RAN away from the subscriber...

RAN away from the subscriber in Newport, on the night of the 1st instant, an indented Irish maid servant, about 28 years of age; she is pretty short and thick, of a very red complexion; and is supposed to have had on a red short cloak, a black bonnet, a green camblet gown, a brown camblet skirt, a checked apron, and carried away a bundle of other clothes: Whoever will apprehend said run-away and return her home, or secure her in any of his Majesty's jails, and give notice thereof, shall be handsomely rewarded by GEORGE NICHOLS,

Newport Mercury 
January 4, 1773

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Living in a town with over 300 pre-Revolutionary War buildings, it's hard not to feel inspired by the 18th century.  Walking colonial streets in my runaway impression, I can't help but wonder who this Irish maid servant was and why did she runaway? 

Did she have plans to runaway from the time she committed to become an indentured servant? 

Did she do something wrong--buy rotting food at the market? 

Found a beau? 

Stole? 

Overcooked her family's dinner?

Was the man she was indented to unbearable to work for, or abusive? 

Was she pregnant? 

But I wonder most of all, what happened to her...was she found or did she establish a new life for herself? 

So many questions and no answers.

For more on runaway advertisements, this post by At the Sign of the Golden Scissors' blog offers details about the latest research.

Completed Camlet Coat

It was a busy hot day but the camlet (petti)coat is complete. Here are some pictures of my progress...

Partially pleated, partially hemmed.

This fabric was great to work with. It takes a crease nicely and isn't as bulky as the worsted wool from the green gown. 

Almost done...

 Ta da!

(I know of 18th century documentation for petticoats being referred to as coats, I wasn't just stretching the term for the sake of alliteration.)

Last Few Stitches on the Green Gown

This has been an exciting sewing week. Not only is the green gown complete, my American Duchess shoes arrived! Here are some photos featuring the gown's last few stitches.

The pleated pinned road is all prick stitched in place.

I'm generally happy with how the pleats and seams came together. However I was frustrated by the bulk of fabric that's created from the wool, which you can kind of see here. It was trickier than usual to line up the pleats and sew them in place. 

Next time I will cut my fabric into smaller panels. Instead of cutting my fabric--which is typically 60 inches wide--into two 30 inch panels, I will cut them into three 20 inch panels. Not only will this be more appropriate to the 18th century (as period looms were around 20 inches wide) it will result in skinnier skirt panels...which means less pleating, a little less hemming, and being more economical. 

The shoulder strap was top stitched to the sleeve. I could only make one pleat. 

This time I placed it at the top of the shoulder, instead of just behind the shoulder, which was inspired by one of the V&A miniature portraits.

I ended up using two kinds of lining as I tried to use scraps that I had handy.

The gown waiting for its hem.

And the new shoes!

I loooove that heel! 

Overall I think it came out fairly well. 

Up next: finishing the brown camlet petticoat.

Blue Chintz Gown

This past weekend was near perfect weather. After a Sunday program (since I was already in costume), I took a few pictures on one of my favorite 18th century streets wearing my favorite gown. 

This blue chintz cotton is by Makower UK and was purchased at Tissus Reine in Paris, France. (For Amélie fans, Tissus Reine is in Montmatre across the street from the Ferris wheel!)  

My red shoes, the new buckles and some terribly slouching stockings.

Lady Augusta Fredrika this is for you - Axel von Fersen stayed in this house 

during the American Revolutionary War.

Green Gown: Follow the Pleated Pinned Road

The pleats are done and basted in place. I'm about to attach the sleeves.

Here are some pictures of my progress and a tip I discovered to help attach the skirt pleats to the center back panel.

This time I correctly cut my fabric around the lining.

When I redid the center back panel, I corrected an issue that I had in the previous draft--which was an issue I had with the pink summer gown--there was not enough fabric tucked under one of the skirt panel pleats. 

I also applied a lesson I learned from a past gown, my blue striped gown. 

As you can see on the right, I had cut the lining too short so the raw pleat edges are exposed. This time, I cut the lining long enough to cover the skirt pleats. 

But my real discovery came because I corrected the pleats on the center back panel. This discovery helped alleviate my struggle to cleanly attach the pleated skirt panels to the bodice. 

In previous gowns, the raw edge was too short and I didn't have enough fabric for a seam allowance. Thus the seams tended to look less polished then I prefer. This time, with having extra fabric from beneath the pleats, I had plenty of fabric for a modest seam allowance...  

...which made it sew much easier to pleat and create my pinned road.

Green Gown - part one, again

In my first attempt at the center back panel, after it was all pleated and prick stitched, I tried cutting the fabric along the lining. But, in a late night blur, I cut right across fabric at the center bottom...right across the skirt seam. Duh!! I couldn't repair this mistake without it looking awful so I abandoned my first attempt. Fortunately I had one last panel of fabric which was just long enough for the center back. I salvaged the lining from attempt #1 and started from scratch...

I re-pleated...

...and re-prick stitched.

The pleats came out better this time. There is more fabric and fullness beneath the pleats, which wasn't the case in my first attempt (and an issue I had with the pink summer gown). My lesson learned: don't cut fabric late at night. 

I'm happy to report that the sleeves are completed and ready to be set. (The lining is sewn to the fashion fabric using the 18th century technique that I used in my needlework bag.)

Next: attaching the bodice and skirt panels, and lots more pleating. 

Deadline: Two weeks to go!

Green Gown - part one

The green gown for my runaway impression is underway. The fabric is cut, the skirt seams are sewn and the back panel is pleated...

...and pinned...

...and prick stitched.

However I made a fatal error when cutting the fashion fabric around the lining as I cut this center panel too low into the skirt seem.

DUH!

I'm not sure yet how to fix this. Can I distract you with a picture from a living history event last week?