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  • Should You Always Wear a Bum Pad for 18th Century Dress?

    May 21, 2019

    The split bum, perfect for 1776 – 1790s, worn with polonaise and Italian gowns. This is particularly effective for gowns with the skirts pulled up. From the American Duchess Guide.  Ah, bum…

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  • Ikea Costuming 101 – Making Historical Gowns with Duvet Covers, Curtains, and Sheets

    May 13, 2019

    The Italian Gown from “The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking” was made with one LJUSÖGA Queen size duvet cover from Ikea. Accurate printed cottons are very difficult to find. Usually…

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  • 1780-81 Glasgow Polo-Sacque Fiddling

    May 7, 2019

    Progress! This past weekend I made a lot of good progress on my version of the 1780 – 1781 Polonaise-Sacque Jacket. I am always so very chuffed by how quickly sacque-back things…

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  • Making A Start: The 1780-81 Glasgow Polo-Sacque Jacket Progress

    May 1, 2019

    A quick mockup – feeling excited! At last, and for the first time in 2019, I am sitting down to sew something! The first four months of this year have been taken…

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  • How to Scale Up Gridded Sewing Patterns with Adobe Photoshop

    April 3, 2019

    If you’ve been into historical costuming for any amount of time, you will be familiar with many a book featuring gridded (or scaled) sewing patterns. The Tudor Tailor, Patterns of Fashion (all…

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  • The Curious Polonaise-Sacque Jacket

    January 16, 2019

    1780-81 jacket – Glasgow Museums Collection – 1932.51.o January is Costume A-D-D time. A whole new year lies ahead and we are all brimming with project ideas. Some I’ve even started and…

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  • 1790 Redingote Inspiration and Percolation

    October 22, 2018

    Redingote, c. 1790, LACMA M2009.120 Friends, I haven’t wanted to sew for awhile. Burn-out is a real thing, especially failing miserably on the last two 18th century gowns I tried to make…

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  • Spring2019 – A New Pattern for Simplicity – 1790s Gown and Open Robe!

    October 18, 2018

    Ann Frankland Lewis – 1794. LACMA I’m excited to officially announce that we’ve developed another new historical dress pattern for Simplicity! Since first partnering with Simplicity several years ago I’ve learned so…

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  • The State of the Book (2) Address

    September 14, 2018

    Abby works on Cynthia’s (Redthreaded) hair while I photographs each step for “The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Beauty,” coming July 2019. Hi! I’ve been a pretty terrible blogger again this…

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  • The Eternal Sunshine of the 18th Century Gown

    August 23, 2018

    This year at Costume College it really was all very, very yellow This year I kindof copped out at the Costume College Gala…but in a very Georgian way. I can’t really say…

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  • The Green Goblin – 1790s Dress – For Real This Time

    August 8, 2018

    Nicole, me, and Samantha in our Regency gowns at Costume College 2018 I promised finished-dress-worn photos of this little devil of a 1790s project, so here goes… I was quite pleased and…

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  • Jane Austen Festival, 2018

    July 24, 2018

    Maggie, Abby, and Nicole looking gorgeous at Jane Austen Festival, 2018 Jane Austen Festival in Louisville, Kentucky, marks the center point of the year. This event always takes place in mid-July at…

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  • A Little History of “Sophie” 18th Century Mules

    July 13, 2018

    The Laundress, 1761, by Greuze Mules! (AKA Slippers!) Did you know that mules were incredibly common in the 18th century? Women of all social classes wore them in various materials (silk, wool,…

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  • The Green Goblin: A 1790s Round Gown

    July 9, 2018

    The remainder…. It’s a few days before Jane Austen Festival in Louisville, Kentucky, and I’ve stitched the last stitch of a new gown for this year’s event. And what a horror it…

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  • What Are Those Knobbles on 1790s Stays?

    May 7, 2018

    From “Corsets and Crinolines” by Norah Waugh – see those nobbles? What are those nobbles for? Read on…  Have you ever wondered about those weird round knobbles and pads on late 1780s-1790s…

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  • Book Signing Soiree at Lacis Museum of Lace & Textiles

    April 20, 2018

    This past weekend we popped over The Hill down to Berkeley to visit on of our favorite shops *ever* – Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles. We were honored to be invited…

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  • The Creature Reborn – Retrimming the Pink Polonaise

    April 17, 2018

    Once upon a time I made a pink taffeta polonaise and trimmed it in organza, a very 1770s thing to do. At the time, I tried hand roll hemming and found it…

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  • 1765 Robe a la Bon Bon – Progress on the Gown

    April 9, 2018

    The sacque back is looking swell I’ve been sewing on-and-off on my new sacque for a few weeks now. I only have the weekends to fiddle these days, but luckily progress happens…

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  • 1760s Robe a la Bon Bon – The Petticoat

    April 2, 2018

    Finished sacque petticoat over pocket hoops I’ve been steadily progressing on my new sacque, using the Simplicity 8578 Robe a la Francaise pattern we released December 2017. Since I already had pocket…

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  • A *New* 1760s Robe a la Bon Bon (or Sacque-a-Macarons?)

    February 27, 2018

    I have a confession to make. I admit to feeling quite jealous whenever I see Abby dressed in the pink and white 1768 sacque from The American Duchess Guide. To me, that…

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