The Great British Sewing Bee

Thread Needle Street.  Haberdasher Street. Silk Street. Petticoat Lane. A large light filled sewing room with rustic architectural elements. Vintage music.  Scope for the imagination such as this set the stage for 6 sewers in 4 rounds of competition in The Great British Sewing Bee! 

I found a sordid news clipping, a few actually, that fussed as to the boringness of the show and how it would never last.  After the show's completion its success led to the grand announcement that there would be a season 2 and applications are now being taken for the next round of competitive seamstresses.

Part of the charm of this competition is that it was friendly and full of esprit de corps, instead of the typical American underhanded attacks between competitors induced to raise ratings. Delightfully The Great Bitish Sewing Bee was about sewing, not about egos. Each competitor cheered each other on, while determinedly doing his/her best which allowed us to focus on their range of ideas! 

The range of creativity and interpretation was fun to watch unfold while each round of competition held 3 sewing challenges. Round 1 of each show entailed receiving a pattern.  Could the sewer follow directions?  Would his/her choice of fabric be suitable for the particular garment and structure of the pattern?  Each week the pattern assignment became more difficult.  Round 2 entailed receiving a completed basic item to alter or embellish. Round 3 allowed the most time, an entire day or more, to sew a garment for a model.  Before that week's competition the competitors were told to choose a pattern and fabric of their choice within the week's theme (a dress, a blouse, an evening gown, etc). They were allowed to practice sewing with that pattern at home before the competition. But at the competition, they had to fit that pattern to an assigned model. 

From these challenges I was inspired to attempt more challenging projects of my own.  One of the Round 1 challenges was a pattern for men's trousers. They included a zipper fly front, which no one in the group had ever sewn before, yet they all completed it. Some were better than others, but not bad for a first try under the pressure of lights, camera, action and a time limit.  A couple of week's later I was sewing an American Civil War costume for my son. By that time in history fly front trousers with buttonholes were the norm. I avoided this 4 years ago, claiming it was impossible, altering the pattern for a solid front and elastic waistband. After all, who would ever know, since he'd be wearing a coat over it. This time I was encouraged by The Great British Sewing Bee, that perhaps I could do it after all. At least I didn't have to do a zipper. Buttons are easier. The fly front was remarkably easy to sew! 

Another great part of the show was that midway through they did a history of sewing segment, which was fascinating. Be sure to tune in to see for yourself!

One of the judges, Patrick Grant, was full of specifically precise information.  Later I was surprised to find out he had no formal training in sewing. His training is in engineering!  Yet in 2005 he purchased Seville Row. Part of the establishment dates back to 1821!  Also they sew everything by hand, having sewn for such famed personages as Winston Churchill!  The other night we watched Around the World in 80 Days and Seville Row was mentioned, so that was neat! As many times as I had seen that movie, I understood a new aspect of it. 

I identified most with 2 of the sewers. Mark primarily sews 18th century clothing!  For this competition he had to sew 2 zippers into garments, something he's had extremely little experience in since zippers were not evented until much later. Oh how could I relate to his comments that 18th century breeches (I've sewn 6 pairs I think) are an entirely different type of garment than men's trousers with a fly front and zipper (which I've never sewn-eek!).

I also enjoyed Lauren's choice of floral fabrics.  I used to sew all of my own clothing when I taught school.  On Friday's spirit day I didn't even wear the school t-shirt, since I'm not a fan of t-shirts. Instead I decorated a yellow t-shirt, the school color, with fabrics from my remnant stash.  The school secretary recognized all those floral fabrics as different dresses I had worn. The funny thing was, some of the fabrics were from dresses I no longer wore by the time I became a teacher.  Yet she could identify them as sort of my trademark.

On one of the challenges in Round 2 was a basic completed skirt, to which the sewers were asked to embellish with pockets. I loved the pockets on Lauren's, which I'd like to try sometime. The link will take you to her blog and her pocket directions. By the way, Lauren doesn't always sew clothes and then mainly sews quick blouses! 

One of the challenges for Round 3 was to bring a pattern and fabric to fit a model for any blouse the sewer would like to make. Tilly brought her infamous pattern of her own design, which is featured  and available through her blog. By the way, Tilly only started sewing less than 3 years ago!

The sewers all came with a wide range of experience and it was fun watching how wonderfully all of them did. I doubt I could half as well, even though I've been sewing since grade school. I've read many sewing blogs that highly experienced seamstresses have enjoyed the show. I've read numerous comments from people who stumbled upon the show and were inspired to either pick up sewing, resume sewing or try more challenging sewing. Hopefully a series will come to America, not that I would qualify for it. But it would be fun to see many American seamstresses, whose blogs I read, be part of the show! I was able to view The Great British Sewing Bee on youtube. A google search will easily bring them up! Enjoy! 

Our Cosette Costume from Les Miserables-HSF #10 Literature

The latest challenge for the Historical Sew Fortnightly is Literature. My original idea was from Anne of Green Gables, but that gown won't be finished until the end of the month. Upon further contemplation I decided on a character from a novel we were studying for literature class, Cosette from Les Miserables. Although I have not yet seen the movie or the play, I have read the book twice.  Having been deeply moved each time I read it. I have not been influenced whatsoever from media images from current renderings of Cosette in costume, so that I could have fun creating my own interpretation. I began to imagine what I could do to represent Cosette.

Obviously an 1830's gown was needed, oh yes, one of those gowns with the prodigious sleeves. Romantic literature is known for extremes, deep emotion, darkness, eeriness, and passion. I decided on a purple fabric to represent the darkness and deep emotion.I didn't want to go too dark, because Cosette represents hope, yet lives a life of despair for much of the book. As hope begins to become real, Cosette and Jean Valjean find a garden for refuge at a convent, where she is taken care of by nuns and Valjean quietly works as a gardener.  When Cosette blossoms into a young lady, Marius falls in love with her and they meet secretly in the garden where she lives.  Some of the extant gowns I looked at were embellished with flowers.  I decided to do the same to represent the passion that bloomed in the flower garden.

Here is the flower that I created this afternoon from purple organdy ribbon. Because of the humbleness of the plotline, I made one to embellish the center front of the gown.



My daughter is modeling the gown. I had her pose in front of a picture of a French courtyard garden, perhaps like one where Cosette and Marius met secretly.



The purple organza ribbon flower with pleated neckline.



 Pleated skirts and large sleeves.



The pleated neckline could set further down the shoulders, but she kept popping them up. I had much difficulty getting the neckline to not reveal the tiny facing.




The darkness and the purple come into play here.




Now for the HSF details:




The Challenge: "The written word has commemorated and immortalised fashions for centuries, from the 'gleaming' clothes that Trojans wore before the war, to Desdemona's handkerchief, 'spotted with strawberries', to Meg in Belle Moffat's borrowed ballgown, and Anne's longed for puffed sleeves.

In this challenge make something inspired by literature: whether you recreate a garment or accessory mentioned in a book, poem or play, or dress your favourite historical literary character as you imagine them."-The Dreamstress 

Fabric: 100% purple cotton

Pattern: This was my first Romantic Era gown to sew. I used Butterick 5832 for the basic foundation and followed the directions, somewhat, for the pleating of the neckline. I used less than half the recommended pattern pieces.  I looked at extant gowns to adapt the pattern to a more historical look.  I used different sleeves than the pattern, by digging around my pattern stash for large puffy sleeves.

Year: 1830

Notions: thread, organza ribbon

How Historically Accurate is it: As close as I could get it from looking at extant gowns.

Hours to Complete: A couple of days for the gown, then a few minutes today for last minute touch up details in the neckline, including making the ribbon flower and sewing it on.

First Worn: For the photo shoot.

Cost: About $18

Happy May Day from my Photo in the Colonial Williamsburg Calendar

I turned the page in my Colonial Williamsburg donor calendar this morning and there was my photo!  My name is even under the caption!  Last summer Colonial Williamsburg contacted me about this photo which I had posted onto their facebook wall, asking if I'd mind them using it in their upcoming donor calendar.  What a thrill to be asked! It doesn't take much to become a donor. Check here for the details. It's an easy way to continue the research, preservation, and sharing of history that benefits us all!  Happy May!

An Embroidered Colonial Pocket for the HSF Flora and Fauna Challenge

Alas, this project (like most) isn't everything I had hoped for. The Dreamstress announced the Flora and Fauna challenge a few months ago and immediately I knew what I wanted to do.  I wanted to embroider flowers and vines (flora) with wool yarn from Colonial Williamsburg (fauna) for a colonial pocket. For the pattern I wanted to trace the colonial pocket from Linda Baumgartner's Costume Close-Up.  Unfortunately I was between trips to CW to get more wool. I only have two yarn colors right now.Additionally time was definitely a hindering factor for numerous reasons.

Also I wanted to practice my embroidery skills. Although I completed countless embroidery projects while growing up, I hadn't embroidered anything since college years. There is definitely a technique to directional stitching and usage of varying thread weights.

As I pondered the options, I remembered I had gifted my daughter (to her chagrin I fear) a colonial pocket embroidery kit from CW a few years ago. I thought she would have fun embroidering with it, but in truth she does not enjoy needlework like I do. I asked her to dig out the kit and after opening the package realized it would be far too complicated for her skill set and interest level.  She has been doing a simple cross stitch bookmark for the last couple of years, so I knew this pocket kit was at the bottom of her project basket of other projects that I have purchased for her. She had a birthday coming up and she seemed quite thrilled that I would be working on her pocket for her for this challenge. So I think my daughter has many thanks to The Dreamstress. It took the Flora and Fauna challenge to get me to complete that pocket kit for her!

I took the kit to Colonial Williamsburg's President's Day weekend activities, to have something to do in my spare time. Because the weather was so awful, I did most of the work in the hotel at night, and at one of our lunching venues. I didn't complete it but got a good start on it. I've continued working on it in bits and pieces for the last few months.

Overall I was disappointed with the kit, because it is meant more as a modern interpretation for the modern seamstress. The pattern is based on the very same pocket from Costume Close-Up that I hope to reproduce. However this pocket is much smaller and therefore less practical. Although all the fabrics and threads are 100% natural fiber, they would not have been used in the 18th century. A twill fabric that easily ravels is supplied for the pocket along with cotton embroidery floss. Manufactured lines have been imprinted onto the fabric which I do not like this because it is difficult to cover the lines with thin embroidery floss. Wool yarn would have been easier to cover all the lines. Also yarn is easier to use to fill in space than thin thread. However that was a good challenge for me since I have a silk embroidered pin ball yet to complete from a Colonial Williamsburg Costume Design Center class I took on pin balls a few years ago.

With this pocket I played around with stitching different leaves and flower petals in different directions to see which effect I liked the best.  I'm a gardener too and variations of striation in leaves and petals, especially when light hits it, is a fun challenge to try to replicate with thread.



I did not finish the pocket as per instructions, because they were quite complicated (more than they needed to be) and used the sewing machine, whereas I worked my pocket with 100% hand stitching. I confess I had considered using the sewing machine, since the materials are not historically accurate, but the hand sewing went quickly and allowed me to watch television(Food Network).

I chose a 100% cotton purple binding, since purple is my daughter's favorite color. After I cut along the solid lines of the pocket, I was sad I had not left more seam allowance. I hadn't noticed how close the embroidery is done to the edge of the pocket. Therefore some of it is hidden underneath the binding. I cut the binding on the straight of grain, since 18th century frugality with expensive fabric rarely cut on the bias or specifically pieced. Also in 18th century manner, I pieced the binding.



Now for the HSF details:



The Challenge:"HSF #9 Flora and Fauna-Textiles and the natural world are inextricably linked. Until very recently, all textiles were made from flora (linen, raime, hemp) or fauna (wool, silk, fur), and dyed with flora and fauna. Flora and fauna also influenced the decoration of textiles, from Elizabethan floral embroidery, to Regency beetle-wing dresses, to Edwardian bird-trimmed hats. Celebrate the natural world (hopefully without killing any birds) with a flora and/or fauna inspired garment."-The Dreamstress

Fabric:100% cotton twill for the pocket, 100% cotton purple fabric for the binding

Pattern: A colonial pocket kit

Year: 1740-1770

Notions: 100% cotton embroidery floss, 100% cotton thread for binding everything together

How historically accurate is it? It has the idea of historical accuracy. The pattern is based on an extant pocket in Costume Close-Up and found in the Colonial Williamsburg collection.  Even so, all fibers were 100% cotton and the pocket was 100% hand sewn.

Hours to complete:Off and on since mid-February.  I finished embroidering one little vine last night.  Then I completed all the binding and finishing work, in about an hour, all handsewn.

First worn: Perhaps for an upcoming trip to Colonial Williamsburg.

Total cost: $30 for the kit

An 1860 Trip to the Beach...Hmmm, the Atlantic, the Chesepeake or the Potomac?

What a lovely day for a picnic!  Being a hot July day in 1861, I decided to wear my sheer gown.  Light and airy for summer, and white like the seashells and white sand beeches.  Which beach shall I visit: the Atlantic, the Chesepeake, the Potomac?



Checking my picnic basket for plenty of yummies.



My coach is waiting and I am ready for a lovely day at the beach!

The Challenge: By the Sea "Everyone loves a day at the beach, and the sea has inspired and influenced fashion for millennia. This challenge is all about nautical fashions, whether you make BC pallas and stola to wear at a Roman seaside resort town like Pompeii, something for Cleopatra to lounge in as she barged down the Nile (rivers count as nautical), an outfit for a Viking to keep them warm on a longboat as they explored Newfoundland, a ship to perch on a towering 1770s hairdo, a chemise to be worn in a Regency bathing vehicle, mi...d-Victorian seaside promenade dresses, late Victorian woolen bathers, or 1930s beach pajamas to wear on the sands of the Cote d'Azure."-The Dreamstress
Fabric:

100% sheer white windowpane cotton for the outer fabric, 100% white cotton for the lining.

Pattern:

Truly Victorian 447

Year:

The pattern is for an 1863 gown, but I ammended the pattern to look more like the 1860 extant sheer bodice at the MET. Since I live in an area of Virginia where one of the main interpretations would be 1861, I wanted to predate that a tad, as would be appropriate for a socialite from nearby Washington DC.  Like the MET fabric, I also had 100% cotton white sheer windowpane fabric.  I added a cotton lace to the edge of my lining like the extant (it's not suggested in the pattern.) I also cut away more of the lining from the pattern, to achieve a lower neckline like the 1860 version. Despite all the paintings I found of white sheer gowns, I thought my gown was too white.  I liked the look of the black sash in the 1863 painting, "Two Sisters" by James Jacques Rousseau Tissot, and black trim on white was a lovely strong contrast in many extant gowns of the era, so I too used a black sheer sash, made from ribbon I found in my delightful ribbon stash.

Notions:

I used mother-of-pearl buttons for the inside lining and pearl buttons for the outer bodice. 

How historically accurate is it?

It's rather accurate, using as much natural fiber and period type items I could, apart from modern stuff that creeps into the makings of ribbon and buttons these days.  Also I know it could be better fitted (beyond my skill set) and thus my corset isn't perfectly fitted on me yet despite all my taking in. I fiddled with it until it was perfect...then when I put it on again it was too big again.  That has mostly to do with my unique body shape that is quite a challenge.

Hours to complete:

Many hours over the course of a few weeks.

First worn:

Yesterday, April 20, 2013
 

Civil War Regimental and the British Sewing Bee.

My son's Civil War costume is finished!  The bad news is that the coat fits awfully, as mentioned yesterday.  I basically sewed it three times.  The actual coat and then the lining, meant that I sewed it twice, then I laid it right sides together, sewed around it on the machine and flipped it.  That never works for me.  I much prefer hand sewing but the time got away from me. The coat was also too large so before I attached the lining, I took in the side seams, which changed the armscye. Somehow the collar was far too small. In fact, the entire coat was too small, despite previous fittings.  Somehow I've done a better job of fitting his green 18th century frock coat than I have this.  I threw this coat away and started again, this time only sewing the actual coat. There would be no time for a lining. I would merely turn under edges and machine sew them down. This time I made the coat exactly according to the pattern and still (I didn't mention this before) but the sleeves were massive at the sleeve head, like 1980's ladies' sleeves.  ????  This time I tucked them in as far as I could to reduce as much fluff as possible, pleated them instead of gathered them and then I pressed them flat to hide the tucks as much as possible. We're not thrilled with the coat at all. Hopefully my son can make it look great when he wears it this weekend. This site was helpful with some of my regimental coat research.

The good news is the pants!!!! I started the pants last night, after sewing the third coat of the day.  I was quite tired but determined.  This pattern calls for a button fly front on the trousers. I've never done a fly front in my entire life because with my limited skills, I could never do *that.*  However last week I was watching British Sewing Bee on youtube.That show is great! Love the vintage music! Love the good sport attitude of everyone, which is completely opposite of the American shows.  America should take note.  I've been reading Tilly's blog for the last few years, of Tilly and the Buttons and she was one of the contestants.  During episode two, the first project that every contestant faced with chagrin, was the assignment to sew a pair of trousers with a zippered fly front. Apparently no one had ever done a fly front before.  I watched every contestant determinedly and successfully sew fly fronts, with zips no less (I'm picking some British expressions too). They inpsired me to make historically accurate trousers for my son's 1860's impression.  Four years ago when I cut this McCalls historic pattern, I did not cut out the fly front pattern pieces. Instead I sewed up the front and made an elastic waistband.  This time I'm not only inspired by the British Sewing Bee contenders, but I also have three years of experience in sewing 18th century breeches for my son.  I think I've made at least four pairs of breeches and the very first one was passed by the Colonial Williamsburg tailor!  Perhaps, possibly, I could do a fly front. Well, I've failed at most everything else. Why not? Besides, there was no need for a zip!  Buttons are easy!

Late last night I started the trousers and the fly front was the first part to sew. The further I got, the more specific fly front pattern pieces I needed. I was too lazy, at 10pm, to look for the pattern and dig out those itty bitty pieces, so I quickly drafted my own based on the portion I had to turn under on the main body of the pants. In a minute I had my drafted piece ready to chisel buttonholes. Since that requires pounding with a hammer and 18th century chisel, I decided I should go to bed, since everyone else was in bed.  No pounding after bed time.

This morning I woke up quite refreshed (although alarmed at all the Boston news..praying for all of you!) and while keeping NPR classical music in tune on my lap top so I could catch the latest news, I worked on the trousers. 

Now that I felt more fresh I started feeling guilty about my laziness the night before in not cutting out the perfect fly front to conform to buttonholes to attach to the trousers.  I dug out the pattern, found the required pattern piece, and decided to see how far off my drafted piece was to the pattern.  I had already folded mine in half, so here it is!!!



I have to thank all the training the Colonial Williamsburg tailors for this!  I highly recommend those Burnley and Trowbridge classes. The skills learned will cross over into many areas. This encouragement kept me going all day to conquer the sewing, along with all the encouragement some of you have given me too! Thank you!

Therefore I kept with my drafted piece and prepared it for buttonholes.  Normally I would handsew the buttonholes after chiseling them, but I didn't have time for that.



In a few hours the trousers were complete! I have one tiny mistake with the fly front.  I thought this left over right was wrong, which meant the buttonholes would be under the buttons, so I reversed it and had to snip a bit to make it lay nicely. Then I doing this did put the buttoholes on the bottom layer. ugh. I reversed it again, but now I have a bit of snipped frayed fabric at the very bottom. Otherwise it lays quite nicely, even when my son is wearing them. Also we fit these trousers to him with little trouble. I'm sure a professional tailor could do a better job, but the pants fit him so much better than the coat. These are a size XS and his waist is at least 4" smaller than the pattern.   All those breeches I've sewn I think has helped a lot with my fitting him!




In this picture I've opened the fly so you can see the buttons and button holes.  None of the buttons are authentic. My son chose from my button stash (I always snip off buttons from old garments that are going to be thrown away. Sometimes I'll buy a 25 cent garment at a yard sale or thrift shop if the buttons are great.)  He said we'll pretend the white ones are bone buttons. They are all he could find that match and weren't flowers.




While making these I did a quick google and found this site with information on Civil War trousers. The pattern had us make a split waistband, it splits in the back. That was done on the British Sewing Bee with their zipped fly front trousers too. One of the contestants did quite a bit of research, checking all the men's back waistbands to see this novelty!  Here it is too, except in the 21st century version it is sewn together, into one waistband, albeit with a seam in the center back. In the regimental trousers, the waistband is split in two parts and ties are used to cinch things up. This is done in 18th century breeches too. My son doesn't need this feature, he's so skinny, but I threw it in for accuracy sake.  The rest of the back is different from those at the site, since I had a different pattern. Also I have a stray thread to snip. 



Here's a link on everything you might want to know about Civil War trousers, whether Union or Confederate or civilian...throughout the course of the war.  There was a progression so that by the end of the war a soldier was happy to have anything. Then at the beginning the Confederates weren't organized with a standard regimental yet, since they had just formed their own nation. Lots of great information here.  

I hope the overall look will come together.  I am thrilled to have succeeded with one small skill and laughing that I'm already applying something from the British Sewing Bee!  Now to finish my gown!

Layering the 1860's Ensemble

My chemise....



Lacing my corset...



I have it pinned into my dress form so I can work on the lacing.  Lacing from the bottom to the middle...



Then from the top to the middle.




Alas, my inaccurate hoops.  I ordered them from Abraham's Lady in Gettysburg.  I called first and the lady was so sweet and had everything in the mail for me in 30 minutes. I received them in two days. I live near Washington DC.  These cost $64. I chose the flounced hoops (which I haven't seen any extant versions of) because my budget of money and time was limited.  No time to make scores of petticoats to cover the hoops. I read at the reenactor forums that seeing hoops through the gown is a major faux pas.  I am sad that my look won't be right, but a budget is a budget. Wonderfully accurate hoops start at $300. Yikes!  Someday... 



Where did the money go?  The gown!  I paid $20 for the pattern for this sheer gown.  I got the fabric at Hancock, a 100% cotton windowpane sheer like the one at the MET. I made several alterations and haven't yet finished this.  There are many pins securing it. Details to come, as well as a photo shoot hopefully this weekend.  I worked so hard to fit this, but the neck is ultra tight on me.  I'm thinking of wearing a cameo, alas my only and I think non-accurate one. It's white on navy blue with a girl's profile and pony tail. Cute but I don't think it's right, but it's all I have to try to cover the gap that will be at my throat. If I have time, I might even do ruffles.   Then that silhouette is so sad.  I tried it on yesterday and I need to tweak the fitting at the bodice waist. Also the color isn't good on me. =(




As usual I am quite discouraged with my sewing.  Fitting is not a skill that I understand. I have put the gown aside to make my son's costume.  I tried tailoring the coat, but that came out horribly.  Thankfully I have enough fabric to try again. This time I'll make it exactly to the pattern and it's just going to have to be huge on him.  It's going to be a LONG night.

Thought I might as well be upfront with my ineptness.  Our homeschool history presentation is this weekend and I was hoping for a photo shoot at a nearby battlefield. (I live near Washington DC.)  I barely have enough time to get the food and stories around for our interpretations for our presentation. I hope progress flies.

I am feeling quite woeful. It gave me the idea to start a new category, "Pressing On."  I'm trying to encourage myself to "press on."