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Authentic Victorian Dressmaking Techniques

by Kristina Harris

A primary-source manual for turn-of-the-century sewing

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Paperback New English

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A primary-source manual for turn-of-the-century sewing

Presented complete and unabridged, this edition reproduces Butterick Publishing Company’s 1905 Dressmaking, Up to Date, a practical guide from the late-Victorian and early-20th-century sewing world. Its instruction spans pattern alterations, hand stitches, and the construction of garments ranging from shirt-blouses and skirts to formal gowns, outerwear, maternity clothing, undergarments, and children’s apparel. Particularly valuable are the period-specific construction details—bodice boning, concealed hooks and eyes, skirt sweepers, and bust enhancers—that document techniques and garment solutions of the era. The book works both as a historical record of domestic and professional dressmaking practices and as a hands-on reference for reproducing period clothing.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Costume historians researching Victorian and turn-of-the-century clothing construction
  • Sewers creating historically informed Victorian-era reproductions
  • Needleworkers interested in adapting traditional garment-making techniques

Themes

Victorian dressmakingHistorical sewing techniquesPattern alterationGarment constructionCostume reproduction

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

At the turn of the century, ladies of privilege could easily afford their own dressmakers, and even middle-class housewives occasionally employed competent seamstresses. But many women did their own sewing, often relying on Dressmaking, Up to Date, a how-to book published by the Butterick Publishing Company. First published in 1905 and widely considered the first modern American sewing book, this extremely rare volume is published here complete and unabridged.
This Butterick manual provides clear and concise instructions for altering patterns, hand-sewing stitches, and creating shirt-blouses, skirts, wedding and evening gowns, coats, jackets, maternity wear, undergarments, bathrobes, children's clothing, and many other articles of apparel. Today's costume historians and sewing enthusiasts will find fascinating instruction in such long-lost arts as boning a bodice perfectly, creating skirt sweepers and bust enhancers, concealing hooks and eyes, and other vintage dressmaking techniques.
An indispensable archive of information on late-Victorian and turn-of-the-century clothing, this volume will be of immense interest to anyone fascinated by the fashion and costume of the period. It will also be of value to needleworkers wanting to create accurate reproductions of Victorian-era costume, or to anyone interested in applying time-honored sewing techniques to a modern wardrobe.
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