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
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
I’m currently making some historybounding or cottagecore dresses. The dresses are inspired by historical fashion. However, they are still modern enough so that I can wear them today as summer dresses. 😀 This is one of my historybounding dresses: It’s inspired by 18th century dresses. Continue reading Modern 18th Century Dress – Historybounding Dress
I started the handwoven dress with a cone of beige cotton weaving yarn: I wove the yarn into fabric, washed it, dyed it and then sewed it into a dress. It was a lot of work but I love how my handwoven dress from scratch turned out! 😀 Continue reading How To Make A Handwoven Dress From Scratch
Because my modern 18th century recycled denim stays turned out so comfy I made another DIY corset top! 😀 This time I used handwoven fabric in blue and white for my corset top. The corset top laces up the back and is closed with hooks and eyes at the center front. It’s constructed using lapped seams and the old German stitch (also known as baseball stitch), and it’s unboned except for the two necessary bones at the back. Continue reading Handwoven Corset Top
Sew a simple unboned historical peasant bodice with front lacing for historical reenactment or as modern cottagecore lace-up corset top!
In the past, peasants and other working women often wore simple unboned bodices or lightly boned stays. My historical working woman stays are based on antique rural stays. This historical peasant bodice features a low neckline, shoulder straps, spiral lacing at the center front and princess seams at the back. You can make it completely unboned or just lightly boned. Continue reading How To Sew A Historical Peasant Bodice
Because the post about my handsewn Edwardian rayon taffeta dip waist belt is so popular, I’ve written a tutorial how you can make your own Edwardian dip waist belt! 😀 Continue reading How To Make An Edwardian Dip Waist Belt
All these handsewing stitches are similar but they’re not the same! Overhand stitch, overcast stitch, whip stitch and hem stitch – these four stitches are all slanting handsewing stitches. But do you know the difference? Continue reading Overhand, Overcast, Hem & Whip Stitch – What’s The Difference
Learn how to sew an Edwardian-style bra that is so comfy you can wear it instead of a modern bra! 😀 Continue reading How To Sew An Edwardian-Style Bra