18TH CENTURY

283. The Manteau de Lit. Für a gown of normal size, half an Aune [60 cm] in length. Width depending on the measurement. Length of sleeve from the gusset, one Tiers [40 cm]. Width of sleeve, one Quart [30 cm], widening by one and a half Pouces [4 cm] from the elbow down.

Fig. 7

284. The gown is made of one single piece of fabric if it is wide enough, otherwise of two pieces. It consists of two front parts r r, fig. 7, & one back part of the same shape (dotted lines); it is depicted as being of one piece here. Usually it is fashioned en chemise, i.e. with the body and the beginning of the sleeves cut in one. The sleeves are then completed by attaching two pieces.

The pattern below assumes a breast width (BW) of 90 cm. Actually you reckon BW + 30 cm. Divided by four, you get the measurement that is given in the pattern as 30 cm. ((90+30)/4). I'll refer to this as body width. Like Garsault, I assume a sleeve width of 30 cm. The 20 cm in the pattern reflect the arm-to-waist measurement. Change either one as necessary. The sleeve length will be dealt with later.

A bedgown should be at least 75 cm long (Garsault's 60 cm are barely enough for the shorter women of his time), better yet 80-90 cm, i.e. the fabric should be 160-180 cm long.

The skirt part should be at least 20 cm wider than the body on either side, i.e. the fabric width (BW+30)/2)+20. In case of a 120 cm breast width, you'd need (120+30)/2 + 20 = 95, i.e. you'd have a problem if your fabric was only 90 cm wide. In this case, buy more fabric and cut some extra strips to widen the skirt part. Piecing is a good 18th century practice!

The markings in the pattern are:

• Taillenlinie = waist line
• Rückenmitte= centre back
• Schulterlinie = shoulder line
• Vorderkante = centre front
• Rockteil = skirt part

285. Lay out the fabric & immediately fold it in half across the width; not exactly but so that one side is longer than the other by about three Pouces [8 cm]. Cut the longer side along the centre front until you reach the fold; then cut open the fold for four or five Pouces [11-13 cm] on each side. Next make at an angle into the longer side, without damaging the other, the cut a a. When it has been cut open like this, make the front parts as will be described.

Fig. 10

In contrast to Garsault, I have flipped the pattern open, i.e. what you see here is the whole piece of fabric laid out flat. You'd have to fold it along the shoulder line to make it look like Fig. 7 on the left.

Lay ou the fabric folded in half along the shoulder line, left side out, and mark the centre front (CF) line exactly in the middle. Measure the body width (30 cm in the pattern) to one side of the line and mark it with a line [AB] running parallel to the centre front. From the shoulder line down, measure half the sleeve width (e.g. 15 cm) and mark it parallel to the shoulder line. The two lines meet at the armpit (point A). Measure 20 cm down from point A to find the waist (point B). From point B, measure 20 cm horizontally outwards to get the upper edge of the skirt part, ending in point C. From there, draw a line vertivally down to the edge of the fabric. Now you have marked one of the L-shaped pieces (grey in the pattern) that are cut away. Stick needles along the marked lines to keep the two layers of fabric together while cutting.

If the fabric isn't too thick, you can now fold it once more along the CF line (making it look roughly like Fig. 10 on the left), secure it again with needles, and cut all four layers at once. If the fabric is too thick, make the same markings as above on the other side of the CF line and only cut two layers at once. Keep the cut-away fabric.

Now for the cut that is so confusing in the original instructions (no. 285). The CF line that you have marked before is cut open and extended beyond the shoulder line by about 8 cm to meet point D. From there, you cout about 12 cm outwards. This horizontal cut will be the back of the neckline, which is why it must be behind the shoulder line.

286. Make a second fold parallel to the first, so that now the length of the two sides is equal. Now the parts which you have just cut open in the longer side will appear as two rectangles a a jutting out which are three Pouces [8 cm] high and four to five Pouces [11-13 cm] wide. These will become the shoulder parts, & the second fold which has replaced the first will become the upper edge of the sleeves. See fig, 10 which shows one of the front parts.

Fig. 11 Fig. 8 Fig. 9

Before we can cut the mysterious "angle" that Garsault mentions under 285, we should first make the back pleat (287 in Garsault): Of the 30 cm we had previously added to the breast width, about 13-14 vanish into it.

Fold the back part along the centre back (CB), left sides out, and needle the two layers together. Mark a line from the neck to the waist, 6.5-7 cm away from the fold and parallel to it. Sew along this line with backstitch.

Un-fold the back again, left side up, and flatten the "tunnel" you've just sewn so that the former fold line lies along the seam. The result is an inverted box pleat. Iron it flat.

Now we know how much of the back neckline remains. Is that enough to accomodate your neck? Try it! If necessary, cut the horizontal neck cuts a bit deeper, but be conservative about it. The width of these cuts also determines the width of the shawl collar, which will be half as wide as each cut is long.

287. Make a pleat in each of the front parts on the right side of the fabric a fig. 11, which runs down the edge from top to bottom; free the neck by making a pleat c within; make a slit beneath the beginning of the sleeves to insert into it a wedge m; cut the sides a a fig. 9 according to measurement; leave the rest d fig. 10 for the pleat h h, fig. 8 & 9. If a pleat is not desired, cut angling outwards toward the seam.
Make also a pleat g fig. 8 on the left side of the fabric in the centre back which you only close to just under the waist. The seam must run in the centre of the back: You see the effect of this inside pleat in fig. 9.

Since you now know how wide the back neckline must be, you can cut the "angle". From the end of the horizontal neckline cuts, make another cut at right angles to it back to the shoulder line. This creates two rectangles that stick up if you fold the fabric along the shoulder line, just as shown in Fig. 7 and 10. They will become a part of the shawl collar.

Fold about 6 cm of the front edges outwards along their entire length. At the top, the front edges meet the angle cut. This eats up the rest of the of the added 30 cm, except a few cm for comfort. This forms the front of the shawl collar.

As for the mysterious "pleat c" that "frees the neck" (see original instructions), I now interpret it as meaning that the shawl is bent away along the dotted line in Fig. 11. Bent, not pleated, and not as sharply as you fold away a revers, but just so that it sticks up as shawl collar is meant to do - which will happen all by itself as soon as you wear it. Now we have two possibilities:

288. Cut the lining & baste it onto the fabric.

Either you sew together the ends of the front that now hang loose thanks to the angle cut and which had previously been the horizontal neckline cuts.

Or you insert a piece of fabric that it not mentioned in the pattern between those two ends. It is made of the L-shaped pieces you've cut away. Garsault mentions just such a collar piece under 289: The shoulder parts (viz, the aforementioned loose ends) to the edges of the collar which isn't shown in his patterns either.

289. Sew the pleats, viz., those running from the waist to the seam; sew the fronts to the back part; the gussets, the undersides of the sleeves, the collar, the shoulder parts to the ends of the collar; sew on the two pieces that complete the sleeves; if the sleeves are en pagode (a fig. 12), those two pieces are longer: The pleats must be made narower on the underside of the arm; this creates the curve seen in fig. 12 which shows the finished gown.

The former method only works properly if the neckline is narrow. Otherwise, the lower edge of the collar is much longer than the neckline it is sewn to, i.e. the neckline would have to be pleated quite a lot to make it fit.

If 3-4 small pleats are not enough, you should choose method 2. If you're not certain, baste together the collar using method 1, then try it on. If the fit is awkward around the neck and upper arms, go for method 2. Make the collar piece a bit shorter than the back neckline and slightly gather or pleat around the shoulder line to make up for the difference.

290. One concludes by finishing up the seam & attaching ribbons for closure.

Now for the sleeves. From the cut-away pieces, cut two squares for the underarm gussets. Their size and the method of application are the same as for a shift. Insert them, the close the arm and side seams. Now all that is left is the part identified as "skirt part" in the pattern. They are dealt with like the skirt parts of a Contouche. Close the vertical outer seam first. Remember that the upper 20 cm should remain open for the pocket slit, so only baste that part. You could leave it open, but that would make pleating more difficult. Lay out the bedgown left side up, the side seam flat on the ground, and pull the skirt apart as if you wanted to make an inverted box pleat. Only this time it will be a double inverted box pleat: From the side seam, fold outwards at a right angle for about 5 cm (secure with needle), fold back to the side seam (needle), then out again and fix outer seam on side seam. Put in some more needles and redo the same on the other side of the side seam. You can now fix the pleats with a horizontal seam 0.5 -1 cm below their top edge, preferably with stitches that hardly show up on the outside. Do the same on the other side seam.

Now neaten the front edge and seam by folding them under. Try the bedgoen on. If the sleeves are too short (they should at least reach half down the forearm), cut extensions from the fabric rests and attach them to the ends of the sleeves. The makeup of the sleeve ends is largely up to you. You can simply fold them twice, or make a small cuff that you fold back, or make pleats in the bend of the arm resembling those of the Contouche cuffs (resulting in what Garsault calls pagoda sleeves), or fold them back and make pleats to effect somsthing that looks like Contouche sleeve cuffs even more. In the latter case, the sleeves should widen towards the end.