The events before and after Thornfield are mostly blues in tone such as her life at Gateshead and Lowood and especially her time on the moors. 

  

 

The golds come back up in moments of keen happiness and content in Jane’s life – summer afternoons spent with Helen, when she finds solace and family with the Rivers’ siblings and when she hears Rochester calling her across the moors after the fire – drawing her back to Thornfield.

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The lighting has the same dreamlike haze, with the scenes mostly lit with ambient lighting – natural sunlight or candlelight. The moors are filled wet dark gloomy skies while her days at Thornfield are (usually) sunny and bright The most notable scenes with gold candle and setting sunlight are Jane and Rochester’s discussion after she finds out about Bertha, her rescue by St John and finally when she returns to Thornfield at the end, commanding Rochester to waken from his dream. The lighting of this scene reflects the proposal scene, the summer sounds replacing the storm.

Ok onto the costumes! The novel was published in 1847 and we know that Jane herself is relaying the story to us 10 years after the final events of the novel. It can be surmised that her time at Thornfield takes place in the 1820s or 30s as she mentions portraits of both George III and the Prince Regent being displayed in Inn near Thornfield where, in the novel she meets Mrs Fairfax. This would mean that the clothing in the novel would be smack bang in the Romantic era of large gigot sleeves and ankle length bell skirts.

In the commentary however Fukunaga explains how he and costume designer decided to set the film in the 1840s – the time of the novels publication as basically they disliked the styles of the 20s and 30s. The ugliness and exaggeration of the dresses, they felt suited Aunt Reed much more than Jane herself.

I can understand this choice as I would argue that the understated style of the 40s tied more with Jane’s character. Shifting the time period of the film slightly allows us to see a shift between Jane’s clothing while living at her aunts, the uniforms of Lowood and then finally Jane’s own sense of style and choice at Thornfield and Moor House.

Class is important in the novel and I think the costumes do a wonderful job at expressing the different levels displayed in the film. Aunt Reed is clearly well-off and of a certain upper class of society, we can see this in the interiors of Gateshead but also the opulence of her clothes and those of her children.

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Jane, although a lowly orphan thrust upon the family is still dressed in quite fine clothes.

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Jane’s clothes are mentioned a few times throughout the book and film.

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Her first meeting with Rochester in the woods outside Thornfield shows the innate difference of clothing between levels of servants

 “You are not a servant at the hall of course. You are-” He stopped, ran his eye over my dress, which as usual, was quite simple: a black merino cloak, a black beaver bonnet; neither of the half fine enough for a lady’s maid. He seemed puzzled to decide what I was; I helped him. “I am the governess.”

 

In the film we see her attempt at ‘dressing’ for Mr Rochester despite not having a large selection of fine clothes

   

Her outfits are again discussed in terms of the ladies visiting with Rochester, namely Blanche Ingram

A slight change in costume comes really at the arrival of her wedding dress, as Adele plays with the lengths of veil she whispers to herself  “I will be Jane Eyre no longer.”

In a way this is true, when found by St John Rivers she calls herself Jane Elliot and when given her own home and work as a school mistress she find a sense of style in small accessories that bridge the gap between her life at Thornfield and her new independence .

When she suddenly becomes an heiress is when we finally see Jane’s ultimate style. The golds of the lighting and production design are brought into her final gowns which show wealth we haven’t seen before but still humble and simple. It shows Jane’s humility while allowing her to take a small amount of pride in her appearance now she has the means.

 

When she finally returns to Thornfield to find a humbled and damaged Rochester their class levels are closer, he is no longer the master of a large estate and she is no longer his “paid subordinate” and in that way her gold gown and his darker brown muted dishevelled suit tie together along with the landscape and setting of the oak tree, once the scene of a heart-breaking proposal.

I could really go on and on about this book and film but I think I’ve probably bored you enough already!

I hope this has made up for not blogging last week and I promise to back to my normal schedule next week but until then,

See you in the future ♥

Woohoo I’m managing a Good Mood Monday before 10 pm this week! Anyway this week’s Good Mood is brought to you by Ikea and mammy/daughter outings!

           – I wrote the above at like half 7 and I was so happy but then things happened and now it’s 20 to 11 and I’m just getting round to finishing this post! Oh well onto the good stuff!

I love Ikea. I don’t always buy things when I go but I have fun wandering round the staged rooms and houses and looking at all the random accessories and decorations. I also completely adore the kids section of Ikea; it’s so full of silliness and imagination.

Anyway, this time we actually went with a purpose. Mum has been redecorating the kitchen for the past few weeks and we wanted to get some shelving and other finishing touches and I was lusting after some of the fabrics I saw in the website.

After our usual wander round the staged rooms we headed off to the warehouse and main shop area, skirting through the kitchen stuff and straight to the fabrics!

Unfortunately when I saw the fabric in the flesh it wasn’t as nice as I first thought BUT I did find an awesome cotton duvet set that was a similar design but much nicer so I snagged that instead! 🙂

I’m hoping to use this to make a Georgian round gown or something similar to this kind of outfit:

Plus when we were browsing the bargain coroner on the way out I managed to get some more awesome fabric in the form of another big cotton duvet reduced down to just £3!!

Mum also had a very successful day, finding everything she was looking for –and actually getting it cheaper than expected which is always awesome 😀

(And yes that is Ikea’s amazing chocolate spread with butterscotch pieces in the trolly – I could eat that stuff wtth a spoon straight from the jar if society would allow me with judging me) After paying we decided on getting something to eat quickly before heading home so cue obligatory lunch photos!

After lunch we decided to head home put all our new purchases to good use! (After wandering around TK Maxx for a bit first – they always have awesome kitchen stuff!) So today was full of giggles and shopping achievements and tomorrow  will be filled with more sewing and building shelves for the kitchen! One order I’m currently working on is for a pair of shirt that have giant puffy, almost leg of mutton inspired sleeves. It’s been an interesting project as this is the first time I’ve done sleeves like this and the first time really using iron on starch to keep the puffs huge but I think they’re coming along nicely SMILE

In other news this Thursday marks the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Brontë’s birth so along with doing a special Jane Eyre appreciation blog on Thursday I will be starting a few other projects based around the bicentenary. But until then,

See you in the Future! ♥

I’ve been very busy this week with orders and preparing (panicking) for my interview on Wednesday so I don’t have a huge amount of real life good news or fun times to impart so I decided this week will be pictures of cats. 😀

I know it’s the fall back of the internet generation to focus on pictures of cats but who cares, my cats are awesome.

We currently have 3 cats and I’ve probably mentioned this many times before.

Spider is the eldest who we affectionately call spider-elephant because not only does she put on an extra layer of fur every winter she also grows about twice the size with a massive elephant belly. She has a purr louder than a car engine and is very cuddly and friendly (although she does prefer it if you make the effort to pet her, rather than her coming to you)  

 

Second we have my darling wonderful squish Josiebean (real name Josephine). She is possibly the weirdest cat I have ever known and has more nicknames that I can remember. I’ve had her since I was 16 and love her to bits.

She likes to swim and sit under the kitchen taps when they drip she also likes to build caves inside duvet covers and sleep for days.

Then we have little Mishka Maia. She’s only 2 and half but already turning into a little bruiser. For the first 2 years she was an indoor cat and has only just recently been allowed out into the big wide world and to be honest she loves it.

We keep catching her climbing up the giant birch trees at the back of the garden trying to hunt crows (who are at least her size if not bigger).

She is a crazy wee grey furball who can switch between purring wildly and dribbling everywhere to attacking your face and running away sideways like a crab. 

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So there we go another short but very sweet and cuddly good mood Monday post for you all.

These kitties make me so happy and lift my mood every time I see them so yay for cats! 😀

I’m currently working on an 18th century jacket behind-the-scenes post and a Jane Eyre appreciation post but until then,  

See you in the future ♥

Argh another very, very late night Good Moods post but as always I have reasons! Today I’ve been sewing a Victorian hussif and trying valiantly to salvage a corset that I stared making about two years ago that no longer fits me and I just plain ran out of time! (And ok memory I also just forgot!) This week will be short and sweet but it’s brought to you by good (very, very, very good food) and happy news!

First off it was my mammy’s birthday this weekend and we went out for a family lunch to Loch Lomond. Now usually this would be nice on its own but for Christmas presents my brother and sister-in-law bought us gift certificates for the Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond Restaurant which is a Michelin Star restaurant! So we decided to combine the two adventures and have one awesome day of amazing food and gorgeous scenery.

This was my first ever experience of Michelin Star food and, really this stuff kind of ruins you for all other food. It was billed as a 3 course lunch but the menu didn’t mention the aperitifs, the pre-starters, the palate cleansers and amuse-bouche in between not to mention the best sourdough bread slices I have ever tried.

For my main dishes I started with a pea veloute with scallop mousse moved onto a gorgeous melt in the mouth roast duck breast and finished everything off with a gorgeous Valrhona chocolate tart and raspberry sorbet. I cannot overstate how truly amazing this food was. Just YUM.

After that we went down to the water’s edge for a walk, skimmed some stones, met some geese and grumpy swans and even saw an old wooden dragon 🙂

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And the happy news (ok it’s amazing, brilliant terrifying and fantastic news) is that I got onto stage 3 of my application for the MA in Creative Writing which means I’ve been invited for an interview!!! It’s a week on Wednesday and I’m so excited but also pretty much terrified but a good kind of terrified. They’ve asked me to bring a hard copy of the short story I wrote as we’ll discuss it in the interview, which will be exciting in itself as I’ve never really discussed my writings with professionals before, well not since high school and that doesn’t really count 🙂

So this has been a very quick, very excited good mood post and I promise to do another proper blog post soon but until then, See you in the future! ♥

For this exhibition post I’m going to take you back in time; two years back in fact to an exhibition I attended at the Kelvingrove Art Galleries in 2014 called “How Glasgow Flourished, 1714-1837” I had planned to write a blog post about it at the time of my visit but things, as they have a habit of doing got in the way so here we are 2 years later and I’m finally getting round to doing a write up!

According to the blurb on the promo material:

“How Glasgow Flourished takes a fresh look at a hugely significant but often overlooked period in Glasgow’s history.

A recurring theme throughout the exhibition is family history, showing how you can make connections with your life and family to the history of this wonderful city, through our incredible museum and archives collections.”

I did really enjoy this exhibition, one negative thing I have noticed about exhibitions shown at Kelvingrove however is that they tend to be displayed in the basement area near the shop; meaning no natural light and really some of the lighting for the pieces leave a bit to be desired.

Probably my favourite part of the exhibition was the working class and trade union pieces as it’s so rare to see working class clothing etc. actually representing in exhibitions and displays!

The Georgian Era between 1714-1837 is kind of one of my eras of interest, especially the latter part during the Revolutions and uprising in France, the Napoleonic Wars and Regency Period in the UK. The portraits and clothing on display were very interesting and gave a really clear portrayal of the fashions and styles throughout the period.

Another really interesting thing was the impact of slavery on Glasgow’s merchant beginnings. There were many examples slaves being included in the art work of the period along with samples of adverts and posters with slaves for sale or missing.

The most fascinating thing in regard to slavery in Glasgow at this time is a portrait of the Glassford Family from around 1767-68. It shows what seems to be a very typical family scene. John Glassford was a multi-millionaire who made his money in tobacco and investing cleverly in Glasgow’s biggest industries. But what we see right in the left edge of the scene is an almost invisible figure, blending almost perfectly into the background. This is obviously a slave or domestic servant born out of slavery. Used and owned by the family but almost completely disregarded in every other respect.

Religion obviously played quite a big part to culture and the growth of Glasgow as a city. The had on display a fantastic book of minutes from a North West Glasgow Kirk noting cases of fighting, drunkenness, illegitimacy, not keeping the Sabbath and even cases of sex outside of marriage!

Another important aspect of Glasgow society was of course leisure and entertainment part of which included the theatre and music halls. This was a form of entertainment available to all classes, and enjoyed by the majority.

Combining leisure and religion we move swiftly on to marriage and domestic life. For many working class citizens of the city, life was hard. Despite the city expanding greatly in these years many people still lived in the cramped old tenements and tight alleys. People’s diets were much better than their living conditions; the water was often so dirty that it was safer to drink ale and beer. It should be mentioned though that the ale of those days was almost nothing like the strong alcohol of today.

But despite the hardships people still celebrated the good things in life. The exhibition has some wonderful examples of wedding gifts from the era. Most notably a earthenware bottle and mug, engraved with names and dates of the happy couples

From working life and marriage we moved onto educating the next generation. School for children was a lot different to today’s education; while girls focused on needlework and other accomplishments boys often found themselves put to a trade or apprenticeship.

They had on display a girl’s needlework sampler and a badge of merit won by one boy in his school work as part of his apprenticeship presented by the Highland Society of Glasgow.

Jumping back to working life we enter the realm of heavy industry, namely coal mining. According the exhibit it was not a major industry in Glasgow in the early 1700s but as the century progressed the need for coal grew and so did the industry. The exhibit included some wonderful examples of tokens and tools used by miners’ pre-1830s; including a tally stick to mark how much coal the miner had worked on that day, a record for being paid basically.

With hard work and poor conditions came the need to organise and support each other, so we come to a small history of trade unions in Glasgow.

Journeymen Bakers’ Friendly Society cash book

We then moved on to my favourite part of the exhibition, the textile industries and clothing!

They give examples of spinning wheels used in weavers’ cottages but also the large verging on industrial scale looms. Linen, Wool and Cotton fabrics were all produced here, the raw materials often being shipped in from overseas. Flax was also common in Scotland, often covering fields in delicate blue flowers.

Finally we have clothes pretty, pretty clothes.

First we have a teeny tiny baby shirt worn by Sir John Moore who died in 1809. 

Then onto this wonderful empire line muslin gown made in Paisley by the company Browne and Sharpe around 1800. This was a real treat to see as I have a few patterns for dresses similar to this and could never quite understand the construction so seeing this in person (or through glass at least) made it much easier to understand. I got to see this again at the wonderful Century of Style Exhibit last month again at Kelivingrove.

Then we have some accessories including this rather fetching wool bonnet, possibly dyed using cudbear, a red dye derived from lichen.

Apparently in 1802 a bandana factory was established in the east end of the city by Henry Monteith. Red bandanas were made using Turkey Red a dye made from madder then spots and other decorative shapes were bleached into the fabric. The sample they had on display was Victorian but clearly very similar to the earlier styles as even today bandanas are very similar to this one.

We then move on to this fabulous dress made between 1824 and 26. It was decorated in green with an embroidery technique called Tambouring. It was usually done – somewhat unsurprisingly – by women and girls at home. According to the exhibit by 1791 around 105,000 people were employed with this type of work across Scotland.
 

We then move onto a really interesting piece of menswear. It is an Officer’s Regimental Uniform from the Royal Glasgow Volunteers in 1794. It’s of course red, probably dyed with Turkey Red or cochineal beetles.

All in all I found it a really interesting and well thought out exhibition. As I said at the start I was really pleased to see so much stuff relating to trade unions and the working class, as it was so uncommon for them to be represent in art of the period and for clothing and artefacts used by the working class to actually still exist. As I was living in Glasgow at the time I found it really interesting to find out more about the history of the city and to really understand its origins as a merchant and industry hub.
 
Well I hope you enjoyed my little write up, even if it was 2 years on the making! I still have another blog write up to do on my visit to the Century of Style exhibition last month and I’m planning on doing a few posts analysing the costumes in films (Les Mis and Anna Karenina currently spring to mind) Also I’ll have my regular Good Mood Monday this week too but until then,

See you in the Future! ♥

So every week I promise myself that I’ll do a morning good mood post but then every week something get in the way! But here I am regardless, another Monday another post!

I’ve been busy tidying up my studio after finishing off my orders this week. Including finally finishing the Victorian Steampunk Groom’s outfit that will be on its way to France this week

This week’s post is brought to you by my DVD collection. About a year ago I sold a lot of my DVDs in part because I had plans of upgrading to Blu-rays but to be honest a year later I still haven’t replaced them and I end up just missing the films instead.

So, the last few weeks I have set about replacing my collection, buying the films as I find them in CEX or charity shops (dammit I love charity shops!) so now I have now added to my collection a good handful of Johnny Depp/Tim Burton films, namely Sleepy Hollow, The Corpse Bride and Edward Scissorhands (3 of my favourite Burton films) a few romantic comedies/dramas – Sliding Doors and Reality Bites. More fantasy (obviously) in the form of Stardust and the special edition Director’s Cut of Hellboy. Plus despite having the special edition of Series 1 of Doctor Who I’ve had to replace one of the discs because it was damaged, hence the random Doctor Who disc 🙂

Finally, a crowning achievement in my collection was finding the Back To The Future Trilogy on Blu-ray for under £10!

Hopefully in the next few months I will have not only replaced all my missing DVD but gained a few extras too! 🙂

In other news, I finished my short story submission for stage 2 of my MA application (paranormal romance obviously) AND managed to edit it down below the word limit – a first for me really despite the 3 years at university I’ve never managed it before. The deadline is Wednesday and I may have been putting off submitting it; I think I’m a bit scared – what if I don’t get onto the next stage? What if they think it’s awful or worse what if I DO get invited to an interview?! That would be even scarier! 😀

So this Monday has been good thanks to an increase in filmic wonders and finally getting my orders finished. Hopefully I’ll have another project post or exhibition post ready for you guys soon but until then,

See you in the future! ♥

Another late night good mood Monday blog but I promise I have a good excuse!

So this week is all about good mood life updates. First off I have been crazy busy with orders this month including doing a Victorian steampunk outfit for a groom’s wedding outfit. The lovely couple are in France and having a whole steampunk theme for their wedding so I have been working hard on a gorgeous paisley pattern waistcoat and a pair of soft wool high waist trousers.

 

I’ve also been working on other orders for other re-enactors this month too 🙂
But the big news this week is that on Wednesday I heard from Napier University and I’ve been invited onto the second stage of applying for their MA in Creative Writing (I did actually apply first of all it wasn’t some extremely random cold-call email inviting me to study with them)

This is such a huge thing for me as I have wanted to go back and do my masters pretty much since I left university with my BA and at last this year I finally managed to apply. I’ve never been able to make up my mind on what I wanted to do with the rest of my life so it seems perfectly logical that my MA wouldn’t be in a related field to my BA or to even to my HND.

But in addition to sewing and designing clothes and costumes for as long as I can remember I’ve also written. I have an entire shelf full of notebooks on my wall, full of silly poems half-finished stories and random lost dialogue scenes and screenplay ideas.

A big achievement last year was to self-publish my very first short story through kindle so the idea that I may get to spend a year learning and understanding more about being a writer and even just writing for that length of time is incredibly exciting!

So my good mood this week has been brought to you by both period sewing and creative writing.
I hope to finally have time for some more exhibition and project blogs soon but until then,

See you in the future! ♥

Good evening, kind people!
I’ve been racking my brains all weekend to think of what to do for this week’s Good Mood Monday post and the result is that it’s now 9pm and I’m still drawing a blank!

The as I wrote this I came across an idea, I can share my baking adventures with you guys!

I like to have fun in the kitchen and have over the past year or so been trying out all sorts of new recipes I call these my baking adventures and while I always share them on Facebook I figured today I could do a big master post of all of them for you lovely people! So here goes:

First, way back in 2013 I decided to try something from the wonderful Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes for, you guessed it Roald Dahl Day on the 13th September. I went for the richest thing in the book of course which was Bruce Bogtrotter’s Chocolate Cake from Matilda.

Then we jump forward in time to May 2015 (ok I had a lot going on in those 2 years and kind of forgot to document any of my adventures) where I started trying Russian Food. First up was a спартак торт or Spartak Cake. I made chocolate version obviously.

Following the Russian theme I then attempted черный хлеб or Black Bread a ridiculous dense Rye bread often eaten with sour cream and caviar the recipe for which asked for a grand total of 18 different ingredients!

Inspired by my success with Russian food so far I then attempted some Blinis to serve with cream cheese and smoked salmon. These were so very yummy. 🙂

I then decided to move country and headed to France for some sweet treats. First I tried some chocolate (well duh) choux buns – my very first attempt at making choux pastry. These turned out very yummy although I think I undercooked the pastry just a tiny bit, but it still tasted awesome once filled with cream!

Next on my French list was what I believe to be my Baking Nemesis: French Macaroons. I have attempted these so many times and only once managed to get them to work and even then I made them ridiculously tiny by accident! Although to be fair they ended up tasting good any way 🙂

After filling myself full of sweet French treats I jumped back to Russia to try some savoury soups first Yxa or Fresh-Soup, a type of lovely fish broth.

Next up was the traditional борщ or Borscht but with the added twist of lovely tender chunks of beef steak.

In July of 2015 I spent a few weeks house-sitting for my parents, so I used the weeks alone as another excuse for baking attempts. In a quite messy silly adventure I made homemade pop tarts with Nutella and chocolate glace icing

Jump forward a few months after a fun visit down to Blists Hill and a very tiring house move I then tried some сливы вареники or plum vareniki this time a Ukrainian sweet dumpling. After the success of this one I also tried some cherry vareniki.

I then tried savoury again with a simple Ukrainian dish of Cod in Tomato Sauce. I served it with brown rice and it was very yummy!

COD

Christmas brought a fun Victorian Inspired menu with a traditional Raised Game Pie for dinner and Nesselrode Pudding for dessert (which is a frozen custard dessert made with chestnuts, cherries and other dried fruits)

A couple of month and another house move later I went back to basics and made a very simple shortcrust apple pie for dessert one night 🙂

For Mother’s Day this year I decided to go for another historical and traditional idea which was Simnel Cake. Simnal cake is a really easy cake to make and was often prepared and gifted on Mothering Sunday by daughters who often spent months away from home working as domestic servants.

Finally we come to this weekend. My aunt is over from the US right now and both her and my other aunt came over on Sunday so I decided to make some simple fruit scones for us to munch on. BUT I ended up waking up at about half 4 in the morning and couldn’t get back to sleep so I got up around 5am and by half 6 I’d washed two piles of dishes, put on a load of washing and drying and Also made a full Victoria Sponge and rich fruit scones, whipped some cream and pulled out all the stuff we’d need for a proper afternoon tea! (I even used the jam dish once owned by my great aunt – which kind of looks like an orange and can be seen in the right side of the photo)

And now we’re here and I need to decide what my next baking adventure will be. If you have any ideas just get in touch! 😀

Until then,

See you in the future! ♥

Hi guys and welcome to this week’s Good Mood Monday’s post.

My word this week is very simple: Books! Oh so many books!

I started off by receiving a very lovely reprinted copy of the wartime classic Make Do and Mend from a friend in Russian Class.

Then when a fairly big glorious order came through Etsy I treated myself to some sewing textbooks I have been hankering after for a while:

Period Costume for Stage and Screen Patterns for Women’s Dress 1500-1800 by Jean Hunnisett

Period Costume for Stage and Screen Outer Garments Book II by Jean Hunnisett (why yes this is an ex-library copy – books are books!)

Men’s Garments 1830-1900: A guide to pattern cutting and tailoring by R. I. Davis

And finally, not really sewing related but I thought why not?

Fan Phenomena – Jane Austen edited by Gabrielle Malcolm

These books are oh so pretty and to be honest business purchases really since they will be oh so useful! I already have one of the Jean Hunnisett books in the series so hopefully in the next year I can get the last two books to complete my set!

I have also just finished reading The Professor by Charlotte Brontë and will be started Villette very soon. It’s the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Brontë’s birth this year so I have plans for a few special Brontë inspired things on Etsy and here on the blog 🙂

So another short and sweet Good Mood this week but books make me so very happy that having at least 4 of them quadruples the Good Mood!

Well until next time,

See you in the future! ♥

This past week I’ve been working on an order for an 18th century chemise and set of pocket hoops so I figured that I could document my process of making and turn it into a ready-made project post for you all!

A chemise is the first layer of clothing or underwear. This sits next to the skin and is used as a protective barrier against chafing of the corset but also protects the outer garments from sweat and body odour. Chemises are most often made of cotton or linen, which can be washed regularly and easily unlike most other layers of clothing which makes it perfect to wear close to the skin.

To start I gathered all my materials. This particular order uses unbleached calico which is super easy to work with; basic cotton tape, waist band petersham and plastic coloured steel boning, I also use some decorative broderie anglaise lace and satin ribbon for the chemise.

First thing I usually do is to prep the fabric. A lot of fabrics like silk and wool will be dry-clean only once made up into the costumes but the cotton ones can usually be washed in a machine by the buyer so I prewash the fabric in order to allow any shrinkage to happen before sewing but also to remove any coating that the manufacturers can sometimes use.

Once the fabric has been washed and dried it’s time to iron the crap out of it. One lesson I’ve always carried with me from college is to iron, iron and iron while sewing. It’s so important to have properly pressed fabric before pattern cutting and while sewing to keep your seams flat and well set.

While I was waiting for the fabric to wash and dry I draft up the patterns. The chemise and hoops patterns are actually really simple, lots of straight lines and square gussets. The most complicated bits come from doing the neck of the chemise and the seams of the hoops once the steels are in place.

I used a few different seam types for the chemise in order to keep the raw edges tucked away and neat. It also gives it a very nice finish. First, for the side seams I use French seams. This is done by stitching along the seam line a few millimetres away from the line itself on the right side of the fabric (so the outside of the chemise) then I trim down the seam allowance to just at the line of stitching; turn the chemise inside out and press the seams folded flat. I then stitch down the actual seam line on the wrong side (the inside of the chemise) enclosing the rough edges of the fabric.

 

For the sleeves I use felled seams, this time of seam can be seen in loads of 18th and 19th century clothing. It’s really sturdy for areas such as sleeves or corset seams. Again seams are sewn on the outside of the chemise; then one side is trimmed down to the edge of the stitching. The largest edge of seam allowance is then folded and pressed over and edge-stitched along the length of the first stitch line.

 

 

The sleeve is made with a square gusset attached to the underarm to allow movement while wearing the chemise.

Once the sleeves are attached I make the cuff and gather the sleeve it fit. This can get very fiddly as it’s quite a tight space and isn’t easy to fit through the machine easily. I cheat slightly here by doing machine buttonholes rather than handbound button holes which I often use as they are of course the most historically accurate.

The cuff is a very simple rectangle with extra added to allow for the overlap of the buttonhole.

 

 

The hem of the chemise is just a simple double rolled herm with one line of stitching, this hides all the raw edges and gives and even line to the outside of them hem.

The final piece of the chemise is the neckline. The pattern is cut in a wide oval, higher at the back than the front; decorated with broderie anglaise and finished with a ribbon drawstring. The ribbon is drawn through the fabric channel by creating small button holes on either side of the centre front.

A corset would be the next layer however I as I didn’t make one for this order it was next on to the pocket hoops.

Pocket hoops or skirt supports were worn over the corset and chemise but under any petticoats. These particular hoops give a wide curve to the hips while not adding any additional bulk at the front or back. This shape is most often seen in mid-late 18th century gowns such as the robe a l’anglaise sold in my shop!

As this is still an underwear item I make it in unbleached cotton, because of the steel boning it can’t easily be thrown in a washing machine but as they are not designed to be seen it’s very common to use basic cotton without any fancy decorations.
First we have the very basic pattern. Again this is most rectangles and pleating to shape.

First I cut an opening down the centre of the pannier. This will eventually allow a “pocket” gap that you can slip your hand through. It was common throughout the 17th and 18th century for women to wear pockets under their gowns, worn under the hoops or petticoats a gap would be made in the skirts to allow a discreet hand to slip into the pockets and extract money or small precious items when necessary.

3 strips of cotton tape are then stitched horizontally to the panier; this creates the channels that will later hold the steel boning.

Next I measure and cut the steel. Recently I have found a neat trick of using an electric sander to sand down the edges of the cut steel to avoid the corners catching on the material and wearing away the casings. For extra protection I wrap the ends in electrical tape.

Before inserting the steels I attach the bottom piece and bind off all the rough edges. All the seams are on the inside but this avoids fraying and just looks nicer.

The steels are then inserted into the casing and the final seam is sewn and bound off. The pannier now looks like slightly like a greenhouse poly-tunnel.

The next stage is to pleat the top of the panier on to the waistband petersham. I have seen other patterns and designs that use a drawstring idea rather than petersham for the waistband but I like this was as it gives a good amount of strength but also keeps the shaping exactly the same with every wear.

The raw edge is then trimmed down close to the stitch line. I repeat the above steps with the second pannier. I now have a waistband with hoops that sit on either side of the body.
I then use more cotton tape over the petersham, one to hide the raw edges and also to give a smooth and clean waist band.

A couple of metal hook and eyes are added to the front edges and we’re finished. A complete pair of 18th century pocket hoops to go with our chemise!

After giving everything another good press with the iron and another check over to remove any last loose threads it’s time to pack the order up. I start with a couple of layers of tissue paper then in go the folded hoops. Another couple of layers of tissue and then the chemise is neatly folded.

Finally I slip in a business card and seal the box up ready for posting!

I hope you’ve enjoyed a little peak into what goes into my orders and how I spend my sewing days! Good Mood Mondays will be back again this week and I’ll have the next exhibition post up soon too!

So until then,

See you in the future! ♥