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Teaching of the Art of Women's Tailoring, or Complete And Tasteful Making of Dresses With Regard to Changes of Fashion in the Second Half of the 19th Century

As an introduction I am posting those few lines regarding patterns of Helena Modjeska dresses available on the website.

Those are not patterns of her original dresses as those were not preserved. To produce them I have used patterns from 19th century magazines, from 1866-1910 period. I have attempted to find patterns as close as possible to what can be seen on photographs. I have searched for the pattern of crinoline dress in 1866-1868 period, for a one from princess style period I have browsed magazines from 1878-1882 and swimsuit comes from the period of Art Nouveau. Each decade was standing out by form of the cut of the shoulder line, neckline, tucks, shape of sides, cut of the underarm – please remember and take this into consideration if you want to use your own patterns, make your own designs and stay within the frame of given period.

Patterns

In comparison to previous centuries 19th century is a real boon concerning number of available patterns. There were published more and more tailoring books, ever more often magazines besides patterns for embroidery contained also sheets with dress patterns. It made things easier for Helena Modjeska, who was sewing from the age of ten. Additionally she was sensitive to beauty, had inborn sense of good taste, strengthened by childhood spent in elegant Cracow and extraordinary observation skills. Inspirations for her dresses can be easily found in contemporary magazines.

We start our search for original patterns with tailoring books.

Most popular polish author was Ksawery Głodziński, owner of cloth design teaching institutions in Warsaw, Cracow, Lvov, Kiev and St. Petersburg, author of large volume on Learning women’s dress patters, which had dozen or more editions and which was translated into German, inventor of proprietary method of teaching making women’s dress patterns. His tutorials enjoyed greatest popularity in Poland. Original foreign books were also being brought from France and Germany and sometimes translated into Polish.
Here few examples of books in Polish:
Juliusz Ascher, Nauka sztuki krawiectwa damskiego*, Warszawa 1850
Jakób Matliński, Krawiectwo damskie, Warszawa 1868
A.G.K., Nauka kroju damskiego, Warszawa 1875
S. Uryna, Metoda kroju damskich ubiorów, Warszawa 1876

* Full title: Nauka sztuki krawiectwa damskiego czyli łatwy sposób nauczenia się w krótkim czasie, bez obcej pomocy brania miary, przykrawania, i w ogólności kompletnego i gustownego robienia wszelkiego rodzaju sukien damskich, przy względzie na zmianę mód, uzasadniony na nowo-wynalezionej i praktycznie doświadczonej metodzie, wypracowany i wydany przez Juliusza Aschera nauczyciela kunsztu krawieckiego, poparty poszytem tablic litografowanych obejmujących 98 figur.

Link to book in German on: www.marquise.de

Thanks to cooperation with foreign magazines our domestic women’s magazines could extend their fashion and needlework columns. Most famous example is „Bluszcz” which was a Polish version of German „Der Bazar”. „Der Bazar” was being translated into many languages, it was used by one of most famous French magazines „La Mode Illustree” and partially by New York’s „Harper's Bazar”. Besides „Bluszcz” there were also circulating in Poland: „Kółko Domowe”, „Tygodnik Mód i Powieści” (in France „La Saison”), „Mody Paryskie”, „Świt” (in France „Revue de la Mode”) and many others. Pattern sheets were similar to those we have now. Patterns were also published as small size schemes – sometimes they contained very precise calculations, like in the tailoring books, sometimes it was only general outline of the form with given dimensions for sides, shoulders etc.

„Godey's Lady's Book”
„Peterson's Magazine”
Patterns from 1858-1899: A, B, C

Nowadays many books with patterns of the 19th century clothes are being published. These are reprints of the original tailoring books, for example:

COMPLETE GUIDE TO PRACTICAL CUTTING by Edward Minister & Son – reprint from 1853 edition,
HANDBOOK OF PRACTICAL CUTTING on the Centre Point System by Louis Devere – reprint from 1866 edition,
„KEYSTONE” JACKET AND DRESS CUTTER Chas. Hecklinger – reprint from 1895 edition,
LADIES’ TAILOR-MADE GARMENTS prepared by S.S. Gordon on the basis of 1909 book.

Recommended books:
http://www.longago.com/bookstore.html Recommended patterns:
Tidens Toj – museum, which has developed patterns of selected exhibits

Working with a pattern

There is no single, precisely defined way to work with a pattern. Some prefer to work with a small size scheme: scaling, comparing with measurements, adjusting, and only then printing out in 1:1 scale. One can also enlarge 1:1 pattern and only then take measurements and mark adjustments on the drawing. Yet others prefer sewing model using trial fabric from 1:1 pattern and only then during measurement correct the cut.

Printing out

For greater ease patterns were drawn in 1:4 scale. If one needs large 1:1 sheets there is a possibility to download those as PDF files.

To illustrate by example a most economical way to print out the pattern: lets print a small drawing. Each element can be copied on the thin paper (tracing paper) so that it takes a limited space only. We scan our drawing and then enlarge according to scale to get a 1:1 scale and print out. In the final effect we receive pattern sheet close to contemporary. This method has an advantage, in this concrete case printout consist of 6 A4 sheets. Printout of 1:1 scale as presented on the website of the Wilanów Palace Museum in PDF format takes 4-6 times more space. In case of skirts or princess style dress use of paper increases rapidly. Paper used for printing is thicker then paper used for copying patterns, which is important for people who use paper models working with a dummy.

In case of skirts one may print out only their upper part and elongate it on the paper. Their cut (except of those from Art Nouveau period) is rather simple so with certain practice one could draw directly from the scheme on the fabric.

Comparing measurements

The way old patterns were constructed is close to contemporary, however - not identical. Sometimes this shows already on the stage of taking measurements. Below a couple of examples of measuring client and checking measurements against the pattern.

Fitting measurements

Patterns of Helena Modjeska’s dresses are developed on the base of original patterns from 19th century magazines. Women were shorter back then, hence all forms of bodice will require elongation. Circumference of bust and waist may also require small changes.

Narrowing and widening, lengthening and shortening is done by adding or subtracting a specific number of inches in specific places on the pattern. The figure below may refer to most of the patterns from the 19th century. Horizontal lines for lengthening / shortening are placed under arms and in waist. Vertical lines for narrowing / widening are placed along middle of the front and back, down from the shoulder, and alongside sides under arms. Large difference between sizes of pattern and of a client should be divided evenly between all modeling lines. In case of small corrections, if pattern requires lengthening / shortening in its entirety by 2-4 cm only, one can do this on the waistline. Small narrowing / widening by 2-4 cm around the entire perimeter, may be done on the sides line underarm. Pattern should not be stretched in their entirety in computer program since while such changes up to 10% are not outrageous, lengthening pattern in such a way for a tall person may cause underarms to be placed very low - on the breast level.

Cutting

After marking corrections on the pattern I would advise making a trial model of bodice made of substitute fabric. This will allow for spotting possible errors and fitting the cut to a specific silhouette. It should be born in mind that corrections on such trial model should be made after putting it on a figure dressed in corset.

Making cut from basic fabric is only done after we are sure the pattern is correct.

Most dresses during the 19th century were sewn on the lining.

For the purpose linen, muslin or silk lining was used. When cutting silk or fabric with a clear top-down pattern (such as flowers with stalks) and some fabrics with a silk weave one should remember that they can be cut in one direction only. Turning any one piece “upside down” would cause different reflection of light from the fabric and accordingly – change of coloring or dissonance of pattern.

And one more fundamental issue – when cutting one should watch out for a straight thread.

Skirt

We will start with demonstrating ways to cut a skirt. On the second figure we have two types of fabric compared and comparison of how patterns should be arranged in a way that is proper for them. On the left side there is a fabric which should not be turned, on the right side one that could be cut “upside down”. One can see clearly that first way of cutting requires greater use of material. Third figure shows use of fabric and arrangement of forms in case of sewing silk. It is also shown how in this case too narrow fabric was dealt with and how gussets were cut. I will add here that regular round skirts - robe ronde, were dresses reaching to the ground. One should be careful and measure the length on the frame – crinoline or bustle – since result would be very different if we measure without it. For example length of the back of the skirt worn with a bustle could be by 20 cm longer then the front of it.

Bodice and dress

Blouses and chemisettes are cut with no lining. Bodice of the dress as a rule do have a lining. Ways of cutting are shown on pictures below. First figure besides arrangement of pattern over the material also shows how much was left as a reserve for seams. Tutorials from this time advise that when cutting 4 cm should be added in front of the bodice alongside fastening (if bodice was sewn eased then only 0.5 cm –as much as required to sew a strip) 3 cm on the shoulder and 3-4 cm on the sides. Curved lines of the sides should be cut with a 1-2 cm reserve. Neckline, underarm and bottom of the bodice - depending on the tutorial - from 0.5-1 cm to 2-3 cm. Larger reserves allow for easier modeling of the dress during measurement. Following two figures show how pattern is arranged on the one way fabric. On the fourth figure one may see bodice and blouse – both on the fabric that can be cut in both directions. Please notice one very important detail – on the bodice on the line of underarm and breasts there are small horizontal tucks. Attention! Those tucks were made only within the lining, external fabric eased in this place. As a last one –sleeve – cut diagonally. It was being advised that sleeve be cut always along fabric or diagonally, never across. Sleeve with two seems folds in optimal way when both parts are cut along the straight thread, and this can run either along upper part while the lower part is slightly running diagonally, or the other way around. 1 cm is reserved for seems. When sewing one should remember to ease slightly external part in the elbow.

Below we have princess style dress, cut in one direction. Please ignore this calculation when purchasing fabric for the contest: actual use depends on the length of the dress, its width at the bottom and width of the fabric. Subsequent figures show proper arrangement of forms on patterned fabrics.

Sewing

The way of connecting lining and exterior fabric as we use nowadays, was during the 19th century used for men’s clothes. For ladies’ clothes it was used seldom. It appeared at the end of the century in clothes made by men’s tailors: costumes and overcoats.

Ladies dresses were sewn differently. After cutting, each part of the bodice made of exterior fabric was basted with a corresponding part of lining. If lining was supposed to have small horizontal tucks, they were sewn first and only later lining was basted with fabric which was being eased in proper places. Standard vertical tucks under breasts are basted trough both layers of fabric and only then sewn (see figure 4). Sewing textbooks advise to first sew a lining, try on the client, mark corrections, and then rip and mark corrections on the pattern. Only then exterior fabric can be cut in accordance to the lining. Ksawery Głodziński in his tutorials advises that materials which easily fray should be first sewn with whipstitch before being basted with a lining. Bodice was sewn on the machine or manually, with dense backstitch. On the shoulders, back should be eased and front slightly stretched.

For princess style dresses, depending on taste, lining was added under the entire dress or cloth part reached only hips and below cloth was replaced with a less dense fabric or there was none. In polonaise style dress also called vetement and worn in 1870-1889, lining reached only until hips and lower part - a tunic - had no lining. Last figure shows how to sew fabric over the lining in case the dress is decorated with a fake vest. The same method may also be used sometimes for neck.

Figures below show ways to refine bodice. First shows different ways to trim seams, starting from a very simple trimming with a running stitch to more complex trimming of notched edges. Following are two bodices shown from within – first of them was published twice in „La Mode Illustree” magazine in 1867 and 1871 and the second comes from a book from 1909. Comparing them one may conclude that sewing technique had not changed that much during those 40 years. On those figures it is shown how whalebone was trimmed and installed within the bodice and the way the bottom edge was finished. Tutorial from 1875 says that if bodice is to be supported by a whalebone, lining should be sewn with a tape l2 cm in length along middle of the back and also place should be made within side seams and tucks where whalebone could be inserted. In each piece of whalebone one should make a hole on both ends by which it can be sewn several times, first on the bottom, then material should be stretched and upper part installed. One should be careful so that stitches do not show on the right side. Another way to trim the bottom is shown on the last figure, it concerns paletots and costumes sewn with no lining.

Subsequent figures show further details of bodice. First of them shows a very important detail of ladies dress - piping. It was most commonly made of narrow 4-5 cm strip of slant fabric similar like for trimming. Folded into two, with thin cord placed in the middle of the fold, it was sewn in such a way that on the right side only a roll was visible, which emphasized seams or edges of bodice. In ladies dresses piping appeared already in the Empire period and was a very popular item of dress until the end of 1870s, later it started to disappear. It was mainly a result of development of trade in ready garments, since clothes with no piping could be sewn much quicker and thus cheaper.

For fastening of the bodice a hook and eye, buttons, and at the end of the century also press studs were used, lacing was also popular (most of the time at the back of the dress). Tutorial from 1909 provides how to make a bodice with lacing on the back – to both parts of the back a strip of 5 cm width should be sewn, seam should be ironed on the lining side and then backstitched. Then the strip should be ironed under and sewn trough both layers at such a width that narrow whalebone would fit there. Holes for lacing should be made already behind whalebone. Distances between holes should be 2 cm.

In case of Art Nouveau dresses an important element of bodice was high, stiffened collar. Different ways to make it are illustrated on the last figure.

Sleeves from the middle of the century were low-set and had almost flat head and this was the reason they were sewn-in flat. When sewing sleeve into dress from after 1880 it should be remembered that material should be eased for the sphere of the sleeve (exterior part), and most of all at the arm. In dresses from crinoline and first bustle period oftentimes lower part of a sleeve has underarms a small fold.

Seam connecting sleeve with an armhole could also be finished in a number of ways. On pictures above one may see that it was trimmed. Until 1880s piping visible on the outer side was often used. Tutorial from 1875 says that first an armhole should be trimmed, putting one end of the trimming over the other and only then a sleeve should be sewn in and edges of the armhole should be sewn densely with a whipstitch.

First drawing below shows inside of the sleeve at palm and way of sewing a sleeve from Art Nouveau period – narrow sleeve is a lining and exterior wide sleeve is creased and sewn into interior one. Also on the picture short, puffy ball sleeves are shown.

The following two pictures show two methods of fitting bodice more tightly. On the first one we see a corselet – especially popular during the crinoline period – it was sewn into side seams and fastened with lace or buttoned up in front. However, much simpler and much more widely used was another solution – involving inside belt – shown on the following picture.

It’s time to show skirt’s details. Majority of skirts was sewn on the lining made of thin cloth or even thinner muslin. In 1850s the cut of this part was very simple: it consisted of rectangular gores, since 1860s however we see slow transformation of cut. When sewing together parts of skirt one should remember to connect straight edge with a diagonal and start sewing always from the top.

The way of creasing skirt had not changed throughout the whole second half of the 19th century, regardless if it was applied to the whole skirt or just to the back. It is shown on the first picture where together were put drawing from 1867 magazine and from tailoring book from 1909. For dresses of the bustle period it was advised to crease the back together with a 20-40 cm wide piece of thick muslin to make folds protrude more.

The following 3 sets of drawings show different methods of sewing lower edge. If a skirt was supposed to be stiff at the bottom, then it was advised to use a 30-50 cm high strip of material and over it at the bottom was sewn one more 10 cm strip of the same fabric as skirt or from s different one - stiff but in similar color. Flowing skirts had a strip narrower in front and much wider at the back. Since strip is cut from a straight piece, and skirts were cut in gussets, the surplus of width at the top should be arranged into folds. Alternatively it could be cut exactly in accordance with a lower edge of the skirt, then it is sewn in together with gores. Last of the pictures shows ways of adding “brushes” – tiny, dense and stiff tassels which protected bottom of the skirt from getting dirty and were a reason for ironic comments about supposed sweeping of streets.

Easiest and most popular method of finishing dress in the waistline was to sew on the waistline a latex tape and fasten it with a hook and eye. In more elegant version it was a belt made of cloth or of the same fabric as skirt. Cut was being sewn or less frequently a strip of material was added and it was fastened with a hook and eye. Only Art Nouveau dresses show us the whole richness of different forms of fastenings, usually covered. Instead of sewing a belt on, one could trim a top of the skirt with a wide strip of fabric (see figure 2), Two last sets of figures show wide, stiffened belts so fashionable at the turn of the century and ways of making them.

At the conclusion of this short lecture, I would like to quote two original descriptions explaining ways to sew, published in magazines of the era. In those texts original spelling and punctuation were preserved [in polish text]. This will allow us to judge if Helena Modjeska using those magazines had an easy or a difficult job. First is a description of dress from 1868 and comes from „Tygodnik Mód i Nowości” magazine. Dress drawn based on original print.

DRESS IN GUSSETS OF LIGHT GREY CRETONNE

Front
Side to the front
Side to the back
Half of the back
Sleeve

Dress of fair grey cretonne, dressed as can be seen on the print with a diagonal of brown matter 5 cm wide, embraced from both sides by insets without cord of brown satin. Passementerie brown buttons fasten the front of the dress to the bottom. Folding back edges on the addition from N1 to 4 added, one should cut according to N 1 to 3 two parts each, according to N 4 one part in entirety, according to N 5 sleeve, paying attention to the outline of the lower part. Calico lining of the bodice is cut 5 cm longer then main part and basted under exterior material, then tucks are made, marked in front, edges are sewn with a 5 cm wide strip of exterior material, buttons sewn on the left and corresponding wholes on the right side. Further all parts are being sewn together from 1 to 4 according to their letters: both front parts connect in the middle to cross on 1 N, placed in such a way that right side covers left to the depth of 3 cm, by what a kind of fold is created; on the left side buttons are given. Silk brown inset embraces cut of the neckline, at its bottom skirt is lined with a muslin 40 cm wide with a diagonal strip of exterior material and a thick cord. Next brown applications are given as print shows, and parts of the sleeve are connected according to corresponding letters, it is sewn under with 9 cm wide stripe of exterior material at the bottom and dress with a garnish. Applying M of the sleeve to the M of the front, sleeve is sewn into armhole trimmed with a silk inset. Belt is made of silk stripe with a silk insets, folded in tabs, for stiffness lined with lining of thick stiff muslin inside. Fastening of the belt which falls in the back, is covered with a large brown bow, trimmed on longer ends with a silk tassels.

And here clarification on a couple of terms used in the quoted text

Folding back – large parts of the pattern were drawn on the pattern as “folded”, redrawing them on paper or tracing paper one should fold them back – it means draw them in their entirety. Below examples from 1909 book explain that in details.
Cutting sleeve paying attention to the outline of the lower part – upper and lower parts were being drawn simultaneously, but they should be cut separately – again example on the picture.
Garnish – all kind of decorations of the dress.
Passementerie buttons – buttons made of cords and plaits.
Belt was not sewn into dress, it was separate.

Second quotation comes from „Świt” magazine from 1885.

BODICE for wearing made of wool. This bodice consists of five parts: (numbers 1-5) front, side, back side, back and sleeve.

It was a very laconic description, it did not enforce any solutions, it was only a basic information for people familiar with sewing.

I think that this article brought to you on a basic level secrets of tailoring in the second half of the nineteenth century. For all those interested in deepening their knowledge in this direction I would advise to take lead from our talented artist who studied eagerly all news on historical costumes, to use them on stage – seek and the world will turn to be filled with information. Study old magazines and tailoring books, read new books: those that are reprints, and those written by costumers recreating dresses, see whenever possible original 19th century clothes – not only externally but whenever possible also “from within”.

I hope that the contest by the Wilanów Palace Museum will result in discovery of new talents in the field of recreation 19th century clothes and we will have opportunity to more often admire women moving graciously in fabulous dresses, women comparable in their elegance and grace with Helena Modjeska - world icon of style.