1770's Round Gown

So here is my latest project. I have made the entire ensemble that a typical, middle class woman in the 1770's might have worn.

Starting here with my shift. The cotton isn't exactly accurate, but the fine hand is appropriate for the period. The shape and construction is also accurate except for the machine sewing. It is quite sheer…which is why my modern panties are visible :p

Bad Blogger...

I've been a bad blogger lately, and I am sorry *sad face*. Life has been incredibly busy these past few months.
I graduated college with a Bachelor's degree in Marketing in 3 years instead of 4.
I got engaged to my boyfriend of almost 5 years. Therefore, I am starting to plan our wedding, which will be next May.
I plan to sew my own wedding dress! So I have been scouring Pinterest and the internet for inspiration.
I've been halfheartedly looking for a job, as I currently work part time. I have been offered a full time position where I work currently, but I will continue to look for a job in my field.
On top of all that, we have also been looking for a place to move into on our own, which is hit or miss in the area where I live.
My most recent project is complete, I just need to get pictures of it to put up here.
So there's my life in a nutshell! I have continued to sew through it all.

The Stays are Finished!

It took me a very long time, but I am happy to announce that I have finally finished my 1780's stays!
Ignore the fact that this is a bad mirror selfie and that I'm wearing a modern tank top underneath…they are done and I am happy :D
I'll have to do a more extensive photo shoot once I finish the chemise I plan to wear underneath.

Halfway There

I've been steadily working away on my new set of stays. I worked each panel by hand, boned them, and then whipstitched the seam allowances down on the inside. I then whipstitched the pieces together. The result is a very sturdy seam.

A New Project

I have been reading the Outlander book series by Diana Gabaldon for the past several months. That being said, I was inspired to make a dress appropriate to the 1700's. I have absolutely nothing from the period, so this is another start-from-the-ground-up ensemble.

First things first: I need stays in order to achieve the correct shape for the period. I have Norah Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines, so I looked through and found stays from the 1780's. I figured the shape would be fairly appropriate for most of the mid- to late-1700's if I ever decided to branch out, so I got to work enlarging the pattern.
I made a quick mock up and the pattern pretty much fit me as-is. The only modifications I made were to add a bit of room to the bust, raise the top edge of the stays slightly (things would be a bit dicey otherwise), and to remove one waist tab to make the waist smaller.
These stays are for practice to test the fit, but they will be a working pair of stays. I have ordered period appropriate linen and reed to hand stitch the next pair based on these practice stays.
I also ordered the fabric for my robe, but that's another post.

A Knit Dress

I've been super busy with my final semester of school! I did find some time a few weeks back to make this simple knit dress, though.
It always seems to be the "Simple" and "Easy" patterns that I dislike the most.

A Simplicity Shirt-Dress

So for the first project with my new sewing machine, I went to my local Joann's and looked through a couple patterns catalogues. I picked out several patterns, but I chose to make this cute shirt-dress first.

I chose to make view B with view A's sleeves.