This is a wonderful Anatomy of an 1860's dress I've found.

Here is a quilted bonnet tutorial

Drawers for my War Chest

I've been terribly excited about my newest addition to my 1860's outfit. I should have done it earlier but left it as an extra project to do once I had the bulk of the dress done. SO! Here is a pattern for drawers I used.

I've never made pin-tucks before, and was pretty worried to try it out. Thankfully the unbelievably amazing Jennifer Rosburgh with her Historical Sewing helped with that. I have been avoiding using these little beautiful folds in all of my historical clothing but now that I see how easy it is, I want to make a new petticoat full of them- though perhaps a bit bigger than what is used for the drawers.

The pattern wasn't the easiest to figure out for me, but with some wiggling of the lines I got together. Despite reading the directions carefully I still didn't realize HOW they were attached together. A good Pinterest search gave enough examples for assembly. I chose a rear closure because it was seen as more historically accurate, though with one of the two buttons I cheated and hid a snap behind it.

In actual wear the chemise is  the outside

I used a little strip of eyelet lace at the bottom. It is a great detail for the rare times I have to raise my skirts, be it  walking up steps, retying a shoe, or stepping over a log in the middle of a wooded path!

RIBBONS!

  Now here is some great motivation!
  Two days ago I entered the Picnic Dress into the county fair. Usually the rule is to put it on a hanger in plastic, but I was lucky enough to gain permission to put it on my dress form because it was made for a hoop skirt.
  Unfortunately I had to miss the judging so I wasn't sure how it did. It was a long two days!

My favorite angle, if a bit blurry

  Went to the fair today, walked into the Fine Arts building and saw that it has some nice new accessories! I was hoping for at least a ribbon but was very happily surprised to get two!

Better angle?

  This will be a great thing to look at when I feel like throwing a current project across the room. I'm going to hang them in the sewing room, and maybe try to make an annual thing out of it.

First Place and Best in Show

  I have a few things to patch, and still need a bonnet to go with this dress, but I'm already starting to think about my next big project. Time to bust out the Elizabethan books, because next year I'm making my husband a new doublet....  ....and trunks, even if he won't wear them ;)

ETA: "Judges also examined handmade dresses, one of which was displayed on a mannequin."

1860S, GREEN AND WHITE GINGHAM DRESS

Took a while to find again but here is a link to the dress I'm going to base my day/visiting bodice on. It was what I had in mind when doing my first bodice of the dress, but I should have flatlined it and changed the sleeves.



Notes:
16 hook-and-eye closures. Boning in front, back, and sides but not in dart channels. Flatlined, but back panel lined with 2 halves.

"Green and white gingham check hand-sewn cotton dress. Bodice has jewel neckline and center front hook and eye closure (left lapping over right front), dropped shoulders with two rows of piping with tapering band piece in between. Long torso has 3 darts each side radiating from center and piped finish at bodice waist. Boning only at bodice center back (no seam) and side back seams, lined in white cotton. Shoulder seam at natural shoulder, princess seams bodice back. Full bishop sleeves made of three pieces on bias gathered into dropped/piped armscye and 1.25" decorated with narrow white braid trim in meandering design; two hook and thread loop closure.

Full skirt, 5 selvage to selvage panels 27.75" wide, cartridge pleated all around and stitched to bodice; side left front slit opening fastens with metal hook and eye; side right front pocket of white cotton; hem stitched to 4" wide olive green cotton facing."

Picnic in the park

Went to the park today to take some (56?! It was pretty bad until my roommate took over!) shots of the finished Picnic dress.

Still haven't finished a collar that lies flat enough for my liking, three tries and I'm out of the scrap fabric I had left over from the corset. Going to try again and hopefully get one done before I take it to the county fair next Tuesday!

Found this great advice for the collar of my Picnic Dress. Going to try to edge it with teeny tiny crochet.

03-09-2008, 03:33 AM

If your dress pattern fits you well, use it to make a pattern.

(Illustrations for this are in The Dressmaker's Guide, but here's the fast text version.)

Lay out your bodice front and back patterns, stacking the seamlines at the shoulder.

Lay a piece of paper over this, and trace the center back line, neckline curve (note the seam allowance depth!) and center front line (NOT the front edge of the bodice pattern--find the line that runs right down the center of the body.)

Decide how much of a gap you want at center front--about 1" allows room for a brooch, 1/2" for a pinned on ribbon bow. Draw a new "center front" line one-half your chosen gap distance back from the actual center front.

Decide how wide you want the finished collar. Measure out perpendicular from the neck seamline, all around the neckline. Connect this curve with a smooth line.

Shape the front collar edge---angle back slightly for a pointy front, or gently round off the edge.

Draw a 1/4" seam allowance around the outer edge. Adjust the neck seam allowance to be 1/4".

Cut out the shape in a single layer of muslin and test it on yourself, to make sure you like it.

Then, cut out a single layer in a decent batiste (white!). If you don't have batiste, you can even get a decent result with regular muslin, if you give it a good pressing.

Hand-hem the outer edge quite narrowly.

Cut a bias strip 1" wide, and long enough to finish off the inside neckline. Sew it right sides together with the collar. Trim the allowances to a scant 1/8" or so. Wrap the bias strip around the seam allowances and secure with a running stitch on the underside, forming a bias facing and binding all in one. Tuck the short ends under for a tidy finish.

Turn the bias facing into place on the wrong side of the collar and press well.

Baste this into the neckline of your dress.

Cuffs are easier: measure the inside wrist of your dress. Cut a strip of batiste this length plus 1/2" for finishing, and twice your desired finished width plus 1/2" for finishing. Press the short ends to the wrong side 1/4". Fold the cuff in half lengthwise. Attach a bias-binding/facing to the long raw edges. Baste into the wrist of the dress.

Ta Da!

:)

The Picnic Dress

Pinned hem

This is my "picnic dress", based on Butterick 58311, "Making History" line from Nancy Ferris-Thee, with a few bits from Simplicity 1818 and some from costuming books (like Costume in Detail: Women's Dress p215). It is supposed to be of a lighter sheer fabric (like maybe organza), but I have shifted it to a partially lined summer daily/work dress of a middle class woman in the 1860's. The pattern also calls for the skirt and bodice to be connected, but I plan to have a few bodices for this skirt (a very period practice) so they are attached with a few tab-and-bar closures.

Underside of cartridge pleating

The fabric is a roughly homespun cotton of navy and cream, so it has occasional mistakes in threading. I originally bought only 10 yards of the checkered fabric but with plans to add on an evening bodice (that is cut but not assembled) and another day bodice I bought more.

As pointed out by the amazing Jennifer Rosbrugh it's best to start out with the foundation garments. I already had a few hoopskirts from my Elizabethan garb that I actually bought at Civil War reenactments, I've just never worn them without a bumroll (a stuffed pillow worn around the hips to further prop up the skirts) before. That being said, I might make a thin sort of bustle pad to help support the back of the skirts at some time (skirts grew longer in the back later in the decade, eventually morphing into bustle skirts).

As for footwear I scoured stores and resale shops for months until I FINALLY found a comfortable pair of low-heeled square-toed shoes.

Chemise pattern

Finished chemise

Stitching and lace detail

The chemise is taken directly from the pattern unaltered, which made for some interesting additions around the arm scythe in what I can only guess are stitched-in dress shields? I will use separate dress shields on top of that though, but these were a nice surprise if stubbornly complicated to stitch into place. It is a soft off-white cotton. I added a beautiful strip of pressed lace I got from my sister-in-law MaryLou (I think the buttons were from her too) which fit perfectly.
Some mistakes: I didn't read the pattern thoroughly and almost skipped the shields, but am glad I didn't. I wish I had done the whole thing by hand but was worried of not getting it done in time, so while assembly is machine stitched the lace and little embroidery touches were all I thought I had time for.

Unboned corset

Pink ribbon lacing later replaced

Finished cotton corset

The corset was based on Simplicity 7215, part of the Martha McCain "The Fashion Historian." Some adjustments were made but that was mostly in construction, I flatlined the whole thing and left the inside of it raw. The boning is mostly plastic with only a 7" busk, this is one of the first things I will probably have to replace but will try to hold off on it until I start work on a second dress.
Some mistakes: To be honest I was weary of doing my first corset in years, so went through this stage with the idea of having to replace this in a season or two. The waist tape should be longer, the busk sturdier, the boning metal, the edging MUCH stronger, and the stitching is pretty sloppy but it really didn't turn out too bad.

Except for the top tier all floundered have a rolled hem

Starting to pin

I had to buy another box of pins for this

These are the pins that never end..

Seven flounces finished

All together on dress form

What a lovely cake I'm wearing!

The main petticoat is a few old sheets. It took almost two weeks to cut, press, wrangle and gather the many strips of fabric into 7 tiers of petticoat but it was soooo worth it. I've since worn this with my Elizabethan garb despite that it's out of period, since it keeps my skirts smoother than wearing 2-4 regular petticoats.
Some mistakes: It is kind of hard to startch properly (I have a hoopla hoop contraption with clips to do the job) but considering this cost me nothing but time to make and I use it for three outfits, it's great. I might ads on another tier if I make another one.

Modified pattern

Darts added

Assembled lining

Front darts

Back darts

Back pleats

Assembled bodice, no sleeves

Piping and sleeves added

Button placement marked

Too small, had to redo these buttonholes!

Buttons

The bodice lining was done on a machine, but the rest of the stitching was done by hand. Piping and bias probably took the longest, as it is edged along the neck, arm scythes and bottom hem. There is one hook and eye closure at the neck, and four tab and bar closures at the bottom to secure it to the skirt.
Some mistakes:I never should have machine-stitched the lining. I LOVE the buttons but they're plastic, I wanted sturdy shell ones like they used to make in Oquawka but couldn't find them. I should have put two buttons per cuff instead of one, right now the cuffs stay closed but not straight. I didn't put the back boning in low enough at first, and had to pick apart the lining to get it into place before finishing the piping. Also, I would have liked to use a finer piping (especially at the arm scythes) but couldn't find the right kind of cord I was looking for.

Folded over twice

Tiny bubbles, in the paper

Stitch marks

Now stitch forever

Wrestle and wrangle for weeks

Stitch every. Last. Pleat. Three times each.

Victory!

All the layers

This is the big part. The skirt is gauged, also known as cartridge pleated, where you stitch gathered pleats to the waistband. Though the pattern said to just gather the fabric, cartridge pleating is a more period solution and would look better with the homespun cotton (the pattern was for a lighter sheer fabric originally, cartridge pleating would end up looking like gathering anyway). It is tied closed with two eyelets on either side of the band, which also holds four tab and bar closures to keep the bodice secured.
Some mistakes: I should have flatlined the skirt or at least put in another layer for pleating, but as this will probably only be worn in the middle of summer I'm not too worried about it. In the future I will add a ring of piping or stiff cording beneath the pleats to keep them from drooping in future seasons. Lastly, I made my awesome mother sit on the floor to pin the hem in for me, I should have bothered someone else to do it but procrastinated and didn't have anyone else nearby. Did I mention she's amazing? ;)

Future plans:  I have another bodice (a "visiting" bodice instead of the work or "day" bodice I finished) I have cut out but not assembled, and fabric set aside for an evening bodice. I'm learning tatting for my evening bodice, and will add some as soon as I can figure out how to get more than 7 inches without breaking the thread. I plan on adding hem facing to my skirt in a solid navy, this fabric will also take care of the piping and trim in my evening bodice as well as the slat bonnet for day wear. I will eventually purchase a nicer bonnet in the future, or at least one of the blank straw forms to start with, to go with my visiting bodice.  I had a pair of period-style split drawers but since I can't find them I'll have to make a new pair (if I decide to wear them, like the Elizabethan garb I'll make that decision once I try it). Though wool stockings were the norm and I do have a pair, I will probably wear a more comfortable set of long cotton ones instead. I will add piping or some strips of fabric below my pleats for support. Finally, I will try to enter it into this year's county fair. :)
ETA: Pockets in skirt, buttoned on collars, navy skirt runner, and a pin apron.