All posts filed under: 19th Century

Rate the Dress: 1842 does 18th century

Last week’s Rate the Dress was inspired by the first Historical Sew Fortnightly challenge: a 1710s portrait of Frances Howard as the goddess Flora. Many of you loved the colours of the outfit, but in general you weren’t convinced by the classical inspiration, and you really weren’t convinced by her crazy over-the-top shoe bows, bringing the rating down to a 6.9 out of 10. The next challenge in the Historical Sew Fortnightly is UFO (un-finished-object) – the perfect excuse to finish one of those things sitting on your to-do pile. Showing you an unfinished dress for Rate the Dress probably wouldn’t be very exciting for you, but I did find this ca. 1842 evening gown from the Met which has been re-made from an 18th century gown. The fabric dates to the 1740s. It’s quite amazing and wonderful that fabric could be so well made that it could be sewn and worn as a garment, and then re-sewn and worn again as another garment 100 years later. And now, almost 175 years later, it’s in …

1813 Kashmiri dress: Progress and a mostly done photoshoot

Published by The Dreamstress

I’ve been sewing like mad on the 1813 Kashmiri dress that I am making for the Historical Sew Fortnightly Bi/Tri/Quadri/Quin/Sex/Septi/Octo/Nona/Centennial Challenge. I’ve based my pattern on the 1805-9 dress in Janet Arnold with reference to patterns from other slightly later extent garments, and my inspiration fashion plate and extent garment, to bring it up to date for a dress that would be the latest fashion in January 1813. The bodice will be fully lined with white linen, so I started with that, sewing the linen together, and then sewing the wool pieces to the support lining, using careful little 14 stitches to the inch (OK, sometimes it was only 12 or 13). The side-back panels went first, followed by the back panels: There was no ideal layout for the paisley border print, so I just did my best. I quite like the way the pattern meets at the centre back. I originally considered having the centre back fasten with buttons like the 1805-9 dress in JA, but I didn’t have any suitable buttons in stash, …

Starting the 1813 Kashmiri dress: fabric and skirts

Published by The Dreamstress

I’m making an 1813 dress for the challenge mainly because I found this amazing wool twill at Global a few years ago and knew the pattern was taken directly from early 19th century paisley shawls. I immediately thought of the Regency dresses made from paisley shawls, and snapped up the fabric, and then waited for an excuse to make it up. When this challenge came up I did a quick inventory of my stash, and realised how perfect this fabric and project would be for the challenge. Well, almost perfect. The fabric isn’t exactly like a paisley shawl, which means that making it up is always going to entail a compromise between the fabric and what would have been done historically. It is, however, as close as I am ever likely to be able to find to an early 19th century paisley shawl, so for that reason I’m happy with it. What are the compromises? For starters, the fabric comes in 1.5m panels, with a wide border along one selvedge, and a narrow border separating …