Striped Wool Gown
(Jan 2020)
Introduction
So, I went to the fabric store. I needed this one type of fabric (a small amount of linen if I remember correctly). Then I saw this gorgeous, striped, 100% wool fabric... and all hope was lost. It had to come home with me. It has this weird sheen to it, and does not look like wool at all. It also frays like a bitch. That being said, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. A while ago I had seen this striped German dress and new I wanted to make it someday. This was the perfect fabric to do just that.
Inspiration
There are a few examples of striped dresses in art. You can find vertical, diagonal, or horizontal stripes. Horizontal is my preferred version. With the rolled pleats and long lines I just think it is an amazing look.
Construction
The stripes in this fabric run along the length of it. In order to have the stripes in the correct orientation, I need to keep the fabric oriented in one direction the whole time. From selvage to selvage was 60". My measurements are somewhat perfect for this fabric. I need 45" to make a skirt from waist to floor, and 14" for the bodice from shoulder to waist. Since I purchased 5 yards of fabric, I cut 15" off one of the long sides, and used the larger piece for the skirt. I cut the bodice out of the 15" piece, using my normal pattern for German wear, with a simple 2 piece bodice construction and side lacing. Since the fabric unravelled very easily, I lined the bodice in white linen, and reinforced the lacing area with a second strip of linen. When I first made the bodice, I did not have the lacing go up all the way to the armcye, but stopped a few inches from the top. I later had to change this, since I couldn't get the linen lined bodice to slip on over a linen chemise... To fix that problem, I just fully opened the side and added more eyelets. All the eyelets were hand done using a gray silk thread. It is laced closed with a cord I made on my lucet with the same gray silk used on the eyelets. Now that the bodice was done, it was time to move onto the skirt.
From there, I hemmed the long 5 yard rectangular skirt panel (by hand, like the rest of this dress), and sewed the short sides together, leaving the top few inches open. I divided the skirt into equal sections to make rolled pleats, and then attached the skirt to the bodice, with the seam lined up to the side with the eyelets. To help keep the skirt section closed, I used hooks and eyes. There are period examples of hooks and eyes that can be found in Patterns of Fashion 3. They are one of those "modern" things that I never think should work in a historical garment, but do.
Finally, all that was left were the sleeves. For the sleeves, I needed to either piece them together, or do a tied sleeve like can be seen in several pieces of artwork of the time (remember, I only had 15" of fabric to work with if I wanted to keep the stripes horizontal). I chose to do a tied on sleeve, since I actually really liked how the dress looked without sleeves, and wanted to have that option. To make the sleeves, I just used my normal template I drafted a while ago, with the seam on underside of the arm. I added lacing rings on the tops of the shoulders, and the insides of the elbows. For laces, I used 100% silk ribbon, and tipped the ends with metal aglets.
The first time I wore this dress, I unfortunately realized I did not leave enough seam allowance in the bodice. The wool just pulls apart too easily. As a result, when the linen warmed and stretched, the wool fibers in the seam started pulling out. I fixed this by reinforcing the fabric with a bunch of pad stitching in the area, and then attached a strip of wool over the area to hide it. I don't think its very obvious, and hopefully will hold up better this time. Since I was already doing more work to it, I also took this opportunity to hide a pocket in the skirt of the dress. You access it through the slit. Pockets are awesome. I need to put them in more dresses.
Final Thoughts
Overall I like how the dress turned out. I got a surprising amount of compliments on it when I wore it to K&Q A&S. The main drawback is unfortunately the fabric. Even though I love it, it easily snags, and had the pulling apart issue. So long as I don't wear it with a plaque belt again, it hopefully will work. Plus, this is another dress that works with my new pleated chemise, and goes well with the high necked hemds. Versitility!
