Mantua Planning

[atherleisure]

Now that I've nearly finished my stays, I've started thinking a in more depth about the mantua that will go over the stays. To that end, I reread the article about the Kimberley Mantua from the Met and looked at the pattern taken from it in the Waugh book and reread the pages in Patterns of Fashion about the Clive mantua.

Somehow I had been thinking that these dresses were constructed like later 18th century dresses in the most basic form - make a fitted lining and pleat the outer fabric to it. That doesn't seem to be the case. While the article about the Kimberley Mantua says that it may have had a bodice lining at one time, there only seems to be a small piece of it at present to which pleats are stitched. Janet Arnold says that the Clive mantua has a small piece of fabric holding the pleats but no real lining. So either both gowns have lost their linings or these were made without linings in the first place. I'm voting for the latter.

From looking at the pictures of the Kimberley Mantua more closely, I see that the pleats certainly aren't stitched down along the outside of the pleat as they are on a robe a la anglaise. The could be stitched to a lining along the inside of the pleat, if there were a lining, but there's no lining so I conclude that they are loose except where they're probably tacked in place at the shoulder and waist. I haven't seen good enough pictures of the Clive mantua to decide about it, but the Arnold description doesn't make it sound like they are sewn down except to the little straight-grain piece of fabric.

I have only found two reproductions of this type of garment with any kind of construction information so far, and both of them made bodice linings for the gowns and mounted the outer fabric to the lining. (See here and here.) One of them shows sewing down the pleats. While isiswardrobe made a mantua from this period recently, hers was a different sort with the bodice cut separately from the skirt so it doesn't help there.

So where does this leave me? I'm going to forego the bodice lining and stitching down the pleats, but I will tack them in place at the shoulders and waist. I don't know whether this will make the dress easier or not because loose fabric could be obnoxious. I'm using a taffeta so it should be fairly obedient when I fold it into pleats. I don't expect to completely understand the skirt draping until I've got the lengths sewn together and can play with it on the stand.

Many thanks to isiswardrobe for her invaluable articles about late 17th century or early 18th century mantuas.

And now to finish the stays and a couple of odds and ends, and I'll be ready to start it in the next couple of weeks...assuming life doesn't get in the way!

Comments

[chocolatepot.livejournal.com]

Ooh! I can't wait to see yours. This is one of those things that I've always wanted to make but haven't had a reason to do so.

[atherleisure.livejournal.com]

I've wanted one for awhile and hadn't found a reason for one so I decided I'd wear it to something where it's a little outside the period of the event.

[miss-philomena.livejournal.com]

I've actually made several mantuas over the years, and am currently working on another right now, and I've never made linings for them. I just use a full panel of fabric and drape it on my dress form. I've always pinned mine and then just top stitched all the pleats into place, no lining.

I will add that all but one of my mantuas are linen (the silk brocade is currently languishing in the UFO pile, maybe over winter I'll get back to it). They're made to be worn at Pennsbury Manor, which is a recreation of William Penn's summer home, and we interpret the years 1699-1701. Most of the time I'm representing either the housekeeper or a middling sorts Quaker, so silk isn't really an option.

I'm working on a new linen one for early September, and only the back seam is sewn so far, so I can take pictures of the process if you'd like? The skirt won't be as full as a fancy mantua, nor is it trained, but it gets put together the same.

[atherleisure.livejournal.com]

I'd love to use a wool for this, but I don't have a length of wool in my stash that isn't earmarked for something else so it's going to be a silk taffeta that I've had for a few years.

If you're draping a width of fabric on the dummy and folding in the pleats to fit then sewing side seams, setting sleeves, and hemming, I'm not sure I'll need any pictures. If there's some trick to it that would be really helpful to know, though, I'd be glad to hear it. You should definitely post pictures when you're finished. Have you already posted any? I looked at your journal briefly but didn't find any other than in-progress pictures of the brocade one.