Ah, the best laid plans of mice and….seamstresses. I had hoped to be all caught up on here by now, but as you can see…..um…..yeah. It’s nearly the end of term, I have a paper to write on the material culture of 18th century sewing tools (I’ve limited it to the big 4: pins, needles, scissors, thimbles) that’s due in….hmmmm….3 weeks today! Yippeee! And I still need to tackle the Old Bailey Records online for some primary source material (from which I’m hoping I may get some info regarding ownership and possession *fingers crossed*).
Again, I have continued working on the sewing steadily/regularly, such that the calico jacket and petticoat ensemble is almost finished. However, in order to get more updates posted I may not try to write that page in its entirety at one go.
I did have a question for people though: I am curious as to whether any of the processes/methods I’ve used during this project so far have been surprising to anyone, or different from what you might expect from garment construction of this period? I’m hoping there might be at least something, after all, that’s part of what this whole thing is about!
Melissa Said:
on November 25, 2008 at 05:50
Hmm…I’m wanting to give you something to comment on…but everything you’ve been doing has been gorgeous and in line with what I expected. Have any of your gowns been draped as opposed to patterned, since this was the main method of gown construction for women at the time?
I was also very surprised to learn at my 18th century workshop that eash individual dress piece (for the most part) tended to be completeley finished and lined seperately, and then very narrowly back stitched together. I found this construction method very intereting, but in some ways it’s a lot easier then going crazy over seam allowances.
Julia Said:
on November 26, 2008 at 22:19
In good news, though, the compactor is fixed, so you can select stuff for your presentation!