Introduction: Attempting an 18th century gown
Welcome back 🙂 I’m kicking off a series describing how to reuse curtains (perhaps even ugly curtains). For many years, I have been interested in historical dress. It probably started when my mother sewed my sister a 18th century robe a l’anglaise for halloween one year and I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I also have vivid memories of colonial Williamsburg trips as a child and loving the immersion it provided. More recently, my undergraduate background in Archaeology and my current obsession with consuming historical costuming content (thanks COVID for all the free time) have been big motivators in attempting this project.
For a long time, I kept putting off the attempt, as it seemed like a huge investment in time and money and quite a steep learning curve. The gown I wanted to make, a robe a la francaise, requires a huge amount of fabric. In addition, in order to accurately recreate the proper silhouette for these clothes, you have to make proper undergarments (requiring even more supplies). I didn’t want to invest a ton of money into something I wasn’t even sure I would enjoy doing and that had no real practical use. Enter the hero of our story: a set of ugly and much maligned curtains. This post will be part 1 of 3 highlighting one possible way you can reuse curtains.
Material
During a recent, very exciting COVID trip into my parent’s basement, I ran into an old acquaintance: a set of curtains that had hung in our family room for many years as a child. They were sturdy and very well constructed. The exterior fabric is a striped Waverly cotton, and they are lined with a white cotton backing. My parents originally picked them up at a church rummage sale. They had been donated because the person who originally commissioned them hated them the moment they went up in her dining room. My mother had kept two large panels and offered me the fabric rather than throwing them away. Yay, free fabric! However, there was a catch: In almost every modern context I could think of reusing this fabric it was simply too ugly. How to reuse these curtains? A modern piece of clothing? Upholstery? Nothing I could think of was working.
However, when I stepped out of the realm of practical use and put it into a more historical context, it’s odd color scheme and striped pattern began to seem a bit more reasonable. There was more than enough yardage available for the gown, and the lining fabric would be perfect for much of the remaining ensemble. I would finally get to attempt my dream dress without a huge monetary investment!
That being said, I did have to invest is some materials: just not any substantial yardage. Additionally, not everything (including material and technique) for this project will be “historically accurate”. I may end up accidentally mixing different styles from different decades in the 18th century and use unconventional fabric and colors. My goal for this endeavor is just to get my feet wet, see if I want to continue with more historical sewing, and most importantly: figure out how to reuse the curtains.
The Method
Anyone who has ever fallen down the historical sewing rabbit-hole knows there are so many different resources for recreating these garments. I chose to mix and match patterns and instructions from a variety of sources. This first post will focus on the shift and pocket.
- Shift – Burnley and Trowbridge Sew Along
- Pocket – Burnley and Trowbridge Sew Along/Sewstine/Bernadette Banner
- Stays – Redthreaded 1780’s Front Lacing Stays Pattern with Supply Kit
- Pocket Panniers – Simplicity with American Duchess Pattern
- Petticoat/Gown – J.P. Ryan Robe a la francaise Pattern
Construction: The Shift
I won’t go into too much detail about my shift construction, because I followed the Burnley and Trowbridge Sew Along, which I absolutely loved! One very important note, however, is that I used the cotton curtain lining to make this shift. I noticed immediately in the drape and fit of the garment that it would have worked much better in the suggested linen. For the sake of my quest to reuse old curtains, I stuck with what I had. However, if you can, I would recommend going with the fabric they suggest! If I find I want to do more historical projects after this, I will probably make this again with more historically accurate material.
Construction: The Pocket
I spent a disproportionate amount of time and effort on this pocket relative to it’s importance in the Robe a la francaise ensemble. However, this was partly because I used it as an opportunity to practice some new-to-me hand sewing techniques: flat-lining, tape-making, and binding. I also really wanted to practice my embroidery and this seemed like an opportune time.
Step One: Gather Supplies
For the front of the pocket, I used the same white curtain lining fabric as the shift. I cut out two of the pattern pieces provided in the Burnley and Trowbridge Sew Along in this fabric: one to embroider, and the other to line the embroidered fabric when finished. I stash-busted my embroidery thread for colors that might compliment the main curtain colors, and used #10 embroidery needles throughout this process.
For the binding and waist tie, I used the tops of the curtains which I had to cut off when first dismantling them. They had been lined, stiffed with interfacing, gathered and pleated, and sewn with fishing line. It was quite the task seam ripping them apart but it gave me some valuable fabric to work with.
Step Two: Create and Transfer a Design
I drew out a pattern on the back of the Burnley and Trowbridge pattern piece. I based it on historical crewelwork examples found in my embroidery reference book. I love bird motifs 🙂 Then, I put the lining fabric over and did my best to trace it in pencil.
Step Three: Embroider Forever
It never ceases to amaze me how long embroidery actually takes, especially when you are switching from one technique or stitch to another. I think the size of this piece might be my limit for surface area embroidered for a single project.
I decided to use this as a sampler, trying as many different crewelwork stitches as I could. Obviously this isn’t actual crewelwork as I used cotton embroidery floss and not crewel wool, but the techniques are basically the same. I studied and learned the stitches from the Royal School of Needlework’s Book of Embroidery. I used a total of 16 different stitches and techniques for this pocket:
- Long and Short Stitch
- Block Shading
- Trellis Stitch
- Satin Stitch
- Seeding Stitch
- Buttonhole Stitch
- Leaf Stitch
- Fishbone Stitch
- Stem Stitch
- Split Stitch
- Couching
- Pearl Stitch
- Pekinese Stitch
- Chain Stitch
- Fly Stitch
- French Knot
I’ve included pictures below of both the finished front and back of my embroidery for those who want to see. Note: after embroidering, I had to retrace the pattern piece again before cutting because the embroidery had shrunk the fabric somewhat.
Step Four: Put It Together
Next, I had to interline the front pocket piece. I wanted to protect the backside of the embroidery from things inside the pocket. To do this, I pinned the two pieces together and backstitched around the pocket about 1/8″ from the edge. I also backstitched on both sides of the marked future pocket opening so that it would stay together when cut open.
I then attached the back of the pocket. I ended up using a piece of scrap canvas I had left over from a grad school project. I wanted it to be durable and actually functional, so I figured that might be better than another layer of the curtain lining which is quite light. I then sewed the front and back together, wrong sides facing eachother, leaving the top edge open. Finally, I cut open the front of the pocket along the marked opening.
Step Five: Creating the Binding and Waist Cord
I found this part of the project to be the most fun! I cut out 2″ wide strips of the curtain fabric, and put it through my 1″ wide bias tape maker, ironing as I went. This was a surprisingly relaxing experience. I did this with enough fabric to provide binding for the pocket opening, the outer edge of the pocket, as well as a waist tie. Luckily for me, the curtains were wide enough I never needed to piece anything together!
I used some extremely useful clips my mother gifted me to hold the binding in place while attaching it on either side of the pocket with felling stitch. I figured this was good practice for when I have to bind my stays in a similar fashion. I love being able to sit comfortably on the couch with Jacko to hand sew without the threat of stabbing myself with pins.
Finally, I attached the binding across the top in the middle of the length of tape I measured for my waist. After felling this in place on either side, I whipstitched the rest of the waist tie together.
Final Thoughts
These projects are my first, substantial hand-sewing projects. I was not expecting to enjoy the process so much, and found myself being even more proud of these garments than usual knowing I did them entirely by hand. I would say it was a successful way to reuse curtains.
I CANNOT DECIDE HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS FABRIC. I mostly think it is just ugly….or do I? I still don’t know if this gown will turn out to be a monstrosity, but I have a feeling I will have fun and learn a lot, regardless.
Up Next
My next post will cover the rest of the undergarments: The pocket panniers, under-petticoat, and the stays. Wish me luck 🙂 Hopefully by the end I will have had a successfully answered the question: “how to reuse these curtains?”.
1 comment
I love bird motifs too! Beautiful work, wonderful embroidery.