The Sophia Project: Complete

"It is good to have an end to journey toward; 

but it is the journey that matters, in the end." 

~ Ernest Hemingway

Hello, dear readers!  Well, this is post number 100.  I can hardly believe it!  I had wanted to celebrate with something special, so I thought I'd finally share the long-awaited conclusion to the project that started this all...May I present the Sophia Project: Complete!  

For those of you who have yet to be introduced to the Sophia Project, that was the name I gave to the main project of my costume internship at the Genesee Country Museum.  Back in February of 2014, I was introduced to this 1870s wrapper, fondly named Sophia, - an informal yet fashionable, semi-fitted or loose dressing gown - too tattered and fragile for the Susan Green Clothing Collection.  Thus, it became my goal to deconstruct, pattern and reproduce the wrapper for the historical village interpreters in the 1870s buildings.

From July of 2014, when the project began (The Sophia Project: Introduction), until its completion in March of 2015, I stitched off and on for nearly a year, under the guidance of my mentors, Bevin Lynn and Cheryl Sundlof.  Truly, the amount of detail and care put into the construction of historical garments never fails to amaze me; and, all of the adventures with recreating Sophia only increased my appreciation for the seamstresses of the past and present.

Front detail shot of the original wrapper.

Front detail shot of the reproduction wrapper.

When I left off last in February 2015, I had just completed the Trimming of the Wrapper, which featured over 625+ inches of hand-stitched bias trim along the body and bias tape on the edges of the bows.  It took the rest of the month (devoting only a single day a week) and the first week of March to finish the rest of the bows and stitching on hooks and eyes.  On the last day, I had decided not to add the tatted lace collar because none of the 1870s extant examples I had seen had one.  (Standing collars, yes, but not lace like Sophia's.)

It was almost the end of day, and the costuming ladies were working on their projects when Mr. LeCount turned and stated that he liked how Sophia was coming along.  "Good," I replied, "because it's done."  And with that, there was silence.  The stitching stopped, and everyone turned to gaze at the wrapper.  Sophia was finally finished!

Sophia - complete at last!

Enough talk though, let's move onto the pictures!


Completed Photographs of Sophia, the 1870s reproduction wrapper: These were taken in the costume shop shortly after her completion.

Front detail shot of hooks & eyes.
Notice the half lining and facings.

Front detail shot of sleeves & bows.

Side by side.

Back detail shot of lower half & hem.

Photographs of Sophia, side by side with the original wrapper:  Also taken in the costume shop, in the same place.  Costuming received quite the face lift over the winter as Cheryl says, the vibrant blue sure adds a pop of color!

Back detail shot of the Watteau pleat on the original.

Back detail shot of the Watteau pleat on the reproduction.

Sleeve detail of the original.

Sleeve detail of the reproduction.

Studio Photographs:  The museum had the opportunity to have their fashion show ensembles professionally photographed at Tantalo Studio in Rochester.  Bevin made sure that Sophia was properly photographed, and that I received copies for my portfolio - a huge thank you to the studio, Bevin & the model!

Photograph by Tantalo Studio.

Photograph by Tantalo Studio.

Photograph by Tantalo Studio.

Village Photographs:  And, last but not least, Sophia in action!  She spent her first season in the Hamilton House, the museum's grandest 1870s building.  Jessica, one of the many, devoted village interpreters & Hamilton expert, willingly allowed me to photograph her - thank you!

Photograph courtesy of Maria M.

Wow.  After months and months of sewing the wrapper, and then months and months of writing and rewriting the blog post, it's done.  What a journey!  Every time that I sat down to compose this post, I just couldn't seem to find the words to end the project, two years in the making.  With one more smile and a step back, all I can say is thank you to all of those at the museum who have taught, encouraged and shaped my future.  Thank you, not only for opportunities over the last year and half, but for the direction in the next four years of college and beyond!

The Trimming of a Wrapper

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched.  They must be felt with the heart."  ~Helen Keller  

Happy Valentine's Day, readers!  

Today, I finished putting together my college portfolio.  Tuesday, I will be interviewing at Point Park University, which offers a fantastic B.F.A program for theater production!  Nervous?  Yes.  Excited?  An even stronger YES.  I just know that costume construction & design is my calling and, every day, my eagerness to jump right into the field and into my future becomes greater.  I am just so, so wanting to make the designs of my imagination and daydreams real, tangible and wearable.  Yes, yes, yes.  Good thing we leave for Pittsburgh tomorrow morning, wish me luck!

Which brings me to the subject of tonight's post...I think an update on The Sophia Project is overdue!  She is, after all, the highlight of my portfolio and graces the entire first two pages!

When I left off last, right before the new year (here), I wrote about how the 1870s wrapper itself was finished and in need of trimming...well, a month and a half later, Sophia's well on her way to competition.  Keeping in mind that I only spend two days in the shop working on the project (on and off as I've been placed in charge of a new, exciting project - which is a secret for the time being), I am surprised at how far I've come & how much I have truly learned. 

My cherished, 9th grade English teacher bestowed on us the secret to life: "break big things into little things."  And that is the wisdom I am following with the Sophia Project.  The first thing I tackled was the wrapper's bows:

The original wrapper's bows.

Step one:  Cut bias strips for all of those bows!  (150+ inches of printed cotton, 150+ inches of polished cotton to use for backing, and 300+ inches of black silk)

Step two: Prepare those 300+ inches of black silk (and don't forget to burn your fingers multiple times with a hot iron - wear your battle scars proudly :) to bind the edge of each bow with 1/8" bias tape.  

First, baste the printed and polished cotton together; then, hand-stitch the bias tape to the edge and finish with a whip stitch.   

Step three: Ask your mentor to figure out how to construct said bows as all of your attempts have only succeed in further confusion.  (Bevin always will know how to figure it out; she is such a wealth of knowledge!)  Fold in, out and over the appropriate amount of times, secure with three gathering stitches.  Then, fold tail over and around again.  Tada, you have a bow!

Step four: Make another bow, and then another.  Make all of the bows!

Step five: Step back and take a moment to celebrate (maybe even cupcake break if you're lucky).  Build a tower of bows and take some more pictures for fun.  

An original bow next to its reproduction.

Then, move on to conquer the next challenge...trimming Sophia’s sleeves!  Easy peasy as all I had to do was follow the original sleeve.  After carefully measuring, I fiddled with the silk bias strips to get them to lie properly and securely tacked both sides.  Then, I stitched the two smallest bows on top to cover the unfinished edge.

Finally, time to trim the body of the wrapper!  When Sophia became my project, her silk trim was shattered and cut off at the bottom of the fronts; however, as indicated by the discoloration above her hem facing, the silk trim originally went all the way around.  For the reproduction, I asked if the trim should go all the way around...yep.  Then, I asked if I should stitch the trim by hand or machine like the original...by hand, as machine stitching will stand out unfavorably.  Oh boy, that's 325+ inches of silk bias trim, double that number for the stitching!

The whole shebang!

Step one: Measure carefully and then cut 325+ inches of silk bias strips.  Stitch ends together for one, long, continuous strip.  

Step two: Pin and iron a 1/4" turned under edge on both sides of the strip.  (Burn your fingers again to add more battle scars to match the ones from the bows ;)

Step three:  Stitch two rows & overcast the top of the watteau pleat to make sure it's secure before adding the silk trim over top.  Then, measure and constantly remeasure and rearrange the silk as you pin all of the 325+ inches of trim in place.  

Step four: Stitch.  Rip.  Stitch.  Redo.  Stitch.  Repeat.  Stitch.  Stitch away until the job is done!  Which, surprisingly, only took two straight days thanks to all of the practice and some brand new #8 sharps. 

Step five: SMILE & take pictures!

And that, my friends, is how Sophia came to be trimmed!  Stay tuned for next and last installment of the Sophia Project which will feature the completed 1870s wrapper reproduction!  Thanks for reading :)

A Wrapper Named Sophia

...Or one last internship update for 2014!

The Sophia Project: Chronicles of an 1870s Wrapper Reproduction

Remember The Sophia Project?  Otherwise known as the major project of my costume internship at the Genesee Country Village & Museum, the reproduction process for 1870s wrapper has reached its climax.  The end is in sight.  Ever since the Preparing for the Holidays event on November 22nd, I've been spending two days a week in the costume shop working on the details of Sophia, mostly hand-sewing piping, facings, hems, etc.  Finally, after months of machine and hand stitching, the wrapper itself is finished!!!  All that's left to do now is the silk trim and bows!  What a journey.

Hello!  My name is Sophia.  I am a wrapper.
Cheryl, the head costumer of the village, told me that just about every time someone came into the costume shop, their first question would be about the new project...so, instead of her having to explain what a wrapper is again and again, I made Sophia a sign!

Sophia's description reads:

Hello!  My name is Sophia.  I am a wrapper.

Not the kind that candy comes wrapped in, but the equally yummy eye-candy for historical clothing enthusiasts!  Think of me as a morning gown or, later in the century, similar to a tea gown, a semi-fitted or loose dressing gown that women would wear in the morning or evening over their undergarments.  We often follow the trends of more fashionable dress, and are a prime choice for maternity wear, offering women a cut with style and comfort in mind.  We also have great durability, typically fashioned from printed cottons for the summer and warm wools for the winter, and stand up to many years of wear.

Come back later for more progress or wait until next season when you may catch me lounging in one of those lovely 1870s houses!

Completed wrapper shots in the shop:

Front of wrapper: notice the tiny neckline & armscye piping.

Side view of dropped armscye & coat sleeve.

Close up of front side of sleeve.  

Close up of inner side of sleeve.  The construction of the sleeves was a challenge.  First, the triangular piece of the sleeve had to be backed (triangle piece whip-stitched onto sleeve).  Then, the other side of the sleeve had to be stitched by hand to close along the triangular side.  Followed by hand-sewn piped facings, which had to be stitched carefully, especially along the triangle seam.  (As you can tell from my inability to describe the steps cleanly, finishing the sleeves took a lot of time and patients!) 

Inside details:

Inside of wrapper: notice the pocket, whip stitched fronts
& facings on the neckline, sleeves and hem.   

Inside of sleeve with visible hand & machine stitching.

Hem facing detail shot.   I was beginning to wonder if there was an end
to this as the hem is 6+ yards .  Yes, we measured and even took bets :)
Reused the light brown hem from another dress and tore chocolate brown cotton to match.
Pleated extra fabric at each seam and whip stitched flat along pleats.  

So, what's next for the Sophia Project?  Trim!  

Bias strips cut for all of Sophia's bows!
That's 150+ inches of printed cotton, 150+ inches of polished cotton to back the bows & 300+ inches of black silk for the tiny 1/8th inch bias bound edges of the bow...wish me luck!

While there won't be any more weekly internship updates in the new year, stay tuned in 2015 for a post on the trimming & completion of the Sophia Project!  Thanks for reading!