A sewing friend gifted me a pair of sheer voile curtains. She’d intended sew a robe chemise but there wasn’t enough fabric, so she reckoned she’d see what I could make with them instead. One became a ruffled 1780s apron and the other became a white muslin summer mantelet!
One of my favorite 18th Century costume references is a portrait by Sir Nathanial Dance-Tolland. I love the puffy blue stomacher bows. I love the enormous pearls worn high on her neck. I love her pet squirrel. But mostly I love the lace mantelet that she is wearing over the top of all of it. While less heavily textured, this embroidered silk gauze from FabricGuru has such a similar scale and vibe to the fabric in the portrait that I reckoned it was MEANT. I would make the blonde silk gauze mantelet from the portrait!
Last spring at a workshop, I came across a silk sultana hanging on a peg. I tried it on – and I wanted it. I didn’t NEED one, so of course I immediately went fabric shopping and found a piece of suitable-enough silk shantung – just enough of it for a midnight purple silk sultana.
My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen! I had been visiting with a Miss W– (lately removed to Virginia from the newly declared Republic of Chile) and together we attended a small – and very select – card party!
In the collection of the Victoria & Albert museum in London, there is a stunning antique Portuguese brooch. Thanks to an aliexpress seller who likes the piece as much as I do, today we’re going to make our very own 18th Century Stomacher Brooch!
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it another wrapping gown? It’s the Fitting and Proper Chintz Banyan! Let’s talk about how to put it together.
It began with fiberfill – fiberfill and a dream. Mr Tabubil was getting one serious Christmas present – the biggest, most giant-est Christmas Squid ever seen in Santiago.
An 18th Century short-gown is the same sort of garment as a bed gown, except, well… shorter.
Sort of. Mostly. Sometimes.
In which I take my 1790s printed cotton round gown, and this time, I finally get it all right!
In which I sew a 1790s printed cotton round gown, and make some really REALLY dumb technical decisions.
