Well it’s been a couple months now since we announced the writing of our 18th century sewing book, which now has an official title: “The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking: How to Hand Sew Georgian Gowns and Wear Them With Style.”
In the past two months we have been sewing *like mad.* We weren’t given very much time to write this thing, to be honest – about four months once the table of contents was approved. The scope is….big, to say the least. We’re doing four different gowns in four chapters, and also accompanying those gowns are accurate accessories to make up a complete outfit.
So far we’ve made two of our four ensembles – the 1740s English Gown and the 1790s Round Gown. It’s been quite the adventure, cracking the construction of original garments and photographing every step and stitch along the way as we construct the dresses using all original methods. “Just doing it” is one thing, but having to photograph and explain it in a way that makes sense has been challenging.
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| Yes, we’re teasing you…. |
As we turn the page on 2017, we’re right back at it on the most complex and time-intensive of the chapters: the 1760s Sacque. Luckily, though, there’s now three of us on the project – Maggie from Undressing the Historical Lady is arriving this week to double our stitch-speed.
So while we can’t show you official-ness from the book yet, we wanted to give you an update and let you know how excited we are, despite the short time frame. In the words of Simon Sinek, “working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress; working hard for something we love is called passion.”
