Everyone who loves creating historically-inspired garments, at some point or another, will want to improve their skills in the accuracy department. As we are all on various creative journeys, this urge falls upon us at different times and with diverse intensity. For some, the “accuracy thing” hits as soon as we sign up with a Read More...
Tag: Skirt
Ruffle Calculations for Height Differences
Have you ever made up a pattern with skirt ruffles, and then when you saw it on yourself it was, like, “Holy Smokes! I’m drowning in those ruffles! They are way too large for my short height.” Or perhaps you are quite tall and skirts seem never-ending in their length. Then you carefully mount a Read More...
Selecting the Correct Bustle to Create the 1870s or 1880s Silhouette You Want
Scrolling through the hundreds of photos of Bustle Era dresses and patterns makes you wonder – so just what goes under that dress to make that silhouette? How does that skirt get into that shape? This period is all about the skirt! It is what defines this era and further divides it into three distinct Read More...
Cleaning & Storing the Costumes We Make
If you’ve been making costumes for any length of time you KNOW the space they take up in the house… the closets… the garage… the bathroom… under the bed… How does a flat bit of fabric suddenly need a stretch limo to take it home? Or its own bedroom to pout in? And what happens Read More...
1887 Summer Berry Trifle Dress
Back in January 2013 I declared it was to be the Year of the Striped and Plaid Bustle Dresses. (Have you participated yet?) During the Fall 2012 session of the Bustle Day Dress Online Class someone had posted a link to striped fabrics over at Farmhouse Fabrics. [insert dream time and drool here…] Through a Read More...
How to Sew Cartridge Pleats
This tutorial is dedicated to Corinne Pleger who taught me the beauty of cartridge pleating in July 2000. Cartridge pleats are eye-catching! Neat little pleats stacked in a row, stitched together and standing at attention. Those little pleats do a heck of job too with getting an enormous amount of skirt fabric into a tiny Read More...
Before Frosting You Must First Bake the Cake!
I’ve been sewing for so long (nearly 30 years!) that all the prep work that goes into a garment seems boring to me. You know… washing, ironing, sewing endless straight seams on underskirts, hems, etc…. Apparently I forget that all the work that goes into creating the foundation of the silhouette IS what’s so important Read More...
5 Tips to Keep Your Cartridge Pleats from Looking Like Gathers
I hate cartridge pleats! Box pleats, fine! Knife pleats, piece of cake, but gauging? Looks like I gathered it & slapped it on. What am I doing wrong? ~ Sylvia Shope Byers Sylvia’s frustration was pouring through her Facebook message. “I’m trying to make them small and lovely, but I might be making them too Read More...