Making an 1890s Shirtwaist | Victorian Mary Poppins Blouse

Welcome back to Dressing History. So this video is going to be the first of a series of two or three about the 1890s. So this week we were supposed to be in Bath for Isabella Pitcher Prior Attire's 1890s Victorian ball, and then the fun things that we do the day after the ball, so boating and picnics and things like that. So to make up for the fact that we're not in Bath I thought that I would put together some videos of how I made this outfit, how I'm getting along with some of the other things, like the ball dress, which is my foray into attempting worth, and which I'm slightly glad that I have another 12 months to finish. So this video is going to be about how I made my day wear, specifically how I made the the shirt waist, the bodice part of my day wear. So I was really inspired by this image, this fashion plate from the later part of the 1890s. I love the the navy blue and the polka dot and the blue with the red and that kind of Mary Poppins aesthetic. So I really wanted to capture that colour scheme, capture that look, but make it mid-90s, so crazy wacky sleeves territory. So in this video I'm going to explain how I made, as I say, the shirt waist part of the outfit. So for this project I started with Truly Victorian's TV494, which is their 1894 shirt waist pattern. It's a really lovely pattern. I made a few tweaks to it, but that's the basis for this project. So there's a back piece, lower fronts, some yokes that the lower fronts gather onto, and then there's an absolutely massive sleeve, which is great fun. I love a big sleeve. And then we had the the plackets for the buttons at the front, and of course the waistband, and then there's the peplum as well. So I also added on some little white bits, so I added on some white cuffs and a white collar. So the first stage was to put the gathering stitches around the the tops of the two lower fronts, so that I could gather them onto the yoke. And then also some gathering stitches along the bottom, where it will be attached to the waistband. So once those gathering stitches are in place, we need to put the lower front onto the yoke. So we start by sewing the the flat part of the lower front, the ungathered part, onto the yoke, starting at the point and working out towards the edge. Then clip the lower front at the the V point, then pull up the gathering stitches, and sew the gathered part of the lower front onto the yoke. So I started at the outside and worked inwards for this. Then repeat this whole process for the other front. You'll have three front facings for this. So on one, you press in the seam allowance on both sides, and on two of them you just press in the seam allowance on one side. And then the two where you've only pressed in one seam allowance, you sew those, the non-pressed in side, to the the centre front of your of your front pieces. So you do this on both sides. Then press both of those to the wrong side, take your third facing, put that on top of the right hand side of your front, and very carefully, very carefully, top stitch this in place. Next we take the back of the shirt and we run gathering stitches along the bottom. So I did all of the main construction seams with French seams. So I did each seam wrong side together first, quarter of an inch, and then right sides together, quarter of an inch. So everything was nicely encased. Then I took my collar and I sewed all the way around the outside edge. Then I took my collar stand and I sewed all the way around the edge of that, sandwiching the collar in the middle. Then I attached the collar to the top of the shirt, which I forgot to film, and then fold in the raw edges on the inside and just whip stitch them in place to keep it all nice and neat. I was rather tempted to leave it as a modern blouse at this point. So the next stage was to take the peplum and to run gathering stitches along the top of both pieces of the peplum, and then to do French seams to join it all together into one long piece. So then I hemmed the peplum and then sandwiched it between my two waistbands. On the inner waistband I pressed in a half inch seam allowance as well to make it easier later. And then I pulled up the gathering stitches and attached the waistband with peplum to the top part of the shirt waist. And then more hand sewing just to finish off the waistband inside nice and neatly. Make sure all those raw edges are enclosed. Then it was time to tackle the sleeves, the massive scary gigantic sleeves. So to make them stand out a bit better I cut a strip of cotton organdy, which is lovely and stiff and crisp, and I pinned this all the way around the of the sleeve heads on both sides. Then I ran the gathering stitches through both layers, so through the organdy and through the top of the sleeve. Then I sewed up the inside seam of both sleeves and pulled up the little bit of gathering that happens under the arm, which just gives it an even more puff, makes it an even bigger sleeve. I then made and added some little white cotton cuffs, which I'm afraid I didn't film. And then I faced the gigantic task of pulling up those gathering threads and trying to make that humongous sleeve head fit the normal sized armhole, which took some time. And finally I added the buttons and buttonholes. And that was how it was done. So I hope that you enjoyed seeing how the shirt waist was made and you might have a go at making one for yourself, and that you enjoy seeing the whole outfit together even though it's in my back garden and not in beautiful Bath. Please do like, please do subscribe, and watch out for more 1890s content coming soon.