Red Paisley Wrapper, c.1850s

This fabric has been in my stash for a while, waiting to replace my blue mid-19th-century wrapper. Fortunately, I ended up needing a second wrapper for our recent Victorian weekend in Port Townsend, which gave me an excuse to make it up.

While I didn't actually use a pattern, this wrapper is mostly based off the construction methods in the Kayfig KF611 wrapper pattern. It has a fitted back and side/underarm bodice taken from my most recent toile, but the front is made of two full-length loose panels gathered at the shoulder.

This red paisley could only have become a wrapper.

Because this is my fifth time* time making a wrapper in this style, I wanted to do something a little different. Since my blue wrapper has bishop sleeves, this red one got pagodas (though I did narrow them a little from what I used on the red plaid basque). Instead of a fitted front lining and jewel neckline, I tried to copy a wrapper I remember seeing in the MOHAI collection, which had no cut neckline in the front, and instead used had straight panels overlap to make a moderate V-neckline. Not having the pictures to hand at the time, I tried copying the look from memory: adding piping to the shoulder seam, and using the selvedges to make the center front opening. The closest original image I could find while working on this wrapper was an 1840s fan-front dress from the Met has a similar V-neck arrangement, so the front exterior was a combination of what I could see in that image and what I remembered from the MOHAI wrapper.

The other annoying thing about not having my construction detail pictures was figuring out the lining (the MOHAI catalog image does at least show the V-neck as I remember it, but not the interior). If I recall correctly, the original didn't have a lining in the front at all. However, I was concerned about how to shape the armscyes in that case, and so I opted for a partial lining on the side fronts (really just enough to define the shoulder, side, and armscyes seams.) I copied these side-front linings, again, from my most recent toile, just sloping them from the shoulder seam to the waist so that there was at least 1" to spare around the sleeve. I then laid out the front panel on each shoulder of that partial lining, and filled in the under-arm and front armscye area with scraps of the fashion fabric. 

Each front panel is a half-breadth of the fabric (~22"), with two panels in the back/side skirt. The back/side bodice is piped at the waist and the skirt gauged on; the front panels are obviously cut in a single fall from shoulder to hem. The sleeves are faced with self-fabric. I again opted to use self-fabric ties on this wrapper, because they are so convenient on my blue one. I ended up finding a pastel polychrome cord and tassels, which match all the accent colors in the print and thus makes a perfect belt, and so might remove the self-fabric ties. The belt is stylistically awesome, but I'm not convinced on its ability to hold the panels closed neatly without the ties. The front has no other fastener than those waist ties; they are sufficient, provided one arranges the front panels with care while belting the wrapper, but a brooch or pin at at the V helps it sit more securely.

 

*Those being wrappers #1 and #4, IIRC. Not pictured on this blog are number #2, my own light blue wrapper, and #3, a very dark blue paisley made for the FNLH wardrobe as a maternity dress. That one was fun because it was the first time I tried using drawstrings on the lining of a wrapper.