FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Wild Flower Among the Fields
(click images to to enlarge)
Other Credits
Model - Kim V & Photographer - Amelia F
Outline the story …
For my design, I didn’t want to get too elaborate. I wished to put on display some of the more subtle beauties of nature; using as my medium the simpler designs of some working-class garments worn by women of the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
I find wildflowers to be one of these subtle beauties that show a deceptively simple, beauty and elegance that can be easily missed. This is a characteristic I think is shared by the clothing that was worn by the working classes throughout history.
Asters are my flower of choice as they are found in many parts of the world, including being native to my home state, and are known for their simple beauty that shows best in the fall when other, more fashionable plants are going dormant for the winter. My embroidery design on the bodice shows a few stems of asters climbing a simple lattice as opposed to a heavily cultivated showpiece with flashier flowers.
While making my entry, I relied on some paintings of the era as visual references; specifically, ‘Haymaking’ by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and ‘The Milkmaid’ by Johannes Vermeer.
For the basic proportions and initial starting point for drafting the pattern, I utilized a book by Elizabeth Friendship that gives diagrams and a beginning set of measurements for the average ensemble for what is believed to be one of the most likely pattern designs for these garments.
Outline the construction…
Due to budget constraints, I used cotton entirely from clearance sales and pieces from my sewing stash for my entry. I drafted my patterns initially using diagrams in Elizabeth Friendship’s book. This project required many firsts from me. It was my first time drafting a pattern from a book, making a fitted bodice, and attempting hand embroidery and eyelets.
The smock was of simple construction, with gathered sleeves for fullness. I hand-stitched the neckline, gussets, and hook and eye closures on the sleeves. The gathering was done by hand before being stitched down by machine.
The skirt was completely lined with a contrasting fabric both to match the evidence I had for the time and to try and mimic the weight and drape of a wool skirt. The seams inside are French seams done by machine. The pleats were completed and attached to the waistband by hand using invisible stitches to connect them. The placket and hem were done by hand, the edges being felled down to the lining layer in both cases to keep everything neat. The hook and bar closures I used were hand sewn.
The bodice is interlined by two layers of horsehair canvas to provide some structure with cording placed in the panel beside the eyelets to keep the bodice front from being crumpled by the drawstrings. The embroidery and the eyelets were worked by hand. The bodice was made to be reversible so that it can be worn with or without the decorative stitching showing.
Lovely use of hand sewing with the embroidery and the eyelets on the centre front.