All posts filed under: Sewing

Things I sew – historical and modern

The 1913 paisley skirt

All last week Miss Felicity was helping me with my sewing: making a 1913 skirt for the HSF Paisley & Plaid challenge. We finished it last week Saturday, but my blouse wasn’t done and I couldn’t schedule time for a photoshoot. I took some quick documentary shots on Isabella: For the Paisley & Plaid challenge I’d wanted to use an amazing paisley silk jacquard that I found at Fabric-a-brac a few months back, but I just couldn’t get my ideas to come together into the perfect design, and none of my wilder plaids were speaking to me either. Then, a few weeks before the challenge, I found an amazing paisley twill at The Fabric Warehouse in Wellington. I loved the scattered woodblock inspired design, rather than the more common crowded, swirling Victorian paisley, and while orange isn’t usually a colour I gravitate towards, the dark blood-orange shade is really growing on me. For the pattern I used the little diagram of the ‘Side fastening skirt’ from Thornton’s International System, 1913 which is reproduced in Janet …

The Mackenzie Cardigan and more excitement

Published by The Dreamstress

Though it’s not historical, I’ve been doing some quite exciting sewing lately – and pattern drafting. The result? The Mackenzie Cardigan! Which is (squee!) almost certainly going to be my first commercially available pattern! Being able to make my patterns available to other sewers has been a huge goal for me for the past few years. Teaching sewing as I do, it’s become very obvious how few well really well drafted patterns there are available to sewers. The gap is particularly bad for some garments that I consider absolute wardrobe classics – cardigans, knit wrap dresses, simple darted blouses, the iconic fitted dresses with set in sleeves, slim skirts, and at least 5 darts for fitting, and interesting shift dresses. The rise of independent pattern companies has been fantastic, as their patterns are often much better than the big five, but here in NZ they are really expensive. People are always asking about the patterns I draft for myself, but I haven’t had a way to pass them on. I’ve been pattern drafting and and …

Corsets, crinolines & kitty cats

Published by The Dreamstress

How to tell if you have awesome friends: If they stop by your house on the weekend for a cup of tea and you say “Oh, I was just about to climb into a chemise and corset, any chance you’d be willing to take some photos of me?” and they spend over an hour helping to lace you into a corset and directing poses and snapping photos: The resulting photos are evidence of how truly fabulous Emily of Ever So Scrumptious is! I hope she had as much fun as I did helping me document me wearing my 1860s chemise (finally!) and new stockings and drawers, and red elliptical crinoline (even more finally!), and paisley petticoat (also finally). We got some lovely atmospheric, romantic period stuff: And some adorable stuff with Felicity (because how could you possibly pass up the chance to pose with Felicity?): And some fun stuff with me being silly (this is me immediately after saying “I don’t know what to do with my hands! I feel they should be doing something! …