Category Archives: General

1780´s Redingote for WGT 2019 /

Preparing for the WGT 2019 I bought some meters of a brown striped taffeta fabric. It was mentioned to become a coat and trousers for my husband. But when I was finished, I still had 6m of that fabric left. First I was thinking of a steampunk inspired bustle dress, but reflecting this idea several days I decided to make a 1780´s Redingote dress matching with my husband´s 1780´s suit.

As usual I tried to make lots of pics during the sewing process and as I really love the dress, it became the first sewing pattern for a series of 18th century patterns. Please don’t be impatient, I´ll try to launch some of the new patterns this year (including some men´s patterns).

This tutorial should help to facilitate the sewing process of the Redingote, some things will be slightly different as described in the sewing pattern. Pictures and a tutorial for the petticoat are missing.

Here you see the bodice from lining, all parts sewn together and the seam allowances pressed open. Every seam is covered with a boning channel, I made mine from twill tape. The side seams are curved, filling that channels with plastic boning serves, but with a stronger bend I´ll recommend not to follow the seams anymore. Let the channel run straight towards the shoulder seam.

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How to get small, regular pleats on 17th or 18th century skirts

For small folds (minimum ¼” (5mm)), measure the distance of the waistband or bodice section, where you want to attach the skirt.

Let´s say 35cm for an 18th century robe a l´Anglaise. Determine the width of folds and therefore the number of folds – with a width of 5mm there would be 70 folds each side (that makes a total of 140! folds).

Measure along the top edge of the skirt, from center back to the front edge, subtract about 1” from this measurement (e.g. 138cm-2cm=136cm). Divide this measurement by the number of folds (136cm/70=1,9cm). This is how much fabric each folds contains. Transfer that measurements to the wrong side of the top edge of the skirt. Mark the fold´s width (5mm) beside. As a rule, the skirt width has to be minimum three times the distance at the bodice/waistband.

In this sample I wanted to gather 45cm into 10cm, with pleats of 5mm. That means I divided 45cm by 20, that is 2,25cm for each fold. On the picture above I marked this 2,25cm at the wrong fabric side along the top edge. On the picture below, I marked the fold´s width of 5mm beside.

Sew two rows of gathering stitches with a thicker thread on both sides of the seamline. Above you see the wrong side, below the right fabric side of the skirt with the gathering threads already stitched.

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A Muff Tutorial (Georgian, Regency, Victorian….)

I muff is an accessory which you never should omit wearing an historical fall/winter costume. The advantages are obvious. You´ll never get cold hands and you can hide all that things a modern women needs, like your car keys and of course your cell phone! With a cord or a loop attached to secure the muff around your neck or wrist you get your hands free.

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An 1830´s Frock Coat Part 3

Part 1 

Part 2 

The sleeve cuff shown here is different to the cuff described in the sewing instructions, but similar.
Sew together top and under sleeve along the front sleeve seam and attach the interlining with basting treads. In the sewing instruction, the interfacing reaches the bottom edge. Underneath you can see the cuff pined along the bottom edge, right sides together. I decided to use the fashion fabric for the cuff with raw edges to avoid bulk with that heavy fabric.

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For that reason I used a cotton fabric for lining the cuff. The cuff lining is cut with seam allowances, these are turned in and pressed. The two layers are joined narrow by the edge with small stitches. Better than shown on the pics would have been to stitch down the vent facing (left side) and seam allowance (right side) first.IMG_4434IMG_4437

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An 1830´s Frock Coat Part 1

My new sewing pattern is now available on Etsy. Therefore I want to show you some additional pictures to facilitate your sewing process. I´d try to show you historical sewing techniques and processing, so again many hand stitches will be necessary.
The instructions and pictures here in my blog are deviating from the illustrations in the sewing instructions, because the sewing pattern still was under the way at that time. My Frock Coat has got a lapel and collar from a cheaper pile fabric, this can be basted compared to real velvet, without showing stitching lines after removing the basting threads.
The lapel isn´t cut on, but sewn on as usual at that time.

 

 Here you can see the front part, with the already sewn on lapel. The interfacing is lined up with the front and basted. You barely can see the pad stitched lapel.

 

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