A 1750s Ikea floral caraco

New season, new project! Well, to be honest this one was started this winter but you know, I don't have lot of free time to sew for myself. If you read my previous post about 18th century fichus you may have noticed a new, lovely, floral caraco.

I started it between January and February for an event at the end of March, using some cotton from stash as lining (you know, economy!) aaand approx two yards of this famous Ikea fabric. This kind of cotton is thicker than Ljusoga duvet so keep it in mind when buying: it wouldn't work good for a summer dress or jacket. The price is about 5€ at yard so it's definitely budget friendly! 

"Luckily" our event ended to be really cold and windy and the caraco worked perfectly as mid-season garment. 

I used the famous caraco pattern shown in "Patterns of Fashion 1" by Janet Arnold with some alterations. A very, very similar version if you're not good at scaling up patterns can be found on JP Ryan online shop; I loved her cuffs so I used her draws as reference to make mine. I also added a side seam to the bodice to make it a little bit different to my robe à l'anglaise.  My.ma in reference was this beautiful extant piece:

First, I printed the pattern and adjusted to fit my body. I have very large back shoulders and I always have to enlarge period patterns a lot to fit this area. Then, I raised the neckline quite a lot, added cuffs,  attached fine cotton engageantes and a lovely small strip to the bodice to keep my fichu in place. I also omitted hooks and eyes closure for a more practical one with pins since I'm currently losing weigth. When I made the mock up the sleeves were perfectly fitted but now, in just two months, they run large but I can live with that. The rest is still perfect and the back so incredibly well fitted, yay! 

The front edges are boned with synthetic whalebone.

The skirts have two lovely box pleats in the side seams which give to the caraco a very elegant, flattering look. They need to be worn over pocket hoops to show their volume at best. I wore the whole thing with a brown linen skirt and a cotton petticoat. I'm planning a lighter one in red. 

The caraco came together really easily. It doesn't have a waist seam and the wrinkle you have at sides is absolutely correct. I made the lining first and joined it to the fashion fabric as a separate piece; the lining and the fabric have been joined by hand. As usual, my garments have machine made seams but hand finished details. I skipped trims and decorations for now: they can always be added later. 

I could work on it for a very limited period of time but on a normal schedule I would have finished it in a week/ a couple of days.  

I didn't take many pics of the construction, it was really straightforward. I was thinking to add this lovely piece to my Etsy shop as made to order item in different sizes, who knows...

A brief summary of 18th century fichus

If you're into 18th century costuming or reenactment, you may have heard of fichus also known as modesty scarf. These little, versatile piece of a woman's wardrobe was an essential accessory to fill/cover a bare neckline especially during the day. It could also be used to project the skin from the sun during summertime. Women of upper and lower classes both wore their modesty scarves.

Fichus comes in a variety of widths and materials and were usually white, made of lace or linen, and could be worn tucked into the neckline or falling above the shoulders, or laced behind the back if very long. Hey could also being embroidered or embellishwed with lace. Usually they had a triangular shape with a small slit at center back to allow a gently fit. 

My fichu is made of beautiful cotton sateen produced locally and ends in a lovely point at the back. I tuck it into a strip of fabric pinned to my floral caraco, which is not only a practical solution but also a fashionable choice.

If you look at period resources, you can see how common fichus were and how different they could be from each other.

Did you already heard about fichus? Are you planning to make one to complete your 18th century outfit? Let me know!