- Hello, and welcome back to part two
in this video series,
in which I'm attempting to recreate
the Portrait of a Young Woman in White,
located in the Washington
National Portrait Gallery
down in Washington, D.C.
If you didn't catch part
one in which I constructed
the petticoat, or underlayer,
of the gown that I will be
working on today, I
shall put a link to that
somewhere on the screen.
I also in that video went
into a bit of the context
behind this project, as
well as some of the history
behind the circa 1798
garments that I am working on,
so do give that a watch, if you like.
However, if you cannot be
bothered with a 24 minute video
on making undergarments, then basically,
this project is a
primary example of a joke
taken entirely too far,
but the subject in the portrait
just so happens to look
exactly like my sibling,
and this has been a
running joke between us
for many years.
I know there have been all
sorts of portrait doppelganger
posts floating around
the Internet these days,
so of course, me being utter
trash for dress history
as I am, I just thought it would be fun
to reconstruct the gown
in historical practice
using the methods and
materials that I think
would have been employed
to make the original gown
in the portrait.
The two of us then traveled to the museum
to see my sibling in the gown side by side
with the portrait, and it was thrilling.
However, in today's video,
I shall just be getting on
with the second part in
the construction process
for this ensemble.
The underlayers are now
complete, so I am now working
on reconstructing the overgown,
that sheer monstrosity
that wreaked terror and
havoc and uncertainty
over my life for the past couple of weeks.
So, without further ado, I
think we should just go ahead
and get to the sewing.
To get the pattern for this gown,
I draped the pieces over
top of the petticoat
that I had just finished.
That way I could be sure that
all the pieces were lined up
and that the petticoat
would be sufficiently hidden
underneath the gown.
Once I have my pattern
pieces marked out in muslin,
I'm then cutting them out and
transferring them to paper,
truing up any lines and
curves that look a bit wonky.
As the gown in the portrait is so sheer,
I perceive it to be made
from a very fine cotton lawn.
I endeavored to find something similar
in the garment district, and
while it isn't quite as sheer
as what's depicted in the portrait,
it was still the sheerest
cotton I was able to find,
and quite sheer it is, indeed.
So, I'm going ahead and
getting started by cutting out
the skirt panels.
It's comprised of three
panels, two in the back
and one across the front that all
get gathered up quite densely.
I'm using the full widths of the fabric
from selvedge to selvedge,
which on this fabric,
I believe, is about 55 inches across.
This was also done primarily
so that I could save myself
the extra effort of having
to finish off the skirt seams
since this fabric has
a really nice selvedge
that can just exist merrily
as the finished seam edge,
and as the skirt pieces are
cut as straight rectangles,
I'm marking out my cutting
lines by drawing threads,
or pulling out a single
thread the length of where
I want to cut, so that the
gap in the weave of the fabric
will give me a perfectly
straight path to cut along.
Then the edges of the
skirt pieces are lined up
selvedge to selvedge,
and stitched together
with a running backstitch.
I never managed to get
this on film, but I've left
the top of the seams open on
either side of the front panel
for about ten inches down from the top
so that the skirt can open and close.
(aesthetically pleasing hand stitching)
Next, I'm just cutting
out the rest of the bodice
and sleeve pieces.
So, I have pinned my
bodice pieces together,
just the front and the side panels.
I haven't actually even
cut the back panel because
every time I look at this painting,
I feel like I come up
with a different theory
as to how it's done.
Currently, I'm of the belief now that
the skirt is an apron front skirt,
which means that the gown
is attached to the bodice
at the back only and the
skirt piece acts as an apron,
it's attached at the side
seams but it falls open a bit
in the front, and then
just comes up here and ties
around in the back, if
that makes any sense,
but I think that's what
accounts for the appearance
that this waistband is
sitting a little bit over top
of the bodice, as you can
see by the slightest bit
of shadow just there.
So, I think I'm going to go
ahead with the apron front
skirt waistband theory, however,
I'm not sure what that means in terms of
closing the actual bodice bit.
Usually, what I've found with
apron front regency gowns
is that they also have a little bib front
that is connected to the
waistband and then is just pinned
to the shoulder straps up here,
but this doesn't look
like that's the case here,
so I'm wondering if there
is a little center seam here
which I'm not sure, I can't
really tell from the painting,
or whether it closes in the back somehow.
So, hence my dithering
with this back panel.
I'm not sure if I should
keep a center back seam here
and close it with ties or with buttons,
or whether I can just open it
at the center front somehow
and cut this all as one piece
and eliminate this seam.
So, I don't know.
I guess I'm gonna have a think about it.
As you can see, I cut the front panel
all in one here.
This was in a fervent previous theory
that the entirety of the
front panel was all cut in one
and it was just sort
of gathered up like so.
I'm wondering if there's a way to do that
with a center seam,
or whether the center seam
will just make it bulky,
or whether it will
actually help this shape,
I'm really not sure.
I probably should have
experimented with this
in the mock up, but this is
something that I've sort of
only just come to realize,
unfortunately, so. (sighs)
More to come, I'll get
back to you on this.
Can somebody please explain to me why
technology of 2018 has
not developed to the point
where we have Harry Potter-style portraits
where the subjects can
get up and turn around
and show us the backs of their gowns,
or better yet, just tell us
how their gowns are made.
Please, can we like, do that soon?
K, thanks.
Ok, so I am back.
I (sighs) have come to a
very difficult conclusion.
Ok, so I just posted a
little side by side picture
of the portrait with my
sibling on my Instagram page,
just to sort of let
people know what I'm up to
and share my excitement
about this project,
and several people immediately commented
that Merja from Before the
Automobile had actually
made a gown very similar
to this on her blog
several years ago, apparently,
and I was initially very
hesitant to go and have a look
at it because I don't want that
to impede my interpretation
of this portrait.
However, in my moment of
struggle and indecision
on all of this, I was curious
to know how she solved
the problem of how she
thinks this gown opens,
and so, I did go and have
a look at her blog page.
I read the description, and
it says that she was using
this portrait as inspiration for her gown,
not that she was doing a reconstruction
or an interpretation,
and so it is similar,
but I don't think it's
supposed to be exact.
However, she interpreted
this as being a bib front,
in fact, connecting to
the waistband and acting
as an apron front.
There's no center back
seam, but she interprets
this under bit here that I have
interpreted as the petticoat
as opening in the center
front, so this connects
to the back of the gown, and
then this is all one piece
that just pins forward,
and I think she's totally correct in that,
because I have opened a
digital version of this image
on my computer and had a very, very close,
highly zoomed in look
at it, and you can see
where the front of the bodice is gathering
slightly differently from
the shoulder strap area,
and this was something that
had perplexed me initially,
but I just had attributed to
some, some rogue gathering
as, as this all draped
down to the center front,
but I totally think she's right
in that this is a bib front
and it's just pinned to the front.
I'm still a bit curious as
to whether it is connected
to the waistband or not, I'm
sort of apprehensive about that
only because it looks like
there's quite a bit of shadow
between the waistband and the bodice bit.
So, I might venture to assume
that the front bit here
is just pinned to the
underlayer and then the skirt
ties over it, but I
think, I think, I think
the bib front bodice and the apron skirt
are the way to go.
Now unfortunately, this means
that the sleeve is gonna have
to connect to this somehow,
which means I will have to have
a front bit to the bodice
so that I have an armscye,
which means that I do have
to cut a front bodice piece,
which also means my petticoat
idea is probably incorrect
and the petticoat wasn't necessary.
So, I am still trying to come
to terms with that emotionally
but I think I might have to
give this new venture a try
because to proceed with what
I have would, I feel like,
just go into the area of making stuff up,
only because there's evidence
that apron front skirts
and bib front bodices existed,
and that is a valid method
of closure for these gowns.
If I were to start putting
center back seams in things,
it might get into the tricky realm of,
was this actually historically correct,
because I do have buttons down
the back of the petticoat,
because that's what's
seen on the extant example
from the Met, so that's completely valid.
However, I then got into the issue of,
well, does this have a center back seam
and if it doesn't, then
the sheer fabric of this
is actually going to show
right through to the buttons
of the petticoat in the back,
which I'm not sure was correct,
and will having a center back
seam in this actually work,
because the fabric is so sheer?
I couldn't put buttons in
it because I would need
probably two or three layers of facing,
which I'm, again, not sure
was historically correct,
or it could conceivably tie shut,
but again, I'm not sure how
closing at the center back
would work with an apron front skirt.
Fortunately, there are
some examples of gowns
that close in this style in
Janet Arnold that I will go
and have a look at, and they
shouldn't be too complicated
to figure out and to implement into this.
I'm very sorry for anyone who
is a reader of Merja's blog
because I sort of now feel like I'm just
replicating the same gown,
and how terribly boring,
but hey, at least in this
video you have gotten some nice
little experiments of what
didn't work when trying to
reconstruct this gown.
So, with that being said,
I shall go crawling back
to my trusty Janet Arnold,
see if we can make this dress
more correctly this time.
Whilst all of that processes
and I attempt to craft
a new cunning plan to
get the bodice together,
I'm just taking some
time to get the sleeves
all ready to go.
The seams are just backstitched together,
and the raw edges felled under.
Then, the edges are just hemmed real quick
and the sleeves are now ready to go on,
whenever I figure out
the bodice, of course.
So, I have gone ahead and
re-cut the bodice pieces,
adapting the pieces I had
already drafted and fit
to shape more similarly
to an apron front gown
in Janet Arnold.
I've decided that the gown
will open at center front,
with the two pieces pinning together.
The sheer drape will be
pinned at the shoulders
to cover this foundation layer
and the apron skirt
will tie over the bottom
of the bodice.
So, now I can slightly
more confidently begin
to put the bodice pieces together.
By the way, I ended up
cutting the bodice pieces
from some of my cabbage left
over from the petticoat.
It's a slightly heavier
cotton and completely opaque,
like the underbodice
layer in the portrait,
which is apparently not a petticoat.
This will also, I think,
give the bodice a bit more
strength and support than the cotton lawn,
which I think might make
for an overall nicer effect.
I'm starting just by felling
down the center front edges.
Then the rest of the seams
are backstitched together,
(more aesthetically
pleasing hand stitching)
and of course, the seam
allowances are finished
with a bit of felling.
I went ahead and finished off
the top edge of the bodice,
as well as the armscyes for
some inexplicable reason.
I guess I forgot that
this thing has sleeves,
and I just have to fell
down those edges, too.
So, after backstitching
the sleeves to the bodice,
I ended up folding the edge under
between the seam allowance
and whipping the two layers
together since I didn't
leave enough seam allowance
on the sleeve to fold
over the felled armscye
to at least make it look as
if I just felled it normally
the first time, but shh,
just maybe don't tell anyone.
Now over to the skirt.
I'm just running a quick gathering thread
across the tops of the three skirt panels.
Now to make this dress a wearable thing.
I'm just pinning the center back seam
of the two joined back skirt
panels to the center back mark
on the bodice, then the two
opposite edges are pinned
to the side seams.
The front of the bodice
will not have any skirt
attached to it.
I'm sorry if you aren't familiar with how
apron front gowns work.
This must all sound
extraordinarily confusing,
but you shall see how it
all goes together shortly,
I promise.
Then, I'm just pulling
the gathering threads
until each skirt panel fits
into the bodice length.
The skirt is then stitched
on with a half back stitch,
which I think is marginally
quicker than a full back stitch,
and the lower edge of the
bodice front is felled under
to finish it off.
I was under the impression
that I was going to fell down
the waist edge by folding
the bodice seam allowance
over the gathered edge of
the skirt to finish it off,
but it turns out I didn't
leave enough seam allowance
on the bodice to be able to
turn over the thick gathering,
so I ended up just felling a small length
of the same cotton tape
that I use for drawstring
on the petticoat to
encase those raw edges,
and now for the front of the skirt.
I've cut a strip of
waistband one inch wide
with quarter inch seam allowance
and 49 inches in length
according to an apron
front gown in Janet Arnold.
This will fold over in half over the top
of the gathered skirt edge so
that I end up with that nice,
slim half inch waist band,
just like that in the portrait.
I want the skirt to gather down
to fit a little bit beyond the 14 inches
across the front of the bodice,
so I'm just marking out
a length on the waistband
17 inches across.
So, starting from the
marked center front point,
I'm marking a pin eight
and a half inches out
on either side.
Then, matching the center
front of my waistband
up to the center front of the skirt panel
and pinning both skirt ends
to my marked end points,
I can gather up the front
of the skirt accordingly.
Once again, this is secured into place
with a half back stitch.
I've just put a couple
of pins along the edge
to hold that quarter inch
seam allowance under,
then I'm just folding the waistband over
to enclose all of the raw edges.
This is done along the skirt edge,
as well as along both ends that will form
the tying tapes.
The ends of the tapes are just
slip stitched together and,
although I failed to film this,
the edge folded over the skirt
gathers is just felled down,
which fortunately, I
think you have seen me do
all too frequently round here.
The base of the dress is now complete.
So, now just to do a couple
of little finishing things.
First up are two little worked bars
that need to go into the back,
just at the seams, so
that the ties of the apron
have nice little belt loops to sit in.
These are done by taking
a couple of long stitches
the length that you want the bar to be,
so, a bit over half an inch, in my case,
to properly fit the tapes.
Then, you just work a blanket stitch
across these anchor
threads to strengthen them.
Basically, you're just
tying a series of knots
along this thread, so if
you don't think you know how
to blanket stitch, just
be sure that the needle
is coming up over the thread
that's looping around,
so that it forms a proper knot.
I've also changed over to
a thick white silk thread
for these, since they're going to be seen
and the silk will make them look
a little bit more decorative.
Next, I just made some little tassel ties,
and I'm just going to leave
a little montage of this
with no further explanation,
since I know for a fact
that this is not how they
would've been done historically,
and they are really quite shameful,
but at this point, we were
one day from shooting the gown
and they are rather an important detail,
so I needed to get them done.
And last but not least,
the skirt gets a nice,
tiny felled hem, a task that provided
some nice entertainment on
the four and a half hour
journey to Washington, D.C.
She did get finished in plenty of time,
and we had quite the adventurous afternoon
at the Washington
National Portrait Gallery,
drawing quite a crowd as we brought
the Young Woman in White to life.
I'm not going to lie,
I might have fan girled
just a little bit when I
finally got to see the portrait
in person and, spoiler
alert, we did end up putting
the petticoat under the gown,
just because the skirt came
out to be a bit sheerer
than anticipated, and we just
needed that little extra layer
of opacity, so the effort was not in vain,
although I do still plan
to remake it at some point,
now that I know how to do
it a little bit better.
That is, if I can find the time to do it
in between all the other
projects and periods
I want to try and make things from.
Ah, such is the life of
the historical costumer,
am I right?
Anyway, stay tuned for the
final part in this video series
in which I will be highlighting
our museum adventures
and showcasing the
finished gown in the wild.
Until next time.
