronts with a wooden busk down the front. The separating busks appears on museum corsets in the 1850s or so, and is still the standard in use today. It's an especial boon for those of us who tend to live and costume alone, as it makes getting dressed much much easier!

Adventures in: Corsetry (The Mock-Up)

I knew this time that making a mock-up was essential. It's not my favourite thing to do, but it really is an important step, especially for such an important garment. I want this to be as comfortable as my regular clothes.

One final bit of history: As I was browsing blogs one day, I had an epiphany. I was reading Quinn's post on her new corset, she referenced one of Merja's corsets. Merja's is so stunning (all of her work is!), but especially in the idea that only the waist is compressed, and the corset shape (and gussets) allow for the body to be moved into its new positions. And then I realized, that while the boning patterns are different on each one, there was no boning over the back of the hip. That is where the fit of my previous corsets was the worst, and this realization was like a lightning bolt. I eagerly searched museum collections for period corsets with gores and boning patterns similar to these, and that was when I decided to give gusseted corsets another try.

Before the bedbug spray in February, I was going to use the scaled pattern from Fashions of the Gilded Age Vol. 1. I'd drafted the pattern and made a mock-up already, but when I went to find the pieces last week, I could only find the back. I knew the pieces had ended up in different places, but I thought I knew where most of them were, and they'd all disappeared. But it was a very similar shape to Simplicity 2890, so I thought I could lengthen the pieces an inch and a half or so and see how it worked. I decided on the inch and a half measurement by using the appropriate scale from Fashions, and comparing it to my busk length. It was a good length for that busk, so I went with it.

The back is... pretty close, actually.

With the extra length added on, 1.5" in front, 1" in back.

I decided to follow the steps given in the instructions at least for now, and see how I liked them. The very second step wants you to put the gussets in right sides together and then somehow turning it out? I hate doing gussets like that. I tried it on the first mock-up and it was awful. Instead, I turned the seam allowances back on the corset body along the marked lines, then marked the seam lines onto the gussets, and top stitched them in place. Much easier. Check out Merja's corset link above for another way to do lapped seams. I skipped flat-felling for now.

Marking the seam allowance.

Folded to the right side because it was the easiest.
The final version will have flat-felled seams on the inside.

Pinned...

And top-stitched! Much easier :)

After that I decided to construct it very differently from the instructions. I applied bias tape in place of bone casing. I put the busk into place (upside down!) while the fronts and backs were still separate. I did the back next, using a selvedge edge in place of turning the facing under and creating a casing for the second bone. Then I did the side seams, and finally punched holes for the eyelets. I was going to set one-piece eyelets into place but my test one didn't turn out, so I said "meh" and just left the hole edges raw. Finally, it was time to lace it up and try it on!

Not bad, not bad at all :) There was a lot of weirdness happening with the boning, for numerous reasons. First, I used large zip ties. Most of these are in the uncut 36" length. It came coiled up, and I think putting the curl outwards helped collapse the fabric around my waist. Second, I had stitched across the bottoms of most of the channels to avoid having to cut the threads and start new seams. Bad idea. For the second mock-up, I opened those up, and turned the boning so the curl went inwards instead and pushed them to the tops of the channels so that all the excess curled around my legs instead. I left more of the full-body picture in the back version so you can see how short this thing is! I added all the extra to the bottom since I have a petite bust point, and the corset supports the ladies well enough that I didn't feel it necessary to raise the back. I also have it sitting a little low here; after taking these pics, I hiked it a bit higher and found it more comfortable, but of course I forgot to take a picture of that too.

Now, I want to talk about the side profile:

I drew in a couple lines to help show it better. The top, short line is the side seam of my camisole (more or less at the side of my body). The longer line is the rather dramatic curve of the side seam. It sits right at my side around the chest, and as it gets to my waist and belly, it pulls far forward. You can also see how the point of the corset sits nowhere CLOSE to my body (thanks, family genetics!), but this should be fine for sitting down. I tested it at this stage, sitting down on the couch. The point goes into the gap at the top of my lap and it shouldn't dig into my legs at any point. I also want to attempt to force the busk to curl a bit more inwards, but since I installed this upside down, I didn't attempt it. I neglected to take pictures of the second fitting but I added a triangular insert at the side, with the straighter side of the triangle facing the back so that the "meat" of the triangle was at the front. That helped with some of the wrinkling at the waist, which I think will be further alleviated with a better material.

I was really excited to try out cable ties as a boning alternative, but I'm not convinced that THESE cable ties are the right ones. The first set I bought came in a straight package so they weren't all curly, but those weren't available when I bought the new ones. I think I definitely want to put steel in at the lacing so maybe some curly bones wouldn't be so bad in the non-essential seams? Or maybe try the store with the non-coiled ties again and get more? I have some time to ponder that, as getting steel bones will require either ordering some (early May at best), or raiding them out of the Corset Story corset (potential length issues).

Next up: The real corset!

Adventures in: Corsetry (A Personal History)

Corsetry is something I have always struggled with. The very first time I attempted a real historical outfit (waaaaaaaay back in 2003), I hadn't quite latched on to the notion that one needs proper undergarments. I did make a half-hearted attempt at it, buying a modern waist cincher from a lingerie store, full of spandex and plastic boning. This was also at a time when I thought $2/m broadcloth was a perfectly acceptable fabric to use as an outer layer. The only day I wore it out it was freeze-your-Winnebago cold, and no pictures exist of it that I'm aware of. I think I am glad!

A year or two later, I started making my first real corset. I made it more to say I did. I used the now-out-of-print Simplicity 7215, a gusseted corset. I would not recommend this type of corset for a beginner. I started making it with some mystery polyester, but ended up having to put it on hold for a long time until I could get a busk and boning and other sundries. It was 2005 or so when I finally was able to order a kit from Farthingales with the pieces I needed. I watched a lot of football (Canadian football runs until the end of November). I was very glad I lived in a basement apartment with a concrete floor. I cut myself very badly getting the roll of boning open. I had to stretch my finger for months before I got full movement back, and I also have a cool scar :D

2005-2006

I was pleased with the result - I made a corset! BOOYAH! It never fit me well. You can see here, the front right gusset is too wide, and I always had a large, somewhat uneven gap. I wore it once in 2006 and then I did not wear it again until 2009. By then, I had gained 30-40 pounds. My gap was even larger and more uneven. The front gusset was still too large. I might have been able to make it work except that the outfit I was wearing was also one I had made 30-40lbs ago, and I had no time to make a new one, so I had to make it work. I wore the corset for about 8 hours and then absolutely could not wear it a moment longer. I had deep welts in my skin for several hours afterwards.

2009

2009. Blurry but you can see how bad my gap is and how poorly it fits!

After that, I purchased a corset from Kitty & Felix, which was too long (it digs into the tops of my legs), and one from Corset Story (bought to waist measurements, and had to alter the bust, but it fits me poorly in other areas too). Neither was ideal in terms of fit, though both are very well-made. I bought a waist cincher from Kitty a year later, and as she was fitting me, she told me that my rib cage is sized more like someone 4-5" taller than I am. Since I have to buy long-torso swimwear, this made a lot of sense! Most off-the-rack corsets I see are very hour-glass shaped, which I am not. My best option to find a corset that fits all of my parts is to either to custom order one ($250, minimum), or make it myself. Since $250+ is out of my budget, I guess I have to make it myself.


2012. Corset-Story, being held into better fit with pins (fixed in 2013)
I spent some time waffling over a pattern. I was going to use Truly Victorian's pattern because, as a straight-seamed corset, it would be the easiest. But the more I waffled, the more I resisted the idea. My two purchased corsets were straight-seamed, and while I would be able to manipulate the fit better, I always found them uncomfortable. I've mentioned it before, I have a lower back injury, and the straight-seamed corsets always pull around the hips and I feel it in the injury site. The more I thought about it, the more I thought I might have better luck with a gusseted corset. I gave away the pattern I made the blue corset from since it was WAY too small, and it was discontinued some time ago anyway.

Simplicity made a new pattern, 2890, with a gusseted corset. I found a reference to it being the same as 7215, but I don't think that's strictly true. The front hip gusset is a different shape, and the boning pattern is different. I was going to make it for an HSF challenge earlier this year, but that didn't happen. I made the mock-up and discovered it was REALLY short. Like, really really. It didn't even cover my belly. And then I realized that my busk was longer than the pattern! Of course, I put this project off until it was too late to change patterns or do more mock-ups, and ultimately had to put the challenge aside completely.

I was inspired to start working on it last week, and today I started working on the final version. This is getting long so I will finish this story in another post :)

This is mine. ...Right?

HSF'14: #4 Under It All: A 1700s Chemise

There really isn't a lot to say about this, so here it is :) I picked up the fabric right before I visited the Harry Potter Exhibition, so I carried 5yds of linen around in my bag for several hours. Turns out 5 yards of 3.5oz linen doesn't weigh a whole lot as I barely noticed the extra weight lol. It was washed the next day, and I began work on the shift the day after (ahhh long weekends!) and finished most of it. But then the next day was the follow-up for the bedbugs so everything got packed away again, and then I was hit with my seasonal depression. It took a week and a half more before I could finally convince myself to put all the boxes away, and only then did I finish the shift. Luckily, I pushed hard enough on the first day that all I had left to do was trim and fell the side and sleeve seams, and hem it. That was it. It was a very quick garment to make, easily do-able in one day (by machine, anyway). The only thing I would change is perhaps to make the neckline a liiiittle bit narrower; I had not planned to put a drawstring into it, but once I had it ready to try on, it was quickly apparent that it was necessary.

The Challenge: #4 Under It All
Fabric: 100% Linen
Pattern: Drafted from MaraRiley.net
Year: 1760s-1780s
Notions: Thread and some ribbon
How historically accurate is it?* In materials and general shape and patterning Poly thread and poly ribbon, machine stitched.
Hours to complete: 8-10.
First worn: Not yet.
Total cost: $15

Further resources:

Construction from marquise.de
Research and construction from SharonBurnston.com

*I decided that I found this category the hardest to fill out, as what makes something historically accurate to me may not qualify sufficiently for someone else, and I feel it is a little arbitrary for that reason. No one is grading me on these items, so I have decided to avoid a "grade" and will focus instead on the elements that make it historical.

HSF #23: Generosity & Gratitude: Late-1700s Underpinnings.

I made a two-fer for this challenge. Gotta have the right support to make the dress look good :)


First up, a false rump loosely based on a few I've seen on other blogs, but largely in part to Kendra's fantastic article on skirt support:


It sits a little differently on me. My mannequin is much smaller than me and has no bum.
Second, a 1700s petticoat. I'm attributing it to the lovely tutorials by Katherine and A Fashionable Frolick this time around. Back in 2004 I made a Butterick version of a robe a la anglaise and realized that my visible petticoat was too sheer and anything else beneath it would be seen through it (I made it for Halloween, and that is very frequently winter in my area, so underthings were necessary), sending me on a trawl of the internet to find out what a "regular" petticoat would look like. I eventually came to the conclusion (somehow) that it would be exactly like the visible petticoat. I can't remember if either of these sites were involved in that particular tidbit, but they are now.


Back view over rump.
This one was a bit harder, because I sold that costume and its petticoats last year, so I could only test the false rump with an Elizabethan petticoat, since I wanted this petticoat to be levelled at the waist, but I wasn't 100% sold on the shape of the rump without a proper petticoat to put over it... I ended up making the rump smaller before sealing it up and starting on the petticoat, but I'm not entirely happy with the shape of either. They will suffice for now.


The Challenge: #23: Generosity & Gratitude
Fabric: Mystery (stash); possibly poplin (slightly stretchy) and denim-look cotton
Pattern: none
Year: second half of the 18th century
Notions: grosgrain ribbon, thread, bias tape, poly fiberfill stuffing
How historically accurate is it? In shape only. I hand-stitched most of the petticoat but otherwise all machine done.
Hours to complete: Perhaps around 8 hours for both?
First worn: not yet
Total cost: All stash! I did pay for the materials at some point, so I'd guess around $20 max.

A Regency Chemise: Completed

Once I'd unpicked the sleeve from the neckhole, it was pretty simple to finish. The gussets are wonderful. I serged all my raw edges to prevent fraying but ran out of thread on one of the loopers and of course had no replacement cones (if you have a serger you know exactly what this feels like...). I made the bias tape neckline a bit on the narrow side by sewing it with a 3/8" seam, when it should have been 1/4", but I was too lazy to pick it out. It'll do. The nice thing about bias tape is that it doesn't fray :)

Aside from stitching the hem, it's done! I may not do that until much later in the future. It's serged, and it'll be under the dresses where no one will ever see them.

On to the pictures!

A Regency Chemise: Trial and Error

My mother and I were going to make Regency (pre-1811) gowns to wear to Worldcon in Reno this summer. We started planning this in 2009. She finished hers; I did not. I already have the gown made (from cotton; complete except for the hem) and the stays (from cotton and... mystery fabric), because I figured a chemise is a chemise and I would make one when I got around to it. Two years later, I'm bit more of a stickler for proper foundation garments, and it was time to make a Regency chemise.

A chemise, or shift, is essentially a T-tunic with varying neckline and sleeves, depending on the time period. It was pretty standard wear for everyone up into 20th century, I'd wager. You wore it against your skin, and it was almost always white. It was easier to remove and wash and bleach your chemise on laundry day rather than your whole wardrobe. Consider, before the advent of the washing machine, you had to scrub and beat your clothing to get the dirt out, and then either hang it on a line or lay it on the ground to dry. Not a fun prospect if you had numerous outfits.

I picked up a medium-weight linen-cotton blend to make the chemise. I love linen to itty bitty pieces; it's a wonderful fabric that is so easy to work with, even if the cut edges tend to fray. And the best part is, it's all natural, made from flax, and breathes wonderfully. Linen is a supremely comfortable fabric.

I'm using Sense & Sensibility's Regency undergarments pattern. This is extra challenging because I've lost the instructions. The pattern itself is very simple: a front, a back, a rectangle for the sleeves, a square cut on the bias for underarm gores, and the width of fabric needed to make self-bias binding for the neckline. I am unsure how deep the hem is, and if I bind the sleeve edges or turn them under.

I've worked with underarm gores before, but I got a little confused on this one. The gore was marked with notches on two sides, corresponding to notches on either end of the sleeve rectangle. The mid point of the sleeve matches the shoulder seam of the body pieces, and the bottom point of the gore will attach to the body to give the arms room to move. It should have been straightforward.

The sleeve. At left is the point of the gore that will attach to the body.

The front neck and top of the shoulder.

As you can probably tell, I chose to sew the sleeve and gore together first, rather than attach the sleeve to the body while both lay flat, and work the gore from there. I wound up attaching the sleeve to the neckline instead.

Oops...

I decided to call it a night and go to bed...