Historical Sewing

Blue Cotton Sheer Dress

Hi Sis, 

I finally used up that fabric that we have been storing since 2013. Your originally purchased this fabric for the 150th Gettysburg Anniversary. While, you where busy figuring out how to make a corset for me, I was putting together two sheer dresses for both of us. My pink sheer turned out wonderfully, but your blue sheer looked like a giant great-grandmother’s nightgown with a hoop skirt.

Now, with more sewing experience, and knowledge of what looks better for your body type and height, I’m sure I could have made this dress into something much nicer for you. Due to your height, I’ve determined that adding something to the waist and bottom of the skirt, seems to help balance your overall silhouette, when we are working with very light shades of fabric. Also, custom fitted sleeves are a huge deal. Those bishop sleeves where so big, you could have used them as fishing net.

I’m sorry, I turned you into the pajama monster! But, I actually used most of your dress pieces from your old dress, to make this one. I only had to cut a a back and one sleeve out of scrap and left over fabric. And we still have one bodice… apparently, we tried to make two for you, and about a yard left. Eve wants a matching dress, but she told me not to make anything for Grant. It’s just supposed to be me and her that are matching this time. lol

Speaking of Eve, my recently turned four year old… she took all of these pictures! She had a blast, she loves to take pictures! She even says photographer, which is mouthful for her. I of course had to delete many photos where my head is chopped off, and I have a million pictures of plants. 

For dress construction, I actually used patterns!!! That is rather odd for me, as I generally make stuff up. lol I used the Past Patterns “A Sheer Muslin Dress with Bishop Sleeves, and Over-sleeves, for the sleeve pattern. I did make the bishop sleeve a lot smaller.  I know bigger sleeves where fashionable, but I generally go for smaller sleeves. For the bodice, I used Past Patterns, Pleated Bodice. Note for anyone using that pattern… I think the waist is very short, and the sizing for the measurement chart was off. My mock up was four sizes away from what I would have thought I needed, by looking at the sizing chart. Anyway, it wasn’t complicated, and it turned out very nice! If I make it again, I think I will tweak the back a bit more. I don’t really like the big puff. But, on a sheer I don’t find it offensive, but I am considering using the pattern on a wool or silk. 

For the skirt, I cartridge pleated it. And I paired the dress with a sash from one of my other dresses.

Love,

Jamie

My 1860s Wool Day Dress

Dear Sis,

I absolutely love the way my wool day dress turned out! It is my favorite! Thanks for helping me make it. Tag-teaming a dress makes it go together so quickly:) 

We used the exact same bodice pattern as I did when making my silk day dress. The fabric is a lovely wool herringbone. It is lightweight and delicate and a breath taking color! Thanks for finding it!!!

Trim Inspiration:

An original owned and shared by Pinterest’s Travis Triplett

The fashion bonnet you made me is a perfect match with both my silk and wool day dresses! 

The silk bow belt you made is a very famine touch. I can’t wait to finish trimming it in black velvet! 

All the self-fabric buttons down the front of the bodice and between the bands of velvet on the skirt add such nice texture! 

Thanks for all your assistance!

Love,

b

A Yellow 1860s Dress for Charlotte

Dear Sis,

Charlotte is enamored with the color yellow! It is her absolute favorite!!! We happen to have some remnant from the day dress we made Mama Jenn last year. It is a yellow cotton/linen with large white window pane checks woven into it. During my planning phase, I usually try to find an originial for inspiration! I found one this CVD:

The original is likely a pale blue cotton. This girl is a bit older than Charlotte, but the window pane check is too perfect a match to pass up!!!

Although drafting patterns for children is not difficult, I usually start with Elizabeth Stewart Clark’s Infant Dress bodice patterns to save time. The pattern includes most variations: Two bodice cuts: one with an armscye and the other with a sleeve that creates its own armscye when sewn to the front and back panels. Both bodice styles can be made smooth, gathered, or pleated. It also has sleeve variations: long and short with smooth and gathered options. 

The shaping of this bodice requires the sleeves to be sewn to the front and back panels creating their own armscye in the process. My children are so long and lean the infant dresses fit well into 2T and 3T, I just have to lengthen them accordingly.

I started with a white cotton petti-chemise patterned and assembled exactly the same way as the dress with a thin band of eyelet around the hem, neckline, and sleeve bands. My only regrets: I wish I would have accounted for the length difference in the dress sleeve that is roll-hemmed vs. the chemise bodice that has a 1/2 inch eyelet. Then the two sleeve lengths would be more like the original image. But alas, I don’t care enough to actually fix it…lol!

The dress went together quickly. The only slowdown was the hand stitching needed to secure the dark brown braid and hook and eye tape closures in place. I also piped the neckline to give it a nice finished edge that would wear well. 

We are ready for our even this coming weekend!

Love,

b

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Grant’s Patriotic Winter Coat & Hood

Dear Sis,

I had the most fun making Grant’s winter ensemble. I was looking through my fabric scraps, and saw cream wool laying right next to ruby red and peacock blue. I also remembered, I had gold sutoutche braid that lacked a calling. That is when I decided, Grant was about to become a very Americana toddler. After all, patriotic trimming was very common during the American Civil War.

I already had a coat for Grant, it was Williams a few years back. But, Grant is stockier then William and the buttons were about to pop off. I also wanted a different coat. Sorry, Brandy but Tweed breathes more than Melton, and that is some itchy wool… and probably, the reason why it was both vintage fabric and given to you for free. You can see this multicolored itchy beauty here!

I just enlarged the coat from William, and got down to the decorating pretty fast. The coat closes with hooks and eyes, but the appliqué while sewn on one side, has buttonholes and buttons on the other side of the coat.

Some developmental stages of the coat.

The red wool was trimmed in the gold sutoutche, and I made fabric covered buttons from the blue wool. Which, was actually very difficult, as the wool was a bit thick for my button maker. I then proceeded to trim the edges of the coat in blue and gold sutoutche as i wanted to give it a finished appearance vs. a raw edge of wool melton.




Naturally, the coat needed a truly fantastic hood. This hood is actually a Childs modified sunbonnet made with wool and silk. You can see Brandy’s post on it here  

The stars where just a cherry on top for this whole project. I never actually did appliqué, but it felt necessary! And it was amazingly easy. I just printed some clip art stars, and cut them out. The front of the hood actually folded over with the silk, but I added a layer of red wool, so it is even thicker there. I also didn’t want the look of a raw edge, so the front and sides have black velvet, and the back has a thinner black sutoutche. 

The ties probably shouldn’t have been made with wool, but I wanted the blue wool! Since the edges weren’t finished on the wool, and it may have ripped, I bound both edges of the wool ties with black velvet.

Here it is!!!! Little red mittens and a blue brioche knit boa with red tassels were also added, just because they were so stinkin cute! I will be adding the Boa Pattern up shortly, as it is a period pattern!!!!




Here is Grant in all his glory! We were at Holly Days, at Heritage Village, Ohio.

More of our Historical Children’s wear and free patterns can be seen here 

Charlotte’s 1860s Winter Dress

Dear Sis,

We have period caroling on the calendar in just a few weeks time. Poor Charlotte has absolutely nothing to wear! We started for the bottom up with a pettichemise.

A pattern for a basic pettichemise or body can be found here. In the photo above, I was marking where to place the hook and eye tape for the back bodice closure and pinning the one inch twill tape straps in place. Twill tape is a time saving hack. I was trying to complete the body in a single night… and did:) Note all the tucks, they are not purely decorative! They help maintain volume in the skirts!!!




I was planning to make a wool petticoat to go with this pettichemise, but they fabric was not 100% wool as advertised and thus I need to order different materials at another time.

I started Charlotte’s dress without a clear plan of what I wanted it to look like. My fabric selection was some tropical weight dark gray wool, with a very nice hand, that was gifted to me years ago, and some teal undershot brown silk taffeta from a botched sash attempt from over a decade ago. I also was operating with the knowledge that Charlotte’s sensitive skin had to be fully removed from direct contact with the wool itself. Thus, I decided to line the wool with the silk. The uncut portion of silk that remained was small, so I narrowed the sleeves to accommodate what little materials I did have, and then opened the upper seams in a decorative way, so they wouldn’t appear too narrow for the period. After I opened the sleeves, I decided I needed more teal peaking out of the dark wool on the bodice and cut the tear shaped eyelets and secured them with button hole stitching. 

After, completing the bodice I decided I wanted to trim the skirt edge in more teal silk. Since my plans for a wool petticoat were thawed, I decided to make a double layer skirt to compensate. Upon completion of the dress, I realized that it needed a bigger splash of teal and I still had the sash itself to cut into. I was able to refashion it nicely using this period fashion plate for inspiration. 

I’ve included photos of the finish dress both on the wiggling two-year-old and off.




Pardon to poor evening lighting… and the blur of a child in constant motion:)

Charlotte enjoys here new dress very much. She and William call it her “princess dress.”

See you love!

Love,

b

See more Children’s Wear in our Historical Closet

Undersleeves

While in the midst of making a new dress for the 1860’s, I decided to pick a fashion plate as my inspiration. The dress I am making has an interesting sleeve that is between a progoda and a coat sleeve. Either way, it isn’t a very full sleeve. But, it does need an under-sleeve, as it doesn’t come fully to the wrist.

Materials

Cotton Organdy – I purchased mine from EnsemblesofthePast,

White Cotton Thread

Embroidery Cotton Floss

Two buttons

1/4 Inch Elastic

Time to Start Sewing

Step 1: Essentially, you are making a tube. If you want to be fancy, you can make a tube from two pieces of fabric. If you don’t want to be fancy, one rectangle will do. I have a smaller wrist (5.5 inches) and didn’t want a very full under-sleeve.  So all together, my under-sleeve tube measured 26 inches wide by 14.25 inches long. Go larger, if you have a larger bone circumference, or want a fuller sleeve.

Step 2: For cuff, make it about 2.5 inches larger than your wrist. You want 1/2 inch seam on both sides, some overlap for the button, and some wriggle room at the wrist. You have two options that are simplistic. You can make a straight edged cuff, or you can angle the ends. My cuff was 2 inches wide, once completed. So, it required 3 inches for the seams located at the top and bottom of the cuff.

Step 3: If you would like to embroider your cuff, I recommend doing it before sewing it together, and even before you cut it out! I traced my cuff onto my fabric, and embroidered it as a larger piece, and cut it out later. I was inspired by the design on Past Patterns under-sleeves. 

Step 4: Sew the sides of the sleeves, and leave 2 inches un-sewn at the bottom. This is so you can have that overlap/gap at the button closure. Finish the bottom two inches by pressing the seam inward so there are no raw edges and sewing it down.

Step 5: Run two rows of gathering stitches at the end of the sleeve. I ran my gathering rows half way, so I could yank the strings in the middle as well as both ends. Then, gather and pin the sleeve right into the cuff. Remember you want right side to right side. Sew.

Step 6: You may have to sew the very ends of your cuff by hand. I have a hard time doing it with the machine.

Step 7: Fold down the inside of the cuff and whip stitch. Add a button hole to the cuff, maybe two if you made it wider.

Step 8: For the top of the sleeve, press down the fabric about 3/8 of an inch, and then fold it down again about 6/8 of an inch. I wasn’t particular, my fabric was starched and I pressed it by measuring with my eye.

Step 9: I used 1/4 inch elastic, and didn’t want space for it to swim. Sew, close to the edge. Leave about 1 inch open, so you can thread your elastic through. For elastic, I measured my arm where the sleeve would sit, and cut the elastic to that measurement.

Step 10: Thread through your elastic. Overlap the elastic by one inch, and sew it together. Then, sewed the hole shut. I personally found the sleeve stays in place very well between the elastic top and the cuff at the bottom.

 

 

Enjoy your undersleeves!

~ Jamie

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Paletot Number Three

The third times a charm right? Well, maybe? This is the third coat I have made, and I am keeping this one!!! Because, I’m not making another one lol. But, boy did I make the neckline too low. Why am I sooo good at messing up necklines? It is my special talent!

I really do like this jacket though. I combined both of trim ideas from my two previous coats, and I think it looks way better that way. The bow on the back is just so cute! 

The trims did take a long time. They are rayon stoutche braid, rayon velvet, and many many tiny french knots from silk yarn. And the bow took about a day to make. I had to hand sew the velvet to both sides of the tail, just so it can flip in the breeze and still look good.

The original braid work came from a Godey’s 1863 fashion plate. You can see a post on the first jacket I made with this trim here.

And I did add pockets to this jacket! They are hidden in the first side seams. 

I am really looking forward to finishing the look of this coat with some hand knitted accessories and taking some winter pictures.  I want to make the Opera hood in a soft gray with some white down feathers, a pair of matching long gloves. I feel that would soften and not clash with the boldness of the blue jacket.

I also have a super exciting trim idea for my burgundy wool dress. More to hopefully come on that in the future!

 

1860s Frock for a Young Boy

Dear Sis,

Carter is four and a half like William, so there was a discussion about whether we should fully breech his impression or not. Carter was excited to try a frocked outfit. 

During the period boys wore frocks just like girls from infancy until sometime between the ages of two and five. Generally, the lower class breeched sooner and the upper class look their sweet old time:) Very masculine frock, skirt/jacket, and even combination tunic/breeched styles existed. I was inspired by this period original. 

Frock with Coordinating Trousers

Cut and Trim Inspiration

The Frock:

I used Elizabeth Stewart Clark’s Andrew Tunic pattern as my baseline for construction with the options for a close fitting neckline and a loose short sleeve. The closure is in the back and uses hidden hook and eye tape. The neckline and armscyes are piped. I added a two inch waistband because, which is on the wide-side, but necessary for my trimming plans.

Trimming the Bodice:

I used 1/2 inch velvet trim and a row of polished wood shank buttons. I trimmed the skirt to match.

I haven’t started the coordinating trousers yet, but this is enough for the Battery Hooper event we will be attending soon!

Love,

b