All posts filed under: 18th Century

Late 18th century 'brown' linen shift

The ‘brown’ linen shift

Published by The Dreamstress

After many, many hours of hand-sewing, and a stupid mistake and far too much angst, my 5th proper Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenge: Peasants & Pioneers, is done. I was inspired to make an 18th century brown linen (brown indicating unbleached, rather than dyed brown) shift when I scored a 1.3m length of enzyme washed linen in the $5 end-of-roll bin at Fabric Warehouse.  At first I was disappointed that it wasn’t white, and then a helpful blog follower reminded me that brown linen was used to make lower-class shifts throughout the 18th century. I did a bunch more research on brown linen (which I will be sharing with you on Thursday), and made up my shift: I didn’t have enough fabric to make up a mid-18th century style shift, so I went for late 18th century, when shifts became narrower. While they are still slightly puffed, late 18th century sleeves also become narrower, with widths the same as their length. Since I had such lovely fabric to work with, I decided to go the whole …

Rate the Dress: the Chocolate Girl of the 1740s

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week there was no Rate the Dress, as I rated the Oscars, and the week before that we looked at the creme de la creme of elitist historical costuming: a precious metal trimmed suit worn to a royal wedding (which, despite the baggy britches, managed an 8.2 out of 10 – must be all that gilding and glitz!). This week we’re on quite a different track.  The Historical Sew Fortnightly theme is Peasants & Pioneers, and we’re celebrating the lower classes, and their attire.  A very famous example is Liotard’s The Chocolate Girl, in mid-18th century servant or shopgirl attire. Liotard’s server is clad for practicality, not aesthetic, in her voluminous apron and subdued jacket and skirt, but her frilly pink hat lends an air of rococo gaiety to the ensemble.  Or perhaps it detracts from the elegant simplicity.  What do you think? Rate the Dress on a scale of 1 to 10

The fully embellished 1780’s Indienne silk pet-en-l’aire

Published by The Dreamstress

‘Tis done!  Fully and completely! Finally, after over a year, the pet-en-l’aire is fully sewn, fully embellished, the correct front ribbons sourced and custom dyed, and the insides finished to perfection (really, they are almost as pretty as the outsides).  Whew! I tried a number of options for the sleeve ruffles, and finally settled on a pattern that, while not historically documented, I felt was best in keeping with the overall aesthetic of the pet-en-l’aire. I found white silk cuffs too distracting, and engageates clashed horribly, and defeated the idea of fashion moving towards a more casual and informal aesthetic.  I did like the idea of a slight bit of volume at the edge of the sleeves, and so my pleating pattern released below the sleeve end, to balance the fullness of the side pleats and back of the pet-en-l’aire. Alas, I couldn’t find a historical example to back this pleating pattern up, but every step of this garment has had to be a balance between historical examples and modern fabrics. It’s been a lot …