All posts filed under: Sewing

Things I sew – historical and modern

Ninon’s dress: the skirt

Unlike most seamstresses, I like to make the skirts of my ensembles before I make the bodices. My skirt is 150″ wide. My research revealed that anything from 115″ to 150″ is period accurate, but I really feel that I needed to size-up, as modern bodies are bigger than 17th c bodies. Hunnissett recommends 140″, but I wanted my dress to be quite sumptuous, and even with a boned bodice, my waist is bigger than the average 1950s actress she was writing for! I thought about having a train for the skirt, as many portraits show them, and there is a lot of information available on the sumptuary laws for trains in 17th c France. As Ninon wasn’t nobility, her legal train allowance would have been relatively short in any case. However, this turned out to be irrelevant as I’m a little tight on material, and want to be able to dance in the dress, so I’m skipping the train. My research suggested that even ladies of leisure only wore trains for the most formal …

Ninon’s dress: Angels Sing

Published by The Dreamstress

I’ve been lusting after a 17th century dress in golden yellow duchess satin for months, and months. The shades they had were so sumptuous. Want! Unfortunately, I didn’t have golden yellow duchess silk satin in my stash. And I couldn’t find any in NZ. And I didn’t want to spend US$60 a metre + shipping to order it in. I thought my dream was over. And then I realised I did have 7 metres of beige duchess silk satin that I found at Spotlight a year ago for $15 a metre on the clearance table (they thought it was polyester, but I knew better), and immediately bought the whole bolt. And when I checked out it turned out there was a 20% off sale on, so I only paid $12 a metre. Score! Anyway, I could have made a beige dress (there are plenty of lovely beige dresses in 17th century paintings), but I didn’t want a beige dress. I wanted a golden yellow dress. So I took my fate into my hands and decided …

A dress for Ninon (because I’m really tired of pink pintucks)

Published by The Dreamstress

I’m really sick of pink pintucks. And of sewing with a treadle machine. And of wearing a corset to sew in. Not to mention that wearing a corset every day is ruining my figure (you loose all your stomach muscles within a week!), so I’m taking a break from Emily’s dress. I have a good excuse to take a break from Emily too. On July 23 I’m co-presenting a historical concert with The Historical Arts Trust: Grandeur & Frivolity: Music & Fashion from the Courts of Louis XIV and Louis XV. Oooooh! Obviously I need to add to my stock of Baroque and Rococo fashion, so it’s a great excuse to tackle a project I have drooled over for months: a 1660s gown for the celebrated 17th c French beauty, arts patron, and sometimes nun, sometimes courtesan, Ninon de l’Enclos. In yellow duchess satin, because I’m desperate to make a yellow dress. There are no portraits of Ninon done within her life, so I’m using a portrait of Ã‰lisabeth d’Orleans as my main inspiration frock. …