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Floral Arrangements
By popular request, flowers. The pieced lining. Click for larger versions. I debated with myself about whether or not it was OK to piece the lining, and then I figured that it was what I had, so I...
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A Favorite Gown, at Last
First wearing at the Martin House in Swansea, MA Most of what I’ve made I’ve hated. It hasn’t been perfect enough. This is pretty much how it works when you are learning something new: your eyes outrun...
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One Hot Banyan
Prince of Wales’ banyan, ca. 1780. Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton. ID CT002728 Alert! This item is currently on display at the RISD Museum of Art in Providence, through August 18, 2013. I have...
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More Banyan Business
Prince of Wales’ banyan, ca. 1780. Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton. ID CT002728 Soooo, what about that banyan? Cotton chintz printed in red, brown and purple with blue pencil. Batting seems to...
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Sewing for Zombies
Death by Fitting He doesn’t always look this horrible, but when the Young Mr sets out to look like death, he does it very well. Dressing 18th Century style comes at the price of fittings, and while we...
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In the Pink
Detail, back pleats I swear I try to be positive about the mistakes I make. But not only did I discover this morning that I had lost my struggle with spacial processing, now I have found clear imagery...
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Alterations in Force
Horrid Green Frock Coat at Birth Remember this coat? I’ve been attempting to solve this coat for a while. While the Zombie Coat had to be put aside after the tail pleat debacle (what was I thinking?...
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…For the Approaching Summer
Summer is, of course, fully upon us and those of us on the eastern seaboard feel its oppressive and sticky heat. Ordinarily, my town isn’t terribly hot and cools off at night, but like everywhere else,...
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Authenticity: Sources I
There he goes! You know this guy: the reluctant drummer and avid ensign who wants to be in uniform but struggles with the fact that he might be seen by someone. (14 is complicated.) I’ve been mulling...
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Authenticity: Sources II, or, Stripes!
In any decade, I love stripes. Stripes. I love them, really, I do. Gowns, petticoats, cats. Why do I want to use them so much? For the guys, because I can document what they’re wearing, at least based...
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Documenting Mr S
The guys are usually easy: they wear what the sergeant tells ‘em to wear, and they like it, because that’s what soldiers do. Mr S in Cambridge Sergeant’s not a sergeant in quite the same way in...
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Poetry in Papers
From the Newport Herald, 6/26/1788 It’s quite the poem, isn’t it? In October, I’ll be part of an 1800 event at work, and I will be portraying a housemaid, if not quite the housekeeper (we are still...
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HSF# 17 Robes & Robings
I started on the HSF#15 Color Challlenge: White, but haven’t finished the white petticoat yet. It’s a bit short, and pieced in the back, but having seen Sew18thCentury’s curtain along petticoat...
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Thinking Ralph Earl
Mabel Ruggles Canfield. Oil on canvas by Ralph Earl, 1796. Litchfield Historical Society, 1917.4.4 In three weeks, I start a three week cycle of events in different decades: Saratoga in 1777 will be...
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You are What You Wear
Kyoto Costume Institute. Right: Robe a l’anglaise, 1790-95, England. AC5065 85-3-1 (Part one of a series) Or do you wear what you are? Both statements seem true, but what I know is this: dressing for...
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You Wear What You Are
Part two of a series Mrs Garnett, Housekeeper, oil on canvas by Thomas Barber. NTPL Ref. No.42286 I’m minding my own business checking out my friends’ business on Facebook, when Mrs Garnett appears on...
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Chemisettes
The Shooting Star: Snowy in his “best bib and tucker.” Chemisette or tucker? By the time The Shooting Star was published in 1941-42, “bib and tucker” had wandered away from their original meanings....
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Always the Lady’s Maid, Never the Lady…
Testing the bodice and sleeve but that’s fine, actually. I like to get dirty. The red Virginia cloth dress is now clay-splashed, and while it was made especially for the “People of 1763″ event, it may...
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Catastrophic Wardrobe Failure
Table at the Bostonian Society, infant stays to the lower right. Photo courtesy Sew 18th Century Several weeks ago now, Sew 18th Century and I went up to Boston to be part of the People of 1763 event...
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Sacque Rationalizations
Before I get any farther along in the process of making a sacque (and I have not made much progress) I thought I should start to really look at gowns, and try to understand them. Not only do I need to...
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