1847 Knit Bustle

I really don’t have a good excuse for making this. I was browsing Ravelry one day and saw the pattern and thought it sounded amusing. Plus I had all the necessary materials in hand. Naturally, I had to make one.

Click here to see pictures on Ravelry

( And here's what I did... )

Thoughts after wearing:
Okay, so I actually haven’t worn it yet except for trying it on to take a picture, but I can see where it would serve to give just a bit more oomph to the back of a full skirt. I wasn’t sure at first whether it should be worn with the smallest piece up or the largest piece, but after trying it both ways, I decided it looked better with the larger piece up. Since it will be ages before I have a dress to go over it, I decided not to wait before writing it up and posting it. Anyway, it was fun to make, and that’s what matters most.

Mid-19th Century Chemise

After Dickens of a Christmas, I decided I hated my Simplicity 9769 chemise as a chemise. I still think it’s lovely and makes a good nightgown, but the sleeves really misbehave when trying to wear them with a gown. That meant it was time for a new chemise.

I don't have any pictures, but here's what I did.

Materials:
2 ½ yd bleached muslin (36” wide) (from JoAnn’s)

Patterns:
I made the pattern using the instructions in The Dressmaker’s Guide: 1840-1865 by Elizabeth Stewart Clark. While the sleeve pattern was much pointier than the drawing in the book, it worked out okay. If I do it again, I’ll probably shorten the gusset bit of the piece by about 2”.

Construction:
This was an incredibly easy project and done almost entirely by machine. The only hand-stitching in the whole thing was sewing the inside of the neck binding. Maybe I should have hand-hemmed, but I really didn’t care. After all, it’s just a chemise and a plain muslin chemise, at that.

Thoughts after wearing:
This chemise was a vast improvement over my old one. I could have stood an extra inch or two in the neckband to make it sit a little further off-the-shoulder, but it wasn’t terrible as it was. I would definitely be willing to use this pattern again.