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Stripe for the picking: Edwardian shirtwaist #1

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Bit of a teaser, this post.  I haven’t got much done bar cutting out, interfacing, and attaching one gathered piece to another, but thought I’d give you a little teaser.

Reconstructing History #950, Edwardian shirtwaist [a blouse by any other name] in [a] scissor print cotton in two colourways, shown above, and [b] black and white striped cotton.  There are two options on this for the back, so I went with one of each, and I decided I really, really need a shirt with eye-boggling stripes, so they are cut in three directions.  Or four…  It does ‘wow’ and wobble your eyeballs, but I neeeeeeeeeeeed it so there!

Anyway, both are cut out, the cuffs, collars and upper sleeves are all interfaced, ad I gathered up one side piece and attached it to the front yoke.  The pattern instructions are not very clear [a standard problem with RH, although I don’t mind] so I used an ‘old-fashioned’ method to attach that right angled yoke- instead of sewing right sides together, you just press the seam allowance under and then mount it over the gathered edge.  I wanted neat gathers, as there is a lot of fabric there, so I ‘stroked’ them into place with a pin.  This is another historical method.

I need to unpick a bit of excess machine basting, but I rather like this insanely stripey effect so far.

What do you think? [Any epileptic fits induced by this shirt are NOT my fault!]

In other news, I finished my corset, it fits, and I’m happy…but I don’t like the pink binding after all so it has to come off before you see it.  Sigh.

16 thoughts on “Stripe for the picking: Edwardian shirtwaist #1”

  1. Like the oldfashioned way of sewing gathers, I am rubbish at getting them even, going to try that method next time.

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  2. I’d love to see the striped shirtwaist with the wax print divided skirt… I wonder if you can give a camera vertigo? 🙂

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  3. …or you could pair it with the red and black 10 gore skirt. Either way would be a heaping helping of sensory overload.

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  4. I’d never heard of this way of sewing and getting even gathers. Thanks, I will definitely try it. I quite like the mad stripes but unfortunately for me it would be migraine inducing.

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      1. Thanks, that would be great. I’m always looking for an easy or foolproof way to do these things. Gathers are my particular bugbear. I hate doing them as they often get caught up or are uneven. I’m just a bodger at heart.

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      2. I don’t mind gathers- although the eighties and all those foofy net petticoats nearly did for me! The knack is giving it all a good tug perpendicular to the gathering thread to even it out before stitching

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