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Scroop Patterns + Virgil's Fine Goods Amalia Jacket scrooppatterns.com

Jenni’s Amalia Jacket: a costuming community collaboration

When it came time to make samples for the Scroop + Virgil’s Fine Goods Amalia Jacket pattern I was in a bit of a quandary.  I made View A in my size, knowing Elisabeth would fit, and look absolutely stunning, in it.

I really wanted my friend Jenni to model View B.  Jenni is a fabulous model – and I’ve tempted her into the dark and full of handsewing world of historical costuming, so she actually has a reason to have a personal Amalia Jacket.  

But asking your model to make her own garment is more than a wee bit cheeky!  And Jenni has a rather full life of her own. She’s also been quite busy for the past year and then some illustrating a massive book, ‘Heart of Flame: Katherine Mansfield’s Flowers and Trees’, and then launching her first exhibition.

So I offered her an Amalia & petticoat in return for her modelling it.  She gets a pretty 18th century ensemble, I got a gorgeous model, and got to give back to Jenni for some of the times she’s been such a wonderful friend.  

The Scroop Patterns & Virgil's Fine Goods Amalia Jacket scrooppatterns.com

We had a rummage through my stash, and she fell for  a blue-green silk taffeta which I had just enough of to get a View B Amalia, as well as the project I already had it earmarked for: the sleeveless spencer from An Agreeable Tyrant.  To go with it we picked a silk-cotton satin I had left over from a project from years ago for the petticoat and cutaway front.

At the same time, I was planning a project for the costume construction students at Toi Whakaari.  I felt bad that they missed out on so many live costume history lectures and hands-on samples during New Zealand’s lockdown.  To make up for it, I offered them a historical sewing afternoon – a totally optional extra project to learn historical stitches and techniques.  

And then I had a brilliant thought.  Wouldn’t making something be more fun than just sewing trial seams?  Doing our own attempt at a ‘dress in a day’ thing?  I ran it by my manager and got clearance to have the students make the Amalia with me.  It was on my own time, totally optional for them, and gave them the opportunity to learn additional skills (and they all got an Amalia pattern as a thank you).  

So a group of interested students got together with me (and lots of macarons and chocolate) on a Friday afternoon, and made a jacket.  

The Scroop Patterns Amalia Jacket scrooppatterns.com

The Scroop Patterns & Virgil's Fine Goods Amalia Jacket scrooppatterns.com

The Scroop Patterns & Virgil's Fine Goods Amalia Jacket scrooppatterns.com

The Scroop Patterns & Virgil's Fine Goods Amalia Jacket scrooppatterns.com

The Scroop Patterns & Virgil's Fine Goods Amalia Jacket scrooppatterns.com

The Scroop Patterns & Virgil's Fine Goods Amalia Jacket scrooppatterns.com

The Scroop Patterns & Virgil's Fine Goods Amalia Jacket scrooppatterns.com

The Scroop Patterns & Virgil's Fine Goods Amalia Jacket scrooppatterns.com

We didn’t get it all done in our afternoon sessions, partly because I wasn’t strategic enough in how I figured out the order of sewing, and partly because there’s a big bit of applying-panels that can only be done by one person.  

But they got most of the petticoat seams sewn, the sleeves assembled, the linen lining assembled, the cuttaway front assembled, and the first bodice panels applied.  

I finished up the jacket myself, and I’m proud to say that my stitches are not the prettiest ones to have gone into it.  There are some seriously impressive hand-sewers among our current crop of students!

Scroop Patterns + Virgil's Fine Goods Amalia Jacket scrooppatterns.com

Jenni loves her outfit, I love how she looks in it, and I love that it represents costuming community giving and collaboration at its best.  Everyone who participated in the project did something because they wanted to, and got something of equal value to themselves out of it.  

Scroop Patterns + Virgil's Fine Goods Amalia Jacket scrooppatterns.com

Evening gown, silk satin and silk net, with appliques and beading, Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon, ca. 1914, sold by Augusta Auctions

Rate the Dress: Lucile does lace and roses

The last few dresses I’ve shown you were so crisp and precise, almost clinically perfect, even if you didn’t necessarily think they were attractive.  I decided it was time to find something a little softer, with a bit of layering and randomness.  And who better fits that bill than Lucile, the designer who made layering, embellishment, and a blurred line between lingerie (late Edwardian style) and luxurious partywear her calling card?

Last Week:  an 1880s reception gown in two parts

Last week’s dress really boiled down to: were you team bows, or team no bows?  Team bows thought the bows tied the dress together, and cleverly hid the problem often caused by 1880s front ruched skirts (aka, what’s the point of the ruching?).  Team no bows…just didn’t like them.

FTR, I’m from Hawai’i, so obviously I’m team bows #letsgobows

There was also some discussion of whether the train made sense or not, if the bodice and skirt made sense together, and lace colour.

The Total: 7.5 out of 10

A teeny tiny improvement on the week before, but hardly what could be called a roaring success.

This week: A Lucile evening dress in tulle, lace and satin

This Lucile gown was sold at auction a few years back, and definitely wasn’t in the best condition.  Some of its embellishments are crumpled or missing, and there are marks and stains (most obviously at the underarms)

Evening gown, silk satin and silk net, with appliques and beading, Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon, ca. 1914, sold by Augusta Auctions

Despite the condition issues, I think the design intent of the gown is still clearly visible. It features Lucile’s characteristic layering of fabrics and textures, with multiple layers and hues of delicate tulle and detailed beading over lace over lush satin over yet another layer of embroidered and appliqued lace.

Evening gown, silk satin and silk net, with appliques and beading, Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon, ca. 1914, sold by Augusta Auctions

Evening gown, silk satin and silk net, with appliques and beading, Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon, ca. 1914, sold by Augusta Auctions

The mix of subtly blended colours: sky blue and evening purple with pinks, yellows and greens in the flowers, is a classic Lucile touch.  It’s experimental and inventive without relying on vivid, loud colours.

Evening gown, silk satin and silk net, with appliques and beading, Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon, ca. 1914, sold by Augusta Auctions

Evening gown, silk satin and silk net, with appliques and beading, Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon, ca. 1914, sold by Augusta Auctions

The dress is notable for featuring one of Lucile’s most famous touches: pulled up or slit skirts which revealed large expanses of [stockinged] legs.  Lucile said “If I never did anything else in my life, I showed that a woman’s leg can be a thing of beauty, instead of a ‘limb,’ spoken of only in the privacy of a fitting room.”

Evening gown, silk satin and silk net, with appliques and beading, Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon, ca. 1914, sold by Augusta Auctions

Evening gown, silk satin and silk net, with appliques and beading, Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon, ca. 1914, sold by Augusta Auctions

While her ‘mannequins’ may have shown off the full length of stocking, Lucile’s clients inevitably chose a more modest version of the look, with layers of lace and tulle keeping the legs rather more discreetly veiled.    That’s exactly what this dress shows, with a froth of lace and ribbon embellished tulle obscuring the opening of the picked up skirts.

Evening gown, silk satin and silk net, with appliques and beading, Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon, ca. 1914, sold by Augusta Auctions

Evening gown, silk satin and silk net, with appliques and beading, Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon, ca. 1914, sold by Augusta Auctions

Evening gown, silk satin and silk net, with appliques and beading, Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon, ca. 1914, sold by Augusta Auctions

Evening gown, silk satin and silk net, with appliques and beading, Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon, ca. 1914, sold by Augusta Auctions

Evening gown, silk satin and silk net, with appliques and beading, Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon, ca. 1914, sold by Augusta Auctions

Evening gown, silk satin and silk net, with appliques and beading, Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon, ca. 1914, sold by Augusta Auctions

What do you think?  This dress is classic 1914, and classic Lucile, with every possible embellishment of the era.  Does it work?

Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10

A reminder about rating — feel free to be critical if you don’t like a thing, but make sure that your comments aren’t actually insulting to those who do like a garment.  Phrase criticism as your opinion, rather than a flat fact. Our different tastes are what make Rate the Dress so interesting.  It’s no fun when a comment implies that anyone who doesn’t agree with it, or who would wear a garment, is totally lacking in taste.

As usual, nothing more complicated than a .5.  I also hugely appreciate it if you only do one rating, and set it on a line at the very end of your comment.

Making historical hair pads thedreamstress.com

Rats! Making 18th century and Edwardian hair pads

After years of making do with bun rolls, and bumpits, and pads made from old hairpieces, and ad-hoc hair supports made from stockings, I’ve really gotten into historical hair-pad making in the last 8 months.

I’ve been experimenting with different patterns for 18th century and Edwardian hair pads (or ‘rats’, as they were called in the late 19th and early 20th century), and using different stuffings and outer fabrics.

Making historical hair pads thedreamstress.com

Patterns

For 18th century patterns, I’ve mainly been using the American Duchess book, and adjusting the size, shape, and pleat arrangements to get different effects.

Making historical hair pads thedreamstress.com

I’ve made the 1760s/early 70s ‘banana’ in two slightly different shapes/lengths:

Making historical hair pads thedreamstress.com

And the early 1780s ‘grub’:

Making historical hair pads thedreamstress.com

And the later 1780s ‘arrowhead’:

Making historical hair pads thedreamstress.com

My Edwardian hairpieces are extremely simple.  Tubes in different lengths, with rounded ends:

Making historical hair pads thedreamstress.com

Fabrics:

I’ve tried three different fabrics: a true leno weave cotton gauze (lower left), slightly textured wool knit (upper) and fine merino knit (lower right in dark grape).

Making historical hair pads thedreamstress.com

The leno weave is by far my favourite: it’s easy to pin into, and the texture helps it to grip to hair and stay in place.  The textured knit also works well, although it’s slightly harder to pin into.  The merino, while it looks closest to the fabric used in the AD book, has been the least successful.  It’s very tricky to pin into, and slips all over the place.

I’m very happy with the leno as an Edwardian-appropriate ‘rat’ fabric, but am not sure if it’s right for the 18th century.  I’m planning on experimenting with a woven wool fabric, and perhaps a linen, for future 18th century pads.  Wovens rather than knits seem more plausible in the 18th c, and a woven wool would certainly be more durable than a knit with lots of use and pinning.

Stuffings:

This is where things get…interesting.

For half my hair cushions I’ve used wool roving:

Making historical hair pads thedreamstress.com

And for the others, I’ve used my own hair.

Yep.

It’s absolutely historically accurate.  Using your own hair to stuff rats is documented throughout the 19th and early 20th century, and was almost certainly done in the 18th century as well.   Why wouldn’t women use it?  It’s free, it happens naturally, and using your hair to make it look like you have more hair just makes sense.

I collect mine off my hairbrush every day, and when I have enough I wash it just like you would wash your hair: warm water, shampoo, a bit of friction, and then dry.  It tangles and felts, but that’s fine for hairpieces.

Making historical hair pads thedreamstress.com

I’d use it for all my hairpieces, but I often end up dressing other peoples hair, and it’s nice to have hairpads to lend them that aren’t actually my hair (though why sheep’s hair is fine, but your own is weird, doesn’t really make logical sense).

Wool rovings do have the advantage of being less likely to work their way through the covers.  Hair hairpieces can end up being a little…hairy.

These three are all wool.

Making historical hair pads thedreamstress.com

I also want to try granulated cork and horsehair stuffings.  I used all I’d got for testing the Frances Rump, and am having trouble sourcing more with Covid and shipping delays.

The Pads in Action:

Both Jenni & Elisabeth got a little extra height with the ‘Arrowheads’ for the Amalia Jacket photoshoot.

The Scroop Patterns Amalia Jacket scrooppatterns.com

The Scroop Patterns Amalia Jacket scrooppatterns.com

As did I with my witchy chemise hairdo:

1780s hat and chemise a la reine thedreamstress.com

The American Duchess 18th Century Beauty book, and Kendra of Demode’s ’18th Century Hair and Wig Styling’ (which is due to be re-published very soon!!!) both have great tutorials for using pads and styling your hair.  I’ve combine their techniques depending on time constraints and how historically accurate I want to be.

I just used one of the Edwardian rats to give my friend Emily’s fine, delicate hair some volume for an Edwardian photoshoot:

Making historical hair pads thedreamstress.com

Making historical hair pads thedreamstress.com

Natalie has a great tutorial on making and using Edwardian hairpieces on her blog: A Frolic Through Time. She uses a slightly different technique than I do to make her hairpieces, but both work beautifully.

And finally, I made the ones filled with hair first, and they were my entry for:

The HSM 2020 June Challenge ‘It’s Only Natural’

Making historical hair pads thedreamstress.com

What the item is: three (banana, grub and arrowhead) 1780s hair-filled hair pads

How it fits the challenge:  The cotton leno weave is dyed with natural dyes (tea) to match my hair colour, the wool knit is wool, and all three are filled with my hair (which is definitely unexpected in this day and age!)

Material:  cotton leno weave, wool knit.

Pattern: the American Duchess 18th c Dressmaking book, and period sources.

Year:  ca. 1770, 1780, 1785

Notions:  cotton thread, hair.

How historically accurate is it?  I’m not at all sure about the fabrics, and human hair as a pad filling isn’t fully documented in the 18th century (as far as I’m aware – mentions don’t make it clear if it’s horse or human hair), although it’s extremely likely.

Hours to complete:  about 2 – most of it drawing out the patterns 🤣

First worn:  October 31 (arrowhead pad).

Total cost:  $1 or less – the fabric was all scraps.

But wait, there’s more!  I even made carry bags for both sets of hair pads:

Making historical hair pads thedreamstress.com

Hot pink for hair, and white for wool, naturally!

Making historical hair pads thedreamstress.com

Some day I’ll have enough to need 18th c bags, and Edwardian bags.  Guess I’ll need some 18th c themed fabric too!