All posts tagged: chintz

Five for Friday: Questions I’m bound to be asked at a talk

Published by The Dreamstress

Whenever I give a talk there are certain questions I can be almost certain I will be asked. How long does it take to make one of these dresses? A long time.  A long, longtime.  But it does depend on the dress.  A Regency, even hand-sewn, can go together in 12 hours.   I actually counted with the tea gown, and it took between 32-40 hours from draping to hemming.  The Ninon dress was much longer, thanks to all the hand-sewing and bodice boning.  The Japonisme dress would have been relatively quick, were it not for the hand-appliques obi motifs.  Are the dresses (and corsets) uncomfortable to wear? Chiara in Ninon said “Yes!” much too enthusiastically to this question this time, much to my chagrin.Certainly cramming all five us into a car for the ride from dressing to Premier House didn’t help with the comfort factor.  I like to say that they are ‘differently comfortable’.  Like a suit isn’t the same as jeans, but you wouldn’t necessarily say uncomfortable.  How do you sit in them? …

Pleating the back of the 1780’s chintz pet-en-l’aire

Published by The Dreamstress

After creating the basic bodice support for my 1780s chintz pet en l’aire, figuring out the general measurements and sewing together my panels of Japanese block-printed obi silk, it was time to pleat the bodice back. First I needed to find a lining fabric, as I planned to completely flat line the silk, as it was so thin.  Thin, crisp unbleached linen?  Sounds perfect. Then for the pleating. My main inspiration garment, the cotton pet from the Manchester City Galleries, has multiple narrow back pleats. I don’t like it.  It’s kinda ridiculous.  The Met pet has a much better back. So that’s what I went for with my back pleating. This is also when I found out that the silk is kind of evil to work with.  It creases, but doesn’t pleat easily and lay nicely.  It’s rather like frizzy hair – you press it down and it just springs back and heads off in its own direction. To get it to work I actually had to unpick some of the panels so that I …

The 1780s chintz pet-en-l’aire

Published by The Dreamstress

I’m making a 1780s Indian chintz inspired pet-en-l’aire. I’ve been holding off on telling you about this project, because I didn’t want it to turn into one of those things that takes 8 months to make (and maybe never quite gets finished at all) and is difficult to follow as a reader.   But I’m determined to have it done in time to be worn for the Afternoon Tea talk (which has sold out!) just over a week from now.  So I hope it’s safe to start blogging the story! The pet was inspired by this fabric: Yum! It’s block printed Japanese silk habotai, and when I bought it, it was an obi.   I just couldn’t resist. It was just so, so, so perfect for a late 18th century garment.  The colour scheme, the small scattered floral, the slight imperfections in the print.  It would be even more perfect if it was cotton, since Indian and Chinese silks were usually hand painted, rather than block printed, but I’m willing to settle just a little. …