Cinderella Pin-Up - Part 3

Remember this costume? Hard to believe it was only a year ago... but this was the second commission I did that really got Seamstress Confessions off the ground. Anyhow, my friend sent me a couple pics from a music video shes did using it... isn't she adorable?

1660's clothing Q and A

I'm kind of horrible about replying to e-mails in a timely manner - I'd much rather be sewing and all that! So although I do get sewing questions, I'm not always able to answer. This one really intrigued me however and I did my best to answer. I wouldn't consider myself an expert in this area, so if you know a good deal about it and have anything to contribute, please do!

Dear Elena,
I am currently writing a story about the Great Plague of London in 1665, and the subsequent Fire of 1666. The main character is a 16-year-old girl who, at first, is employed as a housemaid of a rich family; later, after she has survived the plague, she takes up work as a seamstress at a tailor's shop for upper middle-class women. 

During my research, I have only found very little information about the fashion of servants and working class in the 1660s, and I am especially helpless as to the construction of the dresses. How many and which layers were worn, was there a whole "dress" or was it divided in bodice and skirt, was there a blouse and a petticoat worn below or a whole undergarment, and was there a jacket worn over the bodice and so forth. 

Also, I would like to know more about middle-class fashion - not the expensive robes noblewomen used to wear - and maybe you have some information about old tailoring techniques? I am writing to you in a state of black despair, as I do not know how to continue my project without the information required, and I hope you can spare some time to answer my questions; thank you very much in advance, I would appreciate your help very much. 

 Best regards, Felicia S.

 Hey Felicia,

Lower class clothing in the 1660's would be very similar to what we know as the clothing of the Pilgrims and the settlers of Jamestown. I'd recommend looking up pictures from Plymouth Plantation, as the reenactors there work hard to make their clothing accurate. There would have be at least one petticoat, skirt, blouse and bodice and/or jacket. Stays or corset. Underwear and bloomers did not appear until the late 1700's. Middle class fashion, which is what your seamstress would be making (lower class would make their own clothes) would be similar in style to the upper class, but simpler, and not as cutting edge. She would only be in a tailor's shop if she was making mens clothing - for female dresses she would be working for a seamstress, and they likely would pay house calls as well.

 Techniques... I think you will find some good details in the books I listed below. Do you have a sewing background?

 Some resources that might be helpful:

Websites:

• http://www.larsdatter.com/jackets.htm 
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1600%E2%80%9350_in_Western_European_fashion 
• http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/TudorStuart-Fashion/
• http://www.localhistories.org/stuart.html 

Books:

• (try interlibrary loan you will get way more detail from books than from websites) 
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0896760839?ie=UTF8&tag=mestkarelarsm-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=0896760839 
• http://www.amazon.com/Seventeenth-Century-Womens-Dress-Patterns-Book/dp/1851776311/ref=pd_cp_b_1  
• http://www.amazon.com/Seventeenth-Eighteenth-Century-Fashion-Detail-Avril/dp/1851775676/ref=pd_sim_b_2

1=2 (Clothing Recycling)

And now for something completely different...

My friend Amanda introduced me to the blog of the ReFashionista the other week and I was immediately hooked. I've done refashioning myself before, but haven't had the time or inspiration in the past year. However, after reading through several months of clothing recycling, I had to do some of my own.

This dress was a hand-me down that fit neither my sister nor I properly in the bust. However the skirt was a nearly perfect fit for me, so I decided to...

Chop it off and make myself a skirt!

All I had to do was turn it inside out and sew the fabric and lining together.

Turn it around, iron it, topstitch the edge, and voila! Skirt!

I wanted a bit more oomph to it though, so I used my pintuck foot to add three pintucks around the hem.

Now - VOILA!

I didn't want to waste the top, so I ripped out the zipper, turned it inside out and sewed up all the seams except one...

...including cutting it open down the middle...

I then inserted boning along the new middle openings, and closed up the remaining opening side seam in the lining. Lastly I added eyelets along the middle opening and:

Hey presto! An awesome medieval bodice!

My sister was kind of excited over her unexpected new costume.

4 Hour Gypsy Bodice

So artist friend of mine Ben Hatke was looking for a Gypsy Bodice for his wife Anna... and I'd been wanting to commission some artwork from him... so we worked out a trade. 

I've learned for Medieval/Renaissance costumes it often pays to look for fabric and trim in the home decorating section at JoAnn's. They often have sturdier materials with richer detail and more unique color variations.

It was hard to find trim to go with this burnt orange damask, but lo and behold on the very last aisle I searched, I found this package of self-adhesive trim... it still needed to be sewn down, but it looked great!

Turns out I can indeed make a simple bodice in just four hours when the need presses!

Ben and Anna are awesome. They don't just take photos... they take artsy photos that look like Renaissance painting poses.

To get a peek at just what they needed this costume for, and to see the awesome X-Men commission I'm getting, check out Ben's post on the story!