Tuesday, January 31, 2023

January Mending

This is probably not of interest to anyone else, but I have a resolution to keep re: maintaining my living history clothes, and posting is an easy way to cajole myself into actually doing a little repair work each month. 

For January, that was mostly my 1850s petticoats: my plaid petticoat got some simple tapes ties as a fastener to replace the hooks that came off (and provide some more flexibility in fitting). The quilted petticoat needed three small repairs where the stitching came loose at the waist, hem, and placket. I also have worked on re-setting my corded petticoat onto a new waistband, though the stroked gathers are taking a while, so it's not done yet. With the current weather, I should be fine so long as it's done before April.

Close up of the waistband on a quilted petticoat. One of the pleats has become detached from the waistband. The waistband and binding are dark green, the skirt is a bright pink and green print, and the skirt fastens with white ties at the waist.
About 2.5" of the striped fabric came off the waistband.


Sunday, January 29, 2023

Flounced Petticoat Research (c.1840-1865)

In response to a research inquiry, I started compiling the primary sources I could find about flounced petticoats in the period 1840-1865. For this project, I looked at petticoats or underskirts worn as foundational garments, and not the visible petticoats used in court dress or walking ensembles (Balmoral petticoats). I was mostly searching for evidence of how commonly flounced petticoats were used (especially before the advent of hoops), and how they were constructed.

Written sources 
 
For this part, my search terms where for the word "petticoat" along with: ruffle(d), flounce(d), frill(ed), and/or tier(ed). The results included both descriptions of flounced petticoats, and passing mentions. In some instances, the ruffled petticoats are described as being stiffened; flounces are sometimes described in structural terms, and elsewhere treated as decorative elements.
 
I) Flounced petticoats as structural garments and alternatives to hoops. 
 
I started this project aware of one written reference to a flounced petticoat as an alternative for hoops. It is described the first paragraph under "chitchat" in the August 1862 issue of Godey's. Rather than being constructed like a flounced skirt with visible tiers of ruffles on a base, this garment is said to have graduated ruffles, where the upper ones fully cover the layers below. As far as I'm aware, this description of a novelty from France is something that never became popular in the US. A British publication and another American magazine, also from 1862, attribute this petticoat exclusively to the French Empress Eugenie, opining that the material and necessary pressing of such a garment put it out of reach for women of  'moderate fortune', but would provide ample work for seamstresses and laundresses.

Earlier references to supportive flounced petticoats pre-date the hoop:
"...Petticoat with four flounces well starched. The starched petticoat is indispensable for ball toilets." -Fashion plate description in Blackwood's Lady's Magazine, April 1852. [The plate is unfortunately not included in scanned document.]
"A lining or petticoat of crinoline is frequently adopted as a means of supporting the dress. More recently, petticoats of thick cambric, trimmed with two or three deep flounces reaching to the height of the knees, have come into fashion. The dress falls in graceful folds over a petticoat of this latter description and at the same time has sufficient support ."
-Peterson's August 1854
Flounces are also associated with stiff crinoline petticoats. Hints on Dress (1854) has decided opinions on petticoat numbers and materials, but only mentions flounces in conjunction with crinoline petticoats.
A remark in Peterson's two years later recommends that crinoline petticoats (and other stout fabrics) should have a single flounce, and that such garments are superior to hooped petticoats:
"A grass-cloth, crinoline, or moreen petticoat, should always be flounced, if the dress is desired to "stand out." Nothing can be more ungraceful than a hoop, whereas, a flounce on the petticoat always makes the skirt fall elegantly. Some have two flounces on the petticoat, the lower and wider one passing all around, but the upper one not meeting for the space of nearly half a yard in front." 
The only example I've seen of a petticoat with flounces extending all the way up is this English patent from 1857. It calls for four straw or steel-stiffened flounces, which are spaced from hip to hem--though one variation dispenses with the flounces entirely in favor of the straw. From the description, I'd classify it more like a hoopskirt than any other kind of petticoat. It's also a patent, which does not guarantee that such garments were actually produced for wear.
 
II) Flounced petticoats worn with wrappers.
 
While intending to look for true undergarments in which the flounced served a structural purpose, I did note several instances of white petticoats with flounces worn under open wrappers, like so. In one instance, an 1854 Peterson's description, a petticoat with a single deep fluted flounce is used to add volume to a wrapper. Elsewhere, the flounces are implied to be decorative:
 "White embroidered wrappers...are usually made open in front, exposing a embroidered or flounced petticoat. These are divided into several categories as follows: First, rich petticoats embroidered full almost up to the knees or with insertions. Next, those trimmed three deep flounces, hemmed and fluted a la Pompadour. Then, those ornamented with small plaits about half a yard from the bottom, and lastly those having a deep hem and edged with lace." 
--Peterson's, August 1856

Open wrapper over a frilled petticoat. The Lady's Friend, 1864.

In some circumstances, ruffled petticoats under wrappers may carry a connotation of being over-dressed. In a short story from 1864, a petticoat with lace and ruffles worn under an open morning gown is dubbed 'too elaborate' for wearing aboard a ship. A story in the Lady's Friend that same year mentions a soon-to-widowed lady (with the questionable taste to wear rouge) donning a ruffled petticoat under a crimson wrapper. 
 
III) Other References to Flounced Petticoats

Peterson's (1855) mentions flounced petticoats replacing embroidered ones. I set this reference apart, because it goes on to mention straw sometimes being used to stiffen the hem, in order to continue the line of the underlying hoops. So, this appears to be an instance in which the flounced petticoat is being used with hoops, but the flounces themselves are implied to be decorative, and there's an additional structural element for shaping (the straw-reinforced hem).

A short story from 1855 mentions a character wearing petticoats trimmed with tape and frills under a flounced silk dress. These are not described in more detail.

A ruffled dimity petticoat is appropriate for wear under a ballgown in a 1859 story.
 
The "simply ruffled petticoat" is contrasted with the expensive embroidered and fringed petticoats currently in fashion (1859). 

'Ruffled petticoat' is used as metonymy for 'a pretty girl' in an 1865 narrative.

IV) Pre-Made Frills.

Towards the end of the hoop era, ready-made frills are sometimes named as a petticoat trim.

An 1862 ad for ready-made cambric flounces recommends the largest size for "the new Paris fashion of frilled petticoats." The reference line suggests these are about 2" wide.

In 1864, The Lady's Friend gives instructions for a muslin petticoat. The skirt is made of gored panels, then finished with two 3.5" gauffered frills around the edge

 
Original garments 
 
I've yet to see an original petticoat from the 1840s-1860s constructed like a flounced skirt. There are a couple examples of surviving petticoats with a single ruffle or flounce near the hem, like this:
 
Petticoat with one small frill around the hem.
American, 1850-1860, in The Met

The Kent State University Museum also has an 1840s quilted petticoat with an "applied tucked ruffle at [the] hem." A tucked petticoat from the 1840s in the Smithsonian has a scalloped edge slightly gathered into a frill. There's also a petticoat with a deeper single flounce in the V&A, though I suspect it's from the 1865-1874 part of its date range rather than the 1850-1860 part--the shape is awfully narrow up top, apparently gored to join the waistband smoothly with no fullness.

As described in contemporary texts, there are also flounced crinoline petticoats. The few of these I've seen tend to have their single flounce higher up on the garment, like so:
 
Crinoline Petticoat, 1840s, The Met.

I searched my main online collections (LACMA, the Met, V&A, MFA, also Kent State, Williamsburg, and the Smithsonian), and didn't find any other petticoats with flounces from the 1840-1865 period. Their collections are full of quilted, corded, embroidered, tucked, and even petticoats trimmed with lace, but not flounced ones. The relative scarcity of flounced petticoats in museum collections may arise from a variety of causes. Flounced petticoats may have been uncommon, with few ever existing in the first place. Alternatively, they may have been so common that they were not deemed as worthy of preservation as petticoats with expensive lace or embroidery. The flounced petticoats may also have been good candidates for re-making and re-modelling as styles changed.
 
Conclusion
 
From the textual evidence, flounced or frilled petticoats did exist and were used prior to the invention of the hooped petticoat. Some sources from the late 1850s to early 1860s put flounced petticoats into competition with steel-hooped petticoats, while others imply or outright state that frilled petticoats were worn over hoops.
 
Surviving garments and detailed descriptions of flounced petticoats are not abundant, but the ones I have found so far indicate that the norm was 1 or 2 ruffles extending no higher than the knee, with 4 flounces as the maximum. Some of these garments may have used the flounces or frills as adornment, not just for volume. Mentions of flounced petticoats not infrequently pair them with open wrappers.
 
I have so far found no evidence for white cotton petticoats being constructed like tiered skirts, with flounces extending the length of the garment.

Monday, January 23, 2023

Purple and green Stockings

Finished a second pair of over-the-knee stockings on my Autoknitter. Like the first, these have a hung hem and short-row heel. I used Knit Picks' palette fingering-weight wool, primarily majestic purple, with grass green for the toes and heels.


 Sized for friend Q, the recipe on these was 20 row hung hem at 4L1, 60 rows same, 30 rows 1L2, 30 rows 4L2, 30 rows 1L3, heel at the same, 59 rows same, toe. The heel shape is appropriate to the 1920s instructions with my machine, but is not a possible construction method for csms used in the late 1850s (though the machines did exist--they couldn't reverse direction, and instead used hand-sewing to finish the heel and toe).

Friday, January 20, 2023

Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge List, Round 6

We're back from the long hiatus with a 6th installment of the Historical Food Fortnightly!

For those of you just joining us, the Historical Food Fortnightly is a series historical cooking challenges started by the delightful Betsy back in 2014. There's no prizes or judgement: just a fun excuse to research and try new historical recipes. We'll provide the prompts, and you choose a dish to cook. You can join the Facebook group to see what other people are making and share your own projects. If 26 challenges is too much, feel free to try a "half marathon" of 13 challenges, or just jump in whenever you have the time or inclination.

As always, feel free to interpret the prompts as funny/punny/literal/contrived as you like. All eras are welcome to participate, as are all levels of cooking experience. You can cook in a modern kitchen, historic kitchen, over a fire, or however else you please.


 
 
1. February 1-14: Keep it Simple. Ease back into the new season with something simple: few ingredients, straightforward instructions, easy to clean up, or whatever makes a dish "simple" for you

2. February 15-28. Breakfast. Make a food suitable for breakfast.

3. March 1-14: Pie. Just in time for Pi Day, try a historic pie or tart recipe.   
 
4. March 15-28: Bread and Butter. Make bread, a dish with bread as an ingredient, or any food that is a staple of its cuisine.

5. March 29-April 11: Faux Foods. Try a recipe or use an ingredient that imitates, replaces, or tastes/looks like a different food.

6. April 12-25: Literary. Try a making a dish mentioned in a song or story.

7. April 26- May 9: T Time. Make a dish suited to tea time. Or tee time. All foods that make terrible "t" puns are in play.
 
8. May 10-23: Odd Fellows. Make a dish that combines ingredients or flavors you wouldn't normally use in modern life.
 
9. May 24-June 6: Centerpiece. Make a dish that's meant to impress or be the focal point of a meal. Time to experiment with plating and presentation!
 
10. June 7-20: First Fruits. Make a dish involving fruit in some capacity.

11. June 21-July 4: Picnic. Make picnic food or a dish that's easy to eat outside.

12. July 5-18: Eat Your Vegetables. Make a dish involving vegetables in some capacity.

13. July 19-August 1: In a Pickle. Try your hand at preserving food--pickles, jellies, jams, or any method you choose. Alternatively, make a dish that uses preserves as an ingredient.
 
14. August 2-15: Waste Not, Want Not. Try a dish that reduces waste somehow, such as re-purposing leftovers or using parts of a plant/animal that you wouldn't normally cook.
 
15. August 16-29: Traveling Food. Make a food associated with travel, or something convenient to eat on the go.

16. August 30-September 12: Harvest Time. Try a recipe associated with the harvest.
 
17. September 13-26: Saucy. Make a sauce or condiment.
 
18. September 27-October 10: Let Them Eat Cake. Make a cake or cakes!
 
19. October 11-24: Soups & Stews. Make a soup, stew, broth, or anything served in a bowl.
 
20. October 25- November 7: Fear Factor. Try making a dish with an ingredient, technique, or other element goes a little outside your comfort zone (including an era or cuisine you're less familiar with). Or make a recipe with a spooky name.

21. November 8-21: Comfort Food. The opposite of challenge #20. Try a historic version of your favorite comfort food, or a new receipt that uses techniques/tools/ingredients that you are comfortable working with.
 
22. November 22-December 5: Remember, Remember. It may not be November 5, but try cooking a dish from minimal instructions. Or try a dish that would be easy to memorize. 
 
23. December 6-19: Sweets for the Sweet. Make something sweet.
 
24. December 20-January 2: Beverages. Make a something to drink.
 
25. January 3-16: Looking Back. Revisit a dish you've made before, whether to correct a mistake, try an alternative variation, or just enjoy it again.
 
26. January 17-31: Party Time! Celebrate completing the challenge year by making a dish suitable for a party.
 

Thursday, January 5, 2023

Wool Apron Research, c.1840-1865

This comes up periodically, and since all my previous research at the SA collaborative thread has since been lost, I decided to compile a new version.

Research Questions:

  1. What purposes were wool aprons intended to serve in the period 1840-1865? 
  2. Were wool aprons intentionally used to protect against burns?
  3. How common were wool aprons compared to other materials (as cottons, linens, silks)?

Place: United States and Great Britain (English-language sources)

My search terms were "apron" along with "worsted", "wool", "woolen", "stuff", "cloth", and "linsey" (for "linsey-woolsey"). Except for The Workwoman's Guide (1838/40), I confined my searches to artifacts and publications dated between the years 1840-1865.

 

Google N-Gram showing relative prevalence of wool apron terms between 1840-1865.
Click link for larger image.


Wool Aprons in General

The Workwoman's Guide (1838/40) begins its instructions for aprons with a list of materials:

"If for common use, aprons are made of white, brown, blue black or checked linen, of black stuff, calico, Holland, leather, nankeen, print, or long cloth; if for better purposes, of cambric muslin, clear, mulled, or jaconet muslin, silk, satinette, satin &c."

 Note that that's 1/8 materials in the ordinary aprons are wool, and none in the finer category. This is a working material, and not the most common one either.

The Ladies' Worktable Book (1845) copies the Workwoman's Guide text on common aprons. None of its five other apron projects use wool material.

The Magazine of Domestic Economy (1840) advises aprons of silk or French merino be worn over linsey-woolen dresses.


Wool Aprons as Fire Protection

The Cook and Housewife's Manual (Edinburgh, 1840) advises that "every cook, while by an open fire, should wear a very wide thick worsted apron." It implies that this custom is less widely practiced than the author would hope, as she goes on to observe of the average cook that "while swaying her body, lifting off and on heavy stew-pots, it is surprising that her inflammable cotton apron so often escapes the flames."

Eliza Leslie's The House Book: Or, A Manual of Domestic Economy (Philadelphia, 1840) advises that children be dressed "entirely in wool or worsted" during the winter as a fire safety measure, and that "even their aprons should be of worsted", with merino and bombazette recommended as suitable fabrics.

In a fictional example from Fireside Tales for Little Ones, the narrator catches her cap on fire and is saved by the nursemaid smothering the flames with a stuff apron. (London, 1864) 

[The guide for working with explosives and the fictional blacksmith's daughter mentioned below do not explicitly associate wool aprons with fire-suppression, but may be related.]

 

Other Nonfiction References

A Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English (London, 1857) offers one definition of "mantle" as "a blue worsted apron by female servants when employed in rough dirty work." This definition also appears in A General Dictionary of Provincialisms (London, 1840). [Term used in a 1850 historic account set in the 18th century.]

Nursemaids are advised to have a woolen apron to keep their clothing dry if scrubbing the nursery is part of their duties and a flannel apron to wear when bathing the infant (as well as four common aprons and two finer ones). The Careful Nursemaid, 1844 

Wool aprons and gowns should not be worn when attending a sick person (lest the fabric absorb contagion). 1857.

Bee-keepers are advised to wear woolen aprons in an 1856 monograph. [Fiction: red or blue linsey aprons sometimes used to cover hives.]

Leather or woolen aprons are recommended for men working with explosive chemicals, 1845.

A man working with bleaching/laundry machinery wears a woolen apron, 1855.

A cotton weaver (male) wore a linen or woolen apron. 1856-7

A maid-of-all-work in Wales is described as wearing a blue woolen apron in 1841. This is brought up in describing the poverty of her employer (a clergyman). [See below for associations between woolen aprons and rural poverty.] 

A girl crossing-sweeper in London wears a black stuff apron, as described in Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor (1864).

The maids at George Heriot's Hospital (a boys' residential school in Edinburgh) are allowed two linen aprons and one worsted apron each year.

Linsey (linsey-woolsey?) aprons were among the woolens displayed at the Great Exhibition, 1851.

Cloth aprons are among the plain-sewing articles made by a London girls' charity school, 1841

Shepherds wear thick cloth aprons, apparently for weather protection, 1845.

A Florentine farmer's daughter's trousseau includes a merino apron, 1841.

A merino apron is among the items donated to fund an orphanage, 1845.

A Catholic girls' school in Ghent has silk and merino aprons as part of the uniform, 1840.

A checked linsey apron is part of a type description for the destitute, yet respectably attired, widow. 1862.

A 70-year-old housekeeper (earning 35 shillings/year) is plainly dressed, including a green linsey apron. 1848.

 

Wool Aprons in Fiction

Most often described as blue and/or striped, woolen and worsted aprons frequently appear in pastoral, historic, and/or foreign settings. They seem to carry a strong, though not exclusive, association with rural poverty, and are mentioned for both men and women. Wool aprons frequently appear in descriptions of foreign costume (whether in Chile, Guatemala, the Amazon, Russia, Germany, France, Hungary, Transylvania, Italy or the Alps). In contrast, "stuff" aprons are primarily described as black, and figure prominently (though not exclusively) in descriptions of gentlewomen engaged in household work or fallen on hard times.

A "highland lass" wears a blue and white striped worsted apron. A grandmother in a poem by Burns wears a  "new worsted apron."

A poor, illegitimate boy who grows up to work as a butcher wears a blue and white worsted apron with a black tape. A London butcher's boy wears a blue worsted apron.

A Scottish lady (of not-great fortune) wears a blue worsted apron to protect her quilted silk petticoat while plucking chickens with her servants.

An elderly Quaker wears "a worsted apron tied over her drab gown." An extremely poor grandmother (to whom 6 pence/week is a live-changing sum) wears a woolen apron.

Historical reference to blue-dyed "linsey" used in apron.

A rural weaver (male) is described as wearing a woolen apron. 1850. Another has a flannel apron. 1853.

A poor girl of 10 years old, who works part-time painting earthenware dishes, wears a woolen apron.

A servant wears a linsey apron, 1863.  "Woolen apron, muslin cap, and pattens' are used to describe the former attire of a cook, who has since risen in social rank.

An 1863 story set in Kentucky describes one of the characters, an elderly enslaved woman, as wearing a woolen apron. An enslaved woman working as a cook/household servant has a coarse linsey apron, 1860.

A poor shepherd's daughter wears a clean (but badly worn through) wool apron. A shepherd's daughter wears a "clean, but scanty and ragged woolen apron" in one of Hannah More's 'improving' stories. 1843.

A formerly-wealthy woman who has fallen on hard times and no longer cares about her clothes wears a long, wide woolen apron over a calico dress, having previously worn a black silk apron over a well-fitted delaine dress, 1864.

A blacksmith's daughter (who hates mending stockings and wants to become a barmaid), wears a blue woolen apron, 1840

A man selling oysters wears a blue woolen apron

An old maid traded her checked woolen apron for a homespun linen apron when she married and became mistress of a respectable, old-fashioned rural home in New England. Story in the Lowell Offering, 1845.

In Elizabeth Gaskell's novel Sylvia's Lovers (1863), Sylvia wears a blue woolen apron. She is a farmer's daughter in northeastern England c.1796.

In Charlotte Bronte's Villette (1857), a drunken woman incongruously pairs a black stuff apron with a showy striped silk dress.

A kind cottager uses her woolen apron to warm childrens' cold hands.

A German peasant-woman has a crimson stuff apron. 1853

At home, a well-to-do English girl wears a black stuff apron over her common morning dress. 1864

A "grogram [sic] gown and stuff apron" is suggested as an unbecoming outfit. 1858

A "rusty black stuff apron" is suitable for moving furniture, not for receiving guests, 1855. An unmarried shopkeeper's daughter, age 35, wears a black stuff apron to do housework before a relative comes to visit, 1862.

A simply-dressed young lady wears a "plain dark dress", black stuff apron, and un-embroidered collar, which are contrasted with her spiritual beauty. 1855

A country tradesman's wife wears a black stuff apron as part of her Sunday clothes (over a maroon linsey-woolsey dress, with a shawl and close bonnet). 1860 

A farmer's widow wears a stuff apron, 1860. Linsey or checked aprons are worn by gleaners (poor people allowed to pick up fallen grain), 1840.

A poor Irish girl wears a black stuff apron with an old mended cotton dress and pelerine (but no socks or shoes), 1854. A Welsh baronet's daughter disguising herself as a country girl borrows a linsey apron, among other items, 1852. In Eugene Sue's Mysteries of Paris, a French country-girl wears a brown stuff apron with a large bib. (English translation, 1845)

A poorly-behaved girl (daughter of a washerwoman) is incongruously dressed in a faded print dress and black stuff apron, with curl papers in her hair, a yellow glass necklace and small hoop earrings. 1849

Linsey aprons evoke old-fashion school-teachers, 1859.

A neat print gown and a linsey apron with a large bib make a woman look like the "pattern of housewifely industry," 1854. An actress who dresses moderately outside of work wears a white morning gown with a purple merino apron at home, 1858. A refined factory girl wears a black merino apron to work, 1844.

Linsey-wolsey apron worn for washing breakfast dishes, 1854. [From a satirical letter.]

A woman wears a linsey apron in a story about "old settlers" of the western US, 1852. A bed-gown and linsey apron is used (hyperbolically) as an example of old-fashioned clothing, 1856.

A miserly farmwife wears a checked linsey apron, 1857. An elderly country woman (farm-hand's wife?) wears a blue linsey apron, and uses it to carry scraps for feeding the birds, 1859. A poor widowed farm-laborer wants to purchase wool that she can spin to make an apron, 1854.

 

Decorative Aprons of Wool 

Anthony Trollop's description of Rhode Island includes an unusual mention of women in carriages, each with "a worked worsted apron of brilliant colors" in her lap. This, along with a Godey's story which mentions "a set of those worsted apron from the Repository" may be using the term "worsted" to indicated "worsted work", or embroidery using colorful wool thread. [Like these originals.]

The Album of Fancy Needlework (1847) gives instructions for an apron knitted of Berlin (very fine) wool. The Comprehensive Knitting Book (1849) has instructions for making an apron in brioche stitch "or in any light open stripe" including flounces, a pocket, and contrasting colored trim.

Sharpe'e London Magazine (1860) gives instructions for a child's apron (more like a fully-body pinafore) crocheted in Shetland Wool.

 

Wool Versus Other Fibers

This got a bit long, so I'll hold the statistical analysis of wool versus non-wool aprons for later. Even a quick N-gram, however, shows that wool aprons are far from a majority of aprons. Only the term "cloth" comes close to the prevalence of cotton, with silk, linen and check predominating. [Though some of the cotton and worsted hits will be for industrial machinery.]

Top three wool terms compared with other fibers and patterns.
Click link for larger image.
 

I also went looking for original wool aprons in all my usual online museum collecions (VAM, Met, MFA, LACMA, UK National Trust, Williamsburg, Kent State, Henry Ford, Europeana Fashion Project). The VAM has a doll in Welsh costume dated 1840 which has a checked wool apron. None had a human-sized wool apron from this period and geographic area. While the relative prevalence of wool aprons in the time period may be a factor, preservation is also an issue: garments which survive and find their way into museum collections tend not to be working garments. The aprons present in these museum collections are overwhelmingly decorated silk garments, with a few fine cotton aprons, including the embroidered examples linked above.

 Conclusion

Various wool materials were used to make aprons during the mid-19th century, though they are mentioned less often than silk, cotton, or linen aprons. Both men and women used wool aprons as suited their work.

While fire protection was one known reason for using wool aprons, such concerns are only present in a small number of references--and wool aprons were just as frequently invoked for protection from water/weather as from fire. Instead, wool aprons have a stronger correlation to housework itself, as well as country life, and certain occupations (such as shepherds).

Specific fabrics and colors further characterize wool aprons. Worsted aprons described by color are overwhelmingly blue and/or striped, and worn by working class women such as farmers, shepherdesses, and servants. Linsey aprons are likewise used by women undertaking active work. In contrast, stuff aprons (most commonly black) are worn by smartly-dressed working class women and by middle class women doing light housework. Merino aprons sit at the top of the hierarchy; they are associated with tidiness apart from physical work, and are mentioned alongside silk aprons.

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Fabrics (A Writing Exercise)

On the 11th day of Christmas, I came across this interesting little passage on fabric types in A Comprehensive Spelling Book on the Plan of the Pronouncing Spelling Book  by Joseph Emerson Worcester (Boston, 1864). It may be a spelling lesson, but it's also a primary sources with fabric definitions and examples of some fabrics associated with different garments:


EXERCISES FOR WRITING. 

Would you prefer alpaca or gingham for an apron? A coat made of broadcloth? A calico frock? The name of the cloth is written either cassimere or kerseymere. A chintz apron. Corduroy is a thick cotton stuff, ribbed or corded. A blouse is a kind of loose round frock worn by workmen. Dowlas is a coarse linen fabric. Drugget is a coarse flimsy woollen stuff. A cotton kerchief. A coat made of kersey. Moreen is a kind of worsted stuff. Sarcenet is a fine thin silk. Shagreen is a kind of dried skin prepared in the East. Shalloon is a worsted stuff. Taffeta or taffety is a smooth, glossy silk stuff. Tiffany is gauzy or thin silk. Gauze for a curtain. Merino is a kind of woollen cloth. A silk ribbon. A waistcoat made of velvet. Bombazine is a slight stuff made of silk and worsted. A silk handkerchief. A pair of pantaloons.


Tuesday, January 3, 2023

More Muffattees on CSM

It's the 9th day of Christmas, and time for more Christmas presents:

Two pairs of knitted muffatees, both knit in the round in a ribbed pattern. One is pale pink and relatively light weight, the other sage green and heavier.
A Study in Gauge

When I was looking for muffattee patterns to adapt, the simplest was to simply knit a 3-3 rib to the desired length (either in the round or knit flat and then seamed). For examples, see "Lambs' Wool Muffatees" in Woman...An Epitome of Social Duties (1843) and "Plain Ribbed Muffatees" in My Knitting Book (1845) among others. 

Since I'm still not up to using the ribber on my Autoknitter, I decided to follow instructions from the 1868 Bickford Family Knitter instruction manual, which treats the mock-rib technique (removing needles) as equivalent to ribbing. However, I've found that 3-3 really doesn't looking like ribbing when worked this way. Fortunately, Mlle Riego's The Winter Knitting Book (1859) gives a "Simple Muffatee for a Gentleman" worked in 2-2 ribbing in the round, which I took as permission to do a 2-2 mock rib. Her version is doubled to create a lining and has no thumb gap, but considering the intended recipients, I decided to make those changes. [These are for my coworkers, who spend a lot of time typing in a cold building.]

The pink muffatees were knitted with a very light lace-weight wool from my stash, on a tension of 5L3 (if I recall correctly). I failed to note the tension on the green, which made with a heavier sport-weight wool from the stash). The pink ones ended up very lacy in their effect, particularly when worn, while the heavier yarn make the green look more like true ribbing.

Monday, January 2, 2023

2023 Costume Resolutions

 I have some actual deadlines/goals for this year:

  • One full 1873 ensemble. New corset, dress, and skirt supports will be needed. I can/will probably end up using 1850s chemise and drawers, since this is a one-day event. And indoors, so outerwear isn't as urgent. 
  • One full 1909 ensemble. Dress, corset, supports.. Suffrage event in summertime. I'm going to need one of those huge hats....

In my usual eras:

1570s: I would like a better-fitting kirtle and gown, but I'll settle for having 3 shifts and a pair of comfortable garters in time for fair.

18th century: Finish the cape, maybe mess around with the short gown pattern if I have time.

Regency: No goals, though I'll flag re-sizing dresses and upgrading my petticoat as the most needful things. Though I still would like a pelisse...

1850s: It's past time to focus on making new chemises and drawers. No other goals for this period, since those need to come first.

mid-20th century: Some warmer wool skirts for daily wear would be lovely, and maybe another split skirt for the summer.

Other:

I'm enjoying the machine knitting and intend to make a lot more socks, hopefully working out those square heels. 

I'd also like to try making 1 pair of shoes.

Getting my research projects posted and my blog drafts down below 50. (Currently: 95).

Sunday, January 1, 2023

Original: 1873 Purple Silk Day Dress

 Happy New Year!

Day Dress,1873, VAM.


Going back 150 years for this number: a purple silk day dress (bodice with skirt), credited as part of a 1873 trousseau.  Definitely check out the Victoria & Albert Museum's page for this item: there are a further 15 pictures, which are really needed to capture the variety of detail that went into this ensemble. There's piping, bows, fringe, shirring, bustling, folded trim, and two different styles of ruffle, all worked in the same fabric. Also some lovely matching thread-covered buttons. The bodice detail shots appear to show a moire pattern in the fabric, though that might be a photographic artifact.