A couple of years ago I made two plain Edwardian petticoats. But one of the petticoats wasn’t 100% historically correct and the other (longer) petticoat hadn’t enough width around the hem. So I decided to give both petticoats a makeover because the fabric was still good and strong. Continue reading 2 Edwardian Petticoat Makeover
I’ve always wanted to have an 18th century embroidered stomacher and now I actually made two! 😀 One of my 18th century stomachers is hand-embroidered and the other is machine-embroidered on my old treadle sewing machine. In addition, both stomacher are reversible: so I have four 18th century stomacher now. Continue reading 18th Century Embroidered Stomacher
Edwardian under-petticoats – the petticoat you put on directly over your corset – were usually shorter than top petticoats for easier walking. For my short Edwardian lace petticoat I used an old cotton bedsheet and lace from my stash. 🙂 Continue reading Short Edwardian Lace Petticoat
If you sew a lot, especially if you sew historical costumes, you’ll have to sew a placket sooner or later. Most plackets aren’t difficult to make but there are some things to keep in mind.
Learn what placket to use for what purpose and to sew six types of historical plackets: hemmed placket, bound placket, extension placket, continuous bound placket, faced placket and a placket in a flat felled seams. Continue reading 6 Ways How To Sew A Placket – Historical Sewing
This refashioned Edwardian lace slip was my Edwardian combination before! 😉 The Edwardian combination was one of my first Edwardian sewing projects so it wasn’t historically correct. The seams were just zigzagged, velvet trim was never used on Edwardian underwear and never in this way. On top of that, I also made a mistake when cutting out the combination suit so there was an ugly zigzagged join down the front of the drawers part. And because of all that I didn’t like it anymore and never wore it. But the fabric was still good. Therefore I decided to refashion it into something I’d like and wear! Continue reading Refashioned Edwardian Lace Slip
‘Every well groomed woman is very particular to see that outside garments fit without wrinkles and with a glove-like appearance across the hips and back. […] The fitted princess slip has come into use to overcome this difficulty’ (School Sewing Based On Home Problems, 1916).
I’m currently sewing an Edwardian lace lingerie dress and I made this Edwardian princess slip to wear underneath. Princess slips were an alternative to a separate petticoat and corset cover (camisole) in the 1900s. Because princess slips fit smoothly over the body and don’t have a seam at the waist they were considered superior to underwear with waist seams. But they are also more difficult to make than a separate petticoat and camisole! 😉 Continue reading Edwardian Princess Slip
The Edwardian shirtwaist costume was the most practical everyday attire. A shirtwaist costume consisted of a tailored skirt and a separate shirtwaist blouse.
‘With a good black skirt and two or three well made, neat and stylish shirt waists we can always manage to look well dressed.’ (San Francisco Call, 1905)
Shirtwaist costumes were basics in every Edwardian woman’s wardrobe: She could wear it every day for almost any occasion! My version of an Edwardian shirtwaist costume consist of a tailored black wool trumpet skirt, a white cotton shirtwaist (blouse), a patent leather belt with metal belt buckle, a leather chatelaine bag with metal chatelaine hook, a black tie and hair ribbon and a pink rayon taffeta petticoat – all parts of the outfit are made by me. 🙂 Continue reading Edwardian Shirtwaist Costume
The Edwardian era is my favorite historical era at the moment, that’s why I made another piece of Edwardian underwear! 😀 You could call this piece of lingerie a slip, chemise, princess slip or princess petticoat. And in the Edwardian era, it was also called ‘combination chemise and short petticoat’. It combined the corset cover and short under petticoat into one garment and was usually worn over the chemise and corset. Continue reading Edwardian Slip With Lace Inserts – History Bounding
Learn how to dye with fresh woad leaves without using hazardous chemicals.
After dyeing cotton fabric & clothes blue with red cabbage and black beans, my next natural dye experiment is dyeing cotton fabric blue with homegrown fresh woad leaves. However, I don’t want to use the common woad vat with hazardous chemicals. So after some internet research I found 5 promising natural woad dye recipes without hazardous chemicals: Two of them are traditional fermentation vats, one uses stale urine, one uses salt and one uses vinegar. Continue reading 5 Ways How To Dye With Fresh Woad Leaves
In the past, indigo, woad and pastel (a variety of woad) was used to dye wool and cotton fabric blue. Indigo and woad dye are different from other natural dyes because the dye isn’t water soluble: you have to make a vat. Today, chemicals are used to make a quick vat. In the past, however, it was usually a fermentation vat using different ingredients like bran, madder, yeast, weld, molasses, urine, potash and lime. Continue reading How To Dye With Woad & Indigo – Historical Dye Recipes