1860s Fancy Apron Tutorial - Part 1 The Original

Welcome to part one of my tutorial for an 1860s fancy apron. Part two will comprise of the pattern and how to. First however I wanted to start with an exploration of the original apron that the pattern is taken from.

Left : Original 1860s apron  Right: My apron made using the pattern taken from the original apron.

Dating an apron can be a tricky business as for decades the styles remained relatively unchanged - with small variations such a size and length.  This aprons unusual shape combined with its materials, size and construction point towards it being of mid 1860s construction.  

Image of a lady wearing a fancy apron c.mid 1860s

http://www.earthlyangelscdvs.blogspot.com/2008/07/no-photographer-noted-4.html

The apron is constructed from a mid-weight black and purple striped silk taffeta and is completely hand sewn. 

Hand sewing on the edge of the apron

It is trimmed with black cotton velvet ribbon and has a small pocket attached.  The edging has been gathered onto a very fine cord before being applied. The main body of the apron has been pleated into a very small waistband, which in turn has a boot button at one end and the very desiccated remains of a piece of flat elastic at the other.  

Edge of the waistband showing velvet decoration and boot button.

The aprons is almost tear shaped and appears to have been designed to drape over a full skirt.

Left: Apron over crinoline                            Right: Apron without crinoline

Here are some other aprons from the 1860s in a similar style...

Aprons from Godey's 1861

c.1861 - 63 Decorative velvet apron

The Museum of London

Godey's Lady's book 1860

Apron ca.1865

MMA Collection

Part two of this post will show my attempt at recreating my 1860s fancy apron and will include a pattern should you wish to make one yourself :)

Up close and personal - Early 1850s peplum bodice

Welcome to the second "up close and personal" blog posts where I get up close and personal with some of the items in my collection.  Today is this lovely beige moire silk c.1853-55 peplum bodice.  I purchased this beauty from the lovely L.Hidic at CorsetsandCrinolines and she in turn had bought it from a dealer who had let his daughter's pet rabbit munch on the back peplums :(  Anyway, on with the photos!

Please excuse my dress making dummy and she's a little too well proportioned for this bodice.  If i ever get a chance to model it on a smaller one I'll retake the photo.  In the meantime you can see how it looks fastened here on the previous owners website.  As you can see it is a beautiful v-necked bodice designed to be worn over a chemisette.  The bust measures 32" and the waist 24 1/2".

The sleeves are made from three pieces, the first straight, the second double ruched then the last being the bell sleeve.  

The bodice has lovely blue and white trim and pale yellow (rather than discoloured) and dark blue fringe.

The v-shape of the neckline is mirrored by the addition of two pieces that run from the waist at the front, across the shoulders and to the back.  The join in hidden by the trim.  Peeking underneath we can see the true colour of the bodice which is a little more pink than what we see today.  We can also see from these photos that the peplums were cut as part of the bodice and not added separately.  Both the v-shape and the peplums help to show off the already very tiny waist.

On to the inside of the bodice now.  Here you can see the design of the bodice more clearly without the distraction of all the trim.  Please ignore the dark line going down the center back, it's unfortunately damage due to it being stored folded at some time.

The peplums have not been lined.  Rather cleverly the maker has turned the seam allowance towards the fashion fabric and then hidden it with the trim (on all but the front two peplums that have been seamed in the normal fashion).  

The main bodice is lined in cotton, is not boned and is completely hand sewn.

The sleeves have been lined in two separate sections with the bottom unlined.  The first is very loose weave and soft with no real body, the second to which the ruching is secured is again very loose weave (see close-up) and feels like stiff organdy.  The bottom of the sleeve has been cut on the selvedge edge.

The bodice fastens at the front with three brass hooks and eyes.  There are also two pieces of tape sewn at the front just at the bottom of the hooks and eyes.  The first is wider and sewn doubled up, the second is thinner and single thickness and may have been longer as the edge is frayed.  If anyone knows what these mysterious bits of tape are for please let me know.  I have a slightly older 1850s basque bodice that has cotton ties coming from the inner back waist with a hook and eye to secure the bodice at the front but those point sideways whilst these ones are pointing downward so it doesn't really make sense for them serve the same purpose.  I can only wonder if the cotton tape on this bodice had something to do with keeping the skirt and bodice from separating?  

That's all the photos of this bodice for now.  I have two more basque bodices that will feature in the future, one from the late 1850s and the other from the early 1870s.  I've also a couple of articles in the works and I will finally put together and photograph my knitted scarf!  Please follow this blog to get updates and/or join us on facebook where I post updates on this blog as well as lots of Victorian and Regency eye candy :)

Up close and personal - Mid 1860s Bodice

The first in my up close and personal blog posts when I get up close and personal with some of the items in my collection.  Today is the turn of my mid 1860s bodice.  This was being sold on eBay as a "cutter" for dolls dresses but I thought it was too lovely for that despite it's poor condition.  

 

 I've never been sure about the braid across the bosom thing, or this particular style of sleeve (always been a fan of the pagoda sleeve myself).  However when I carefully tried it on (I was lucky enough for this to fit me - though it's in no state to be worn properly) I was surprised how flattering both were.

The bodice is made from a very fine brown silk taffeta with black grid pattern.  I was surprised just how paper thin the silk on this bodice is compared to others I've handled before.

 When I first saw that the braid didn't go all the way around the sleeves I thought maybe it was for reasons of economy.  Either that the seamstress was making it on a budget or had simply run out of braid.  After trying it on myself however it also has the benefit that the braid doesn't get in your way.  The lack of braid doesn't show at all from the front or the sides as you can see from the first photos.  A great example of Victorian economy and practicality!

As you can see the band of the bodice is in a bit of a mess.  It is closed with a hook and eye (a replacement) and has a number of hooks and eyes scattered inside and out in a very haphazard fashion.  At first I thought the hook on the outside back was to secure the skirt - but the decoration on the band looks like it should be on the outside not the inside.  Plus there is a sideways hook on the inside that looks like it should be doing that job.  Very confusing!  You can see more of the waistband construction further down when we get to the innards of the bodice. *Edit* Upon closer examination thanks to the wonderful feedback by Cassidy30 it would appear that the waist band is what was once a separate belt that has been added later to the bottom of the bodice.  The stitching is quite different to the rest of the bodice and it would explain the confusion of hooks and eyes - some like the center back hook being left over from before.

 

The button are a very dark brown / black and appear to be early plastic.  They have four holes and are domed at the back.

 

Now to get down to the real nitty gritty of the bodice, the inside.  It is lined with a dark beige cotton sateen.  One thing you notice straight away is that half of each of the arms has been lined in a different fabric.

One thing that is decidedly lacking from this bodice is boning.  It's difficult to determine if it's been removed or was just never there in the first place.  One surprise for me was to discover that the chest area is interlined with fine bright red wool - covering the area along the shoulder across the chest and  ending along curves of the braiding at the front.  This gives lovely smooth lines along the chest area.  There is no interlining in the rest of the bodice.

Waist band detail.  As you can see it is reinforced and has quite an overlap to the closure.  I love how vibrant the blue is.

 

 The bodice is flat lined (where the fashion fabric and lining are treated as one piece) and the raw edges are whip stitched. 

Detail of the sleeve cuff.  The silk is turned over the edge then a separate band of silk has been sewn round the inside cuff to finish.

 

 Collar detail with hook and sewn eye.  I love all the red stitching - which doesn't seem to match anything except the interlining.

Well that's the bodice in it's entirety.  I learnt so much studying this bodice and found so many techniques and design details that I am itching to try.  I hope you found something of interest too :)