Category: 1775 maja

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Maja Bodice Progress (bind bind bind, spangle spangle spangle)

The Maja project is trucking along!  I spangled seams!  I sewed the neckline and CF edge!  And then I bound the bottom of the CF and the whooooole bottom edge… which, phew, was a lot of binding!  I did the 18th-c.-preserve-fabric thing and cut all the binding strips on the straight, which was fine as I just mitered the corners… except for a bit too much fraying.  Uck!  This was one of the longer bindings I’ve ever done, as there are 5 million tabs.  I realized that my jacket turnback facing didn’t QUITE go down long enough — not sure what I was thinking!  So I need to piece in a little 1-2″ square.  Whatever, random!

I’ve now patterned the sleeves, cut them out, marked them, and am busy spangle-ing away.  Mela said something really helpful about my recent riding habit project — she thought that the weird bust wrinkle was caused by the sleeve pattern.  Well, I think she’s right!  I had a weird angle going on on the sleeve cap in front, without really enough fabric in there.  So I fixed the pattern for this project (oh, right, point is I started w/ my riding habit jacket sleeve pattern) and at some point I’ll make new sleeves for the habit, which hopefully will fix the problem!

Again, I’m glad I scanned that high res version of the Maja painting, because it made me realize that there is not ONE but TWO rows of spangles on each sleeve seam.  And it helped me figure out that they’re not mirrored, but more interlocking if that makes sense.  The spangles on the cuff were weird, and I had to redraw the line about 50 times.

Two things I’ve been wondering about:

First, there’s a little, almost heart-shaped, black line on the sleeve above the toggles/buttons.  It doesn’t make sense in terms of the spangle pattern — why would there be a little blip of spangles there?  So I was wondering if maybe the toggles/buttons are functional — I doubt the sleeve would OPEN there, but maybe the toggles/buttons are used to tighten the sleeve at the cuff, and so that black squiggle is a small wrinkle?

Second, I read in one of my sources (gotta go back and refind the citation) that the sleeves on Maja costumes were generally tied on.  I thought that was weird for 18th c., but whatever, it’s a weird style!  Well, I was remembering what an 18th c. costume expert was telling me about another costume expert who uses art historical methods exclusively, and how she therefore sometimes gets things “wrong” in terms of what is seen on extant garments.  And I started to wonder if maybe the thing I read about the tied-on sleeves was actually someone misinterpreting the pleated/ruched ribbon seen on the armhole and sleeve cap of most Maja/similar styled costumes?  Because in the painting, there’s no space between the armhole and the sleeve cap, the way there would be if it were tied on, nor can I see any ties except some loose ribbon at the end of the trim.  And, all the paintings I’ve seen generally have one of two armhole/sleeve cap trims, shown below on some extant Spanish garments, and these don’t appear to be tied on either.

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Button/Toggle Help!

So I FINALLY got off my butt and scanned the better resolution picture that I have of the Maja portrait… and I’m really glad I did, because of course I am now finding little details that I missed!  Like, the black trim around the armhole has the occasional spangle on it!

Now, I am trying to figure out the buttons.  I had assumed they were all the same style, and were some kind of passementerie/thread wrapped button.  But now that I look at them in higher resolution, I see there are TWO different styles — one that looks like some kind of spiky, knotted? or passementerie? button, and something that I think may be a toggle… but then has some spiky-ness involved.  OR are they buttons and toggles that are laid on top of some kind of embroidery?  WTH?

I got the book 50 Heirloom Buttons to Make which is really great, hoping to find something in there that would look similar.  So far, nothing obvious… there are toggles, and knotted buttons, and thread wrapped buttons, and they all are similar, but nothing really close.

Any ideas?

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Still on Track!

Lest you worry that I have been permanently distracted from the Maja gown, don’t!  I have been spangle-ing like a madwoman, and am in fact starting to put the jacket together.

I did all the spangle embroidery I could do while the jacket was still in pieces.  So that includes 3 facings (1 waistcoat, 2 jacket), one side of the waistcoat, and parts of the jacket fronts & back.  I’ve been using Peri’s tambour frame (thank you Peri!!) and it’s been working fabulously.  I love having a base to the frame and the ability to flip it around when I need to.  Even tho I’ve been primarily doing this on my lap, not on a table, it’s great to be able to use your hands for the embroidery and not for having to hold the frame.

I’ve been hemming and hawing about whether to make the waistcoat separate or integral.  Separate would be nice because this could end up being a hot (temperature wise) outfit, so the ability to take the jacket off would be nice… but then, I’m never going to do that, because then it won’t look fabulous!  So I decided in favor of an integral waistcoat, saving myself one layer of fabric in back.

I had some debate about the jacket facings & lining.  If you look at the original painting, you can see a black turnback/revers at the top of the jacket on her left (our right) side… but if you look at her right/our left, there’s some black that folds over about 1″.  Obviously the revers flips OUT, so why is that black edge flipping IN?  I did some more hemming and hawing, and looked back through the research I’ve done on the dress style, and everything I’ve seen has been symmetrical in terms of jacket revers.  So I decided that maybe that was the edge of the facing folding around the front, or an artist screw up, or just something that doesn’t work in real life.  I don’t know!  But I’m happy with symmetrical revers.  I did end up deciding to line the jacket fronts, given that you can’t see any stitching from the spangles on the inside of the jacket; I used more of the off-white silk taffeta, because I have seen some things lined with silk where it will show, and this will definitely show, and be much prettier than linen.

Now I’ve got the fronts sewn to the back, so it’s on to spangle embroidery on the seams.  I had foolishly marked that pattern, only to have to futz with various things and then have the pattern no longer be placed correctly.  Yay for water soluble ink!  So I’ve wiped that off and am waiting for it to dry before redrawing those lines.

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Maja progress: Spangles!

So, it turns out that spangle embroidery is relatively quick to do — yay!  I brought some with me on my trip to Paris, and managed to do the waistcoat front on the plane in a few hours.  I’ve now finished that, along with the revers turnback on the waistcoat (which is in my sewing room somewhere — I hope!).

Side note to those who suggested the waistcoat could be “zone”/cutaway — I’ve never seen a cutaway on a waistcoat, only on the overrobe (under which the waistcoat/underbodice shows), so I really do think it’s just that the CF of the waistcoat is cut on an angle.

Also, I mocked up the jacket (based on the waistcoat pattern) which fit like a dream.  I’ve now patterned and marked the jacket pieces, and am starting that embroidery:

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Maja waistcoat – mockup #3

Okay, third mockup with an angled flap!  I spent some time drawing out the spangle pattern for the waistcoat, although I still have to do the facing (which folds over).  I ordered sequins like 2 years ago from MJ Trim in oyster white and matte black — and looking at them today, I realized — duh, these are supposed to look like metal!  Matte black totally doesn’t work.  Now I checked their site and it doesn’t look like they have the color I need in the size I originally ordered (8mm), so I may need to order more in 6mm.  Luckily, they’re not too expensive!