A few of you asked questions about the interior finishes of 18th century stays in response to the last Cassandra Stays Sew-Along post. Let’s take a wee break from making to look at some extant stays, and their interiors.
This will lead us nicely into the next-after-one step: the optional bellypiece and reinforcing!
Stays, 18th C. (c. 1750-60) sold by antique.fashions
Stays, 18th C. (c. 1750-60) sold by antique.fashions
Stays, 18th C. (c. 1750-60) sold by antique.fashions.com
You can see here how large and rough the interior stitches are, how little the seams have frayed over the last 200+ years, and how frequently stays include extra layers of interlining for support.
This pair includes a shield-shaped bellypiece, just like the Cassandra:
Inside a pair of stays (1740 – 60)
Stays, 1740-1760, America, Two tone tan linen, cane boning (probably). Band of thin cotton down front. Edges & flaps lined w kid leather. Lined w heavy tan homespun linen, sold on Ebay, c.2004
You can see that many of these stays have additional reinforcing on the waist. This could easily be added to the Cassandra Stays using the instructions for the bellypiece.
English or Continental European or American stays 1780-1790
Some stays have even more elaborate engineering. This pair has a curved front busk, and curved horizontal bones or canes going across the bust, under the arms, and around the waist:
In the town of Valašské Meziříčí in the Zlín Region of Czechia there is a gem I almost missed seeing, but which turned out to be a highlight of the trip: the Moravská gobelínová manufaktura (MGM). MGM is Czechia’s oldest tapestry workshop, and one of the few working tapestry makers left in Europe.
Its set in a fairly unassuming building a few blocks off the main square. The guidelines gave the opening hours for a tour, and when we arrived a small sign told us to ring a bell and wait.
So far, not very exciting…
But ah, when the door opened and we were taken in! Magic!
Rooms of huge looms waiting to be warped:
Piles of designs, and samples of yarn in every shade imaginable.
A huge loom, with an in-progress rug on which a enormous monochromatic bloom was taking shape:
The rug-maker talked us through what she was doing, explaining the design and the process in Czech, with Hana translating the most interesting and important bits for me.
One particularly interesting bit, at least for me? All their rugs and tapestries are made with NZ merino wool!
Every wall in the workshop was covered with tapestries and rugs, or designs for tapestries and rugs: both new ones, and antiques the workshop had repaired.
Do you know what these are? They are tenterhooks! For stretching the finished woven item, so it is even and smooth. It’s where the phrase ‘to be on tenterhooks’ comes from: because the fabric on it is stretched taut and under pressure.
And once the rug was fully stretched, it would be trimmed to be perfectly smooth and even with this exciting and alarming device:
In the next big, airy open room smaller tapestries were being hand knotted.
The skill and concentration to follow those designs and manage all those colours!
You can see there are three different schematics for keeping track of the pattern. There’s a black and white outline that sits behind the warp threads, an overall large picture hanging over the top of the loom, and a broken-down guide that shows the primary colours that will be used in each section:
And the colours! I would dearly have loved to take some of these delicious shades home! (what I would do with them I don’t know!)
The colours are all custom dyed. They use chemical aniline dyes for lightfastness.
The loveliest thing about the visit is that it wasn’t a formal ‘tour’ that you usually get in businesses that let you in to see their manufacturing. Instead it felt like visiting a friend’s sewing room. We got to wander around, look at things, and the tapestry makers just chatted with us and showed us what they were doing.
Once we’d enjoyed all the in-progress tapestries we got to explore the rest of the building to see all the other looms and equipment – both pieces still in use, and pieces they keep for historical reference.
We finished up in the pub, which was closed that day, but which we were told we could visit to see the tapestries on the walls.
As it turned out, the pub owners were in, tidying up, and they chatted with Hana and offered to make us drinks.
I will never say no to limonáda (in Czechia this is soda water poured over frozen crushed fruit pulp) on a hot Czech day, especially when one of the flavours available is maracuja (passionfruit – I was so proud that I knew that name for passionfruit and could recognise it on menus)!
And ESPECIALLY not when it served in a pub/cafe that just casually has a 17th century tapestry over the bar!
What a treat to end a treat of a tour. I’m SO glad we stayed that extra day in Valmez to do this!
The Summit Dress is out (and on sale for just two days more) and that means it’s time show off the gorgeous versions the testers made!
Testers help ensure that a pattern fits just right on a wide range of bodies. They follow the instructions and let me know if they are clear, and will make sense to the average sewist across the world. They point out all the bits I could make better . The final patterns are definitely better for all their input.
And they provide lots of inspiration of fabrics and notions! (so dangerous – I go away wanting a half dozen more versions to use all their ideas!)
Here is the first of two blog posts of the tester makes!
I had the hardest time choosing which photos of Sonya’s View B Summit Dress to show you. Her dress is so gorgeous and her photos are all so pretty!
She used a cotton lawn for her dress, and the weight is just perfect for a summer version that will flutter in the breeze. I love the way the print shows the seaming and grainlines of the dress.
She says “This is a pattern I can make again and again. It went together quickly and quite easily. The sleeves went in like butter! I don’t think I’ve ever been able to set in sleeves so easily. Great work!”
Sonya made a Size 40. Her eye for detail as a tester is just as good as her eye for design as a maker – she’s the one who noticed that I forgot to put the little tiny lines that indicate that the pattern has pockets. (and they are awesome pockets!)
Carmen has the most fantastic instagram page, full of her colourful, imaginative, fun makes.
Her Summit dress is everything I hoped it would be! Colourful, imaginative, and fun!
She made View A in Size 54 out of a cotton-linen blend. It has just enough stiffness to give the dress a slightly sculptural quality.
Carmen wove her belt herself on her inkle loom (goals!) and added embroidered details to her dress – head over to her instagram to see the it.(and the rest of her gorgeous makes).
She gave really helpful feedback on the dress too.You can thank her for the suggestion to add bicep measures to the final measurements chart for the View A sleeves!
Pat
It’s a bit of a cliché that French women always look chic, but here is Pat proving that sometimes clichés have their basis in truth, because this is a very chic version of the Summit Dress.
I love blue and black together. I’m trying to think of a word to describe the combination that isn’t chic, so shall we say that it’s sophisticated? Both!
Her red belted version is equally delightful!
She made View B in Size 38 out of double cotton gauze. She shortened the pattern 12cm, to match her height.
I like to have a mix of experienced testers, and people who are new to testing, and testers I’ve worked with before, and testers I’ve never worked with, for every pattern. It ensures that I get a range of viewpoints and perspectives on the pattern, and that some of those viewpoints are familiar with my usual fit and instructions, and can point out if I’m doing something really differently to what I usually do.
Jessi has tested for me a couple of times previously, and I know it will always be delightful to have her as a tester. She provides excellent, helpful, feedback, and chooses such fun fabrics for her makes!
She made View B of the Summit Dress in Size 48. Her scrolls and florals cotton print is giving me serious fabric envy.I would be her dress twin in a heartbeat!
And you know what the fabric is?SHEETS!
Brilliant!How much do we love creative fabric usage?
She says “I really enjoy how quickly it went together, and I like the overall loose fit! I love the sleeves, pockets!!!!, and the swoosh factor! I didn’t have anything medieval inspired in my wardrobe yet, so this is a welcome addition for historybounders!”
Belen’s version of the Summit Dress looks like she should be holidaying on some glorious Greek Island.Can’t you just imagine her lounging by the Aegean Sea in this white muslin confection?
She made View B in the View A length in Size 32.
The lantern sleeves might not be as structural in her light cotton muslin, but the overall effect is so dreamy! The fabric did make sewing this dress tricky, but the final look is worth it.
She says: “I really enjoyed learning (despite the frustration with the fabric) to sew a godet. And these were my first lantern sleeves! Love them!”
Her favourite part of the pattern is the option to sew the front and back godets with and without seams – an option that is based on the extant Medieval examples, which often have seams because the fabric wasn’t wide enough to cut pieces like the godet on the fold.“I love when design decisions are rooted in legacy. It’s funny how I first I disliked it because it was an added seam that felt unnecessary, and now it’s my favourite part of the design! I love when our garments tell stories.“
Erin’s instagram is an eternal source of joy to me, for her fun sewing adventures, gorgeous makes, and delightful smile.
I suspected that anyone who thinks that much about how to tell an interesting story visually and in an efficient number of words would be great at pattern testing. Her feedback was just as much of a joy as her instagram. She really thought about the pattern, and what makes using a pattern easy and fun for her. The pattern will be easier and more fun for you to use thanks to her suggestions!
She made a View B in Size 56, in a beautifully drapey poly-crepe. She would like to try going down a few sizes and using the add a dart and FBA tutorial I posted. You can thank her for prompting me to write that!
Finishing up with one last gorgeous View A version of the Summit Dress, modelled against the backdrop of a Swedish summer.
Madame Grimm was anything but grim to have as a tester! The only thing about her feedback and stunning Summit that make me even the littlest bit sad is that it isn’t in my wardrobe.
This patterned weave is so pretty, and so evocative of the medieval aesthetic.
The drape of the fabric is just as beautiful as the patterning on it!
As someone who is a visual learner, Madame Grimm says that she particularly appreciated the clear diagrams in the instructions.
As someone who always wants to make my patterns better, I can’t say enough about how fantastic this group of testers was, and how much I appreciate their feedback. It was really, really useful.
And there are even more gorgeous makes to show you in the next post…
