Salwar!

I love big, billowy things. This tends to affect my designing in my classes, unfortunately. Or not-so-unfortunately. Anyway, I was recently seized with the NEED for a pair of patiala salwar pants (that was probably really redundant, but I don't know exactly what those words mean... ). I modified the traditional pattern to be a little less full at the hip, and I designed in a couple of pockets on each side for practical functionality (I love pockets, everything should have pockets) AND to bring the bulky width of the pant a little farther down from the waist. I still have no idea what to do about a closure... I also modified the traditional Indian salwar pattern into something a lot more like a traditional Turkish pant (check out the links at the bottom of this post). My fabric is a relatively heavy, patterned fabric (I have no idea what type of fabric is). I'm not sure how it will drape, as it is a lot heavier than the muslin that I'm using for my mock-ups.



I whipped up a few mock-ups yesterday. I'm in my undies for the first couple, so they are not posted here, but below are pictures of Salwar 1.3. I always feel a grand sense of accomplishment when I manage to recycle a mock-up (this was made up of the remains of Salwar 1.1). Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with it. I think the centre piece is a little too wide, creating a bit too much of a 'diaper' effect... but I will cut it out that way, and if I can't handle it in fabric, I'll just trim it down.






And now, a couple of interesting links that helped me out a bit:

How to Make a Turkish Salwar
Method of Stitching a Patiala Salwar: Vani's Blog
Turkish and Ottoman Dress

Vermeer and the Yellow Bodice

Researching the portraits of Johannes Vermeer, yet another yellow bodice keeps popping up! It is a little 'heavier' visually than the Terborch bodice. As you can see in the paintings below, the trim is a lot wider than the Terborch bodice - still multiple rows of trim, but definitely a wider trim; velvet ribbon? The cuffs are black, not yellow. At the waist are tabs (something that is not seen on all similar bodices of the period) that are bordered in black. Like the Terborch bodice, the neckline of the bodice is bound with a narrow black binding. CF seems to be bordered with black trim as well.

Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, 1657, Johannes Vermeer

Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window (detail), 1657, Johannes Vermeer


Officer with a Laughing Girl, 1657, Johannes Vermeer

Young Woman with a Water Jug (detail), 1660-62, Johannes Vermeer

A Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman (detail), 1662-65, Johannes Vermeer
Look, a rare back view! The back-most (is that even a word?) two tabs are visible, but it looks like the other tabs are tucked into the waist of the over-skirt. I wonder how many tabs are actually tucked in...

Dutch Baroque

For a while lately, I've been incredibly interested in Dutch Baroque genre paintings, and the costume of the latter half of the 1600s in Holland. The other day as I was perusing the paintings of Pieter de Hooch, I found this:



Now this painting is not by Pieter de Hooch, as far as I can ascertain; unfortunately, I can't remember WHO the artist is! I have perused the Web Gallery of Art for hours trying to find the artist again, with little luck. If you know, please tell me!

Anyway, when re-perusing the work of Pieter de Hooch, I did find this, which is actually by Gerard Terborch, found in the WGA here. The colour and trim details are remarkably similar to the painting above, with a few differences; finer trim, a few less rows, a wider cuff... this painting is called The Concert c. 1657.

The Concert, Gerard Terborch, 1657

I think I will investigate the style of this era next...

Going REtro

This weekend, I drove from my home on the southern edge of MI to my sister's place in Pittsburgh, PA. Naturally, at the prospect of an entire weekend of freedom (the first full weekend I've gotten off from work all summer!) I HAD to bring my sewing, and the new Retro Butterick patterns I bought a few of days ago...-

So, I proceeded to make a mock-up of the pattern I was most inclined to start with, Butterick 4792. The mock-up is just a brilliant blue cotton jacquard that I bought at a resale shop at $5 for 4yd. I actually rather like the fabric, but I hadn't a pre-determined use for it, and I needed SOMETHING to make my mock-ups out of, and I didn't want to go buy scads of new muslin!

I was not particularly pleased with the fit of the front at first. In the picture on the left, a distinct gapping is visible. When I turned to the side, WAY too much was showing through that gap!


To remedy this gapping, I folded the front bodice back a bit at the side seams and pinned it. This definitely helped! I don't particularly like how high and tight the armholes are after pinning, however, so I will probably take my French curve and make those a bit lower. I will also make a dart on the side - a dart slanting up, the type of dart very common in '60's sheath dresses - in order to eliminate what gapping is still left after taking in the front side seams. Although a bit of gap also occurs with the back neckline when I put my arms back, I think I'm pretty satisfied with the back view overall.

More updates to come soon!

The Bronze Duchess

It is finished. Actually, It has been finished for quite some time - since the Regency Ball in Lansing, MI last February, in fact! I apologize for taking such a terribly long time to upload the photos. I can't think of a whole lot to say about it at the moment, so I suppose I shall let the photos speak for themselves.








The photos in this post were taken by A. Rose Photography, and displayed on this blog by permission of the photographer.

So... I'm not sewing right now!

Because I'm at school! I'm at Savannah College of Art and Design, and I haven't got my sewing machine! I'm going to TRY to get my mother to send me a handsewing project, though, so... look for an update within the next month!!

Regency bodiced petticoat/short corset

So, not much to say, except that I'm going to a Regency Exhibition Ball and so am sewing a new dress. Which, of course, requires a new corset. This one is black cotton lined and interlined with black linen, and it's short. My first short corset. It will be transformed into a petticoat when I whipstitch a skirt to it - my ballgown will have a train, so I need something to keep it relatively safe...


The cording channels (I'm using 1/16" hemp cord) aren't quite finished; I doubt I'll get all the cording done before the ball. As of now I have all but the top front binding on, and all the boning is sewn in. I'll post more photos when my family gets back from vacation with the camera in a week!

The Pattern: a significantly shortened version of the 1805-1825 corset in Period Costume for Stage and Screen, by Jean Hunnisett.