1890s Walking Suit - Postmortem
The theatre I’ve been working in during university has a meeting after every production that we call a “postmortem”. We talk about how the process went, what we liked, what we didn’t like, and how to move forward with the knowledge gained. So, I’ll be doing that here with my 1890s walking suit project. I feel like I’ve written ad nauseum about this project, but I’d like to lay it to rest here.
This walking suit was a labor of love. I learned a lot about myself and my craft while working on this. I learned I can actually be patient with myself, and I learned that the Victorians were right about at least a couple sewing techniques. More than that, I found confidence in myself as a designer and seamstress.
A lot about this project went well. This was my first adventure into a full historical ensemble, and that meant layers. Everything from the chemise out - corset, petticoats, blouse, skirt, jacket - was made by me over the course of a year and a half.
I feel like this project stayed true to itself and to the history it was based off through the entire process. I’m incredibly proud of the work I did. All elements fit well, and I learned a lot about why the Victorians did what they did. The skirt was interlined in tarlatan (a stiffened, loosely-woven cotton), which gave it a wonderful amount of body and shape. The collar of the jacket was also interfaced with tarlatan. I left the jacket sleeves unlined like I saw in some extant examples, which allowed for the large sleeves of the blouse to fit in the jacket.
I also took my time with this project. Without putting a massive amount of pressure on myself with a hard deadline or unrealistic expectations of perfection, I let myself enjoy the process and learn as I went.
Sometimes things don’t go according to plan. Sometimes you have to try to drape something on your own back, but your arms aren’t long enough, so whatever got marked is probably fine. Fine-adjacent. Close enough?
The evening bodice is the thing I could go back and change if I could. The shape wasn’t quite what I was going for. I draped it on myself with all my foundation garments in place, which is where my troubles started. Draping on oneself is difficult. There are only so many ways arms can move. For my first draping adventure, it was a good start. I am my own worst critic though, so I remain unhappy with it. When I inevitably reattempt an evening bodice, I would add more hip spring to the pattern used for this project. I would also use a stronger interlining than the cotton organdy I did use. While the bodice was boned, the lining wrinkles on the inside. Maybe next time I will attempt to line a bodice in the Victorian manner rather than the modern method I used for this project.
Overall, I feel like this project was a sign of me finding my creative voice. This combination of history and my own whims brought me so much joy. Moving forward, I want to do more historical projects, but make my own designs based on the history. Recreation is fun (and there is a recreation project coming soon to a blog near you), but I am a designer through and through. I also would like to give myself the same level of grace and patience that I did with this project. My projects should be fun, even if they aren’t perfect.
My last note is that I’ll be skipping a couple years forward with the next series of sewing projects. I’ve got my eye set on the 1910s - Stay tuned!
Yours sincerely,
Madeline
