This late Victorian early Edwardian shirtwaist was made using a pattern from a Victorian drafting manual. The fabric was a course cotton that I bleached from beige to cream. The pleats were first basted into place then sewn. Shirtwaists in this era would usually have a collar but I have found an extant shirt like this one so I think it is fine.

I did a swirl embroidery pattern around the neckline since I had made a different that I was basing this one off of. That shirt had embroidery around the neckline so I copied that too. The main reason I didn’t like that shirt was that it was too short and it didn’t have sleeves. So I added those things to this one.

The sleeves are made of a puffy top sleeve and a tighter cuff that reaches to the mid forearm. This style of sleeve was popular in the early 1890s. The cuff fastens shut with seven buttons and hand sewn button holes on each sleeve.

The back closes with a three inch slit and two buttons and button holes. Shirts in the Victorian era would button all the way down back and I have not found any images of only a slit at the top, but back closures were still a thing so I think it is good enough.

This skirt was made out of two yards of wool that I found at a thrift store. It was lined with black cotton since the wool is slightly see through. The cotton was flat-lined to the wool with long basting stitches to secure the layers together until the seams were stitched. If you sew them together with no basting you might get puckers, or pooling at the hem. The pattern for this skirt is from an Edwardian pattern book called the voice of fashion. It is scaled up using rulers that correspond to your waist measurement to get the correct fit.

The seams were sewn together then felled down to cover the raw edges. Skirts in this time were often just overcast of left raw, but the wool I was using was very prone to fraying so I decided to fell the edges this time.

The skirt was then sewn to the waist band which I made slightly wider then usual just for a different look. I did one box-pleat at the back and sewed in the hooks and eyes.

I let the skirt hang for a couple days for any bias edges to stretch before I installed the final hem. The facing was cut out of this stiff canvas fabric then sewn to the skirt only catching the lining and not the outer fabric. The black twill tape was sewn to the hem to prevent the hem edge from wear since the tape extends an eighth inch past the actual hem.

I made this skirt pattern by scaling one up from an 1890s pattern book which has original patterns taken from Victorian magazines and books. The skirt has seven panels to give a very full silhouette. The main fabric is a cotton blue and white herringbone suiting. Each piece was flat-lined with tarlatan which was used in the Victorian era to give more shape to things such as skirts or sleeves. The specific name for this kind of skirt is a walking skirt, which might have a skirt, waistcoat, and jacket set of the same fabric for going out.

On the right hand side I added a pocket which I drafted from an 1898 sewing manual. I used the pear shaped pocket on page 152. in Bertha Banners “Household Sewing with Home Dress Making.” You can find it for free on Google Books.

The back was pleated into the narrow waistband, the top of which is running stitched to make it lie flatter.

The seams were overcast which means that you just do whip stitches over the raw edges to prevent fraying. You can see the tarlatan flat-lining and the bottom ten inches get an extra layer to help achieve that flare at the bottom of 1890s skirts. There is also a band of extra fabric at the hem to reinforce it and prevent wear at the hem.

This dress is intended to be a dress inspired by the 18th century but be for more everyday wear. The pattern is one I drafted from Patterns of Fashion 1. The only deviance from the original pattern I made is the shorter skirt length.

The back is made of multiple panels and one which has a tuck to make it appear like there is another panel. It closes with a zipper in the back unlike the originals which close in the front with pins.

The bodice is flat-lined which means that the outer fabric and lining are treated as one piece. The outer fabric is stiffened with fusible interfacing, although this would not have been done in the period as this would have been worn over stays which would have provided the stiffness. The edges are felled down to prevent fraying. The raw edges were not felled to prevent bulk.

The sleeves of the 18th century were not sewn in like they are today. They would be sewn first to bodice armscye then sewn to the shoulder strap lining with several pleats at the back. Then the outer shoulder strap would be sewn on top of the lining and at the same time conceal the raw edges. This provided the fashionable 18th century shape of the shoulders being pulled back.

The trim was made by cutting two inch strips of cream chiffon them doing whip gathers down the center. The edges were fray checked since polyester chiffon cannot be easily roll-hemmed with out it fraying into oblivion. Though obviously people in the 18th century did not have fray check. The trim was added to the neckline and the sleeve edges.

The front has is cut away to reveal the white layer underneath. This was common in the 18th century especially with court gowns. Then it would have been a separate garment under the dress but for mine it is connected at the side seam.

The skirt is knife pleated into the bodice and they are whipped together from the inside. Then the garment is completed.

This dress was made as a 1950s circle skirt out of some polar bear flannel that used to be a bedsheet.

I cut out two half circles and sewed them together. I ended up having to gather the back slightly to fit the waist band.

A pocket was sewn into each side and the pattern was made by roughly tracing my hand and then adding room for snacks. It closes with three hooks and eyes.

The side seams were hand felled and to get a neat hem on a circle skirt without any bunching you have to use a facing. I cut mine out, machine stitched it to the bottom of the skirt right sides together, then flipped it to the inside and hand whip stitched it to the inside of the skirt.