Wednesday, January 27, 2010

She Stooped...and Conquered: A Riding Habit and Quilted Petticoat


Once again, the seamstress and authoress behind the Rockin' the Rococo blog has produced detailed diaries documenting her creation of two complex and difficult-to-make eighteenth-century garments, a riding habit and a quilted petticoat.

Her garments were designed from extant examples, hand sewn by daylight or candlelight, in conditions she kept as close to the experience of an eighteenth-century mantua maker as she could manage, and with fabrics and methods as close as possible to those used in the period.

The results are astonishing, particularly the petticoat.

Further, the documentation is among the best-written and photographed I have ever encountered, and could be treated as a short course in creating eighteenth-century dress.

Photo: Carolyn's hand-sewn silk and wool petticoat, with wool batting.

2 comments:

The Dreamstress said...

Oh *drool* That petticoat is just divine! I have hopes of making one myself, though I might not go as far as candlelight.

ZipZip said...

My hopes for such a petticoat are for far into the future...sigh.

Oh, and I've already hastened the decay of my close-up vision, am pretty sure, with too many eensy-weensy hand-sewn stitches made by incandescent bedside light. As of this week, am sporting glasses, a first for me, and alackaday, I went from 20-20 vision straight to bifocals!

Very best,

Natalie in Kentucky
who says, at least the glasses are pink