Welbourne Plans

Welbourne will be in spring this year, which will be a new experience for us all.  My list is surprisingly small this year, but there are a few things I plan to get accomplished.

Firstly, I want to finish the Berlin wool work slippers that match the Greek key wrapper.  The design is done-I just need to fill in with black.  I attempted Berlin slippers a few years ago but although I did test a pattern, the resulting slippers were too narrow for me.  I don't even know what I did with them.  They may be in the house somewhere.  This time I made a pattern and tested it in silk prior to drawing the same pattern onto the needlework fabric.  So they SHOULD fit.  I made the pattern myself to specifically match the wrapper.  I'm making them to match the contrast greek key part of the wrapper.  The only thing is that I switched the blue and the redish color on the slippers and I'm not entirely sure I want to redo it.

More info on those to come.

The next project is a nice, fully tucked underskirt/petticoat.  I want something nice that will show through a sheer skirt and also something a little fancier that can show when I pull up my skirt.  I HATE tucks with a passion so we'll see if I make it though this project.

I'm bringing the lilac Chantilly gown for evening, as well as my sheer bodice and black silk jacket that could be used with the skirt as an extra outfit.  For day dresses, I'm thinking the red plaid silk, the red wool (that doesn't have a post yet), and a brown sheer wool gauze (that also doesn't have a post).  So no new dresses.  I am going to add a lavender silk ribbon with ribbon from my stash as a necktie for the brown wool gauze to add a pop of color.  That should be an easy project, though.

I am also going to make some external skirt lifters from Godey's for the brown wool gauze as tape skirt lifters would show through the sheer fabric.

Godey's Lady's Book 1862

I'm going to use some silk ribbon to do them.  I ordered some green and brown ribbon to make some skirt lifters.  Either one would go with the skirt and Godey's doesn't specify if they should match the dress or contrast.

The next project is recovering a lace parasol.  I'm bringing three parasols-one marquis, the English striped one, and the lace one.  The lace one had a black cover and lining originally and will be recovered using the same.  It had a full lace cover that is in very poor condition so I'm going to use some original Chantilly lace as ruffles until I can source out a new cover.

The only sewing project after that is to possibly make another fan.  I have some sticks to be used and several fat quarters of silk taffeta.  It would be nice to have something other than black spangled and plain pink.  I'm not sure what color yet-I have several ideas in mind.

After that, if I have time, I'd like to do an 1863 or 1864 Godey's so we can peruse it during the weekend.  I need to get clarification on what year we're doing, though.

So yeah.  No big projects this year-just mostly accessories to add to my impression.  The biggest thing will be the petticoat and slippers.

Enjoy!

A Pair of Aprons

Although I generally do high-class events and portray very wealthy people, I find myself-every once in a while-wishing I had a bit more diversity in my wardrobe.  Things like cleaning up after dinner or helping to serve meals causes me to wish that I at least had something to over my silks with to prevent them from getting soiled.  That is why I made an apron two years ago for Welbourne.  Just a week before the event, I realized I would want one and quickly went to Walmart-the only fabric place within an hour's drive at this time-and bought really the only thing remotely appropriate.  It's a redish 'homespun' looking fabric that worked quite well just to stitch up into a half apron in just a few hours.

I meant to add pockets but never got around to it and then lost the pocket pieces.  So no pockets, which is just fine.  This one was entirely hand sewn, which is nice for earlier events.

This year, I felt the need for a pinner apron just to give me more variety and coverage.  Not knowing much about aprons, but knowing that I've seen originals in white and I had just purchased a big bolt of white muslin for 1830's underpinnings, I went with white this time.

This one was machine sewn as I was running out of time to get it done before needing it, but that's just fine as the Groce family bought a sewing machine in 1847 so machine sewing is good for most of what I do.

Neither apron used a pattern to be made up-all the pieces are just basically rectangles in different sizes.  They aren't fancy, but they are practical!

Enjoy!

A Mid 1860's Parasol with Eyelash Trim

Black parasols sure were common in the 1860's-they are everywhere.  This is another one that fits that pattern.  It is trimmed with something I have heard referred to as 'eyelash fringe'.  Quite interesting, it's like tiny strips of thick silk fabric with silk fringe underneath.  Interesting texture!

The description made it sound like there were 3 broken ribs.  Imagine my surprise when I took her apart and there was only one broken rib.  The other two were merely bent and went quickly back into shape.  Of course, there is no finial, only a piece of bone from the shaft that has screws.

Before I could fix the rib, I had to uncover it.  Most of the lining was already gone so it was just a matter of taking off the fringe then unattaching the cover.  Underneath the fringe, I found a metal hook that probably originally went on the upper portion and had a bit of elastic and tassel to hold the parasol closed when not in use.  Here are uncovered pictures:

I don't know if you can see it on the last picture, but there is an engraving in the brass end.  This is where I learned of the parasol's origin.  It reads E. Charageat ... (the rest of covered by the ribs but is probably a patent number).  A quick google search pulled up a book about the Great Exhibition of 1851 called "Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue", volume 3.  The top left entry on page 1233, it reads:

          1144 Charageat, Emile, 268 Rue St Denis, Cour
                          des Bleus, Paris--Manufacturer.
              Umbrellas, parasols, of new and improved forms and
          construction,  with handles of different materials.  Mar-
         quees.

So, Emile Charageat made my parasol way back around 1860.  I even have an address for the shop!  You can guess where I'm visiting if I ever find myself back in Paris.  I'm searching this place up!

From pictures online, I figured it may have been Italian or Germany.  Definitely European, but I didn't think French because it had fringe and usually ruffles ruled in the 1860's.  I just think of France as being the height of fashion and wasn't expecting to find a fringed 1860's parasol from France.  However, fringe came back in very shortly for 1864/1865 so that's probably when this parasol was made.

It is actually a marquis-just a different patent that E. Charageat patented and sold.  You have to pull down the brass sleeve to reveal the marquis part.  It makes it more secure and the marquis part doesn't 'wobble' when it is not in use as other marquis parasols do.

Enjoy!

A Winter Hood

Wanting a piece of headwear that could be used in a variety of decades (1840s-1860s) and situations (lower class to upper), I decided to make a winter hood.  I technically have one made from a Godey's pattern but I used felted wool which is incorrect so while I haven't gotten rid of it, I don't use it.

I've been wanting to make a winter set that is peacock themed.  Mantle, muff, hood, etc.  I purchased this fabric for the mantle and hood:

It's darker than the picture-beautiful peacock blue and green and a rich royal purple for the main color.  I thought that peacock feathers would go well with the color scheme.

For the lining I cut apart my peacock tissue taffeta silk.  I don't wear the dress often and am trying to streamline my wardrobe since I'm branching out a few decades earlier.  The fabric is purple shot with green but it looks blue so it works with the wool very, very well.

I chose a 100% organic cotton batting as I couldn't find wool batting anywhere local.

I went back and forth on whether I wanted a tuffed hood or a quilted hood. I'm going to quilt the mantle and wanted them to match closely but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of a tuffed hood.  Plus, Elizabeth Stewart Clark has nice little instructions on using the sunbonnet pattern on her website to make a tuffed hood.  It is based off this original:

It was a quick easy project and turned out nice.

Enjoy!