Tiny Tabitha gets dressed!

I've gotten behind!  This project was completed in August!

We last left Tiny Tabitha as pictured below with her stays and shift.  Since her job is to be a model for a mantua making demo, she obviously needed a gown!  Here's a pic from the last post for reference.  Jordie is pictured with her for scale.

To finish her underpinnings, we added hip pads

And an underpetticoat 

Next up --I had to drape an English gown.  I draped the back and front using pattern tracing cloth and stitched the pieces together to fit.

After a couple of small tweaks, I set about constructing the gown like I would a gown for myself.

First fitting

Setting the length of the shoulder straps

The petticoat was easy!

Finished gown front.  Sleeves are a little snug so I'll adjust the pattern accordingly.

Finished gown back.

Tabitha makes a cooperative model while being draped for a mantua making demo.

(photo by Lynn Bassett)

Part of the demo was a demo of how an earlier gown would be refashioned into a center front closing gown.  This was much easier for participants to understand having seen the entire process of draping a gown from start to finish.  My original intent was to rip out half the gown but I couldn't bring myself to do that so I made another bodice front and pined it at the side seam.  The extra bodice had the dart and robing ripped out so I could chalk a new neckline and explain how a shoulder strap would be made along with other alterations that would be made.

(photo by Lynne Bassett)

I'm really glad I made this project.  I do a lot of demos and this has proven to be an efficient method for doing so in a museum setting.  The print gown that I was draping had each step completed in advance.  I showed how to drape the lining, then had the completed pieces ready for the next step.  They were able to see the process and the order of construction all the way through.  I will also use Tiny Tabitha to make some patterns for myself.  She is almost exactly 1/2 my measurements so sizing up after making a pattern for her will be pretty easy.

Who would've thought a half size mannequin would end up being so handy!