Later in the day, I took a break from working to unbox my goodies. The first one was almost as tall as me, and narrow. That one had my 15 yards of white muslin rolled on a heavy paper tube. Most fabric comes rolled this way. The fabric stores usually have their bolts folded onto a rectangular cardboard core, mostly because it's easier to display and shelve. When I went to the San Francisco garment district, all the warehouses had their fabric on long roll bolts.
Ooh... my husband just made a double batch of fudge, and brought the bowl and the spoon (and spatula) to the living room for licking! Ahhh... Christmas!
Ok, where was I? Oh, yeah, fabric. So, the smaller box had linen, batiste, sateen, twill tape, printed cotton, a paisley double border print, and cotton twill. The linen is a woven flax and cotton blend in a fairly fine weave. The finest linen is soft and used for handkerchiefs. This is not as fine a weave, and is for lining in the stays (corset). Batiste is a super fine cotton plain weave fabric, suitable for baby garments and delicate ladies' nightgowns, slips, and blouses. For me, this material will be for my base garment, the chemise (pronounced "shem-eese"). It's a loose, simple garment worn underneath the stays, and usually reaches to below the knees. The neckline is very loose, and you adjust the neck size with a fine cotton ribbon all the way around. The sateen is for the outer part of the stays. It's cotton, which breathes nicely, and has a subtle sheen to it, kind of like satin. The inner lining of the stays will be white muslin. I will also use the muslin to make my petticoat (slip), as well as the mockup of the dress itself, to check for fitting and sizing. The dress uses about 6 1/2 yards of fabric, so that's why I had to order so much of it, as well as for the Spencer fitting.
My printed muslin is the dress fabric. I had to research what kind of prints were used in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Finding modern fabrics that are similar in texture and print for the time period is rather challenging. They didn't have man-made fibers back then, so the materials were natural fibers, such as cotton, linen, and silk. Silk is pretty, but extremely expensive per yard, and that's for cheap dupioni, a weave that has slubs, or lumpy and irregular width silk in the weave. That is what can commonly be found in silk today. But in the period, a fine taffeta was the good stuff, with a smooth weave and a certain amount of crispness, and still is today. My budget does not allow for a silk dress, so I went for a cotton print. I found a perfect reproduction print in colors I liked, and which would be appropriate for daywear in late winter. White dresses were preferred most of the time, but because laundering white was challenging, it was frequently worn indoors for morning wear.
I needed to find a material for the Spencer that would be warm, but not too warm. I am allergic to wool, so even superfine wool will make me itch like crazy. Eczema sucks. I've outgrown most of it, but I still have it. Ever noticed how rosy my cheeks are? Rosacea, part of eczema. If it is hot and humid, I get itchy in my elbows and behind my knees. Anyway, wool was out. So I looked for a nice, all cotton twill. Twill is a firm woven fabric that has a diagonal pattern that makes it soft and smooth to the touch. Denim is essentially a heavy twill. It's used for pants and jackets, bags, etc. the twill I ordered is a dark dusty rose.
Finally, as I was browsing fabrics, I came across a floral paisley double border print. The border runs lengthwise on both edges of the fabric. It's a dark navy with peachy-pinky flowers and cream lacy, paisley print. Paisley was a popular print, as it was imported from India, and could be expensive. Sometimes they made dresses out of it, but most of the time it was used for long shawls. This material is only 60" wide, so not as long as they used to make it. I got a yard of it, and plan to cut it in half, sew it in the middle, and thus get a good length. I will decide on a fringe later.
So... here are the three main fabrics. I think they coordinate nicely without being too matchy.
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