1800 Child's Dress for Anne

The inspiration for this little dress came from an image I saved long ago of a simple child's frock c. 1800. There was an accompanying pattern in PDF format. I think it was a Tidens Toj pattern, though as I cannot find it on their website any longer perhaps I am mistaken.



I made it up today for Anne, in a piece of tan printed cotton slightly less than one yard in quantity. It went together quickly and easily.



The dress features a flat front bodice with a flat front skirt, a drawstring gathered back bodice and skirt and plain short sleeves. The skirts are cut slightly A-line in shape, throwing a bit more fullness into the hem.


Anne was delighted to have a new dress and fell asleep tonight wearing it. I wondered how she would get along with an ankle length skirt but she seemed to do just fine.













Can't wait to see her in it this weekend at the rendezvous! I think the regency era suits her well.

Love,
Sarah

Sewing the Stripey Sheer Fabric

A few years ago I purchased some sheer striped cotton from a reenacting friend. It was so beautiful! Deep, vibrant hues of brilliant blues and greens. I loved that fabric. It became my favorite fabric and...sat on my fabric shelf for years. I have always been a believer in saving the best for last, but very often this is to my detriment, resulting in the best never being realized as I keep "saving it for later". Well, this past week I finally sewed up the fabric. First, I made another 1860's wrapper.



I think I'm getting the construction of this style of wrapper down pretty well. There were other styles of wrappers in the 1860's, but this one is my favorite. It sort of reminds me of the sacque-back dresses of the 18th century, only with the sacque in this case being the front.



The fullness for this one was taken up in pleats. I love pleating. It is faster than cartridge pleating and gives a neat, tailored appearance. I was especially happy to pleat this wrapper as prior to its construction my pins had mostly gone the way of bobby pins, pens and the infamous dryer socks - they had apparently disappeared into thin air. I found a brand new pack of pleating pins at the thrift store for 60 cents. Score! Pleating ensued.



For the sleeves I made loose open sleeves. I don't know if they would be considered pagoda sleeves exactly - they are basically rectangular with rounded corners at the hem - but its a nice sleeve style for hot weather and have a graceful appearance. I edged them with self fabric ruching for a bit of visual interest.



I had a little fabric left over and found there was just enough for a little toddler dress.



Though its a unisexual color and style I think it would be a very nice boy dress. My two oldest boys were dumbfounded and refused to believe they had worn dresses at reenactments when they were babies! Malachi still seemingly has fond memories of his petticoat days and thinks dresses on little children are perfectly normal, but, at 5, he is "too grown up to wear them now."



Nothing left of this fabric now but a few slender scraps.



I feel accomplished.

Love,
Sarah