Mantua Part 1: A Flannel Petticoat

There’s a certain thrill to diving in to a new historical era of costuming, and that’s exactly what this mantua project was going to be- a puzzling, but fantastic thrill! Mantua’s are this interesting shift in the world of dressmaking that saw a move away from stiff boned bodices to these loosely draped gowns. This […]

A Romantic Era Corded Corset

Ah, the bright naive days of early 2020… That time of such great innocence, when we were all making plans for a totally-normal, definitely-not-a-global-pandemic year scheduled with packed events full of hugging our friends and family without a second thought. *sigh* Early 2020 saw me tackling a project that had long been featuring on the […]

So… what’s with the name?

I’m asked this question often, and, well, the answers requires a bit of a story…. (pauses dramatically). A nerdy story. When I’m not researching and reproducing historical sewing, one of my other great loves is linguistics. My first language is English, but I did the majority of my schooling from kindergarten onwards was in French, […]

The Final Details- 1876 Gown

Welcome to a quick visual tour of the inside of my completed 1876 gown in silk faille. As a dressmaker I LOVE these types of glimpses of the actual inner working of a gown. They help me learn new and exciting techniques I can apply to my own creations. And who doesn’t love to grow […]

An 1876 Victorian Bodice

On June 1st, a month and a half before I would be wearing this Victorian outfit at Costume College, I started on the labour-intensive work of the gown’s bodice. Step 1 was cutting out the Ageless Patterns bodice pieces in a cotton muslin. I made sure to trace out and sew the darts as marked […]

An 1876 Victorian Skirt

1876 was the year I ended up deciding on after a great deal of time spent in something of a quiet and joyful Pinterest trance, flowing through image after image of museum extant garments and fashion illustrations from the period. I was finding myself drawn to the time of the First Bustle era and Natural […]