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Two women in 18th century dress stand in front of a fence. Behind the fence are a pair of Highland cattle.

Georgian Frolics in the Country

A few weeks ago my historical costuming friends and I rented a cottage in the country for our fifth(!) annual Historical Sew & Eat Retreat.

On Sunday we took a drive along the back roads in 18th century dress and admired some cows and explored the delightful Hattenburn Gardens.

The cows were interested in our grass, but not brave enough to eat it out of our hands…

I wore my Extremely Exuberant Amalia ensemble, and Nina wore her just-finished Angelica gown in the same fabric, in a slightly less exuberant colourway.

(fun fact: this fabric is made by the same manufacturer as the in/famous Our Flag Means Death breakup robe!)

Other than me, it was an Angelica fest. Mme Kez wore the sample Angelica she modelled, and Averil sported another just-finished Angelica, in country appropriate linen, altered to be front fastening with hooks.

And somehow we all, excepting Nina, forgot our bust bows. I don’t know how. Mine was sitting on my dressing table, complete with pin, when we got back.

The Hattenburn Gardens were lovely, with amusing and informative signs about the artwork, the plants, and permaculture. There were picturesque koi streams:

And lovely old benches (which Nina and Averil engaged in a ladies fisticuff battle over):

And shady spots to escape the blazing sun:

But the best thing about the gardens? Cats! I will never not be excited to see a cat!

He just loves me for my feathered hat. See how he ignores Nina? He had just espied the hat!

Cats and costumes. They just go together!

After touring the gardens and getting slightly blinded in the glare, we headed off for some very 18th century appropriate…

…ice cream!

It may not be ices at the Pot and Pine Apple, but real fruit ice cream is a delightful New Zealand experience, and we certainly delighted and amused the customers and staff at the roadside fruit shop.

Real fruit ice cream is frozen fruit of your flavour choice (I got strawberry and boysenberry, but cherry is also a firm favourite) blended up with vanilla ice cream right in front of you and swirled out into a ridiculous tower of fruity deliciousness.

They asked if we had come from filming something. We were very good and just said it was a hobby, instead of being cheeky and saying we were off the set of Time Bandits, which was filming in the neighbourhood!

A most delightful time! I highly recommend low pressure frolics over high pressure events!

Three little girls from school are Wheeeeeee!

Call for Pattern Testers for 18th century mantle patterns!

Published by The Dreamstress

UPDATE: due to an overwhelming response, applications to test this pattern are now closed. Thank you to everyone who took the time to apply!

Amber of Virgil’s Fine Goods and I have been working on a particularly adorable and exciting new 18th century pattern collection to add to the Scroop + Virgil’s Fine Goods historical pattern collaboration – three 18th century cloak and mantle patterns which will be available individually, or as the ultimate awesome pattern bundle.

Our pattern is almost finished, but we want to check that it’s as fabulous as possible, so we need testers to help us check it out!

If you’d like to apply be one of them, keep reading to learn more!

Please note that we always get significantly more applicants than we have spots available, so we are not able to include everyone who applies in the testing pool.

The Patterns:

The Marie Mantle: 1740-1779, is an unlined short mantle with two body views and an optional small hood. The pattern includes instructions on self-fabric trim variations, as well as instructions on making it in lace or gauze in addition to standard fabrics like light-midweight silks.

The Charlotte Mantle 1770-1795, is a lined or unlined mantle with two body views and an optional large hood. The pattern includes instructions on self-fabric trim variations.

The Sophia Mantle: 1775-1810, is a fully lined mantle with two body options featuring squared off lappets that fall to mid-calf, an enormous high-fashion hood, and instructions on adding fur, marabou feather or handmade fringe trim.

(and yes, this faaaaaabulous mantle is one of the primary inspirations for the Sophia)

Sizing:

All three patterns will be available in four sizes which cover the full Scroop + Virgil’s Size Range of 30”/76cm bust to 52”/115cm bust. Because mantle patterns are so adaptable, the patterns will easily fit larger and smaller sizes as well.

Testers:

These cloaks/mantles are easy/intermediate historical patterns. There is the option to learn some slightly trickier techniques based on the fabrics and trims you choose. Testers should be comfortable hand-sewing. You should have some experience working with the type of fabric you intend to test in.

To be a tester you will need to:

Be able to print patterns in A4, A0, US Letter or US full sized Copyshop paper sizes
Have the time to sew up the item. You’ll have 27 days to make a finished cloak/mantle, photograph it, and provide feedback. The view you are making, and the
Be able to photograph your make being worn, and be willing for us to share your photos on this blog and instagram.
Provide clear feedback
Agree to a confidentially agreement regarding the pattern

We would hugely appreciate it if testers would share their finished make once the pattern launches, but this is not mandatory. We’re asking for TESTERS, not marketers.

As always we’re looking for a range of testers. We need a spread of geographical location, body type, sewing experience, and personal style.

The Timeline:

Materials:

If you’re selected to test we’ll let you know and send you the materials requirements, line drawings, and the full pattern description before 10 pm NZ time on Thursday the 27th of October. This is Wed the 26th for most of the rest of the world.

Patterns:

We will send out a digital copy of the pattern to testers before 10pm NZ time on Thursday the 3rd of November.

Testing & Reviewing:

Testing will go for three and a half weeks. .

Testers will have until 10pm NZ time on Mon the 28th of November to provide feedback and images of their mantle

What you get:

Pattern testers will get a digital copy of the full bundle pattern which includes all three cloak patterns and instructions, lots of thanks, and features on my blog and our IGs.

Testing also offers testers an opportunity to get group and 1-1 feedback, assistance, and sewing tutorials from Amber and I – similarly to what you’d get in an online sewing workshop. We’re modelling our testing process after an online class, albeit one you don’t pay for, because you’re letting us beta test the pattern on you. There’s an online group that testers can join as they wish. We’ll also be running a couple of live zoom events. We’re committed to making testing as beneficial to testers as it is to us, and improve our testing process with every pattern we do.

Hope to hear from you!

To Apply:

Follow this link and fill out the form!

And to get your creative juices flowing, enjoy some of the inspirations behind the patterns!

Portrait of an Unknown Lady, c. 1764, by Joachim Martin Falbe (German, 1709-1782)

Lady Frances Erskine (1716–1776, by David Allan, ca. 1764, (c) Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

Gallerie des Modes et Costumes Français. 7e. Pierre-Thomas LeClerc, Engraver Etienne Claude Voysard, Publisher Esnauts et Rapilly 1778

John Collet, ca. 1725–1780, British, A Lady of Fashion, ca. 1778, Pen, black ink and watercolor, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B1977.14.4966

Cape, 1795–1800, British, silk, Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; 2009.300.3890

The inspiration behind the Angelica Gown

Published by The Dreamstress

We thought you might enjoy seeing some of the inspiration behind the Angelica Gown.

Every Scroop + Virgil’s historical pattern starts with research. We look at extant garments in private collections and museums. We assemble huge inspiration boards of items from online databases, noting details and similar design and construction elements.

Then we start parsing and sorting.

What elements are commonly seen together? What aesthetic features do we really want to include? What construction features do we really want to include? Is there a particular garment that is the starting point for the whole design, or are we mixing common elements?

Here’s what we ended up with for the Angelica Gown!

The Angelica Gown pattern is available as a digital download from ScroopPatterns.com, and as a paper pattern from Virgil’s Fine Goods.

View A Front:

Gown of Indian cotton chintz painted and block-printed, fabric made in Coromandel Coast, dress made in the Netherlands, ca. 1780, Victoria & Albert Museum, T.217-1992

This was an easy pick! I absolutely love the neckline of this gown, and the waist edge, with its sharp curve and truncated point. This shape shows up on other extant garments, and in fashion plates, so it was a great starting point.*

I’m fascinated by the tabs on one side of the bodice. What’s the story there? Why only one side? I rather hope someone makes an Angelica with those silly tabs!

View A Back

The closest inspiration for the View B back is an Italian Gown that Amber was able to study and photograph in person. Unfortunately we aren’t able to share those photos with you. But it wasn’t the only dress we used as a basis:

Robe à l’Anglaise (actually an Italian gown with bodice cut separate to the skirt), 1785–95, American, cotton, baleen, Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009.300.647

We really liked the high back neckline of this Italian gown from the met, and the way the side-back panels match the straps – such an elegant design feature!

However, the very narrow back point panels of this dress are rather tricky to sew, and didn’t work well when graded out to a range of sizes. So we looked at other gowns, with side-back seams with more exaggerated curves, set further towards the sides:

Robe à l’Anglaise (actually an Italian Gown with a seperate back bodice), 1775-1785, England, maker unknown. Gift of Mrs B Vye, 1951. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (PC000072)

This Italian Gown is right here in Wellington, and it’s one I’ve been able to study in person.

View B Front:

Many of you will have recognised the inspiration behind the View B front:

Robe à l’Anglaise (Italian Gown), 1780, Italy, Silk, silk thread embroidery, silk gauze, sequins Galleria del Costume di Palazzo Pitti

Those spikey tabs!

This gown also helped inform the front-laced closure.

The long pointed front, sans points, shows up on some of the other inspiration gowns, including the silk brocade gown from Te Papa, and the chintz gown from the Met:

Robe à l’Anglaise (actually an Italian Gown with a seperate back bodice), 1775-1785, England, maker unknown. Gift of Mrs B Vye, 1951. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (PC000072)

Robe à l’Anglaise, ca. 1780, British, cotton, flax, Gifts in memory of Elizabeth Lawrence, 1982, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1982.291a, b

View B Back:

As beautiful as a four-panel back is, there are times when a simpler two panel back is just a better design choice: less seams to interfere with stripes or a print, and less work.

Robe à l’Anglaise, ca. 1780, British, cotton, flax, Gifts in memory of Elizabeth Lawrence, 1982, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1982.291a, b

Look at that fabric above! Obviously you wouldn’t want to interrupt it with another seam!

Robe à l’Anglaise, 1784–87, French, cotton, metal, silk, Purchase, Isabel Shults Fund and Irene Lewisohn Bequest, 1991, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991.204a, b

In addition to having a two-panel back, 1991.204a,b also influenced the overall design of the back. We really wanted our Italian Gown pattern to have a very exaggerated, deep back point, just like this gown.

Other features:

While pinning was still the most common closure method in the last quarter of the 18th century, the number of extant garments that have a hidden front lacing closure suggest that it was reasonably common. We thought that would be a really fun element to include!

Robe à l’Anglaise (Italian Gown), 1780, Italy, Silk, silk thread embroidery, silk gauze, sequins Galleria del Costume di Palazzo Pitti

(yes, the dress above is laced wrong)

Dress, blue silk brocade, c. 1775-1790, Augusta Auctions, Lot- 287 April 2009 Vintage Fashion and Textile Auction New York City

We also thought it would be nice to have a one-piece sleeve, since the Amalia Jacket has a two-piece sleeve.

Robe à l’Anglaise (actually an Italian Gown with a seperate back bodice), 1775-1785, England, maker unknown. Gift of Mrs B Vye, 1951. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (PC000072)

One thing we did keep from the Amalia pattern is the side seam. It makes fitting and construction so much easier than a front panel that wraps all the way around to the back to without a seam, and it appears on quite a few of our inspiration gowns:

Robe à l’Anglaise (Italian Gown), 1780, Italy, Silk, silk thread embroidery, silk gauze, sequins Galleria del Costume di Palazzo Pitti

Being pale coloured was not a requirement for our inspiration gowns – that’s just a weird coincidence! (the primary inspiration that Amber studied is actually a glorious red!)

The Angelica Gown pattern is available as a digital download from ScroopPatterns.com, and as a paper pattern from Virgil’s Fine Goods.

* (haha)