A Leap of Faith

First Post of the Day

Cutting these two pieces off the pink bedgown took a big leap of faith from me.

I'd stitched them together as the pattern had required, but something was wrong. Instead of having the beginning of a pleat down the back of the bedgown, I had a small "hole-like" projection between the shoulders. That wasn't right.

I carefully removed the stitching that held these two together. Then I got the pattern pieces out and set them against the cut pieces of fabric. Finally I saw my error - I'd cut four of them when I only needed two.

Or so I thought. 

The second guessing began immediately.

If I was right, then I needed to cut two of them off and discard them.

But if I was wrong and cut them off, I'd make an irreparable error and ruin that in-progress garment.

I compared pattern pieces again. I sat and thought. I rotated the pattern pieces to see if perhaps I was missing something elsewhere. 

Nope. I needed to cut off and remove two of the four pieces.

I sat and thought some more, did one more check of the pattern pieces, and then finally decided to just do it - I grabbed my shears and clipped them off. Then I took the remaining two pieces, pinned them together, stitched, and...

Yes!! That was the solution! I was right to cut them off and I hadn't ruined the bedgown. I now had the beginning of the shawl collar and the pleat that was to run down the back.

Piecing together the rest of the bedgown went quickly and I finished the garment the same day I started it.

I am so happy with how it turned out and I don't think I will have any trouble selling it.

Which reminds me - a very important email came into by business account yesterday.

Stay 'tooned!

More from the Sewing Room

Second Post of the Day

Referring to Susie's cryptic tag from yesterday's blog post, several of you read the 3 as a backwards apostrophe and an S. 

I think you are right. Susie's tag actually reads, "Susie's Fav Small." Makes sense - thanks, all!

Yesterday I decided that I would take a break from cutting out bedgowns and make some pin pillows using the camel/elephant fabric.

The cut out and stitched pillows, ready for stuffing.

Ever worked with wool roving? It is so soft to the touch. But it is deceptive - it compresses very well and so you use more than you think you might.

This is all I had left after stuffing just five 4 inch square pillows. (The fabric clips are holding the openings closed where I stuffed them.)

The finished pin pillows. I am really pleased with how they turned out.

That was a very relaxing two hours of cutting, stitching, stuffing, and hand finishing. And when I was done, I felt ready to begin tackling the bedgowns.

This is today's sewing project - an XL bedgown in a pretty pink block print.

On the left are the gussets (they add space to the underarm of the sleeves and allow better movement) and then the sleeve extensions. (These are added to the end of each sleeve, turned under, and then folded back into cuffs.)

If I can work without too many interruptions, I can get this bedgown done today. 

Stay 'tooned! 

Linen: The Fabric that (Almost) Won the Fight

Linen. It wrinkles if you even look at it, and when cut, begins to fray right away. Why would anyone use it? 

Well, because linen is period correct - it was the number one fabric used in colonial America. (Wool was second, then cotton and silk.) 

I've been doing so much sewing that I have used up almost my entire stash of block prints (I have one left) and cottons (three left, and they are earmarked for another project.) If I wanted to keep preparing for the Feast, it was time to break out the linen fabric in my stash.

And so I did.

This blue linen bed gown is the result and is definitely what I consider a practice or learning piece. I could handle the wrinkles (my iron is always hot when I am sewing) but the fraying was difficult.

18th century sempstresses and tailors either hand-pinked the raw edges of their garments or they used a pinking tool.

A repro 18th century gown with tool-pinked raw edges rather than a hemmed sleeve cuff. 

Here is a photo of two authentic 18th century pinking tools (Google Images)

Occasionally you can find reproduction pinking tools on Etsy, but they sell out almost immediately. (The Etsy shop that makes them has had a "I'm taking a short break and will be back soon" notice up since 2022.)

I asked Brooke Sauter (head of the Feast as well as the Feast Sewing Circle, and a very accomplished sewist) for advice about working with linen and its incessant fraying.

I knew she had pinked a gown and asked how she had done it. (Above.) Brooke suggested that I make a template on cardboard and use that and then hand-pink the seams.

That sounded doable. (Heads up - it wasn't.)

Using a thimble, I traced it and retraced it on a card and cut it out for a template. Then, I traced that pattern on the seams of the sleeve cuffs.

It looked okay - definitely hand cut and in need of practice, but doable. (I thought.) I moved on to the other three sleeve pieces,

tracing and cutting and tracing and cutting, and... 

An hour and a half later, the sleeve cuff seams were finally finished. Something that normally took me ten minutes at most. Even worse, my arthritic hands were aching and I'd only done four minor seams - the longer ones were still to be stitched!

This was not going to work. Even if my hands were not arthritic, the time invested in hand pinking every seam was way too long. I'd need to charge more than double what I normally do for a bedgown to make it worth the time I was investing in hand-pinking those seams.

Brooke had given me several options including sewing French seams and/or, if need be, using modern pinking shears. 

I pulled out my modern pinking shears and went for it on all the rest of the seams that I sewed in that bedgown.

Not historically accurate at all, but rock and a hard place, right? 

The linen bed gown looks fine but I will sell this piece for less because of the two different methods of finishing. Many, many living history people are on a budget and if the 21st century sewing method can't be seen (and it can't), then they will happily buy something. (I will disclose the pinking methods on the tag.)

I still have a lot of linen to use so I may try French seams on the next linen garment I make. French seams aren't difficult and, while they will take some time, they are not nearly as time consuming as hand-pinking. (My hands won't hurt, afterward, either.)

But they have their drawbacks, too. French seams are for use with very lightweight fabrics (lawn, chiffon, organza, silk, etc) and are not recommended for fabrics that are heavier, including most cottons and linens. And, French seams show on the outside of your garment and look like piping. I don't want visible seams like that.

Another option for sewing linen fabrics is a flat felled seam. It is more suitable than French seams (no piping look!) and will finish the edges without being seen on the outside. It's more likely that my next linen garment will be made with flat felled seams. 

Finishing those seams in the linen bedgown almost made me cry uncle. But I've got ideas for the next time I make something from linen. 

Take that, linen!

Meanwhile, Back in the Sewing Room

It has been a very productive week, sewing-wise. I've cut out and completed several 18th century bedgowns.

Despite the name of the garment, these were actually day-wear, a form of "undress" that you would wear until you put on more formal clothing for evening engagements and such. (I've seen around 4:00 PM in some historical documentation.)

A traditional English floral print bedgown. As Lisa pointed out, this is very reminiscent of the historical clothing my mother always wore. She loved blue and she loved flowers.

Lisa and Jessica at a historical event with their Granny Slash. (Called so because she signed her cards and letters, "Love, Fern/Mom/Grandma/Great Grandma.)

Bedgowns fit loosely and are either pinned closed or worn with an apron to keep them shut. This is one of my favorite block prints and I've made several bedgowns from it.

A customer in Kalamazoo wearing one I'd made and using an apron closure. (I love her red stripes and waistband as well as the red earrings and fichu accents.)

Me wearing the one I made myself and using a straight pin closure. 

This block print has elephants and cheetahs on it. In the 18th century, block printed fabrics were heavily imported from India where these animals were indigenous. So, it wasn't uncommon to find them on fabrics from that time period. 

I was lucky and discovered that one of Leslie's block print fabric suppliers was also offering a set of blocks for printing to his customers. 

The raised white edges feel like they are covered in rubber (which makes sense; that will keep the ink from permanently staining the edges.)

The depth of the block gives a good handhold for the person using it to print.

A close up of the elephant block.

A close up of one of the elephants on the bedgown fabric. That looks like an early 20th century football helmet on its head to me!

See what I mean? LOL

While I really like the elephant, my favorite block is the peacock.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these wood blocks, but I'm thinking that I might do a block printing project of some sort with the Pony Pals and Cowpokes during the holidays. We shall see.

Finally, I made a linen bedgown this past week. I have several pieces of linen fabric but I've hesitated to use them. Linen wrinkles easily and because it also frays badly, the seams need to be finished, a time consuming process.

This simple looking bedgown turned out to be a fight to make, all because of the linen fabric. 

Stay 'tooned for more on that.

The September Give Away Winner

And we have a winner!

Thanks to all who entered! And as so many of you requested, I will have these available to buy after Feast for $5 each and postage. (That's a special price for blog readers.) I expect to sell many of them at the Feast, but I will make more if the one you want is sold out. 

I need to head to the sewing machine as I am in crunch time, so it's a short post today.

I am making myself a bedgown from this fabric - probably my favorite 18th century block print ever. I want to finish it this morning and then get Mila's jacket cut out and stitched.

Meanwhile, here are two cute doggy pictures to enjoy.

Pepper protecting her most favorite toys while triple dog daring Tammo to just try, just TRY to steal one. He ALWAYS falls for that dare. (Which is why she does it! LOL)

Tired after a hard day of playing, going to the park, treats, pets, more treats, and naps, the poor doggo friends share my feet while they nap. Which essentially means that I'm not going anywhere, but hey, I was tired, too!