Making a Sybil Inspired Edwardian Ensemble, Part One

September 23, 2016September 23, 20167 Comments

Todays project is something a bit different for me! It’s inspired by the harem pant ensemble that Sybil wore on Downton Abbey. I watched the show earlier this year and have wanted to make something from it ever since, though I assumed it would be an evening gown, not this!

When I first saw this costume I liked it. The colors and textures used are so vibrant and it’s very unique to anything else worn on the show, so how can you not? But I had no desire to make it, since I much preferred the elegant gowns worn by Cora and Mary.

Then last week a photoset of this costume appeared on my tumblr dashboard and I fell in love. For some reason it really stood out to me, both in design and construction. It struck me as something that would be a lot of fun to make and wear. Since I was between projects I scoured my stash in search of suitable materials and managed to come up with everything I needed. I decided it was meant to be and got straight to work!

In total the costume took a week to make. I used images from the show as my primary reference and didn’t do any research until after completing the costume since I didn’t want to come up with conflicting ideas. Since I made the costume completely out of things I had around, the colors, trims, and textures are all really different, but I did try to achieve the same silhouette.

The materials I ended up using include two different brocades, peach colored netting, and three different shades of chiffon that I purchased for a cosplay years ago. I also used two trims, the gold one is from etsy and the other is from a random shop in NYC.

And of course, lots of sequins. I didn’t have enough embroidery floss on hand to do anything similar to Sybil’s bodice, so I used these to add some texture and design.

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The first step was drafting the bodice. I did this the way I always do, by draping it on my dress form then transferring it to paper. My first attempt wasn’t too successful (it’s difficult to achieve a historical silhouette without a corset) but after taking it in slightly I managed to get something more like I’d envisioned.

Then I got right into the construction. I started with the collar, which was cut out of gold brocade. Then I used peach colored netting as an overlay to dull the shine a bit.

I lined the collar with muslin by sewing them together with the right sides facing each other. After turning it the right way out I topstitched across the bottom edges, and around the armscye.

I set that aside and cut out the main portion of the bodice. This is made from the peach colored brocade.

After doing a quick fitting I realized the bodice looked really boring. I thought the prints on the fabrics, and the sheen they have would be enough to make it interesting but no such luck.

So I decided to embellish a fleur-de-lis-ish design on the front. I based this design off the gold trim, which will decorate the waistline.

After several hours of work, the design was embellished! Then I outlined it with some peachy colored sequins, and decorated the brocade with a bunch of seed beads. This material has gold dots printed between the flowers, which I used as a guide for this step.

I lined this portion of the bodice with muslin as well. The pieces were sewn together along the bottom edge to nicely finish that edge before attaching the waistband.

I should also mention that I added a dozen plastic bones to the lining layer of the bodice. I wasn’t aiming for reduction, I just wanted the bodice to be nicely supported so it wouldn’t wrinkle or droop. This was extra important since I wasn’t wearing the bodice with a corset, but wanted it to be really fitted.

Then I pinned the gold lace across the waistline. I ended up basting this down before I started beading since I didn’t want to worry about catching my thread on the pins.

The next step was embellishing the trim, so it would match the bodice and make it look more elaborate. This took ages – like six hours or something. But the end result is very pretty!

With all the beading done I could finally pin the collar onto the bodice.

I sewed it on with embroidery floss and decorative stitching, which will serve as a base for more sequins.

Then I turned the top edge of the lining inward and sewed it down to hide the raw edges.

And the final thing i’ll be talking about in this post are the sleeves. I drafted this pattern myself – which i’m actually kind of proud of, even though they are simple fitted sleeves.

Then I cut the pattern out of lace. This is a curtain lace I got in a grab bag from The Lace Place. I didn’t have very much of it so I had to cut the sleeves from two pieces.

Then I gave the sleeves a bath in tea to dull the bright white color down to something that better matched the warm tones in this costume.

I sewed a layer of starched chiffon over the lace, then sewed sequins on top using the pattern of the lace as a guide. I really like how this turned out, I think it’s a neat effect and these sequins are perfect for it.

I was surprised at how long this took to do. I started watching Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries while working on it to try and avoid boredom during the process!

Then I hemmed the bottom edge, and trimmed that same edge with some of the pink netting I used on the collar. Hopefully this will help tie all the materials used in the bodice together.

The reason the bottom few inches of these sleeves are missing sequins is because I’m going to cover that part with more lace trim.

And that’s it for today! Part two will cover finishing the sleeves, finishing the bodice, and making the pants (something I did NOT enjoy…)

Thanks for reading! And if you want to see more of this project, I have a video log about it which has some extra details. This is the link to it, or it can be watched down below!

Making Bloomers – 1890’s Cycling Costume, Part Four

July 1, 2016July 1, 20162 Comments

This week i’m writing about the final piece of my cycling ensemble – a costume that already consists of a jacket, shirtwaist, and bow tie. Wearing those things on their own would have been pretty scandalous which is why I decided to pair them with cycling bloomers!

My original inspiration for this costume was this ensemble, which features the most fantastic pair of bloomers i’ve ever seen. As soon as I saw them I knew I had to make something similar, and I think i’ve accomplished it!

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Drafting these was surprisingly easy. I copied the inseam from a pair of modern shorts onto newsprint, then dropped the crotch by almost five inches. I made each piece very wide – almost thirty inches at the waistline, and bigger at the hem. Unfortunately I didn’t take a photo of my pattern, but it honestly looked like giant rectangles with a crotch seam. Nothing too exciting!

Since I was feeling daring I cut the pattern out without making a mock up – I figured it was so massive i’ve have enough material there to make alterations if they were required.

After cutting the pieces out I sewed across the crotch seams with basting stitches. I was very careful here since I wanted the plaid fabric to line up perfectly. Unfortunately I realized half way through doing this that the pieces weren’t cut out properly and that the plaid wouldn’t line up. I think it’s a small enough print that it doesn’t really matter but I was a bit peeved!

I sewed the crotch seams by machine with a one inch seam allowance. The top eight (ish) inches of the front seam were left open, since that’s where the closures will be.

I ironed interfacing into the portion of the seam that was left open. This makes the fabric a bit sturdier and should make the front look smoother after the snaps are sewn in. One side of the seam allowance is ironed inward by an inch to create a finished edge.

Then I realized I didn’t finish these seams. So I sewed lace tape to hide the raw edges, which was a pain to do at this stage!

I sewed snaps into the front panel, placed a half inch away from each edge. I placed these pretty far apart (and used crappy snaps from the garment district) because there won’t be a lot of tension on them.

After sewing them on the edge that was ironed inward was whip stitched in place so it won’t flap about.

I did up the side seams, and inseam with french seams – here you can see how massive the are! They took almost four yards of flannel shirting to make.

And it was time for pleats! I marked them onto the waistline.

And pinned them in place using the plaid design as a guide. The pleat pattern I did for this is kind of weird – the front and back are box pleats, with knife pleats that meet in an inverted box pleat at the sides. I didn’t intend on doing that, but it looked best when I started playing around with the fabric.

I sewed across the top edge to secure the pleats. And I intentionally chose not to iron the pleats since I didn’t want the fabric to have a structured feel to it.

I tried the bloomers on at this point and realized they were really long, so I chopped two inches off the hem. Then I gathered the cuffs down so they were slightly larger than my calf measurement.

Now they started looking like pants!

After a successful fitting I cut out the waistband and cuffs, which are just rectangles backed with fusible interfacing.

The cuffs were sewn with french seams.

Then ironed in half so the raw edges touch, leaving a nice folded edge along the bottom.

I sewed the cuffs on by machine with a half inch seam allowance – this isn’t my prettiest stitch work, but in my defense this fabric is really thick when it’s gathered!

I bound the raw edges with home made bias tape, then ironed them.

I folded the top edges of the waistband inward by an inch. Then I turned the two inches on one side inward by a little bit more. This makes it look nicer when they overlap.

I sewed across the bottom and side edges with running stitches, but left the bottom edge open since it will be secured when it’s sewn onto the shorts.

The waistband is pinned so two inches on one side extend beyond the center front.

It was sewn in place with whip stitches, then lined with cotton.

I sewed three hooks and bars into the waistband. The bars are an inch and a half away from the center front on one side, which creates the asymmetrical closure.

Two decorative buttons were added and that’s it!

I’m so pleased with these. The closure is invisible when they are worn and i’m really happy with how the look on. They are really unflattering but have a very authentic looking silhouette. I was a bit concerned the crotch would be too high or low, and the volume would pool weirdly at the sides, but I think they are perfect!

And they took less than seven hours to make, which is crazy since I thought they would be the most difficult part of this costume.

I have photos of them worn but they haven’t been edited yet (though there is a bit of footage that shows me wearing them in the video about making them), so here is how they look flat.

Now onto the hat. I started this ages ago, in March before I had the fabrics for this project. I was sick at the time and wanted a hand sewing project to work on in front of the TV and this seemed like a good candidate. Women’s Hats, Headdresses and Hairstyles* mentioned sailor hats being popular during the 1890’s and I found a few examples of them being worn with cycling costumes, so I decided to make one!

Though everywhere says they are made from straw, I didn’t have access to straw. And even though I didn’t have fabrics for this project, I knew it would be based on the color scheme of this piece, and straw would clash with that.

So instead I used interfacing and buckram which is trimmed with wire.

My pattern for this was really simple, I drafted it after taking large quantities of cold medication and it still turned out fine.

The pieces were then covered with wool. The brim is lined with a damask print denim and the top portions are lined with the same cotton I used to line the jacket. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos of the process.

But here is the finished hat! The pieces were sewn together, then I trimmed it with some vintage ribbon and added a few paper flowers to the back.

And that’s it! The costume is finished! Photos of it all together should be up soon.

I changed the flower orientation on the hat and clipped the ribbon with pinking sheers at the back – I like it better this way!

Thanks for reading!

Making a Shirtwaist – 1890’s Cycling Costume, Part Three

June 10, 2016June 10, 20164 Comments

This week i’m talking about making another shirt. I actually finished this one before my 1860’s blouse, which means it’s the first structured shirt i’ve ever finished! I think I made a few jersey shirts when I was cosplaying, and i’ve made partial shirts/corset covers recently, and tons of chemises, but never a proper structured shirt. Then last week I made two! Which is a big accomplishment for me.

This shirt is a proper shirtwaist. I based it mostly off of this example, but I searched for shirtwaist advertisements before starting just to get a better idea of the silhouette. This shirtwaist is going to be part of my 1890’s cycling ensemble, but the shape and sleeve design is a lot closer to what would have been worn in the early 1900s since I find them a lot more visually appealing.

And before getting started I wanted to mention that I also filmed the process of making this shirtwaist. So if you’d like to see me sewing it and describing the process in a bit more detail then you can watch the video here!

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For this project i’m using two and a half yards of striped cotton shirting, and vintage shell buttons I picked up on etsy.

I started by draping the pattern. This would have been really easy to flat draft but I was feeling lazy.

Once taken off the dress form I had something that looked like this. It’s rough around the edges but surprisingly it looks a lot like the shirtwaist patterns I found online. One is posted here, and another with more photos is here.

I’d planned on linking to a few paper patterns for shirtwaists but weirdly I couldn’t find any, which i’m assuming is because they are so easy to self draft. The closest things I could find are linked above, but I know the The “Keystone” Jacket and Dress Cutter* has drafting instructions for a couple styles (along with sleeves and collars).

I smoothed out the edges and added seam allowances. Then I made a sleeve and cuff pattern. I chose to make the sleeves one piece with a dart from the elbow to cuff, which probably isn’t historically accurate, but when it’s worn you can’t even tell.

I cut the sleeves out.

Then added the dart. This was sewn with a french seam so raw edges weren’t visible on the interior.

I turned the edges of the cuff inward, then fused interfacing overtop to give them a bit more structure.

Then the lower edge of the shirt was gathered down and pinned to the cuff.

I sewed the cuffs on with slip stitches.

Then turned the lower eight inches of the seam allowance inward by a quarter inch. Then inward once again to hide the raw edge. I sewed this down by hand with whip stitches.

Then I sewed lining into the cuffs and snaps to keep them closed. I used snaps for all the closures on this project, since the buttons I picked are really tiny and there was no way I could make buttonholes that small without them looking awful. The snaps definitely aren’t historically accurate, but they do make it easy to get the shirt on which I appreciate!

The final touch were three shell buttons on each cuff.

I gathered down the top edge of the sleeves and that was it, they are finished!

After cutting out the bodice panels I used red thread and basting stitches to mark the pleat points. Then I turned the front edge inward by a quarter inch. I covered that edge with a one inch wide strip of interfacing, then turned it inward once again.

Then the panels were pleated. I started at the center front and pleated towards the side seams. The thread marks made this really easy to do.

The process was repeated on the back seam. After doing this I sewed across the pleats by machine with two rows of stitching. Then the basting stitches were removed and the pleats were ironed.

Buttons and snaps were sewn onto the two front panels.

This took me ages since the snaps are so tiny.

The bodice panels were sewn together at the shoulder with french seams. Then I turned the neckline inward by a quarter inch, then inward once again. It was sewn down with whip stitches to keep it in place.

With that done I sewed on the final snap and button.

The sleeves were sewn on with a half inch seam allowance, then I covered the raw edge with lace binding. After that I did up the side seams with french seams – the side seams were sewn from the hemline to several inches above the cuff (to the point where the edge was turned inward, which leaves an opening to get my hand through).

I hemmed the shirt by machine and that was it!

Well…kind of. The shirt was wearable at this point, but I wanted mine to have a collar.

So I made one out of cotton sateen. It’s two layers of material that were sewn with the right sides facing each other. Then it was turned the right-way out and the bottom edge was finished with lace tape.

I sewed that onto the collar of the shirt and now it’s really done! I think it looks quite nice. I really like the sleeve volume and the proportions of this. It’s a bit big in the waist (which could be fixed with the waist ties/belt that were usually worn with shirtwaists ) but that isn’t a big deal at all. I think it looks pretty good for being my first real shirt.

And it’s definitely the most comfortable piece of a historical costume i’ve ever made. The fabric is thin enough to hide the corset, but light enough that you can feel a breeze through it. I wore it for around three hours last weekend (along with a pair of flannel pants, full length socks, a corset, combination chemise set, wig, and wool hat) when it was 80+ degrees out with very high humidity and managed to stay pretty comfortable. So I can definitely see why these were paired with sporting costumes!

However as much as I like it, it still didn’t seem quite finished. And that’s because it was missing a bow. I made the bow for this by folding a two inch wide ribbon into this shape. (Isn’t that a great description?) I basically fiddled around with the ribbon until it started to look like a bow. This is it from the front.

And the back. I ended up sewing the ends of the bow to the portion of the ribbon that is folded over.

Then I gathered the bow down at the points where stitching is visible.

Which turned it into this! I sewed a center overtop of it, then strung thinner ribbon through the center.

The ribbon that goes through the center of the bow ties at the back of the neck…which is honestly a pretty bad design. The ribbon is prone to slipping which makes the bow droop, which makes the collar loosen, which makes the neck look wider. It isn’t a huge deal, but once I got home and after wearing the costume and looked at photos of the ensemble I realized the problem right away .

Luckily that can be fixed by creating a tie that snaps or hooks closed.

Here it is with it’s pretty little bow~ It’s so perky looking I love it.

And here it is with the matching wool jacket! It’s all starting to come together and I love how it looks so far.

And that’s it! Sorry if descriptions and photos were a little vague this time around, since I filmed making it I didn’t tak as many photos as usual.

Thanks for reading!

Angela Clayton's Costumery & Creations

Category: 20th Century

Making a Sybil Inspired Edwardian Ensemble, Part One

Making Bloomers – 1890’s Cycling Costume, Part Four

Making a Shirtwaist – 1890’s Cycling Costume, Part Three