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Regency sleeve mitts (more or less)

I’m doing two entries for the Historical Sew-Fortnightly ‘Separates’ challenge, and neither of them is the project I had originally planned, and started working on in week 1 of the the fortnight.

However, I’m pretty excited about my first entry, soft as it is, because it is inspired by an image that was shared on the HSF facebook page, and the ensuing discussion.

Sarah posted these knit sleeves from the collection of the Nordiska Museet:

Made of fine wool or silk, they were worn with evening dresses in the chill northern winters, to keep the wearer warm while still being elegant and fashionable, combating the problem of “Dressing in French and freezing in Danish” that Tidens Toj mentions.

I looked at these and thought how perfect they would be to go with my 1813 Kashmiri gown, which, being made of wool, is pretty warm, except for all that exposed arm and chest.  There are other examples of similar sleeves or mitts (maybe) in the Nordiska collections, and at the MFA in Boston, indicating that wearing them was reasonably common, and not confined to Scandinavia.

The big problem with these sleeves, for me, is that I don’t knit.  So I can’t make a perfect historical replica.  The sleeves, were, however, knitted flat, and then had a back seam sewn in to them, and I can get lovely, lacey, merino knit fabrics in white.

Felicity the cat thedreamstress.com

Felicity approves of merino knit.  It’s a good fabric.  She’s not that interested in letting me make something out of it though.

So I made a pair of merino knit mitts loosely inspired by Regency examples.  I originally intended for them to be sleeves, and they started out as sleeves, but they just didn’t want to sit right on my arms, so they got turned into mitts.

Regency inspired knit mitts/sleeves thedreamstress.com

They are super simple: two tubes, shaped slightly to the arm, with triangles sewn in to form thumb holes.  I didn’t even finish the top and bottom, because the knit pattern didn’t need it.

Regency inspired knit mitts/sleeves thedreamstress.com

I cut them to go all the way up to the top of my arm, so they will slip under the bottom of the short sleeves of the 1813 Kashmiri gown, and keep me warm all over when I wear it.

Regency inspired knit mitts/sleeves thedreamstress.com

My fabric includes a bit of elastane, so they actually stay up at the top of my arms.  I wonder how the originals stayed up.  Would they be basted to the sleeves of the dress?  Tucked under and expected to stay?  Or would the knit provide enough elasticity to stay on its own, which I rather doubt?

Regency inspired knit mitts/sleeves thedreamstress.com

I debated for a tiny instant as to whether these really counted as a separate, rather than just an accessory, but decided that they do: I can wear them with the Kashmiri gown, or the Madame Recamier gown, or any other Regency gown I make in the future, and significantly change the look, and make the dress trans-seasonal.

Regency inspired knit mitts/sleeves thedreamstress.com

Not only are they going to be perfect with my period wardrobe, but I can tell already that I’m going to make a whole set of them to wear on an everyday basis.  Just look how well they work with the Queen Celeste jacket:

Regency inspired knit mitts/sleeves and the Queen Celeste Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

The Challenge:  #16  ‘Separates’

Fabric:  1/2 metre of merino/nylon/elastane blend knit, $28pm at 50% off. I can get two pairs out of 1/2 a metre, so $7 a pair.

Pattern:  My own, loosely inspired by period examples

Year:  ca. 1810

Notions:  thread

How historically accurate is it?  Not very.  More inspired, but I’m not likely to get much more accurate unless I learn to knit.  20% at the best.

Hours to complete:  30 minutes.  Best HSF time yet!  And now that I have a pattern, I can whip them up in under 10.

First worn:  Sat 10 August, while doing other sewing.

Total cost:  I can get two pairs out of 1/2 a metre, so $7 a pair.

Hurrah!  I’m in love!

Regency inspired knit mitts/sleeves and the Queen Celeste Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

 

My, what an enormous padded fur or fabric hand receptacle/warmer you have

So, I originally titled this post “My, what an enormous muff you have”, a la Little Red Riding Hood, because apparently I’m on a children’s story theme this week.

Then Mr D pointed out that my title was perhaps a little more risque than I usually aim for with my blog.  After blinking at him in confusion for a very long moment, comprehension finally dawned.  Ohhhhhh….

I know I keep him around for something!

Anyway, I’ve been looking at late 18th and early 19th century fashion plates, and, thanks to my love of muffs, I’ve noticed all the absolutely enormous muffs that were in fashion in the Regency period.

I mean, look at this:

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1797

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1797

Her head would fit in the hand hole!

And if you thought that one was bad, look at this one:

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1798

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1798

Forget keeping her hands warm, if she gets cold enough she could climb into this thing wholesale, and keep warm like a little post-Revolutionary space rebel.  How did she even carry it?  It would weigh half her body weight!

Things got a tiny bit saner after 1798, but these two examples from 1799 are more than twice the size of the heads of the ladies carrying them:

London Full & Half Dress, Winter 1799

London Full & Half Dress, Winter 1799

(also, how fabulous are the two hats in the one above!)

Ladies’ Museum, Morning Dress for December, 1799.

Ladies’ Museum, Morning Dress for December, 1799

One would think that such a ridiculous trend would disappear pretty quickly, but no, here they are again in the new century:

Lady’s Magazine, London Walking Dress, March 1805

It’s like she is carrying half a sheep!

Men's & ladies fashions for 1807

Men’s & ladies fashions for 1807

(it’s taking her second hand and some help from the gentleman’s other hand to hold up the weight of all that white fur)

Amazingly, you see examples of utterly ridiculously large muffs almost until 1820:

Carriage costume, January 1817

Carriage costume, January 1817

Muff weight lifting.  How Regency ladies stayed in shape.

Now I kinda want to make one, just to see how heavy a half-body sized muff made in period appropriate fur, wool batting and fabrics would be…

(all images via Damesalamode)

The ‘Queen Celeste’ Roll-Collar jacket

I’m teaching a Roll-Collar jacket class at the moment, so I made myself another Roll-Collar jacket, just to keep in practice.

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

I’m calling it the ‘Queen Celeste’ jacket, after Babar’s wife, because the cotton-velvet fabric is a sort of elephant grey-purple, and looks like something that you would make a child’s stuffed toy out of, but the overall effect of the jacket is quite regal.

Wearing it feels like wearing a child’s stuffed toy: it’s all snuggle and plush and has a warm, comforting effect.  It’s like an extremely glamourous blankie!

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

When I set out to make the jacket, I wanted it to be really crisp and bold, in bright red, or bottle green.  But the Wellington fabric stores failed my vision, and I resorted to my stash (like a good girl) and unearthed this purple-grey velvet.

I had just the right length for the jacket, and when I found it I remembered I had cut a lining in a vintage lavender floral twill for my very first version of the jacket.  I ended up not using it on that first jacket, because the print showed through the white, but it works perfectly with the grey-lavender velvet.

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

It’s rather sweet isn’t it?  I inherited it from Nana.

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

I’m pretty sure the velvet itself was also from Nana’s stash.  It’s quite old, and has colour-change problems in some areas, but they are quite minor and I hid them in the facings.

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

To finish off the jacket I used a big blue-purple button from my stash, which makes the entire jacket a stash project.  Hooray!

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

This jacket was all about an original vision, and having to compromise, and liking the end result even better than the first vision.

I’d wanted to do a hard, crisp, edgy photoshoot in the city, in front of graffiti and old buildings.  I’d scheduled it for Sunday afternoon, but got a call from a dear friend who was in town, so I caught up with her instead, and had a fantastic time – but no photoshoot.

Stuck without Mr D as photographer on the during the week, I resorted to the boring white wall, and the self-timer on my camera.  Because I’m too lazy to set the focal length, I just let the camera autofocus, and because it had nothing to focus on, it picked random lengths, so some photos were quite crisp, and others quite blurry and soft-focus.  I kinda love the soft-focus ones actually…

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

Though some were a little too soft focus!

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

Well, that didn’t work…

 When I’m not feeling well Madame O says I go ‘soft focus’ as a person, and unfortunately, I’m not feeling my best.  I put my back/neck out and I’m in a lot of paid and have very limited mobility, despite being maxed out on painkillers and anti-inflammatory patches (those things are pretty much my favourite thing in the world right now.  I have a little line of them marching up my spine).  So I’m very soft focus at the moment.  I just hope I can get my HSF project done…

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

Just the facts, Ma’am:

Fabric:  2m of 112cm wide cotton velvet in grey-lavender, 1m of vintage acetate floral twill lining – both inherited

Pattern: My own ‘Roll-Collar’ jacket pattern

Year:  2012

Notions:  Thread, 1 large button, interfacing, bias tape

And the insides?  Fully lined

Hours:  3 – it’s a surprisingly quick make.

First worn?: Sunday 4 August, Monday 5 August, Wednesday 6 August….I think this jackets going to get a lot of wear!

Wear again?:  See above!

Make again?:  How many of these jackets do I need in my wardrobe?  Maybe one a year.

Total cost:  $0!