The Vintage Nerd Sews

There is a lot of content here, so I'm breaking this up into three separate posts. Two will be on the gown itself; the third will be on the accessories I made to wear with it. And now to the good stuff! When we visited Williamsburg, I knew I wanted to pick up some of the reproduction fabric they sell. I chose the Serpentine Vine cotton, and got 5 yards, enough to make a simple gown. You can see here on their site the comparison between the reprint and the original fabric--it's remarkably close! By the Monday after our trip, I already knew what I wanted to do with the cotton: a round gown, using the one from Fitting & Proper as my guide. As my sewing machines were both giving me trouble at this time, I decided that this would be an excellent opportunity to sew a gown 100% by hand--no machine sewing at the skirt side seams or anywhere else I would usually "cheat." I also decided that just for fun, I'd also track my time spent on making this gown from start to ...

We spent the weekend visiting the place I've dreamed of visiting since I was ten years old and first read an American Girl book: Colonial Williamsburg. Friday night, we walked around the campus of William & Mary and the main street of Colonial Williamsburg while the sun set. Even though it was excruciatingly hot on Saturday, we made it all day walking around and seeing almost all of the historical village. The buildings were beautiful, the interpreters were knowledgeable, and the food was excellent. Wren Hall at the College of William & Mary  The Governor's Palace at night       I was a little worried as we drove down to Virginia that I had built up this experience in my mind over the last 20 years, and that it wouldn't be that interesting after all. I was also worried, looking at the weather, that if I didn't wear my 18th century garments on the day we planned to tour things, it wouldn't be the same if I got photos another day. Both worries were truly silly...

For my second gown, a working class gown for summer, I went with the Angelica gown pattern by Scroop and Virgil's Fine Goods again. The fabric is a gorgeous striped linen from Burnley and Trowbridge. This was my big splurge for spring, and 100% worth it. I got just enough to cut out the gown, and I'm not joking when I say I had ribbons left over. I did my best to balance economy of cut and match the stripes, and somehow I was successful. I have enough room in the hem that if I decide to dress this up for a more middle class impression, I can easily bring the hem down to achieve that look. The first step in assembling the gown, and my favorite. I love the elegant lines of the center back pieces.   Bodice assembly underway! Trying to pleat the skirt and do justice to the stripes was the most difficult and time consuming part. I did this two times before I called it good. I have the most helpful assistants. I mean, just look at how helpful.   The initial finished product   ...

Jacket, bedgown, shortgown. There seems to be a lot of overlap in both definition and construction with these short, everyday pieces to cover the torso. In fact, the more I researched, the more confusing it got. Buckle up folks, because this is going to be a long one. Disclaimer: I am not a professional researcher! But I have been doing a lot of searching of museum databases, books, and asking questions of those who know more than me. I'm continuing to do a research deep dive, and will be sharing my findings in an upcoming post. For now, I want to be sure that I have something to wear to Williamsburg at the end of the month, so I need something. But what?  In a fit of impatience, I went ahead and made up view C from J.P. Ryan's jacket pattern, and I have to say, I'm pleased with the fit. I'm long-waisted, and this typically means adding between .75 and 1.25 inches to most patterns I make between underbust and waist. This is part of why my first shortgown was such a di...

Pincushions were a valuable tool in the 18th century, when most people made and repaired their own clothing. These little keepers of pins are prevalent in art of the time, often found hanging from aprons and waistbands. We see two main types: pin balls and pin pillows. They can be simple or elaborate, but they all serve the same purpose. Below are images of a few surviving examples. All of these happen to be embroidered, but not all were. Some pin balls had a silver band to join the two halves, and others had ribbon.   Pinball, 1750-1800, Winterthur Museum. This pinball is embroidered on both sides. Pincushion, 1770-1800, Manchester Art Gallery Embroidered pincushion, 1770-1780, Colonial Williamsburg I went to a couple of different sources for making this practical 18th century tool. The information and photos on Kozy Kitty's tutorial were really valuable in helping me visualize how the pin ball came together, even though I opted not to embroider mine. You can find the blog po...

Reenacting and historical costuming is marked by the growing, improving, and continuous learning you do. With my journey into the 18th century in particular, I've focused on balancing research and creating. It's easy for me to get "analysis paralysis" and stuck in a researching spiral without ever accomplishing. I'm proud of the fact that I've not allowed myself to do that as I've pursued this project. However, it means re-making things as I learn more about what an item should look like and as my own skills improve. Previously, it was my stays; now I've redone my cap.  I used the same pattern and the same fully hand-sewn construction techniques as before. My first cap was made of cotton organza, and there is nothing wrong with that. It looked nice, and from what I have been able to learn, would be appropriate for an upper-middle class impression. However, I'm focusing on a working class or lower-middle class impression, where a cap out of a simple...