1840s Dresses at the American Textile History Museum, Lowell, MA

With a family wedding in Maine, I took the opportunity to take a week long vacation back east to visit the greater Boston area, which was on my history to-do list for a while.  We visited Old Sturbridge Village (Ian's favorite), Lowell Mills National Park (twice!), the MFA Boston, followed the Freedom Trail in Boston, Cape Neddick, Maine, and on our second time in Lowell we visited the American Textile History Museum (which was closed the day we went before).  I thought I'd share a few photos of 1840s dresses that I saw in person that I have posted as inspirations to some of my projects!  I may have squealed in delight when I happened upon the two below. :)

1838-1843 cotton & wool blend dress with pelerine.

1838-1843 cotton & wool blend dress, pelerine detail.

1845-1848 cotton dress.

1845-1848 cotton dress front detail.

1840s Street Style

Due to the fact that I'm moving this coming weekend, I haven't had much time to post, let alone work on any projects.  In lieu of anything new, here is a group shot of myself, Ian, and my sister Heather in 2006 at Columbia State Historic Park.  We are all wearing clothing made from Past Patterns, except for Heather's bonnet, which is from Miller's Millinery.

Left to right: Me, Ian, Heather.

1845 German Day Dress

The silhouette of the 1840s is fabulous.  I love the look of wide shoulders to emphasize the small waist (or create the illusion of a small waist).

1840s Silk Dress, source unknown.

Jenny Lind. Source: Library of Congress

So I instantly went ga-ga over the Truly Victorian TV454 1845 German Day Dress pattern when it came out in 2007.  I made the gathered front version with a sheer cotton plaid in the Summer of 2007 and made the bretelle version in Fall 2010.  Truly Victorian patterns are sized in such a way that you can easily adapt them to your specific measurements.  Mine mostly corresponded with Size C, but I did make the sleeve pieces narrower.

I was inspired this daguerreotype to play with the stripes of the fabric:

Source: finedags.com

My version of the 1845 German Day Dress
at Columbia State Historic Park Diggins Event

I matched the squiggles!

The front of the bodice has four pieces, so I piped the center seam to add a little contrast.  I lost 10 pounds from the point of cutting out the fashion fabric, so it doesn't fit like I had planned.  The bretelles also need some sort of interfacing to keep their shape since they kept folding in at my underarm.  I have plans to take this dress apart to fit my smaller frame fix the bretelles.  Onwards and upwards!