Because I wanted to try out different historical whitework and lace making techniques, I made an Edwardian hand-embroidered blouse. So my hand-embroidered mixed lace blouse is basically a wearable lace sampler! 😀
It was a lot of work to embroider the Edwardian blouse by hand – especially because I filmed the whole process – but it was also fun! I used a variety of embroidery techniques from the Edwardian era: such as broderie anglaise, hedebo embroidery, lace applique and Italian & Venetian cutwork. And I also made handmade Venetian needle lace for the first time!
Edwardian Embroidery Design Inspirations
‘There must be no more […] untrimmed [shirt] waists – that, on the contrary, our waists must have all sorts and kinds of trimming […] and hand embroideries […] that serves to make an up-to-date waist not so much a necessity as a luxury.’ (San Francisco Call, 1905)
The embroidery design of my Edwardian hand-embroidered mixed lace blouse is mainly inspired by this beautiful antique eyelet lace blouse. But because this is a 1910s blouse and I made an early Edwardian blouse, the shape of mine is quite different: for example, I made elbow-length bishop sleeves instead of the straight sleeves which only became popular in the later Edwardian era.
And I also changed the embroidery design slightly: for example, I omitted some of the whitework embroidery. And I also made fewer but larger leaves to speed up the hand embroidery. After making a hand-embroidered Edwardian eyelet lace camisole, I noticed that making some adjustments like this can speed up the hand embroidery considerably! 😉 Even though I love delicate eyelet lace, I tried to find a compromise between delicate eyelet lace and one that wouldn’t take ages to do! 😀
My eyelet embroidery is also inspired by this antique 1910s eyelet lace blouse and this beautiful ca. 1905 broderie anglaise blouse. The clover-like hedebo flowers are inspired by these 1916 hedebo clover leaves (pdf, on page 13). And the wheel-like hedebo flower motif is inspired by this antique Edwardian camisole. The Venetian cutwork clovers are inspired by this antique Edwardian camisole. And the medallion-like bobbin lace insert at the front of my Edwardian blouse is inspired by this antique Edwardian mixed lace chemise.
These were my main inspirations but my Edwardian hand-embroidered eyelet lace blouse is, of course, inspired by a lot more antique Edwardian lace blouses & lingerie which I all pinned to my pinterest boards “Antique Lace“, “1900s Lingerie” and “Edwardian Shirtwaist Costumes“.
Edwardian Blouse Pattern
I used my usual Edwardian shirtwaist pattern which is self-drafted based on antique Edwardian shirtwaist patterns. But I adapted the pattern slightly for my hand-embroidered Edwardian blouse: I made the front longer for a deeper Edwardian dip waist effect.
And I also changed the sleeves: I drafted a new pattern and made adjustments to my mock-up until I liked the shape of my new early Edwardian elbow-length bishop sleeves.
I drafted my Edwardian blouse pattern mainly based on this beautiful early Edwardian blouse with lace insertion, fagoting, pintucks and ellbow-length bishop sleeves. And the deep dip waist is inspired by this 1899 blouse.
Related: Men’s Shirt To Edwardian Blouse Refashion
The blouse is ‘beautifully embroidered by hand. […] The back of the waist is plain, except that it is tucked straight up and down. The sleeves, which are large at the top, have a design of insertion as far as the elbow, where the high cuff of […] insertion joins the puff-sleeve.’ (San Francisco Call, 1905)
What’s The Difference Between A Blouse & A Shirtwaist?
In the Edwardian era, there were bodices, blouses and shirtwaists. There’s no clear distinction between blouse and shirtwaist in the Edwardian era. However, Edwardian shirtwaists tended to be more tailored, stiffer, made of sturdier materials, with less embroidery and less fitted at the waist making ironing easier.
Edwardian blouses, on the other hand, were usually made of more expensive, thinner materials, embellished with hand embroidery and lace insertion and more fitted, either over a tight lining or with a fitted waistband. Mine would be classified as a blouse in the Edwardian era.
Materials: Cotton Batiste & Valenciennes Lace
Below is a list of all the materials I used for my Edwardian hand-embroidered blouse:
- thin white cotton batiste
- non-mercerized cotton embroidery thread – unravelled from leftover scraps of my tablecloth-turned-dress
- cotton Valenciennes lace
- vintage cotton needle lace
- vintage cotton bobbin lace
- cotton sewing thread
- real mother-of-pearl buttons
- metal snaps
- metal hooks & eyes
- paper to make the Venetian needle lace medallion & lace yoke
Edwardian Valenciennes Lace Yoke
For the lace yoke of my Edwardian lace blouse, I used cotton Valenciennes lace. Valenciennes lace was the most popular lace in the Edwardian era.
I drafted the shape of the Edwardian lace yoke based on this beautiful antique Edwardian Valenciennes lace yoke and this 1907 tape lace yoke. Click the link below to see how I made the lace yoke like in the Edwardian era:
Related: How To Make An Edwardian Lace Yoke
Related: DIY Decorated Edwardian Hat
Pintucks & Lace Inserts
The cotton needle lace for the cuffs and the bobbin lace for the insertion at the front are both vintage lace trims from my grandma’s stash. The needle lace and bobbin lace are much more delicate and soft than today’s cotton needle lace and bobbin lace trims. Unfortunately, you can no longer find such a quality anymore.
I’ve wanted to use both lace trims for years. However, I only had a small amount. So it wasn’t easy to find a suitable project to use them for. But this Edwardian mixed lace blouse was the perfect project. Since I made a Venetian needle lace medallion for the front of the blouse, the needle lace cuffs don’t look out of place. So I could finally use both vintage lace trims. I had just enough for the cuffs and the lace insert at the front. 😊
The sleeves are elbow-length bishop sleeves with Valenciennes lace inserts, pintucks and handmade broderie anglaise. I gathered the sleeves with whip stitches into needle lace cuffs.
Related: How To Attach Lace To Gathered Edge – Historical Sewing
Because most Edwardian shirtwaist blouses had tucks or pintucks at the back, I also added pintucks. I made 4 groups of 3 pintucks at the back of my blouse.
Edwardian Sewing Details
I used Edwardian sewing techniques, like flat felled seams. And I sewed the lace yoke to the blouse with overhand stitches by hand.
My Edwardian hand-embroidered blouse closes at the center back with 5 mother-of-pearl buttons. The lace yoke closes with 4 snaps. And the fitted waistband of the blouse closes with 2 hooks & eyes. The combination of buttons, snaps and hooks & eyes is the typical closure of fine Edwardian blouses.
Even though not all Edwardian blouses had a waistband – some were loose at the waist – I made a fitted waistband. Because, after making Edwardian shirtwaists with different waistbands and without waistbands, I find that a shirtwaist fits so much better with a fitted waistband. And the waistband helps to keep the blouse in place. Additionally, finer Edwardian blouses usually had some sort of waistband: an interior or exterior waistband, a fitted waist with a peplum, a drawstring casing or a fitted waistband.
The fitted waistband of my Edwardian blouse has the same shape as my Edwardian hand-embroidered belt. But the waistband of the blouse closes in the back, whereas the belt closes in the center front.
Edwardian Embroidery
To embellish my Edwardian blouse, I used a combination of various handmade lace and hand embroidery techniques that were popular around 1900: that makes my blouse a mixed lace blouse. Mixed lace blouses were popular in the Edwardian era.
‘It is odd that it is quite the mode to mix laces, but the effect is more attractive than one would suppose.’ (San Francisco Call, 1905)
Related: 50 Historical Types Of Whitework Embroidery & Needle Lace
Because many of the lace and embroidery designs changed during the ages and I wanted to make an Edwardian lace blouse, I mainly focused on lace designs and embroidery instructions that were used around 1900, like Thérèse de Dillmont’s Encyclopedia Of Needlework (1890), How To Work Embroidery Stitches (1909), Priscilla Embroidery Patterns (1915) and various other embroidery and lace making manuals that were published between the 1890s and 1910s.
Hand Embroidery
For my Edwardian mixed lace blouse I used different types of whitework embroidery, cutwork and needle lace, namely:
- broderie anglaise – also known as Madeira embroidery, English embroidery and eyelet lace
- Italian cutwork – also known as ancient cutwork (pdf, p. 51), art embroidery or old-fashioned embroidery in the Edwardian era, it is similar to broderie anglaise only with larger cut out areas
- Hedebo embroidery (pdf) aka Danish cutwork (pdf, p. 103)
Related: How To Make Hedebo Embroidery
Related: How To Make Edwardian Silk Roses
- Venetian embroidery – aka Venetian cutwork is an imitation of Venetian point lace. But venetian embroidery is cutwork unlike Venetian point which is a needle lace. Venetian embroidery is similar to Colbert embroidery, Richelieu embroidery, Renaissance embroidery, Walachian cutwork, Roman cutwork (pdf, p. 35) and Carrickmacross guipure. The difference between these historical whitework embroideries is that Venetian embroidery is often worked in high relief in imitation of Venetian needle lace – but it can also be worked flat – and the bars have picots. Colbert embroidery is made with lace filling stitches and the bars are often just a single thread. Richelieu embroidery is made without lace filling stitches and the connecting bars have picots. Whereas the connecting bars of Renaissance embroidery are made plain without picots. And the picots of Carrickmacross guipure are longer and look like thorns. The motifs of Walachian cutwork and Renaissance cutwork are filled with satin stitches. And the motifs of Roman cutwork touch each other.
Related: How To Make Venetian Cutwork & Italian Cutwork
- Edwardian net applique by hand with cotton Valenciennes lace scraps
Related: How To Make Edwardian Net Applique
Edwardian Handmade Needle Lace
Apart from the hand embroidery, I also made handmade Venetian needle lace. Even though I often do embroidery by hand, such as broderie anglaise (eyelet lace), drawn-thread work, Edwardian bermuda fagoting and tape lace. And I even once made handmade bobbin lace. But apart from my needle-woven lace corset top I haven’t made needle lace before.
Related: Needle-Woven Corset Top & 6 Other DIY Corset Top Tutorials
I’ve wanted to try making needle lace for a long time. And the medallion at the front of my Edwardian mixed lace blouse is the first piece of needle lace I made – yay! 😀 Needle lace is made with only a needle and thread (without fabric). It turns out beautiful but it takes a long time to make – no wonder it was and still is very expensive!
For my Edwardian hand-embroidered blouse I made:
- Venetian lace aka Venetian point or Punto di Venezia – which is also a needle lace like Reticella lace (aka Greek lace): Reticella lace, however, is more geometric while Venetian lace is more floral. Venetian lace is also similar to needle-point lace aka Brussels point lace: Venetian lace, however, has a greater variety of stitches and openwork according to Thérèse de Dillmont. Venetian point is a development of Punto in Aria – the first real needle lace. Needle lace is made only with close and open buttonhole stitches. There are different varieties of Venetian point lace: Gros point de Venise aka raised Venetian point or punto tagliato a foliami is worked in very high relief. Spanish point or point d’Espagne is an imitation of raised Venetian point. Rose point is a delicate, ornamental variation of raised Venetian point – the picots of rose point are more like rosettes. Coraline point, another variation, is more natural with more net ground visible than motifs. And Point plat de Venise or flat Venetian point is worked flat. I made a flat Venetian needle lace medaillon for the front of my Edwardian whitework blouse.
Related: How To Make Venetian Needle Lace
- and I used various needle lace stitches like net stitch, Greek net stitch, wheels, Diamond stitch …
Unravelled Non-Mercerized Cotton Embroidery Thread
For the hand embroidery and the Venetian needle lace on my Edwardian blouse I used unravelled cotton thread that was leftover from my refashioned crochet lace dress.
Related: Refashioned Crochet Tablecloth Dress
I used unravelled thread because I couldn’t find cotton thread that was thin enough and non-mercerized. Most embroidery threads today are mercerized (shiny) and this doesn’t look authentic. Even though mercerized embroidery threads existed back then, white embroidery threads for lace making and whitework were usually non-mercerized (matte) around 1900.
Edwardian Underwear & Accessories
I wear my Edwardian hand-embroidered mixed lace blouse with my …
- Edwardian pink gingham cotton skirt
- DIY Edwardian Hand-Embroidered Eyelet Lace Belt
- DIY Decorated Edwardian Hat with DIY Edwardian silk roses
- DIY Edwardian-style faux pearl earrings
Click the links for more photos & details about the historical costumes.
Finding the right Edwardian underwear for my Edwardian hand-embroidered blouse wasn’t easy! 😉 Because of the cutwork embroidery, I couldn’t wear any of my colored Edwardian camisoles or any of my camisoles with colored silk ribbons. And because of the large see-through Valenciennes lace yoke, I couldn’t wear any of my Edwardian chemises or camisoles without lace yokes. Even the Edwardian chemises and camisoles made of very thin cotton batiste or with hand embroidery at the front didn’t look good under the lace yoke of my Edwardian blouse.
Therefore I made another Edwardian chemise with Valenciennes lace yoke for my Edwardian hand-embroidered blouse. So there are 2 layers of Valenciennes lace yokes under the lace yoke of my blouse: one lace yoke is of the chemise and one is of the camisole.
I wear the following Edwardian underwear under my hand-embroidered Edwardian blouse:
- Edwardian chemise with Valenciennes lace yoke
- Edwardian Linen Coutil S-Bend Corset
- Edwardian lace camisole with handmade broderie anglaise (the 4th camisole)
- short Edwardian cotton petticoat with lace inserts (the 2nd petticoat)
- black cotton stockings
- Edwardian-style black leather boots
On my youtube account, I shared a dress up video of this outfit.