Stripes are awesome! (if you don’t know). And they rule fantastic designs throughout the 19th Century. What if you love stripes but the matching part terrifies you? You avoid sewing with beautiful linear patterns because you think the Stripe Matching Game is beyond your reach. I can assure you it’s not. It’s a matter of Read More...
Category: Sewing Tips
Identifying Which Way is Up on a Corset Busk
Your corset order has arrived. You rip open that box or cardboard priority mail envelope and out you pull beautiful white bones. And there’s the busk too. How pretty it looks! You examine it’s little bumps attached firmly to the steel bone. The knobs that easily fit through the rounded loops. You figure out how Read More...
How to Make Ribbon Bows for Victorian Costumes
I’ve had quite a lot of costumers ask me recently about making bows for bustle dresses. Since bows are THE Victorian trim this tutorial will work for most 19th century garments. This video tutorial will show you how to make one up quickly. Read More...
The 3-Hour Hat Non-Tutorial
Making hats is an elusive process – at least in the research portion. So anytime a tutorial pops up online showing how to make one, we rabid costumers gobble up each and every delicious photo trying to decipher which piece is what and where it goes in relation to other pieces. Well… unfortunately this is Read More...
How to Apply Boning to Darts
You may have read a recent article I wrote on boning in bustle bodices. How you HAVE to have boning to keep the shape of bodice in place. Yes. You do. Well, Frank asked the question about just how one applies boning to the front waist darts. “Do you encase the bone in the dart, Read More...
Boning in Bustle Bodices
It wasn’t only the corsets in the late 19th Century that had boning in them. No, women’s bodices did too. You might be thinking: Why? Well, corset boning helps hold the body in a fashionable silhouette, whereas boning in a bodice holds the bodice in place. The two garments each have their place for a 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...
Points to Keep Your Darts on Target
Darts. Those funny shaped elongated triangles that help mold a flat piece of fabric to the body. Once our Regency ancestors learned how to use them properly, we didn’t look back. The 19th Century is filled with darts in garments. Darts may seem like a standard construction element, but their specific placement and manner of Read More...