It’s always a good feeling to finish the year and a sewing project at the same time. This time I finished the 1780s cap from the American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking just as 2017 closed. Literally! I was sitting on my couch sewing on the bow and watching bonnet movies as the year ticked over, because that’s how I party! As far as I know, I’m the first person to have made the 1780s cap, which means I had the dubious distinction of discovering the typo where it says to cut...| The Dreamstress
Getting back to pink in the 18th century, we did 1700-1709, now let’s look at the 1710s. Rather than going from palest to darkest, like I did in the last post, I thought I’d start off with a bang. And by bang, I mean Barbie pink. This post was written by Leimomi Oakes for thedreamstress.com. If it is published somewhere else it has been stolen. Maria Clementina is absolutely 1710s Barbie in this amazing mantua. (side note, the women in this post really do have the best names). I’ve ...| The Dreamstress
It’s midyear, I’m too cold, many of you are too hot, clearly we all need a break and a treat! So, from now until Sun 3 August, 10:00pm, NZ Time, all patterns at scrooppatterns.com on sale: 25% off Modern Patterns 20% off Edwardian Patterns 15% off 18th c Patterns & Pattern Bundles The discount is applied automatically at checkout: no need to do anything. Just pop on over to scrooppatterns.com and fill your sewing queue up! Happy shopping, happy sewing! The post The Annual Scroop Pat...| The Dreamstress
What was Hungarian court dress for women ca, 1800 as shown in Alex's portrait, and how did it evolve from a style of dress worn by specific noble groups in what we now call Hungary to become díszmagyar: the formal court dress of Hungary under the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The post Hungarian Dress from the 17th to the 19th century appeared first on The Dreamstress.| The Dreamstress
Is that not the epitome of late 18th century Gothic drama? The powdered curls! The trailing black veil! The pallor and smokey eye! My early 2000s university friends could only dream of this level of gothy-ness!| The Dreamstress
I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting with making linen buckram in the last year and a half, playing with using both historically accurate gum tragacanth, and a much cheaper and easier to source modern equivalent: xanthan gum. We’re getting very close to launching Scroop Pattern’s and Virgil’s Fine Good’s first collaboration: a 1780s stays pattern with extensive historical instruction. Historical stays use linen buckram, so here’s what I’ve learned about it to help you make you...| The Dreamstress
By popular demand, here is the apple butter recipe from yesterday's post. There are MANY other 'pressure cooker' apple butter recipes on the internet, but I found that almost all of them use an Insta-pot or a Ninja or a 'Fast-Cook-Please-Don't-Explodalator' (trying my best to imagine what Leonard of Quirm would have called a pressure cooker). The post Recipe: Apple Butter in an old-fashioned pressure cooker appeared first on The Dreamstress.| The Dreamstress
Some autumn rambles with me. Apple picking, making apple butter, and catching up with Connie the feral foster kitty. The post Apple Bonanza appeared first on The Dreamstress.| The Dreamstress
Extant textiles and paintings show a whole range of pink being worn in the first decade of the 18th century, starting with the palest barely-there pink of this riding habit: The post 18th century pinks: the 1700s appeared first on The Dreamstress.| The Dreamstress
I haven’t done a Rate the Dress since last October. And the time before that was July. And I can’t promise the next one won’t be July again, or worse. But I can hope and try. And today’s pick is just too unique and fascinating not to show you! Last time: A 1908 Paquin ensemble Ratings were all over the place for the Paquin ensemble. First there was a solid runs of 8s and 9s, and then a perfect 10, and then 4 and 1 and 6s! Every rating but a 5, so I guess no one thought it ...| The Dreamstress
For almost eight (!!!) years, ever since I put out the Fantail Skirt pattern and it was a smashing success, my friend Nina has been asking me to make an Edwardian or Victorian blouse pattern to go with it. Nina’s not just my friend: she’s my pattern editor (any mistakes are my fault from tweaking things after she edits a pattern), my confidant, and my brain to bounce pattern ideas off of. So, when I found the perfect extant ca. 1910 blouse to base a pattern off of I knew exactly what to n...| The Dreamstress
Before you start sewing your Cassandra Stays you need to do some testing! Test thread colour, stitch length, and boning channel width.| The Dreamstress
How to make buckram for 18th century costuming with gum arabica, and a comparison of arabica, tragacanth and xathan gum for buckram making.| The Dreamstress
It's time for the first, and most fun part, of any making project: choosing materials. See the materials I've chosen for my Cassandra stays.| The Dreamstress
This week's Rate the Dress explores the Edwardian love of lace. Will you think the different types of lace and styles of embroidery blend harmoniously, or is the dress a discordant mish-mash?| The Dreamstress
Possible the most surprising and distinctive bit of trim on the dress is the frill that edges the back-of-the-arm seam that joins the elaborately puffed outer sleeve with the simple under sleeve (very practical that simple under sleeve!)| The Dreamstress
Last week’s dress was very formal and monochrome, with extremely geometric, ordered lace. This week we’re going for much brighter colours, and a print that’s quite bizarre: literally. Let’s find out what you think about it! Last Rate the Dress: an 1890s reception gown in ivory with black lace You know what some of you really, really don’t like? Bows. Yeeeeeeeeep. Those of you who didn’t love this didn’t love it for the bow, or simply because it was generally too dramatic...| The Dreamstress
