All posts filed under: Sewing

Things I sew – historical and modern

The Classic Collared Shirt

When Mr D and I were engaged I actually taught him to sew: he made a classic collared shirt for himself under my guidance. It was quite a project for an absolute beginner, but he had an exceptionally patient and indulgent tutor. 😉 Just after we were married we made a few more classic collared shirts together, and he wore them to work. Then I got a job, and life got busy, and he stopped sewing because it just took too long and it was easier to buy shirts and too hard to find good shirting fabric. Still, if Mr D can make a good tailored shirt it’s proof that anyone can! I still have a soft spot for the classic collared shirt as a sewing project though. There is something so satisfying about a good tailored finish, and I love all the little details: the placket and collar and cuffs and buttons. I learned some really nifty shirt tailoring tricks working with a tailor some years ago, and they are always fun to use. …

1813 Kashmiri dress – evening ambiance

Published by The Dreamstress

On Monday I travelled up to Palmerston North to give a talk to the Rose City Quilters – always a lovely time. I talked about the Indian influence on Western textiles, and wore my 1813 Kashmiri Dress, now with a bit of extra neck trim, and suspended sleeve drapes. After the talk I ended up doing an impromptu photoshoot. My photographer did an excellent job, really paid attention to lighting and angles (and was my computer bag reflecting in the mirror behind me). We got an amazing set of images, particularly as we only had a staircase and the corner of a bedroom to work with, and night lighting. I particularly like this one. The blur makes it look like an antique painting: Aren’t the shadows fantastic? And the reflections in the mirror? To finish off, after all the serious period poses, an obligatory smiling shot: I still wish the back of the dress didn’t dip so low, but I’m thrilled with the rest of it.

Striped and pleated petticoat details

Published by The Dreamstress

I’ve already shown you all the glamour shots of my new subtly-striped 1780s petticoat, but I thought some of you might be interested in the construction details. For the overall look of my petticoat I was inspired by fashion plates like this one from 1778: Obviously my petticoat doesn’t match my pet-en-l’aire, and I’ve made my ruffle a little narrower – less than 1/3 of the petticoat length, rather than almost 1/2 of the length, but I’m comfortable with the overall look. The skirt is made from three 36″ long widths of 45″ wide cotton muslin with a subtle self-stripe in bamboo. The widths are sewn together with a 10″ long gap for the skirt opening left unstitched at the top of one seam. Sewn together, I had 132″ of skirt to gather in to my waistband. This is a little too much width for an 18th century petticoat – most examples that I can find are no more than 112″ wide, and if I did it again I’d probably omit that extra 20″. To …