STILL MORE BANYAN STUFF... 21/9/20

-
For the vocal version of this post, please click  HERE

Oh the joys of modern technology... nicely into my blog and dear Blogger decides to hang and lose everything I've just written...Grrr... So... once more unto the breach, dear friends...!

I'm starting this blog with a small proviso - that most of the photos in this instalment are garnered from the recesses of the worldwide web and often their provenance and copyright are lost along the way. So my apologies...

Like much C18th clothing, for the banyan we have to rely on a few extant garments in collections dotted round the world and on painted images (usually portraits of intellectuals and thinkers). One thing that always comes across is that these were clearly comfortable, baggy garments.
Some, like the first image, seem to have been somewhat structured and others, like the rather lovely yellow brocade one, are very simple 'T' shapes. There are one or two patterns out there in web-land and the one most commonly referred to seems to be this one:
I'm not a great fan of the T-shape generally - I have fairly sloping shoulders and there always seems to be too much fabric gathering itself at the neck. So I shall be using a Folkwear pattern I've been adapting for ages for shirts and the like (their Egyptian shirt No. 104). The Folkwear website is well worth a visit by the way: www.folkwear.com
Following-on from my last entry, I dyed the Indian chintz lining material with tea (Earl Grey, should you be interested) and am pleased how it came out, just knocking-back the brightness. Very grateful I have a large Belfast sink in my laundry room!
The fabric's on the thin side, so I am interfacing it with a soft cotten curtain lining; a slow, mildly tedious operation
but it's nearly done now. Then I shall use those pieces to cut out the silk brocade [bites nails]... I shall also take the opportunity to use the same pieces to cut out a sort of short padded lining, that can be buttoned-in for winter. Luckily I have enough of the chintz to do this, as well as some well-washed cotton domette. Once I have those pieces cut out though, I can in fact put them on one side and get on with sewing-up the lining and outer layer. At a very rough estimate, a good 40 yards of hand-sewing - and that doesn't include tacking...!!! I must be mad... but, hell, why not - I have plenty of time on my hands and I can do it !

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ON THE WAY TO A NEW 'ME' 02/10/20

-
Image
Should you by chance wish to listen to the spoken version of this little ramble, please click right   HERE My pattern from Bootstrap Fashion duly came through - 40-odd A4 pages of actual pattern pieces, plus nearly 50 of very clear, detailed instructions. My poor laser printer had smoke coming out of it like some mad cartoon character... Tip to self (and others): next time give the poor beast a few breaks in the printing process!! A lot of yesterday was spent trimming and taping all the pieces together on my friendly fabric shop's cutting out table; it is quite amazing just how long that takes. Cutting the fabric itself out was quite straight forward, except that I wanted the pattern to match at the centre front and back seams. A mind-bending challenge where this rather wonderful Chatham Glyn 'Zig Zag' fabric was concerned... The stuffing took a certain amount of thought - and thank goodness for Mr Google (generally not my fav
Read more

MORE BANYANICALS 03/9/20

-
Image
For the spoken blog, click right   HERE I've been on a bit of a 'high' all this week as, finally, the really very lovely silk brocade I have chosen (well, I think it's silk weft on a cotton warp, but who's fussing?) arrived, all the way from China.   It's a rather narrow fabric, at 72cms (much as it would have been in the C18th) so there's quite a lot of it. The absolutely fabulous  lining material came last week; that's hand-printed cotton chintz, all the way from India and has a very C18th look to it. Being given the 'Benny' seal of approval:  I think I may have to do what my dear mama used to do and that is dip the lining fabric in dilute tea, just to knock back the whiteness. I think an experiment is called for... This is another 'time of plague' project, so there's no rush to get it done. To begin with Martin, who runs the local fabric shop and lets me use his cutting table, is away on holida
Read more

"THERE'S A BODY IN THE HALL" 27/10/20

-
Image
Should you feel inclined to listen to this blog rather than read it, please click   HERE Yes indeedy, as of yesterday there is a body in my hall - going by the unconfirmed name of Manny Bootstrap... He arrived after a long weekend of creativity, culminating in 3 1/2 hours of hard labour - stuffing him with about 5kg of shredded paper bedding. Handsome guy tho he is, I really DO NOT KNOW where his living quarters will be! Back-tracking a few days, it's a very well thought-out pattern with a central panel hidden inside, supporting the basic outline. The shape of things to come, so-to-speak! I had an odd bit of foam for the neck lying around, just waiting for this kind of project... After a certain amount of slightly mind-bending 'inside-out-ness' everything came out the right way round. But it was the ned of the day and I was, frankly, bushed. Inserting the stuffinginvolved first of all fluffing-up the paper offcuts after their
Read more