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Scroop Patterns Nina Blouse scrooppatterns.com

Meet the Nina Blouse

For almost eight (!!!) years, ever since I put out the Fantail Skirt pattern and it was a smashing success, my friend Nina has been asking me to make an Edwardian or Victorian blouse pattern to go with it.

Nina’s not just my friend: she’s my pattern editor (any mistakes are my fault from tweaking things after she edits a pattern), my confidant, and my brain to bounce pattern ideas off of.

So, when I found the perfect extant ca. 1910 blouse to base a pattern off of I knew exactly what to name the blouse!

Better yet, I had another Nina already on my list of inspirational and interesting (not always necessarily both, but this one is!) people to name patterns after: Nina du Bois.

Nina du Bois (July 4, 1870 – July 26, 1950) was an American civil rights and peace activist. Along with her husband W.E.B Du Bois, Nina Du Bois was involved in the early 20th century Pan-African movement, which sought to end colonial rule and racial discrimination, to improve human rights, and to create a world economy which provided equal opportunities for all groups.

They believed that ending colonialism and imperialism, both in Africa and around the world, was critical to achieving a more peaceful future. Initially Nina Du Bois’ work focused on supporting her husband’s activism, running their household, managing admin, and raising their children. Later, she was active in her own right, helping to organise the fourth Pan-African congress in 1927.

Nina Du Bois is illustrative of the many women throughout history whose support and management of all the household and life admin allowed their more famous husbands to achieve what they did – and who thus should also get recognition and credit for that work..

Oh, and what’s more?   There’s a ca. 1910 photograph of Nina du Bois in a bodice that could easily be hacked from the blouse pattern!

So, meet the Nina Blouse pattern!

The Scroop Patterns Nina Blouse scrooppatterns.com

 

The ca 1910 blouse the Nina is based is a classic example of a late Edwardian lingerie blouse, with an all lace twist!

Extant ca 1910 'Nina blouse' scrooppatterns.com

The pattern includes instructions for making it in all lace, like the original, making it in fabric with lace insertion, or making it entirely in fabric.

Basically, the design possibilities for the Nina are practically endless.

Scroop Patterns Nina Blouse scrooppatterns.com

And whatever fabric and trims you choose, the fit will be perfect with the help of the handy fitting guide.

Scroop Patterns Nina Blouse scrooppatterns.com

Like all historical Scroop patterns, the Nina Blouse comes with extensive information on period accurate sewing techniques, and the materials and trims used on this style of garment.

Scroop Patterns Nina Blouse scrooppatterns.com

The Nina Blouse is perfect worn over the Persis and Rilla Corset & Ettie Petticoat and tucked into a Fantail, Seatoun or Kilbirnie Skirt.

Max (in blue) is wearing it with a Fantail Skirt, and Kezia (in lilac) is wearing it with a Seatoun Skirt over a Rilla Corset.  Theresa (in black) is wearing it over a Persis Corset.  And they are all wearing Ettie Petticoats!

I’ve wanted Theresa to model a Scroop Pattern for years, and the one time we managed it, for the Fantail Skirt, I had a catastrophic computer crash and lost all the photos.  So when she announced she was making a trip to Wellington just when I was scheduling the Nina photoshoot, I knew I had to include her!

Scroop Patterns Nina Blouse scrooppatterns.com

We combined the photoshoot with a late Edwardian picnic, and everyone looked delightful and we had delightful Edwardian food, and I hope everyone who makes a Nina blouse has equally delightful events to wear it to and friends to wear it with!

Scroop Patterns Nina Blouse scrooppatterns.com

Scroop Patterns Nina Blouse scrooppatterns.com

Scroop Patterns Nina Blouse scrooppatterns.com

Scroop Patterns Nina Blouse scrooppatterns.com

 

Kororā penguin Wellington NZ thedreamstress.com

A Fairy Penguin Penguin Fairy Godmother

One bright, hot sunny day shortly after New Years I went for a walk with my friend around the Wellington coast.
As we admired the blue of the sea and the red of the pōhutukawa we spotted something you don’t expect to see near shore at midday: a kororā (little penguin, also known as the little blue penguin or fairy penguin, although technically those are a slightly different subspecies (?)).
Kororā penguin Wellington NZ thedreamstress.com
After following it and watching for a while, and meeting another woman (we shall call her Penny) who had been studying it with some concern we realised it definitely wasn’t swimming or acting right.
Kororā penguin Wellington NZ thedreamstress.com
So what do you do when you spot an injured native animal?  Usually you’d call the Department of Conservation, but everyone goes on holiday right after New Years, and we couldn’t get ahold of anyone.  The SPCA was also understaffed, as was Wellington City Council, so neither of them could say when they could send someone.
Kororā penguin Wellington NZ thedreamstress.com
Then Penny’s stepdaughters showed up, and what do you know, I instantly recognised one of them (we’ll call her Verity), and she recognised me.  She works for my vets, and saw a lot of me in the last year of Felicity’s life.
(meeting up with people who you know in another context is VERY Wellington!)
Verity had had penguin handling experience, so we came up with a plan. The next time our kororā came very close we’d try to get between it and the open ocean and herd it to shore. But we’d have to get wet.
Kororā penguin Wellington NZ thedreamstress.com
I discovered that I’m not too old and dignified to strip down to my knickers and a T-shirt by the side of a public road with a small crowd of onlookers if there’s an animal I can help.
I ended up fully swimming and got COMPLETELY soaked, but we managed to push it to shore where I used all my duck wrangling experience to nab it and successfully avoid its very sharp beak.
Kororā penguin Wellington NZ thedreamstress.com
Verity had a bucket so we popped it in that with some seawater.   I climbed back into my clothes, my friend had a spare shirt (bless her!) which I traded my soaked T-shirt for.  We covered the bucket with a towel, put the whole thing in my car, and took the little kororā to Kohanga The Nest at the Wellington Zoo.

Kororā penguin Wellington NZ thedreamstress.com
They told us we had done exactly the right thing (whew!) and any kororā that lets you herd and grab it as easily as we did definitely needs medical attention. They inspected it and discovered it had an injured wing and was severely underweight. The wing is probably why it was swimming in circles.
Kororā penguin Wellington NZ thedreamstress.com
It will be getting the best possible care at Kohanga, but they did warn us it might have damaged organs from starvation, so a recovery isn’t guaranteed.
But at least it had a much better chance now.
Hopefully we’ll see our little kororā waaaaaaaaay out in the harbour swimming properly again some day, or if not that, it can join the wee group of too-injured-to-release kororā at Wellington Zoo.
Waistcoat, 1733–34, probably French, silk, metallic thread, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991.220

18th Century Pinks – 1700 to the 1730s

My posts on 18th century clothing in shades of purple, and the direction of stripes on 18th century sleeves, have been so popular that I thought you might enjoy a whole series on patterns and colours.  You can learn so much by just looking at a bunch of images of clothes from any given era with one unifying detail.

For my first theme I picked pink.

What shades of pink were popular in the 18th century?  Is there evidence those shades were more or less popular in certain decades, or mostly used on one type of garment?

Even if there are no clear trends, looking at all of the extant pinks and depictions of pinks is helpful for recreating garments and accessories using colours and patterns that look authentic.  And who doesn’t love a bunch of pretty, pretty pinks?

As I began assembling images I realised two things almost immediately.  First, almost every shade of pink possible shows up in extant 18th century garments and portraits.  (yes, even hot pink!).  Second, pink was far, far more common in 18th century clothing than purples was.  Was it cheaper and easier to dye?  Or, conversely, more expensive and thus more of a status symbol?  Or were pink shades simply more fashionable throughout the century?

Because pink was so much more common, I’ve broken the pink post up into decades.  So now you get to enjoy four (and maybe more) weeks of 18th century pink posts!

I also got a bit clever and tried to post a painting or print of the time and then an extant item or two from the same time range in a similar shade of pink.

1700s Pinks

One shade of pink that shows up frequently across the 18th century is a soft pinky-lilac that could also arguably fit under the purple banner.  It’s shown here on two elegant young girls and in a length of ‘bizarre’ silk (learn more about them here).

Follower of Pierre Gobert, Portrait possibly of Élisabeth Charlotte of Orléans (1676-1744), niece of Louis XIV

Follower of Pierre Gobert, Portrait possibly of Élisabeth Charlotte of Orléans (1676-1744), niece of Louis XIV

Circle of Pierre Gobert (1662–1744), Portrait of a young girl in a pink satin dress protecting her biseleur from a birdkeeper, late 17th century or early 18th century

Circle of Pierre Gobert (1662–1744), Portrait of a young girl in a pink satin dress protecting her biseleur from a birdkeeper, late 17th century or early 18th century

Dress fabric, Spitalfields, England, ca. 1708, Brocaded silk damask, Victoria and Albert Museum, 711-1864

I’ve cheated ever so slightly by picking a late 17th century muff to match these two young men and their snazzy pink neck ribbons.  I just thought showing ribbons to go with ribbons was too good of an opportunity to pass up on.

After Pierre Gobert - Portrait of a young gentleman ca 1700

After Pierre Gobert – Portrait of a young gentleman ca 1700

After Pierre Gobert - Portrait of a young gentleman ca 1700

After Pierre Gobert – Portrait of a young gentleman ca 1700

Muff French about 1680–90, France, MFA Boston 38.1266

Muff French about 1680–90, France, MFA Boston 38.1266

And heres a slightly less faded pink in the same family:

Brocaded silk, early 18th century, Continental Europe, MFA Boston 96.428

Brocaded silk, early 18th century, Continental Europe, MFA Boston 96.428

Here’s a deep rose hue:

Circle of Pierre Gobert (1662–1744, Portrait of a young noblewoman, turn of the 17/18th century

Circle of Pierre Gobert (1662–1744, Portrait of a young noblewoman, turn of the 17/18th century

Woven silk, damask lancé with the liseré effects of the ground weft, 1675-1700, French or Italian; proto-bizarre; green and white selvedge Victoria and Albert Museum

Woven silk, damask lancé with the liseré effects of the ground weft, 1675-1700, French or Italian; proto-bizarre; green and white selvedge Victoria and Albert Museum

And a beauty in blush pink with carmine ribbons in her hair

Follower of Pierre Gobert (1662–1744), Presumed portrait of Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans (1695-1719), daughter of Philippe, Duke of Orléans. ca 1705

Follower of Pierre Gobert (1662–1744), Presumed portrait of Marie Louise Élisabeth d’Orléans (1695-1719), daughter of Philippe, Duke of Orléans. ca 1705

Stomacher, 1700–20, MFA Boston, 43.1909

Stomacher, 1700–20, MFA Boston, 43.1909

Orange-y salmon pink is another shade that turns up in many portraits and extant textiles.

Attributed to Pierre Gobert (1662–1744), Lady in Pink, ca 1700

Attributed to Pierre Gobert (1662–1744), Lady in Pink, ca 1700

Length of brocaded silk, 1700, France, MFA Boston, 48.1168A

Woven silk, 1695-1710, French Victoria and Albert Museum

Woven silk, 1695-1710, French, Victoria and Albert Museum

Stomacher (probably from an image robe) 1690-1710, French ? silk woven with a floral pattern, Victoria and Albert Museum

Stomacher (probably from an image robe) 1690-1710, French ? silk woven with a floral pattern, Victoria and Albert Museum

1720s Pinks

Vivid salmon pinks show up in these three paintings and a length of dress fabric, showing the same shade across four countries.

The Wedding of Stephen Beckingham and Mary Cox, William Hogarth, 1729, Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Wedding of Stephen Beckingham and Mary Cox, William Hogarth, 1729, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mary Jaquelin; ca. 1722-23, Attributed to Nehemiah Partridge, American, 1683 - 1730

Mary Jaquelin; ca. 1722-23, Attributed to Nehemiah Partridge, American, 1683 – 1730

Jacques Ignatius de Roore - Portrait of M.C. Cremers, the Mistress of the Artist, 1727

Jacques Ignatius de Roore – Portrait of M.C. Cremers, the Mistress of the Artist, 1727

Dress fabric of brocaded silk, Netherlands, 1735-1740, Victoria and Albert Museum

Dress fabric of brocaded silk, Netherlands, 1735-1740, Victoria and Albert Museum

A slightly softer shade is seen on Frances, Lady Byron, and a pair of very fashionable velvet shoes:

Frances, Lady Byron (d.1757), Third Wife of the 4th Lord Byron by Michael Dahl, ca. 1720

Frances, Lady Byron (d.1757), Third Wife of the 4th Lord Byron by Michael Dahl, ca. 1720

 Embroidered Pink Velvet shoes, 1720s

Embroidered Pink Velvet shoes, 1720s

Here’s another example of that lilac pink:

Gustaf Lundberg (1695–1786), After Jean-Baptiste Santerre (1651–1717), Portrait of Marie Anne de Bourbon, 1720

Gustaf Lundberg (1695–1786), After Jean-Baptiste Santerre (1651–1717), Portrait of Marie Anne de Bourbon, 1720

This noblewoman sports a lilac pink gown, a carmine pink robe, and a dazzling array of matching pink jewels:

Henri Millot - Portrait of a noblewoman in a pink dress and an ermine-trimmed robe, ca. 1725

Henri Millot – Portrait of a noblewoman in a pink dress and an ermine-trimmed robe, ca. 1725

And this casaquin and petticoat features every shade shown above, and then some!

Dress (casaquin and petticoat), 1725—40, Italian, linen with wool embroidery, Metropolitan Museum of Art 1993.17a, b

Dress (casaquin and petticoat), 1725—40, Italian, linen with wool embroidery, Metropolitan Museum of Art 1993.17a, b

Dress, 1725—40, Italian, linen with wool embroidery, Metropolitan Museum of Art 1993.17a, b

Dress, 1725—40, Italian, linen with wool embroidery, Metropolitan Museum of Art 1993.17a, b

Here’s a gloriously vivid pink:

Antoine Pesne Portrait of Wilhelmine of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1709-1758), 1725

Antoine Pesne Portrait of Wilhelmine of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1709-1758), 1725

Robe Volante 1720-30, Musee Galliera

 

And for some pinks on men, the Ottoman ambassador to France in pale pink:

Pierre Gobert (1662–1744, Portrait of Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi, commissioned by the Bâtiments du Roi. 1724

Pierre Gobert (1662–1744, Portrait of Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi, commissioned by the Bâtiments du Roi. 1724

And some coral silk stockings for showing off a well-turned leg:

Men’s coral silk stockings, 1725-1750 meg-andrews.com

This waistcoat is the equal to the casaquin above for its demonstration of the many shades of pink available:

Man's sleeved waistcoat, American (English fabric) 1720s, Silk damask, brocaded with silk and metallic yarns,, MFA Boston 41.887

Man’s sleeved waistcoat, American (English fabric) 1720s, Silk damask, brocaded with silk and metallic yarns,, MFA Boston 41.887

1730s Pinks

Polyxena of Hesse isn’t afraid to mix colours, with a bold combination of deep rose and scarlet red:

Polixena of Hesse-Rotenburg by Maria Giovanna Clementi, 1730-35

Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg by Maria Giovanna Clementi, 1730-35, Madrid, Museum Cerralbo.

Deep rose shoes to match:

Shoes, 1720s-30s

Shoes, 1720s-30s

A softer rose features on Jacapo’s breeches and jacket lining, and another fetching pair of shoes:.

Jacopo Amigoni- English- Portrait of the singer Carlo Broschi named Farinelli 1734-35

Jacopo Amigoni- English- Portrait of the singer Carlo Broschi named Farinelli 1734-35

Pink silk shoes, English, c.1735-1750 Bata Shoe Museum

Pink silk shoes, English, c.1735-1750 Bata Shoe Museum

This portrait of Jane Clarke is a wonderful example of shot silks in the early 18th century.  I wish I’d been able to find an extant item in a similar fabric!

Jane Clark (Mrs. Ezekiel Lewis), John Smibert 1732

Jane Clark (Mrs. Ezekiel Lewis), John Smibert, 1732

Interestingly a very similar fabric is shown in another American portrait:

Danvers Osborn (1715-1753), Governor of New York, 1736

Danvers Osborn (1715-1753), Governor of New York, 1736

And on the lower tunic of the Ottoman Empire’s ambassador to Sweden, while two other members of his retinue are attired in salmon:

Georg Engelhard Schröder: Mehmed Said Efendi and his Retinue

Georg Engelhard Schröder: Mehmed Said Efendi and his Retinue, 1735

The closest match I could find to those three portraits is this glorious casaquin.  Just add in a dark blue cross thread for that shot effect:

Casaquin. Date- ca. 1730 - 1740 Medium- Gros de Tours, orange silk, blue glazed linen lining, gilded silver lace, palaisgalliera.paris.fr

Casaquin. Date- ca. 1730 – 1740 Medium- Gros de Tours, orange silk, blue glazed linen lining, gilded silver lace, palaisgalliera.paris.fr

This unknown woman sports a very vivid coral jacket and skirt set, and as the waistcoat and jacket below show, the hue is not an exaggeration.

Portrait of a Lady, attr. to Jonathan Richardson the elder, c. 1730

Portrait of a Lady, attr. to Jonathan Richardson the elder, c. 1730

 

Jacket, 1736-40, Gorgeous Georgians at Berrington Hall 2014. From the Charles Paget Wade Collection stored at Berrington Hall

Jacket, 1736-40, Gorgeous Georgians at Berrington Hall 2014. From the Charles Paget Wade Collection stored at Berrington Hall

Adélaïde’s sister sports soft pink stripes in her beautiful gown, a match to the soft pink shoes below:

Claude Arnulphy (1697–1786), Adélaïde de Gueidan and her sister, 1735-40

Claude Arnulphy (1697–1786), Adélaïde de Gueidan and her sister, 1735-4

Shoes, 1710–49, British, Silk, metallic, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009.300.4131a, b

I love historical examples of self portraits by women artists, and here’s a delightful one featuring pink trimmings.     Some of the same tints are picked up in the brocade jacket and the second portrait is a match to the pink silk below..

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern (1715–1797), Self-portrait as belle jardinière, 1739

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern (1715–1797), Self-portrait as belle jardinière, 1739

Jacket (Casaquin), c. 1730-1750; (fabric c. 1720- 1730, FRANCE silk and gilt brocade, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1331-D4

She must have liked pink because the same colour show up on a more official portrait of her, and is picked up in the fabric

Antoine Pesne- Portrait of Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Bevern, Prussian queen, 1739

Antoine Pesne- Portrait of Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Bevern, Prussian queen, 1739

Length of Silk, ca 1730, England or the Netherlands, MFA Boston 2005.463

Length of Silk, ca 1730, England or the Netherlands, MFA Boston 2005.463