Lauren Stowell - The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking: How to Hand Sew Georgian Gowns and Wear Them with Style

The
AMERICAN DUCHESS
Guide to

18th Century
Dressmaking

How to Hand Sew Georgian Gowns and Wear Them with Style

Lauren Stowell

Founder of American Duchess

And

Abby Cox

The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the authors copyright, please notify the publisher at: http://us.macmillanusa.com/piracy.

This book is dedicated to all the nameless dressmakers and milliners throughout history. Thank you.

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the wild world of eighteenth-century historical costuming. Within these pages we will take you on a dressmaking journey through the Georgian era, helping you to learn about, create and dress in four types of gowns and their accessories.

Our goal with The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmakingis to turn our research and experience into an accessible book that will take you from your first project to that fabulous finished ensemble. We encourage you to use our instructions stitch-for-stitch or as jumping-off points for creating outfits that represent your unique style.

Finally, when we set out to write this book, we wanted above all else to show how fun and exciting the eighteenth century can be. Though it might seem intimidating, we knowyou can do it!

Stay fabulous and sew fearlessly!

The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmakingis divided into four beefy chapters, each representing a different type of gown common in the eighteenth century. Weve also included the accompanying accessories, or millinery, needed to create a full, accurate ensemble for each gown. You will find caps, hats, aprons, mitts, kerchiefs, muffs and more, plus a section at the end of each chapter showing how to get fully dressed in all the wonderful things you just made. Our intent is to illustrate how important the combination of all of these pieces is in creating that stepped out of a portrait look.

All of the projects in this book are hand sewn with period-correct methods, which differ greatly from modern techniques. Scary though it may be, we encourage you to learn and follow the hand-stitching techniques. For Georgian gowns, these methods genuinely make construction easier, and the resulting gown and accessories are more accurate, attractive and well-made than those sewn on a machine. Time-consuming? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely.

With hand sewing in mind, you will notice that we use thread of two different weights. The choice to use quilter weight (#30) thread for our seams and bodice construction and the more normal weight (#50) for hems and finer sewing, follows the same decisions made by eighteenth-century dressmakers. You will also notice that we used silk almost exclusively, but it is just as accurate to use cotton or linen thread for your gown construction.

Weve chosen linen for all the gown linings in this book, as it was ubiquitous in its use as lining fabric for womens gowns during the eighteenth century. While we talk about the benefits of linen as a textile , using linen for your linings will help provide a stable and authentic structure for your gowns.

Finally, we have not included patterns or instructions for making your own stays (corset). Stay making is a complicated and time-consuming endeavor that warrants even more publications than what already exist. For every gown in this book, we wear a different style of stay, essential in creating the specific silhouette of each time period. Though we could not include stay making here, you willneed to have stays before making your gown.

Just remember to have fun, be bold and sew without fear!

While we all strive to be as historically accurate as possible, sometimes modernity and life make it borderline impossible. For example, one of the biggest issues with eighteenth-century dressmaking is finding the balance between paper patterns and draping.