A Polonaise Jacket

Here's a Polonaise Jacket I made for my dear Aunt Harding.  Its made from a ribbed cotton fabric and lined in linen.  Pattern is draped.  All seams that can be machine sewn are and what shows is hand stitching.  There are a fwe things still left to do to it, like find some tassles and trim for the back seams, but overall it's finished. 


Robe a la Polonaise
 It is a fitted back gown that is looped up to create poofs in the back. It started to become popular around the 1770's and later....


Norah Waugh states in Cut of Women's Clothes on pg 73 that the robe à l'anglaise was often equipped with tapes to draw up the skirt, and on the topic of the polonaise says:
Though this term is often applied to any eighteenth-century dress with back drapery, it belongs, strictly speaking, to an over dress that appeared c. 1775. This was cut like the man's coat of the same period, with centre back and two far-back side seams all terminating in inverted pleats, the front being in one piece with an underarm dart. It was caught to the top of the bodice centre front ...
 There is a distinct difference that defines the style of Polonaise as opposed to the verb: to polonaise.
  

V. Polonaise:
 The open skirt of a Robe a l'Anglaise could be poofed up by tucking the front corners through the pocket slits (also known as "retroussé dans les poches"), or, later, by means of tapes and loops sewn into the skirt.” It was a trickle up of fashion from the lower class shepherdess and milk maids who would ruck up their skirts to avoid getting them dirty.

 
N. Polonaise:
Its a popular style in the 1770s and 80s defined by the separate outer front which drapes away from the body.  The back is also cut similar to a mans jacket with inverted pleats. It can be a short jacket with no polonaising down to a longer gown, with polonaising.
Contrasting and self trimming was evident, as well as silk gauze pleated along the edge of the gown and a large gathered flounce on the petticoat.  Stripes also became popular with this style.


Now that we are done with the boring explanations, I choose to do the Polonaise Jacket from Norah Waugh's The Cut of Women's Clothes, Diagram XXI

I have since finished it and added the box pleated trimming....but here are some pics of before the trimming. I've also added a piece of boning down the center front to keep the line straight so it doesn't buckle.

Cheers,

Kate

The Blue En Fourreau

I've been avoiding my blog....There I said it!

I have been super busy creating, and have ton of things that I have made  over the past 8 months that I would love to share with you, and I will.  But I'll be honest, It's probably just gonna be pics and not much writing.  But Who doesn't love Pictures of pretty things!

The Blue Linen En Fourreau......

This was a commission I made for Mrs. B.  It was a lovely linen that she wished to be made into a gown that would be servicable for a lengthy period of time.  It was constructed from 3 meters of fabric and all visible seams were hand sewn, while interior seams were machined.   The pattern is draped, with the sleeves being a combination of modern pattern drafting and draping.

Piecing to get a full sleeve.

ALAS...even though this gown was made almost a year ago I still have no pictures of Mrs. S in the gown....That woman is elusive!

Enjoy!

Cheers,

Kate

The Saque....Or the gown I almost killed myself to make in a week!

So here are more photo's of the Robe a la Francais that I made for a wonderful lady in the Regiment. Mrs. L provided the fabric, a silk dupioni, and requested that it could be done by the celebration for Robbie Burns. 

I warn you...Its going to be SUPER heavy with pictures!  But I think you'll enjoy that. The only thing missing is the trimming.  She also wanted cuffs and decoration which were to be done later.  As it is LATER now, (LOL), I am almost finished on the trimmings and will post pictures soon. 

Enjoy!!

The stays were hers and the pockets I made for this gown.

hi....ANd stuff!

So, I'll admit, I have been Seriously LACKING in blog posts....Its been what?  MONTHS?  YUp....

Sorry!

I will try to update what has been happening in my sewing life these past few months, but here is a teaser of what I am trying to make....In a week.

Yes I said a Week!

This will be my first Sacque and unfortunately I don't get to be the recipient....:(

WHat you can't see is the back lining piece, which is made out of two layers of linen.  It has an opening 2/3 of the way up the back and has lacing holes to allow for adjustment  if needed.  I also boned the center back as well as the middle of the side back piece in order to support the "Watteau" pleats so they didn't collapse or pull at the neckline.  The gown is made from a Silk dupioni, which I know isn't period correct, but it is what the client bought to use.  It is a finer dupioni, so it does have slubs, but not that many. 

I also have a Facebook page for my blog if you want to start following it...I actually post more photo's there as its easier to upload when I take pics from my phone....

The Naked Catwalk

Ta for now.

Busy Beaver....

So I've been insanely busy the past few months, both with sewing and with everyday life.  The hubby lost his job, so I was a mad scramble to find a new one and to put the hous eon the market so we weren't paying for two mortgages.  Yesterday he signed the last of the paper work and the house is officially sold! 

YIPPEEE!!!!!

He is currently on his way across Canada with the last of our possesions from the old house.  Its been almost 6 weeks since I've seen him last and boy do I need a break.  Being a single mom is hard!  I'm so thank full that I don't have to work and look after the kiddos....Big Kudos to those that do! 

I have been working on a few different things over the past 6 weeks: modern bridesmaids dresses for the fabulous Miss A, breeches for the boys, shirts for the boys, a brunswick for Miss Mary, Stays and a muslin for Mrs. S, and a camp dress for myself as all I have is the pink polonaise, which is completely unsuited to camp life! 

I finished it with time to spare....2 weeks till the Liverpool event.  2 Weeks!!!!  I never get my own things finished with that much time to spare.....LOL!

Here are pics of the lovely camp dress....

I had to polonaise this one as I cut it very short.  I forgot to cut out the sleeves so I had to take enough off the hem to do so....Stupid rookie mistake!  lol.  Its also closed with hook and eyes and there is a little rippling at the bottom where the point is, that is really irritating to me.  Its made out of Linen and lined in linen.....Enjoy!

Busy Busy Busy....

Honestly I'm still here!  I've been super busy during the past few weeks.  First the hubby was home, and then he left and we all got sick.  I finally feel back to normal after 7 days and I have been busy.  I draped and draped and draped the Poiret coat, did a mock up of a new corset pattern, and have been working away at Sam's 1780's stays.  I almost have one half of them done.  I just finished binding around the tabs with some faux suede I found years ago.

This was a quick shot while I was back in the sewing room cutting out more binding.  I found a wonderful tutorial on binding the edges of stays Here done by Cathy Hay from Your Wardrobe Unlock'd.  Its gotta be the best tutorial I've seen.  I've also found that binding the tabs without the boning in the channels makes the job a little bit easier as you can bend the stays around and crumple them with your hands as you work.

Capes Are NOT Just For Batman.

I am in LOVE.

It took me a few dates, But I am In love!

With Frenchy's.  Its a ubercool Thrift store, that is actually selective as to what gets put in the bins.  My last visit I found a DNKY jacket.

DONNA KAREN!  With this sage green lining and cream and brown herringbone wool.  unfortunately it was too big on my and I had to put it back.  Sad face!


Why is this Uberexciting to me?  Well because I've always thought about using my fashion design background and creating something sustainable.  Don't get me wrong I LOVE LOVE LOVE yards and yards of fabric, with its clean untouched surface waiting for me to make it into something exotic and beautiful, but for the past 5 years have lived in places that are the black hole of fabric lovers.  I've had to become creative and think outside the box in order to find my fabrics.  I've always admired the designers who take already made garments and turn them into something fun and unique, but in order to do that one has to have a readily available supply of second hand garments.  Which until now has been next to impossible.

Now I have Frenchy's!

I've since learned (and this was a major DUH moment) that sheets work fabulous for muslins and at 2 bucks a pop, thats ALOT of fabric. 

On my recent trip I found a 100% worsted wool charcoal grey pleated skirt.  It was calf length and  gathered into a waist band in the back and huge box pleats in the front.  LOTS of fabric.  I have been thinking that when I create my Reenacting clothing that I don't really put a whole lot of thought into the accessories and one of those accessories I over look is the cape.  I thought this skirt would be perfect for a cape! 

BUT it couldn't be just a plain old boring cape, I had to make it fun. And modern.  So I could wear it all the time.

I decided I was gonna base the look off of my friends cape at Sewaholic, her's is from a groovy 60's vintage pattern.  I wanted the seams to go down over the bust and have an opening for my arms to come out of.  In the back I wanted it pleated like a Watteau Gown from the 18th century.  The best of both worlds.  Something I could wear with my historic clothing and my modern stuff.

Back with the pleats.  Its inside out.

Front, inside out

The shoulder, inside out.  I had already sewn the shoulder seam but it didn't lay properly so I had to take it out and baste it in so it layed better .  You can see the back had to come up quite a bit.

I draped the skirt on Mrs. Squishypants and formed the pattern.  The back of the skirt became the front of the cape, and the front of the skirt became the back. 

Needs a final press.

I love how the pleats face towards the CB, creating a fan with the folds.

The funnest thing about this cape!  The bias bound seam allowances in a funky ink and yellow flower patterned cotton.

I opted for a mandarin collar and I bias bound the seam allowances in a fun pink and yellow cotton that used to be a girls sundress in it's previous life.  I hand sewed bar tacks at the top of each pleat and the opening in the princess seams for the hands.  I also did a spaced back stitch along the center front and the collar to hold it in place.  The hem was a herringbone hem stitch.  It will be closed with hook and hand sewn eyes for now until I find a wonderful cloak clasp. 

I love the finishing details.
It just MAKES the cape.

Work work work....

For the past week I have been working on my Polonaise faithfully every day and I am pleased to show you the progress.  There are a lot of changes I plan to make on the next English gown I make, but for now I have  a  few pictures for your viewing pleasure.  I am trying to get it done for a levy on New Years Day....Here's keeping my fingers crossed.  I do have doubts tho...I am having troubles figuring out what kind of trim to use...should I self trim it, do I do gathers or pleats?  rosettes?  hmmmm...Ideas ladies?

I have also gotten a lot farther on it, but have been so busy with it I haven't taken much for pictures.  I have also done a petal shaped Bum Roll....the kids laugh cuz it makes my butt huge and anything to do with big butts makes them laugh!  BOYS!

Here come the Polonaise!

So for the better part of the day I have been draping my Zone front Polonaise.  Its coming along perfectly.  I do have concerns about draping sleeves tho, you know it's one thing I have never done! I didn't have a pattern so I did what I usually do when I don't have a pattern, I drape it on  Mrs. Swishypants, (name courtesy of AShton), my mannequin.  Here are pictures of the almost finished set of stays and the draping the bodice or the polonaise.

Front with half of the stays bound with faux suede binding.

 

The sketch of  the 1780's Polonaise

The back with en Fourreau pleats.

Close Up of marking the side seam for the front

 

Front Side Seam pinned

Front, you can see the shape of the zone.