Magpie Tidings: A Dress for Naomi

Last December, and again this past summer, Nick and I were able to spend some time with his sister Emily and her family. It's been delightful to meet all my in-laws and get to know my new nieces and nephews this past year.

In the autumn, I discovered that Naomi (one of Emily's daughters) loves history and old-fashioned dresses. A girl after my own heart! I offered to make an old-fashioned dress for her. I had some fabric on hand, and a lot of patterns, and had her choose which one she liked.

The skirt & bodice were largely machine sewn, but a lot of the finishing was hand-sewn.

The pattern she chose was an 1860s inspired pattern. This was a bit of a challenge for me, as I've never done 1860s, and with the exception of the 1830s dress and the 1780s dress I made several years ago, most of the historical clothing I make is 1910s, so not very much fabric or gathering.

Ironing & pinning the pleats.

With this dress, I was amazed by how much fabric can fit into a small waistband! No wonder many petticoats & crinolines were necessary in this decade.

A lot of it was machine sewn, but a lot of it was hand-sewn as well, and I was able to use family heirlooms that I'd inherited this past summer. For example, I used ten black glass buttons (see my earlier post: Family Buttons).

The fabric for the dress & for the bodice lining were both reproduction fabrics, the outer fabric circa 1880s, the inside 1840s or thereabouts.

A closeup of the lace and the buttons.

I also had a spool of lace that I'd inherited from Nick's family. I'm not that well-versed in lace, so I don't know how old it is, or if it was machine or hand-made. The last thing, which I don't have a picture of, was an old petticoat that I sent with the dress. It was really exciting to me to be able to send these old family heirlooms to Naomi to be part of the dress.

I had some fabric from Nick's grandma that I used to line the hem with (the blue fabric shown). There's also a glimpse of the antique petticoat here.

The cuffs on the dress, which also had lace.

The finished dress.

When I was making my 1910s skirts, I made a few belts to go with them, using vintage ribbon I got from Harmony, a great local shop here in Provo. I had a belt buckle, also inherited with the old clothes, notions, etc. that I inherited from Nick's grandma, and though it's not as old as the 1860s, I thought it would be fun to make a belt to go with the dress, so I got some of that same lovely ribbon and made one.

The dress with the belt.

I was so worried that it wouldn't fit, and even though it was late for her birthday, I hoped it would get there in time for Christmas. Miraculously, it only took two days to get from Utah to New York!