We decided to take a little time off and head down to No. 11. Stay tuned for more! 🙂
Author: Adam Lid
Eton Jacket Project No. 2 – Part 4
This is our fourth installment in a series of posts on the second of my Eton jacket projects. Here’s links to the previous posts:
And a little more progress on the Eton jacket- the next step of attaching the collars will be an interesting on in that the top collar is attached to the facing and the under collar is attached to the jacket body/shell. First, to attach the top collar to the facings:
The view from outside- this will ultimately make up the “inside front” of the jacket and the lapels will be facing outwards.
The view from inside. Because of the curve of the collar, it’s necessary to clip notches (carefully) along the seam allowance.
A close-up of the inside of the top collar.
Next stop, attaching the undercollar to the jacket shell… 🙂
Eton Jacket Project No. 2 – Part 3
This is our third installment in a series of posts on the second of my Eton jacket projects. Here’s links to the previous posts:
More progress on the Eton jacket…the pad stitching has done a number on my fingers so progress has been a bit slow. I’m trying out some new tailoring techniques, at least to me- the fabric is a herringbone weave teal linen with the unfortunately property of REALLY stretching so it’s presented some challenges that I didn’t anticipate. But, nevertheless, I’ve completed the outer shell and the collar parts. The next step will be working with the facings and the lining…
The lapels have been steamed and are hanging very nicely. Someone who looked at my previous Eton jacket project stated that the lapels were “too stiff”- well, yes, that’s exactly THE POINT! 🙂 What you want to avoid are the lapels flopping about- rather, you want a degree of stiffness so they will maintain their shape, especially since the Eton jacket is meant to worn open.
The undercollar was fairly labor-intensive. I first had to carefully cut out the undercollar itself, purposely making the edges about 1/4″ less than the top collar so as to allow for the “turn of the cloth”- essentially to ensure that the material on the undercollar remains hidden when the collar is constructed.
The right side/fashion fabric side of the undercollar. You can see the pad stitching, along with my mistakes which will all be hidden once the collar is completely assembled. 😄
To be continued…
And For Some Fair Weather Fashion…
Auction websites and provide some of the most interesting examples of period garments but they can be aggravatingly lacking in specific details as to provenance and construction. Here’s an interesting day dress from the mid to late 1880s that’s meant for warmer weather that we found in the Augusta Auctions website:
Day Dress, c. 1880s; Augusta Auctions
This dress is constructed from a salmon-colored cotton chambray material for both the under and over-skirts as well as the bodice. White/ivory rick-rack lace in a floral pattern covers the outer sleeves, shoulders, and overskirt, as well as forming two rows of trim on the underskirt. The bodice is a fairly conventional front-buttoning style and has a plain, unadorned collar. Note how the rick rack lace forms a capelet around the shoulders.
In terms of silhouette, this dress definitely belongs sometime in the mid to later 1880s although the lack of defining undergarments hinders a more definite conclusion. However, the gathered train at the waistline would tend to rule out an earlier Mid-Bustle Era style.
Here are a couple of close views of the fashion fabric. The weave pattern is interesting and suggestive of a cotton fabric.
The dress’ color has faded but underneath the button line one can see a darker shade of color- salmon or pink, it can be interpreted either way. Here one can also get a close view of the lace and make out the floral design. Now, a closer view of the fashion fabric itself:
We had doubts about this fabric being a chambray but this close-up view of the fabric and especially the hole would suggest that the weft fabric has white fibers- the fashion fabric with the hole is part of the overskirt and it appears that this was photographed on the bias. Ultimately, the most striking thing about this dress is that although it’s relatively plain in materials, construction and color; however, it then compensates (or perhaps over-compensates) with a large quantity of lace. Nevertheless, this dress fills a mid-range style position that was more towards the low end of middle class.
Eton Jacket Project No. 2 – Part 2
This is our second installment in a series of posts on the second of my Eton jacket projects. Here’s a links to the first posts: Part 1
Today we document further progress on the Eton Jacket…this has been a real learning experience…not to mention my fingers! 😝
