Bust My Buttons
May 23rd, 2011
Tonight I finished putting together the bodice of my Empire dress fairly early. I didn’t quite have the energy to cut out the skirt and waistband though, so I decided to cover a set of five buttons for the center back closure.
From what I can discover online, there were three main types of buttons used on clothing at the turn of the 18th century: metal, fabric-covered, and thread (metal rings wrapped in thread to create intricate designs). Somehow metal seems incongruous on a delicate white frock, and I’ve gotten the impression that the thread buttons (of which Dorset seems to be a classification) are mostly used on undergarments, or things that need to be washed vigorously. So I opted for fabric-covered.
The question then arose as to what I should use for my button forms, and how to attach the covers. Since my time is limited, I decided to use modern buttons from my button box and cover them by gathering tiny circles of fabric around them and sewing it closed. I’ve made a mental note to dig deeper into this topic at a later date.
I made five buttons, which seems like more than sufficient to close the center back of my emerging dress. They’re rather thickish though, so I think I shall make thread loops instead of buttonholes. Even with three layers in the buttonstand, my dress fabric is far too fragile to withstand much strain.
I can’t remember where, but I read somewhere that many dresses from that era were simply closed by string ties at the back (or tiny eyelets with a crisscross sort of closure).
Check this out: http://sensibility.com/resources/vintage-images/regency-images/extant-regency-drawstring-gown/
and like this, which is actually a baby’s christening gown from the same era:
http://www.antiques-atlas.com/dealer-stock-images/textilesandstuff/ANTIQUE_REGENCY_BABYS_DRESS_IN_as201a006z-2.jpg
The fabric you are using looks awesome!! I think we shall be a striped pair. 🙂
True! Or pinned closed even. But I am using two different dresses from Janet Arnold’s book, and one closed with buttons in the front (stomacher front) and the other has two buttons in the back. And though I can’t see how the dress in my painting closes in back, I’m sure that it must, and have decided it will be with buttons! Mostly because I burnt the edge of the bodice fabric in the back a little with an over-heated iron and need to cover it up with an overlap…the waist will still tie closed however.
That makes sense! And I also think that in your most recent post the buttons look awesome. 🙂 It’s neat that they only used two of them!