Sunday 17 July 2011

18th Century Silk Gloves

I found a photo of a pair of beautiful gloves online and decided I needed to give them a try. I found a patten for a similar pair that were cream silk lined with white leather and decorated with blue silk stitching. A triangle of blue silk on the underside of the tip adorns the glove and, when flipped back, ties together the colour.
   An awesome book, Costume Close Up, gave me the pattern I needed to start. A word to those interested... I have discovered silk is a huge pain to work with.  To add to it, the stitching it tedious and painstakingly detailed, at least for a less experience sewer. There is herringbone stitching around the entire glove as well as the detail on the back of the hand. There is also an "S" cut into the front of the glove that is finished with herringbone. This is then closed up with faggoting. The thumbs are added and then the whole glove is lined in the white leather before being finished with faggoting down the entire side.'They are beautiful, but definitely not for novices. I would say that in all, they were more difficult than the stays I made last summer. Were they worth it? Definitely. Will I make a second pair? HELL NO!