Marathon

Some people run marathons- I, however,  lacking both any athletic inclination nor the mental fortitude for long term strenuous exercise- instead have sewing marathons.

This happened a few weekends ago (sadly since I have been too busy with non sewing stuff (moving! work! visitors! to blog).  

In total that weekend (from Friday after work to sunday evening) I sewed a total of 38.5 hours and virtually (minus the fitting and stomacher which still needs to be done) completed the main body of my pet en l'air.  

It is very rare for me to have such focus- so I have learned that when I do- I must capitalize on it.  One of the downsides of such focus is that it is difficult for me to stop to document the process so instead you will have to settle for a few haphazard and awkwardly timed photos that truly dont show the scope of how this garment is put together.  Still -I hope you enjoy. 

On friday night I sewed the lining out of the leftover unbleached canvas that I used on my corset and hand made the eyelets that close the garment (till almost 4am)

Cutting out the fashion fabric (100% silk taffeta) took me a great deal of time- mostly because i wanted to make sure the left and right halves of the garment matched up as closely as possible.  Much to my surprise- the repeat of the stripes in the silk was not consistant from selvedge to selvedge necessitating me placing my pattern pieces very stratigically to make them identical. Thankfully this is one instance where I had plenty of fabric did not have to struggle with running out.


I decided to half flatline/half bag line the silk outer fabric.  The pattern does not call for lining as it is historically based. I, however, hate seeing raw edges and I like the shape that the cotton lining gives the silk. I lined the garment with the many many yards of unbleached muslin I bought for mock ups. One of the benefits it (since I read ahead on the pattern) I was able to "hem" the garment in advance. The garment is short so my height has no effect on finished length.

 
  The pattern mentions not to be scared of the pleating in the back of the garment and in truth it was pretty easy- with the exception that it took a little bit of mental gymnastics (more perhaps because I was tired) to determine which way exactly the pleat fold (over or under)  Luckily (for once) I made sure to include all of the pattern markings.  

The back of the pleats are to be hand sewn down. Much like the eyelets I rather enjoyed this process.  Lacking a thimble, however, my fingers took a beating from forcing the needle through so many layers of fabric.  As duct tape is the solution to most problems- i fashioned a make shift finger cover.  This greatly eased much of my pain.  The next day my finger had tons of holes in it from the BACK end of the needle.  ouch.

The directions call for the top of the back of the pleats to be cut as one piece but since my fabric is assymetrical- I split the pattern, added seam allowance and cut this so it lined up with as large a portion of my pleats as possible.  I have to admit- this is one of the parts I am proudest of on the garment even if likely no one will notice it. ( I will prob use the same technique on the stomacher)

lining up the pattern

after being very very careful sewn down

I don't have any images of me setting the sleeves in however making the mock up was incredible useful because I already understood how they would set in- and how to cut the fabric to maximize the stripes I wanted to see prior to working with my fashion fabric. 
 

lining before it is set into garment.

The front of the robe and the side pleats will be officially tacked down after I have another fitting.  Here is the garment without the final fitting, trims and stomacher

What I like:

• I got very lucky with the fabric I chose as when pleated it looks even more elegant than it did on the bolt- It also loses some of the Americana feel I was afraid would be too evident
• The inside of the garment is 'clean' finished
• I like the adjust ability in the back (the hidden ties)
• While I was initially thinking I would use a light cream colored silk for the outer petticoat- I am leaning more and more towards a washed out red.  I feel it will give the garment more visual interest. 

What I learned for next time:

• When I make this as a gown- I would like more fullness in the skirt. I also think cutting the skirt as a separate piece from the bodice would give you more freedom with fit.
• I know the slits for the pockets are historical but I am not sure how i feel about them.  They seem like gaping holes without all the undergarments. Hopefully as it all comes together- they will make more sense.  If not- i plan on stitching them shut
• It is impossible to be sure this fits as I sew it because I cannot try it on.  I find this very stressful as I get to the later aspects of tacking down robings.
• I need to buy a thimble     

 

 

Fitting

My frustration with the cursed panniers has caused me to abandon them (temporarily) and look at other aspects of my project.

I decided that I would create a Pet en l'air before I made my Robe a la Francaise.  A pet en l'air is a shortened version of the latter.  By making one- I could get a better feel for how the pattern goes together and work out any kinks before I have to cut the longer and more expensive version.  Additionally- for my gown- I want to deviate from the pattern.  Having not made this gown before- altering the pattern would be like changing a recipe you've never tasted.  It's too hard to know how much or exactly wear to change.  

I started with making a mock up of the lining only. 

 

Doesn't really fit my form because my form can't wear stays

I really like how the back of the gown uses hidden ties to make it adjustable- perfect since I’m making a gown for many months from now and weight can change! (hopefully for the better!)

I am so lucky that for my 'regular job' I work in the apparel industry with many talented designers.  One of whom offered to help me with fitting my mock up Pet en l'air before work one day.  Of course it is impossible for me to fit myself in my own garment and so her help was invaluable in my process.  (thank you!!)

The sleeves seem really really big so we have pinned them in some. I am worried that if the sleeves don’t fit- my costume might look more like a rental.

  Next:  on to making the garment!