Category Archives: 1830s

A large and rambunctious 1830s bonnet, and some 1830s outings

I made a late 1830s dress for Dickens in 2018, and had a number of changes I wanted to make afterwards. So of course, I didn’t touch it for a year while I worked on keeping a baby alive instead. … Continue reading

Posted in 1830s, Ada Lovelace dress, Hats | 4 Comments

Presenting Ada Lovelace

So after sewing frantically fpr days, I finished my dress the day before the Greater Bay Area Costumer’s Guild was meeting up at Dickens Faire! Then the morning of I got sick and couldn’t go. Luckily I was able to … Continue reading

Posted in 1830s, Ada Lovelace dress | 8 Comments

Redonkulous Sleeves, plus Hilarious Notes from the Workwoman’s Guide

Last up, I made a bodice! Next, I needed to figure out how to do ridiculous late 1830s sleeves. By this point, the fullness had collapsed at the top of the arm, leaving you with all the fullness from the … Continue reading

Posted in 1830s, Ada Lovelace dress, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Ada Bodice

Lol, once again I failed to make this costume in time for Halloween. It was for a good reason – in my tailoring (coat making) class, after 6 weeks of trying and failing with my teacher to get a coat … Continue reading

Posted in 1830s, Ada Lovelace dress | 9 Comments

Re-kickstarting Ada Lovelace

So 2 years ago I posted that I was going to make an Ada Lovelace costume for Halloween. I don’t know what was in my brain, that I could finish an elaborate costume the same month I got married. So … Continue reading

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HSM #2 Tucks and Pleats – A Tucked Petticoat

Long ago, in the days of last summer, I intended to make a late 1830s dress for Halloween. As part of that, I started this petticoat sometime around August. And then never got around to putting a waistband on it, … Continue reading

Posted in 1830s, 1850s, Tucked Petticoat, Undergarments | 4 Comments

And the dress fabric is…

So I got a whole lot of fabric samples of purple taffetas. The 3 in the middle all ended up being too dark for my tastes. They match the dark purples of the portrait, but I think are too dark … Continue reading

Posted in 1830s, Ada Lovelace dress | 3 Comments

Dress Fabric Research

Still on an epic quest to find the perfect fabric. As we saw in a previous post, the artist was on crack and included a dozen shades of purples/pinks/reds in the dress. The consensus of commenters Nessa and Katie was to … Continue reading

Posted in 1830s, Ada Lovelace dress | 1 Comment

Vaguely victorian chemise

A quick post while I’m still researching the fit of 1830s corsets. So I actually made this chemise over a year and a half ago for my 1850s dress. Aaand the second it was finished, I hated it, and stuck … Continue reading

Posted in 1830s, Ada Lovelace dress, Undergarments | 1 Comment

First Romantic corset mock

I ended up going with Past Patterns 708. It’s probably a little late for the era, most evidence points to something more like the earlier regency patterns. But I like that it had a busk and was strapless, and I … Continue reading

Posted in 1830s, Ada Lovelace dress, Corsets, Romantic corset | 2 Comments