1890s Victorian Ladies’ Walking Suit || From Concept to Costume

[Music] what does it take for a concept to become a costume how does an idea whether it's a fashion plate an extant garment a movie costume or our own inspiration find its way into our head and how does it find its way out again into the fabric the stitching the physical world there are hundreds of decisions to be made along the way little things that can change the whole course of a project so how does this become this [Music] the 1890s bug has bitten the costuming world hard this year me included back in may i started dreaming of a late victorian walking suit a sharp fashionable outfit in line with the menswear inspired styles of the time and suitable for demanding one's rights in a walking skirt is a must with a dramatic sweeping line but easy to move in i love a good vest so it will be a three-piece suit an open front short eaton jacket can show off the vest in the shirt waist while adding a little more formality and the obligatory 1890s sleeve volume but how to choose patterns there are a wealth of period pattern books and magazines available as well as modern format patterns thanks to companies like truly victorian and black snail i fell in love with truly victorian's eaton jacket the moment i saw it and their sizing system makes it easier to fit my oddly shaped torso the walking skirt took a little more thought my fabric choice is expensive and my chronic pain flares when i wear very full heavy skirts of all the patterns i've seen folkwear's 209 walking skirt uses the least yardage there were very few vest patterns available and given how asymmetrical i am in the torso i think it will be best to custom draft a pattern using period instructions wool is a classic material for victorian menswear and 1890 styles were heavily menswear influenced we all know i have a favorite color so i spent several weeks scouring the internet for a deep green wool dress weight instead of coating weight and eventually narrowed it down to two options this pine green wool is from doormills and this is a dark green tropical weight wool suiting from b black and suns look at how fine and soft and drapey this is but the color is very muted almost more gray than green i'm a bit worried about the weight of this other wool but the color is gorgeous it's deep and rich and saturated and obviously green even in low light i'm going with this one something has to provide structure and body for these sharp tailored garments i'm worried about the weight skill and cost needed to use materials like horsehair canvas so instead i'll use cotton organdy a stiff lightweight material that behaves more like sturdy paper than fabric none of this is any good if these clothes don't fit i've made different mock-ups for each a wearable mock-up for the walking skirt since it's the simplest using leftover linen for my demelza gown the eaton jacket pattern is fairly straightforward so it got a simple mock-up in my favorite material with only one sleeve to check the sizing and get comfortable with how it went together the vest though i made two mock-ups at first using different drafts of the pattern adjusting both until i knew which draft worked best this was followed by a third mock-up with all of the adjustments so i could be sure my pattern would work this wool has a right side and a wrong side and i have awful spatial awareness for things like this it's taking so much mental effort to lay out these pieces in a way that will line up have the grain where i want it the right side out and use as little material as possible i'm having such bad cutting anxiety right now i've agonized over laying out every single piece because this is this is the most expensive fabric that i've ever worked with and i know i can buy more if i need to but i'm just gonna have to get over myself [Music] do [Music] the walking skirt is all straight seams so i can breathe a little [Music] the organdy petticoat i made in my previous video gave it such good volume that i didn't need any lining or facing skirt waistbands were often just a strip of ribbon to reduce bulk i want a matching waistband so i can wear it with only a shirt waist but a doubled-up waistband like the pattern calls for would indeed be bulky if i felt a strip of this wool though i can have a single layer waistband with a neat cut edge at the top the waistband goes on first then the placket can extend through the waistband so when i sew on the hooks and eyes it isn't visible on the outside [Music] so [Music] the eaton jacket was next first a cotton organ d interlining and then the green wool fashion fabric [Music] because the jacket is worn open i made the last minute call to add a lining of black cotton lawn so the white organ d wouldn't show the organdy gets basted to each wool piece as a flat lining instead there's a back piece side piece and front pieces plus a two piece sleeve with moderate pouf and a square collar it's pretty simple if you know what you're doing and follow the instructions but since when have i done either when the front darts are folded the fashion fabric is separating from the lining so i'll also base down the center line of each dart to keep the layers lined up i had marked a shoulder adjustment wood flat lining but i held off on cutting it it's a good thing i did because when the seam allowances were lined up properly the adjustment wasn't necessary i'm not a fan of stiff massively poofy sleeves so i chose to skip the super stiff oregon d flat lining for them the wool provided plenty of body on its own the body could be ironed as usual but the sleeves are so curved i had to use a miniature iron to avoid pressing in any creases the black lawn lining went together exactly as the outer layer did i sewed the sleeve lining in at the wrist then turned them and put in gathering stitches the gathers had to be wrestled in as tightly as possible to fit all this sleeve into not a lot of arm's eye i don't even want to think about if the sleeve was bigger [Music] the color is a separate piece and i chose to trim it before sewing it in the design is simple a border in black braid with a loop at each back corner [Music] [Music] the jacket armholes need to be closed up by hand covering the sleeve seam with the body lining [Music] getting the right material to finish the skirt hem was a struggle the wool hem braid i ordered never arrived and all my local fabric store had was this very narrow black petersham it's tacked on with long stitches so when it wears from the skirt brushing against the ground it can easily be replaced [Music] the vest was the trickiest to fit but the hard work of patterning was well behind me by the time i cut it out i basted the darts with a ladder stitch that folds them up when it's pulled tight so they were super easy to sew there are all of four construction seams each in the wool and in the organdy lining [Music] so i decided to make things harder by adding a welt pocket for a watch i'd never sewn a welt pocket before and had heard terrifying stories from other costumers but i followed a random internet tutorial and after one trial run on scrap fabric it turned out completely fine i guess the lesson here is even if other people say something is really hard don't let that stop you from trying just do your research proceed carefully and practice before you do it on a garment i bagged out the lining in a thoroughly ahistorical fashion as i often do smoothing the layers out wrong sides together sewing round the neckline and bottom edge then turning it right side out through an armhole and pressing the armholes have to be hand finished [Music] i added boning behind each dart which was usual but also at each side seam so i could wear the vest without a corset more easily last came the buttons i made fabric covered buttons using kits that were not intended for fabric this thick and my lovely instagram followers very kindly helped me choose between silk and polyester buttonhole twist cutting into a finished garment for buttonholes is so stressful but they came out just fine each of the finished garments works on its own with modern clothes i foresee getting a lot of use out of these in my daily life [Music] i've just had a birthday so i'm getting together with some friends for a physically distant masked picnic it's also halloween how many excuses do you need to dress up [Music] [Applause] [Music] like [Music] [Applause] [Music] i am not the first woman to get into uc berkeley [Music] after all of the research and decisions and work that went into this outfit it was so satisfying to take it on an adventure out into the real world i hope you enjoyed watching don't forget to like subscribe for more stitchy business and ring the notification bell if you like notifications pop down in the comments and tell me your favorite part of bringing a costume to life i'll see you in my next video happy sewing [Music] you

Channel: SnappyDragon

Views: 53,660

Keywords: late victorian walking suit, walking suit, 1890s dress, 1890s walking suit, late victorian dress, victorian walking skirt, victorian waistcoat, victorian jacket, 1890s, 1890s fashion, 1890s walking skirt, late victorian fashion, 1890s sewing, victorian costume making, sewing a victorian dress, sewing a victorian skirt, eton jacket, walking skirt, victorian vest, late victorian vest, truly victorian eton jacket, victorian new woman, the new woman victorian era

Id: URxgC4MR86I

Length: 15min 22sec (922 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 06 2020