Casgliadau Arlein

Black silk mourning dress worn by a young child from Cardiff. The dress has a high, round neckline, short puff sleeves with white eye-letting, decorative buttons down the front and centre-back fastening with a bow at the waist and pocket on the right side of the skirt.

Back fastening of six metal hooks and sewn, loop eyes. The front is decorated with 10 buttons. The core is shaped like a shell and covered with black silk satin. Thick threads (S-twist) are applied over the satin, following the grooves of the shell. An identical button is stitched to a semi-circular flap that overlaps each sleeve. The dress has a slightly raised waistline with a line of piping where the bodice joins the skirt. Piping also occurs at the seam between the sleeves and torso, and around the neckline. The skirt has a centre-front box pleat with gathers on either side which are reflected on the reverse of the dress. There is also applied silk braid decoration on the bodice and on the flaps that hang over the sleeves. On the bodice the braid extends in a V-shape down from the shoulders and comes to a point in the centre of the waist (both on front and back). Bodice, skirt, sleeves and flaps on top of sleeves and are fully lined with cream tabby woven cotton. Te sashes that extend from the bow are lined with black tabby woven cotton (each lining constructed from two pieces joined together by a vertical hand-stitched seam).

The skirt is constructed from four pieces of silk: one at the front and one at the back and two at the sides. The bodice is constructed from a front and a back piece, with small triangular pieces set into the shoulders. The sleeves are made from a single piece of gathered fabric with an under-arm seam. A small triangular gusset is inserted at under-arm. The cuffs are encapsulated with a strip of self-fabric (the inner edge of which is a selvage). Surrounding the armholes (on the outside of the sleeves, but underneath the semi-circular flap) are four stitched loops (one on top of the shoulder, one under-arm, one on the front and one on the back). There are a number of stitch holes down the centre front which suggest that the original placement of the buttons may have been different.