The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking: How to Hand Sew Georgian Gowns and Wear Them With Style
Bring History to Life
Whether you wish you could time travel to the court of Versailles or the Highlands of Scotland, this comprehensive guide will walk you through how to make and wear your 18th century dream gown. Lauren Stowell and Abby Cox of American Duchess have endeavored to make the impossible possible by bringing historically accurate dressmaking techniques into your sewing room. Learn how to make four of the most iconic 18th century silhouettes—the English Gown, Sacque Gown, Italian Gown and Round Gown—using the same hand sewing techniques done by historic dressmakers. From large hoops to full bums, wool petticoats to grand silk gowns, ruffled aprons to big feathered hats, this manual has project patterns and instructions for every level of 18th century sewing enthusiast. With Lauren and Abby’s guidance, you’ll feel as if you just stepped out of an 18th century portrait.
The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking demystifies 18th century fashion and sewing techniques so that you can wear these beautiful gowns with confidence and style.
Reviews (164)
Is It Worth It? (Sewing Edition)
I could not wait to get this book and open it up. So what are you getting: Each chapter after the 1st has a photo of the completed garment and a page detailing the history of the item. CHAPTER ONE: • What the book is all about • Sewing an Eighteenth century gown • Fitting your mock-up • Piecing Items Historic stitches and how to sew them of which you get 16, this includes one picture on the left side and a short paragraph describing how to complete the stitch, as well what it’s uses are. CHAPTER TWO:English Gown The English gown, includes how to sew the English gown bodice, first fitting and attaching the skirts, sleeves and cuffs, second fitting and finishing up, Undies, Petticoat, Stomacher, neck handkerchief, apron, cap, mitts, simple straw hat and how to get dressed and wear your English gown. Chapter Three: The Sacque gown The pattern for this gown is Simplicity 8578 and 8579. This section includes-Fabric choices, note on hair styling ,side hoops, petticoat, trim, stomacher, bows, :The sacque gown-bodice and first fitting-skirt panels and second fitting, sleeves, third fitting hem and trim, choker necklace, apron, cap, sleeve flounces, lace tucker and how to get dressed and wear your gown CHAPTER FOUR: The Italian Gown Fabric choices, The false rump, petticoat, :The Italian gown bodice and first fitting-finishing the bodice and attaching the skirts-the sleeves and final fitting, cap, puffs and bows, hat ,apron, neck tucker and elbow ruffles, how to get dressed and wear your gown. CHAPTER FIVE:The Round Gown Fabric choices, undies-petticoat and back pad, :The Round Gown-the under bodice and first fitting-skirts and sleeves-setting the sleeves and finishing the bodice-over bodice and skirt fronts, third fitting and finishing, sash ,ruffled chemisette, skirt style chemisette, cap, turban wrap, hat, muff, reticule, and how to get dressed and wear your gown. Troubleshooting-goes overs common fitting problems and how to correct Appendix -I really enjoyed this section Supplier list Acknowledgment and biographies Index Likes: I feel like this book is complete. It bridges the gap between knowing what an 18th century garment looks like and how to construct one in an organic way. As well how to put it all together to have a complete authentic look. Dislikes: You only get gridded paper for the lining of the item and have to drape them to make them into the gown, which makes for pretty advanced work./Or you could try to find similar patterns and construct it from the book. I would have liked to have the Gowns on gridded paper and make the linings from there, as the linings are always easier to create. And /Or patterns for the gowns. As the description does not state it would include this information I did not take off any points. It would have been nice to have all the components in one book though. Not spiral, you can lay the book flat because of the way it is bound but I would have preferred spiral bound. I adore this book, think it accomplishes exactly what it said it would and hope that the authors continue to put out more..WINK WINK especially including a ROBE DE COUR, The pictures go hand in hand with the text and provide a resource for sewing these historical garments. Will I be sewing my entire ensemble by hand? Absolutely not but it will be good to be able to add some accurate hand sewing touches here and there.
A lay-flat binding "floats" above the spine
Regarding the review which gave a 3 star rating complaining about "defective bindings"... this is the way a "lay-flat binding" is designed. The page leaves are stitched, not glued to a spine, so the book will open flat. The lay-flat binding "floats" above the spine, enabling the book to open evenly on a flat surface. This is a feature of quality softcover books.
I was pretty exited to receive this book after following the American ...
I was pretty exited to receive this book after following the American Duchess blog for years. The information is very clear. The illustrations are top notch. I love having a visual reference for all the hand sewing techniques I've mostly just guessed on. The lay flat binding makes it easy to leave the book open to a technique leaving both hands free for sewing. There are no full size patterns in this book but anything with any sort of shape is illustrated on a gridded page so it's possible to tell proportions and how things should look full size. This is not just a dressmaking book. It is also a guide on how to wear what you create. Each dress has a section on how to get dressed as well as how to accessorize which stretches the use of any garment created.
Hands down the most definitive guide to period costuming collected in one place.
It arrived about 30 minutes ago, and that may seem premature to rate a book - but going through every page and pattern, this beyond meets my hopes for what Stowell would offer! While I'm well versed in the French fashion from the mid to late 18th century, having topics on Italian and historical hand stitches, as well as breakdowns of what exactly everything applies to, is insanely helpful to newcomers to historical sewing and old maids like myself! I love The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking and cannot wait to make everything within the pages, and apply the tips to some current projects as well!
It's here HOORAY!!!!!!
This is the ultimate 18th century clothing go to!!! It is by far the best and easiest book to following to create the one of a kind gown for multiple decades in the 1700's. The format is simply marvelous, and is truly head to toe. I have been following Lauren for years and she has helped me on many of my projects. This is a book i will recommend to all I meet who are interested in the subject. I am also purchasing one for my local library....it's that GOOD!!!
Beautiful and valuable resource for both new and experienced costumers
This book is the first book I have seen quite like it - while there are many incredible resources out there for costumers interested in the 18th century, this is the most well-rounded, clear, colorful, and easy-to-follow book I've encountered yet. And it results in a period-correct garment!! Firstly, the book does not waste a lot of page space on fluff; it jumps straight into the good stuff immediately. The contents are extremely methodical, starting with what size and type of thread to use, a list of historical stitch types and how to use them, and how to make a mock-up (test garment in cheap fabric). It then breaks into four sections that each contain instructions for every piece in a complete look*. Each section has a small introduction about the period and nuances of its particular look; it talks about the history of the gown style, the fabrics used (and sometimes the differences between available modern fabrics vs. historical fabrics), and colors and decoration that would have been correct for the period. Following the introduction in each section, any special undergarments* necessary for that look are explained (these include underpetticoats, pocket hoops, split bum pads, bodiced petticoat, etc.) Each piece is actually laid out somewhat like a cookbook: lists of yardages and materials needed first, then a page showing the pattern pieces on a grid (which can be blown up on a photocopier), followed by a very visual (lots of pictures) tutorial on how to make each item. The tutorials shown clearly step-by-step , and utilize the hand-stitches taught in the first few pages of the book. After the undies, all the layers of each look are tutorialed in a logical progression from inside to out; gown petticoat, to stomacher, to gown, to trimmings. Every little piece has a how-to, from sleeve ruffles, to decorative bows, to pinked trim. An 18th century gown is an imposing project, but the way Stowell and Cox break it down makes it feel completely approachable, one piece at a time. There are so many photos of each process, including the fitting for each gown (the scariest part!), that even a brand new seamstress could feel reassured of success. After the gown tutorials, in each section there follows a tutorial for Every. Little. Accessory necessary to complete a look. Accessories are really what makes a look pop, bringing all the little details come together to make the wearer look like they just stepped out of a painting. Tiny accessories are included - like a ruffled ribbon choker and a tasseled sash - as well as larger and more involved accessories, such as a different cap for every era, hat trimmings, hat making, tuckers, mitts, aprons, reticules, etc. This is where you REALLY get the bang for your buck. Accessories are sometimes even more intimidating than a gown, because they can be complicated, fussy to research, and there are just so many darned options for them. At the very end of each of the four big sections are a couple "how to wear" pages, showing the model putting on each piece of the look, one garment at a time. It sort of recaps everything covered in the chapter by walking you through how to wear each piece (so you're not stuck wondering, "I have this tucker, but what tucks in and what tucks out? And how does this cap stay on my head?!") After all of the chapters, there is a small troubleshooting guide for how to address common fit problems one might encounter on the various styles. Since these garments are constructed so differently from modern clothing, it is a very helpful section even to an experienced seamstress. It includes a drawing of each fit problem and a blurb on how to correct it. Finally, there is an appendix (full of delicious citations, which are helpful to anybody who wants to dive deeper into research about each look and era), a short list of suppliers (it's always helpful to know sources for reliable materials for historical costuming), a wee bio on the authors, and a thorough index to help wade through all this awesome material. *NOTE: the only elements of each look NOT tutorialed in this book, are the shifts and stays. This is noted right away on the first couple pages of the book. Stays and all their variations are a very complex topic which could fill an entire other book like this one (which I would buy in a heartbeat!). Shifts also have a lot of variation, but they are a fairly simple project and there is a lot of information already out there on how to make them. Conclusion: this is an EXCELLENT resource, both for experienced costumers and new seamstresses. The huge amount of work that went into it is evinced in the beautiful and clear content. I am so excited to work my way through the making of each of these gowns!!
Great for beginners and experienced seamstresses alike!
I've been sewing 18th Century clothing for over 10 years and I wish I'd had this book when I started out! The instructions are so clear (aided by detailed photos...and lots of them!) and thorough that it really takes the struggle out of a lot of the work when you're trying to reproduce garments from images and museum collections. The additional patterns and instructions for the accessories like aprons, headwear, and reticules is a wonderful bonus. Having them all together in one place is convenient! Even as an experienced seamstress there is a lot in here that will aid me in my future costuming. I'm delighted with this book and can already tell it's going to be a new favorite on my costuming bookshefl!
Very handy
I love this book. Just sewed my first petticoat and I thought it turned out really well. I just used an old flannel sheet with holes and bleach stains for practice but doesn't look half bad. In my opinion.
A great addition to a costumer's library. Good read.
I don't know if I ever will make an 18th century dress, but with this guide, it will be a lot easier. I am an experienced sewer of modern clothes, but I love reading about clothing from other eras. A beginning sewer should not plan to make a dress from this book, however, reading it will teach anyone a lot about the process. The opening pages contain the sewing stitches in use at the time. All these dresses should be made by hand, which makes it a large undertaking. It is only with making a dress from the instructions that one can see what is lacking, or really good, and I'm not going to do that any time soon. The pictures are amazing. I really like the instructions on getting dressed in a particular area. This book covers almost 100 years of fashion, and would be a lot larger, more expensive and very intimidating if it tried to cover the whole era completely. But a lot can be gained from closely looking at the pictures. I understand why they left off any instructions concerning shifts and stays, a vital part of daily dress, but each dress shows the undergarments associated with the dress.
Not accessible for novices
I feel a little bad giving a low review because I’m probably not the intended audience for this book. I was hoping this book would be accessible to a novice, but I was wrong. It feels like pages are missing or that the editor left out key details. The patterns will only show parts of the process, then the photos will include additional pieces and materials not mentioned before. This, plus a lack of explanation of the language used, and incomplete photos make this very hard to use and learn from, even by a determined learner of this craft. I had high hopes that this would be an illustrated, accessible guide to 18th century dressmaking, but it was not. I wish I had checked this out from the library instead of purchasing it so I could realize this would not work for me.
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