This pattern produces a reasonably period-accurate mid-19th century child’s dress and pinafore. The Folkwear folks claim they took the pinafore pattern straight off of an 1874 fashion plate (which they unfortunately no longer have in their files – go figure!). There are some glitches to be found, though if you have some sewing experience, a good dose of patience, and a bottle of decent Chardonnay, the whole affair should go together without too many problems.
The pattern markings do not always match up – use your own good sense to use the notches and dots as guides for which pieces go where – don’t worry too much about actually having them meet. The dress itself is a somewhat complicated affair. Notches can also be confusing, as one pattern piece is used for both front and back panels, and accordingly, one notch is a “mystery” notch, and doesn’t meet with anything. The shoulder and collar assembly is composed of 4 separate pattern pieces – there’s the yoke, the collar band, the collar itself and the collar ruffle. I’d hoped for something a little simpler, but really it would have been fine if the collar band and the collar had shown any semblance of fitting together. I chopped half an inch off each of the band’s ends, eased like mad, and pressed the living daylights out of the thing! But, I thought it came out beautifully in the end.
As for the pinafore, well… it went together beautifully. The only trick was that the front and the back are tucked. The pattern directions say that the pleats fall to the left. The picture on the pattern directions shows them falling to the right. And the pattern markings themselves show the pleats falling in opposite directions, depending on which side of the pinafore front you’re working on. Pick an approach and move on.
Oh, one other thing: there’s a lot of topstitching on this garment. If you don’t like topstitching on your period clothing (I’ve seen photos of 19th century clothes with some topstitching, so it is period, but still…), plan on a lot of hand sewing. And several glasses of Chardonnay.
Denisen Hartlove –
This pattern produces a reasonably period-accurate mid-19th century child’s dress and pinafore. The Folkwear folks claim they took the pinafore pattern straight off of an 1874 fashion plate (which they unfortunately no longer have in their files – go figure!). There are some glitches to be found, though if you have some sewing experience, a good dose of patience, and a bottle of decent Chardonnay, the whole affair should go together without too many problems.
The pattern markings do not always match up – use your own good sense to use the notches and dots as guides for which pieces go where – don’t worry too much about actually having them meet. The dress itself is a somewhat complicated affair. Notches can also be confusing, as one pattern piece is used for both front and back panels, and accordingly, one notch is a “mystery” notch, and doesn’t meet with anything. The shoulder and collar assembly is composed of 4 separate pattern pieces – there’s the yoke, the collar band, the collar itself and the collar ruffle. I’d hoped for something a little simpler, but really it would have been fine if the collar band and the collar had shown any semblance of fitting together. I chopped half an inch off each of the band’s ends, eased like mad, and pressed the living daylights out of the thing! But, I thought it came out beautifully in the end.
As for the pinafore, well… it went together beautifully. The only trick was that the front and the back are tucked. The pattern directions say that the pleats fall to the left. The picture on the pattern directions shows them falling to the right. And the pattern markings themselves show the pleats falling in opposite directions, depending on which side of the pinafore front you’re working on. Pick an approach and move on.
Oh, one other thing: there’s a lot of topstitching on this garment. If you don’t like topstitching on your period clothing (I’ve seen photos of 19th century clothes with some topstitching, so it is period, but still…), plan on a lot of hand sewing. And several glasses of Chardonnay.