Last spring I received an e-mail from Rebecca and Ashley encouraging me to sign up for the recently opened gown draping workshop offered by Burnley and Trowbridge at the beginning of November.
They were going and wanted me to join them!
Immediately I signed up and we were all accepted into the class!
We don’t get to see each other often enough so this would be fun to sew together and visit for an entire weekend!
STAYS WORKSHOP FIRST
On the same day I also signed up for the Burnley and Trowbridge stays workshop with the Colonial Williamsburg tailor, at the end of September.
Rebecca encouraged me that I could conquer my stays in the five weeks between classes.
That meant furiously hand sewing prodigious millions of channels and boning them so that I could wear the stays for my gown draping workshop.
Here you can see some of the molding to my body, after only two days of wear.
FABRIC FROM BURNLEY AND TROWBRIDGE
Rebecca knew which fabric I would bring to the workshop, since she’s been prodding me for months to drape the blue slate silk with cream pinstripes from Burnley and Trowbridge.
Before cutting into the luscious silk I practiced making two other gowns for myself, a chintz and a yellow cotton stripe.
Still hesitant to cut into the silk, I was excited for the expert advice and help of such great magnitude as that of the Colonial Williamsburg mantua maker.
When I unveiled my silk at the workshop it was fun hearing Angela Burnley exclaim: That’s B&T fabric from two years ago!
Everyone complimented the color for being perfect for me.
Indeed, it is one of the few colors that works well for me and I’m excited about how it will all come together!
Even when I visited with the CW tailor after class, he asked which fabric I used, and he immediately knew the fabric and said it would be perfect for me!
WORKSHOP WITH THE COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG MANTUA MAKER
Although I’ve sewn recognizable 18th century gowns for my daughter and myself, I learned so many new things.
Learning how to drape sleeves and many troubleshooting tips on fitting them, I now feel empowered!
During the class we were shown how to drape a certain section of the gown, then we tried our skills on each other with a piece of muslin.
Then the mantua maker double checked our attempts and gave any needed direction to tweak this or that.
FAIRY GODMOTHERS’ DRAPED ME
A friend commented that I looked like Sleeping Beauty with her fairy godmothers!
That was a great word picture of my two classmates who draped me while humorously, diametrically opposed in method.
As one yelled, “Arms up!” the other yelled, “Arms down!”
Then they’d change sides and redo what the other had done!
I felt like Sleepy Beauty with her gown changing from pink to blue to pink to blue…
Always the mantua maker arrived with great calm to restore order and fine tune any adjustments with great serenity and finesse.
HOMEWORK
Each night in the hotel Rebecca and Ashley joined me in sewing homework, sewing and draping.
Arriving home with all the important parts draped, I merely needed to keep handsewing to secure all the parts and remove pins.
Stay tuned!
