Historical Sew Monthly

February, or, "The Blue Kimono"

Challenge 2: Blue

Let's begin with this statement. I love dressing gowns. I love dressing gowns of all sorts, from the slinky silk and lace affairs to the cosy fleece ones for snuggling up in of a winter evening. The strange thing is that, despite my love of this garment, I don't currently own a dressing gown. I moved countries last August, and when packing my suitcase, a dressing gown didn't quite make the cut. 

So when this month of Historical Sew Monthly rolled round, I wanted to make a dressing gown, and I wanted to use some blue fabric I bought a couple of months ago, thinking that at some point it would come in handy (and so it has done!)

I have been doing some research into 1920s patterns (because who doesn't love a bit of 1920s?) and was inspired by the fact that many of them are not so much patterns as guides for cutting and assembling rectangles. I also found some 1920s Japanese inspired 'patterns' (by which I mean rectangle instructions). And off we went...

The pattern I made is extremely simple, and is basically a rectangle split halfway up the middle and sewn up the sides. It really has no business being so stylish.

 These two photos show the nice drape, from the back and the side. With such huge armholes it's not really a suitable winter dressing gown (not that that hasn't stopped me wearing it - I just get chilly), but will be great once the weather warms up a bit. 

Here are another two from the front with various attempts at belting (currently with a scarf but I'll make a sash thing at some point). The natural waist belting is pleasingly Japanese-esque (definitely not a real word) but not very 20s. It also looks fine without a belt, which is how I normally wear it...

In general I am quite pleased with this project. I'm getting better at hand sewing, and the french seams are nice and even and neat. The fabric isn’t quite suited to the period, or rather, it doesn’t look like the other sorts of things you see in fashion plates. It’s also a bit stiff and at the moment is tending to billow instead of drape, but I am hoping it will soften as it washes. I quite like the billow as well though, even though it wasn't what I was planning originally.

So here's the summary...

The Challenge: Blue

Fabric: Blue and white printed cotton

Pattern: Guessed./invented using rectangles. Inspired by 1920s dressing gowns.

Year: 1920(ish)

Notions: Navy blue Gutermann all purpose thread

How historically accurate is it? Probably not very. It would be more accurate to say it was “Inspired by.” Then again, the method of making the pattern is quite authentic...

Hours to complete: 6ish (I should start actually taking notes on how long things take)

First worn: Almost every morning and evening since it was completed.

Total cost: £4/40yuan for the fabric, thread from sewing box.

Historical Sew Monthly

January, or, “The Apricot Monster”

Challenge 1: Foundations

I know it’s not exactly an original plan for a challenge with a title that practically begs to involve underwear, but here is my offer. A shift. A T-tunic. In fact it's possibly the simplest garment a person can make that requires actual seams and not just pins or brooches to hold things together. Simple, you say? Yes, very simple. So in order to make the challenge a bit more worthy of the name I decided to make this the first garment that I would hand sew from start to finish.

Then I discovered that the fabric was not (as I had thought at the time of buying) 100% cotton, but is in fact a blend with a bit of stretch. So it stretches. Which is (as my American cousins would say) hella annoying when you’re trying to sew it. In fact I nearly gave up on the hand sewing when I was partway through. I was going to go straight round to my friend who had a sewing machine, and use the sewing machine to finish what I had already termed in my head "the apricot monster."

I was feeling a bit miserable - defeated by a simple shift. So I had a cup of tea. Then the perfectionist in me realised that if I was planning to machine sew some of the shift, actually I was going to have to machine sew all of it (because it is IMPORTANT that things are CONSISTENT). So I would have had to unpick all the bits I had already done. And then the anti-quitter in me though that I’d come this far and wasn’t going to be beaten by a silly piece of fabric. So I soldiered on.

And here it is. I’m not really sure how I feel about it. Quite a lot of the happiness that I should have felt kind of disappears in the stress of trying to get it finished in time and the sadness about the stretch. But then again I have been wearing it as a nightie for the past couple of nights and it doesn't appear to have affected my sleep, in fact it’s pretty comfy. I love the way that the gussets under the arm give free movement. Kudos to whoever worked out that that was a thing. See below one photo on the hanger, and one terribly blurry one which I took on the timer setting but didn't manage to focus. I was a bit pushed for time and have no photo-taking assistant so that will have to do for now. And you can see the gussets functioning which is a happy thing.

Fabric: Apricot cotton, slightly rough looking.

Pattern: Elizabethan smock pattern from the online generator though I changed it from a square to a round neck, but essentially a standard T tunic pattern with gores. Generator here (http://www.elizabethancostume.net/smockpat/)

Year: any time from the dark ages to the regency?

Notions: Does thread count? I’m not really up on the lingo. This lack of knowledge will be remedied in time for next month.

How historically accurate is it? Middling. More on that story later.

Hours to complete: lots. I didn’t count properly, maybe 30.

First worn: Yesterday, in my room.

Total cost: £3.00/ 30 yuan

So that's my first HSM attempt. Roll on February!

Historical Sew Monthly

For some time now I've been following the progress of dressmakers around the globe on the Dreamstress's "Historical Sew Fortnightly." What a feat, I thought, as I looked enviously at the beautiful garments that had been created. But it was never something I considered that I could do. Sew something new every two weeks? Impossible!

Nevertheless, in 2015, I am planning to participate in the Historical Sew Monthly. I am a little nervous about this. I hope that the monthly (rather than fortnightly) deadlines will be manageable, and I hope that I will have a good time during it. I enjoy sewing, so hope that the challenge-like nature of the project will add to my enjoyment of my hobby, rather than detract from it. This brand new blog has been created solely for the purpose of having somewhere to post the things to make, so hopefully the effort of trying to make it work will not go to waste...

Wish me luck!