{Works With Her Hands} - Black and White Challenge

The next challenge in the Historical Sew Fortnightly that I chose to do was Black and White. I had dreams of doing all sorts of really spectacular things with that color combination, but right now practically must take precedence over fancifulness.

What I was really in need of was a new chemise, so I decided to adapt it and still make it fun by adding some black embroidery. This was a neat project because I drafted the pattern myself from pictures of original 1850's and 60's chemises. It worked out really well, and only needed a little tweaking in the shape of the yoke.

The sleeves are just simple rectangles with small triangle gussets in the underarm seams. My biggest problem with my other chemises was that the sleeves were too full and too long, so I tried to rectify that with this one.

The front and back of the chemise are basically just rectangle, but the top front is cut into this funny shape in order to fit nicely into the shaped yoke.

The back of the yoke is just a gradually curved band, but the front pieces kind of remind me of a bat. :/ Thankfully, they look less bat-ish when finished!

Here's the finished chemise, complete with embroidery. There are five tiny buttons down the front of the yoke.

Over all, I'm super pleased, both with how it looks, and how it fits. Glad to now have my own, easy, nicely fitting chemise pattern!

Here are the details for HSF:

What the item is: Chemise

The Challenge: #9 - Black and White

Fabric: bleached cotton muslin

Pattern: my own, drafted from pictures of originals

Year: 1850's/60's

Notions: Black cotton embroidery thread, buttons

How historically accurate is it? I would say about 90%. I think the shape and fabric are good; the embroidery is inspired by original pictures, although I know that it was usually done in white.

Hours to complete: One hour for drafting the pattern, two hours for sewing, and four or five hours for embroidery.

First worn: Yesterday

Total cost: $4 for fabric, maybe?