Making an Edwardian Bathing Suit

A cotton bathing suit, with pants and a separate belted dress, c. 1900-1910, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

With an Edwardian beach day planned in the height of the Australian summer, making a bathing suit seemed the most sensible thing to do these holidays!

“Modern” swimwear – that is, the swimwear of the last 200 years – has only been “invented” as the popularity of recreational swimming has increased. This increase in popularity has been influenced by the availability of transport, the prevalence of travel, and the increases in disposable income of everyday people. Hence, swimming has only become popular by the masses since the 18th and 19th centuries.

My interest in bathing suits was centred more around the region of 1880 to 1910, which fit more closely with my Edwardian-themed beach day. During this era bathing suits consisted of baggy pants, a top and a skirt in some combination. Sometimes the pants were separate and were then covered with a belted dress. Other times the pants and top were all-in-one, and then there was a separate skirt that buttoned on over the top. They could be made of wool, cotton or occasionally linen.

A woollen bathing suit, with all-in-one pants-and-top and a button-on skirt, c. 1885, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The closures were most often buttons down the centre front, and elastic or ties were used for the pants. Bathing suits were made in a great variety of colours, although the most popular seem to have been dark blue with white trim, and also dark blue with red trim. The trim was generally made from twill tape and could be quite elaborate.

Often bathing shoes were also worn, along with a bathing cap and stockings, though these seem to reduce in frequency as the 1910s approach.

My initial thought was that through the course of this era (1880-1910) bathing suits would have progressively got shorter and more revealing, but during each of these decades I have found examples of pants that were well below the knee as well as above the knee. Similarly, I have found that sleeves of the tops/dresses could be longish or shortish, and the lengths of the dresses/skirts could be below the knee or up to mid-thigh. My conclusion is that through this time period, swimwear remained largely the same, and the more drastic changes occurred either during or after World War 1, but certainly had occurred by the 1920s.

Women in bathing suits on Collaroy Beach, NSW, 1908. I love seeing real women wearing their historical clothes in the era!

I decided, after much deliberation, to go with a pair of baggy pants and then a belted dress to go over the top. I also was keen to have a bathing cap to wear.

I used a dark blue cotton broadcloth, with white polyester grosgrain ribbon. Buttons were just plain white plastic ones.

Please excuse the poor quality of the photos, as I tried not to use a flash so that the colour contrast would be a bit better. Some have turned out a little blurry.

The Pants

Pattern

I thought the easiest way to go about making pants quickly was to use an existing pattern for culottes and then cut them short at the knee. I used McCalls 6788 from my teenage stash of patterns. And since I love the usefulness of pockets in costumes (even bathing costumes!), I decided to add pockets on each side.

The pattern pieces, shortened to be just below knee length.

Construction Steps

Since the pattern comes with instructions, I have not gone into much detail here.

1:  As with most pants, I sewed the inside leg seams first and then the crotch seam.

2: Then one half of each pocket was sewn onto each outside hip seam. Once this was done the outside leg seams were sewn, right sides together, including around the pockets (but leaving a space for a hand to enter the pocket).

3: The top edge of the pants was folded down to form a casing, and two rows of elastic were threaded through the casings.

The casing is folded down in the inside and pinned ready to sew. You can see the pockets in this view.

4: A strip of bias binding was sewn just under knee-level and was then used for a casing for elastic. Two rows of ribbon trim were attached below this casing, on the hemmed edge of the pants.

The finished pants

A pattern for a woman’s bathing suit, c. 1900, from The Cutter’s Practical Guide.

The Dress

Pattern

I used a historical pattern from The Cutter’s Practical Guide (1900) as – well – a guide.

It is a little obscure, but this pattern can be used a number of different ways. You can have separate pants (right upper corner), and either long or short sleeves (right lower corner), and a detachable skirt (left lower corner). The top left corner shows a pattern for an all-in-one, but it can be altered to have a yoke front or to be a dress, which is shown in the dotted lines. The only shaping in it is under the arms, in the form of a dart.

I decided to cut a front panel (with the centre front on a selvedge edge) and a back panel (on the fold). All shaping was under the arms. I also did petal sleeves as an interesting inclusion.

Construction Steps

1: The side seams and shoulder seams were sewn. This dress has virtually no shaping, except for a little at the side seams.

The front view, showing the centre front pinned and the side and shoulder seams sewn. This dress has almost no shaping except for at the side seams.

The back view, showing the centre back markings and waistline markings for where the belt will be attached.

2: I used a tutorial on making petal sleeves to help me with the sleeves.

This shows the pattern shape of the sleeves. The skinny bit in the middle goes under the arm. The two wider parts on each side cross over at the top of the arm. (There is an underarm seam joining the two halves of the sleeve, but it is hard to see.)

Once I had drafted the pattern piece and cut it out 4 times (2 for each sleeve), I sewed the bottom edge, right sides together. Once this was turned the right way, one row of ribbon trim was sewn to it. The sleeve was then set into the armhole.

The sleeve finished, viewed from the front.

3: The collar was draped on the stand and then cut out. My collar had a centre back seam, and so the pattern piece below was cut out 4 times.

The collar pattern piece, with the bottom edge being the centre front, and the top edge meeting at the centre back.

The collar was sewn right sides together along all edges (except the neck edge). Then a row of ribbon trim was attached to the finished edge. The collar was then attached to the neck of the dress, with the raw edges folded into the collar and handsewn down.

4: The button placket was made with a facing, sewn to the centre front right sides together. The facing was then folded to the inside and sewn down.

The button placket at the centre front, showing the facing folded to the inside and pinned ready to sew down.

The dress was hemmed and then trimmed with ribbon. Buttons and buttonholes were then sewn.

The dress with buttons attached, showing the trim coming along the hem and up each side of the button placket.

5: The belt was made from a two strips of material, sewn right sides together and turned the right way. After pressing, ribbon trim was sewn to the finished edges. The belt was attached to the dress at the waistline at the centre back.

The dress all finished!

The Cap

Pattern

I had no real pattern for this, but used some of the extant pictures I had found as a guide. I used two large circles of fabric, 17 inches in diameter.

Construction Steps

1: I started by sewing the two layers around the outside of the circle, right sides together (leaving a gap to turn it the right way). Then the circle was turned the right way and pressed.

2: The casing for the elastic was sewn, leaving a small gap near where the “turning” gap was (above) for threading the elastic through.

3: Before the elastic was threaded, two rows of ribbon were sewn around the outer edges of the circle, once again leaving a small gap where the “turning” gap was.

The circle has the casing sewn and the trim attached. You can see the small stitching gaps made to allow the elastic to be threaded in.

4: The elastic was threaded through the casing and all gaps sewn up.

The bathing cap completed!

And here is a picture of me with it on in front of the bathing boxes at Brighton Beach, Melbourne.

My new bathing costume on its first day out!

Hopefully it won’t be the last time I get to wear this ensemble!

Related Posts

Making a Victorian Fan Skirt

Parenting Advice from 1910

An Anne of Green Gables Dress

Sources and Relevant Links

History of Bathing Suits, by Victoriana

Image Source: A bathing suit, c. 1900-1910, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Image Source: A bathing suit, c. 1885, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Image Source: Women in bathing suits, 1908, from State Library of New South Wales

McCalls 6788, a 2 hour pants pattern, from Pinterest.

Pattern Diagram for a Womens Bathing Suit, c. 1900, from Vintage Connection

Two methods of Petal/Tulip Sleeve Drafting, by Style2Designer.

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Making an early Edwardian Zouave Jacket

Walking Dress, 1901, from “De Gracieuse: Geillustreerde Aglaja”, The Netherlands.

After finishing my 1902 skirt and realising that I had an imminent Steampunk event to attend, I decided to make a jacket to match the skirt using the left over material.

Zouave and bolero jackets had become very popular through the 1850s and 60s and continued to be popular through the last half of the 19th century. They seemed to be consistently used as a fashion accessory rather than a warm jacket to protect against the cold, judging by the contemporary fashion plates. There was a tremendous variation in the styles and decoration of these types of jackets, and even different names to confuse you some more! The Eton jacket for women, for instance, was similar but tended to be always buttoned up at the front.

The zouave and bolero were generally short jackets, going only to the waistline. They could be decorated with any manner of trims, some imitating a military look, others more feminine with embroidery, or even decorated with ribbon and braid. They could have long sleeves, short sleeves, or no sleeves, and – whilst they were often left open – some did have front fastenings.

A picture of a Zouave Jacket and its pattern, in Period Costumes for Stage and Screen, by Jean Hunnisett.

Pattern

The pattern I used was found – again – in Jean Hunnisett’s book, Period Costumes for Stage and Screen. It is not a pattern that she had drawn up herself in her pattern sheets, but a pattern that had been reproduced in a picture as a “Pattern for a Zouave jacket.” This jacket is very similar to many fashion plates of the period.

There were a total of four pattern pieces included: front panel, back panel, collar, and cuff. I drafted these up onto 1 inch grid paper.

In order to enlarge these types of old-style patterns up to full-size, first find the starting point of the pattern piece – often indicated with a circle or the letter A. Then use the horizontal numbers (indicating width measures) and the vertical numbers (indicating height measures) to measure out the pattern piece onto grid paper.

The part of the pattern that was the most tricky was the right side of the front panel, as the sudden use of large quantities of letters (instead of numbers) was hard to interpret. I eventually made the presumption that the jacket picture was drawn to scale and sketched it as closely as I could.

The finished pattern pieces, in which the seam allowance was added when cutting out.

This jacket was made from a cotton with a woven stripe, lined with a black broadcloth and trimmed with black polyester braid. Interfacing was used in the front lapel facing. As usual, I did a mock up in calico before I started. The size of this pattern seemed to be pretty perfect for me and needed hardly any adjustment.

Construction Steps

Step One: First I added facing to front lining piece, trimming off any excess material. The seam allowance was pressed to the front and top-stitched down.

The lapel facing is sewn to the lining to make one front-panel-lining piece.

Then add interfacing to the wrong side of the front lapel area.

Step Two: The front and back pieces were then all sewn together; first the centre back seam, then the side seams, and then the shoulder seams. This was done for the lining pieces and then the outer pieces, resulting in “two” jackets.

The centre back seam of the lining is sewn together.

The outer layer of the jacket is sewn together, with the shoulder seams pinned ready to sew. You can see the front darts already sewn in.

Step Three: At this point the front darts of the jacket can be taken in. This is also a great time for a fitting!

Step Four: The two layers of the jacket are sewn, right sides together, along the bottom edge – matching all seams and darts. Continue to sew up the centre front and around the lapels until you reach the neckline. Leave the collar area open. (You may need to pin your collar on at this point to check where it will sit.)

The two layers of the jacket are put together and sewn around the bottom and centre front edges.

Clip any seam allowances and turn the jacket right sides out. Press well. You could top stitch the edges at this point, however I intended to add braid which would hold the edges in place.

Step Five: The collar pattern is a fold-down collar, and has a centre back seam. This means that the pattern piece needs to be cut out four times in the outer material, and four times in the lining/interfacing (I have used the black cotton broadcloth as a stiffener).

At first I was a little baffled about how to sew it. First, I flatlined the collar with the lining material, which meant it did not require interfacing. (You could always use interfacing instead though.) Both layers were then treated as one.

The centre back seam of the collar was sewn next. This has to be done a second time with the other collar pieces. (This second collar will form the collar facing.)

The centre back seam for the collar is sewn. (The pattern piece is there for comparison, but I didn’t sew a centre front seam, even though it looks like I did!) In this picture the collar is already folded in half for the next step.

Then the top edge of the collar was sewn according to the pattern line, to form a “curved dart”. This needs to be done to each side of the collar and for the collar facing pieces as well.

The top edge of the collar is pinned right sides together, ready to sew as per the pattern line.

I could have cut the top and bottom halves of the collar separately but then I would have had a thick seam on this top edge, so instead I have sewn it as a dart. Press the centre back seams open at this point.

Then the collar is opened out and sewn, right-sides together, to the collar facing around the sides and top of the collar. The bottom edge of the collar is left open, with the seam allowance of the facing folded up.

The collar is pinned ready to sew around the outer edges. Make sure it is sewn on the “top” or “fold-down” edge. The bottom edge is left open, with the seam allowance of the facing folded up.

The seam allowances of the collar should be clipped and then turned the right way and ironed well.

The collar is then sewn to the jacket, matching the centre back seams. The seam allowance of the neck/collar can then be turned inside the collar and hand-sewn down.

The collar is attached to the jacket, with the raw edges turned under. The inside edge of the collar will then be hand-sewn down.

Step Six: The sleeves were flatlined first and then the sleeve seam was sewn.

The sleeve seams are sewn.

The head of the sleeve was then gathered to fit the armhole, and sewn in – right sides together. The raw edges of the sleeve were trimmed and bound with black bias binding. The bottom edge of the sleeve was gathered to fit the cuff.

Step Seven: The cuffs – like the collar – were also in two pieces, so had to be cut four times for each sleeve. I did not use interfacing for these either, but instead used one layer of broadcloth as a stiffener (which meant there were two cut from the lining material for each sleeve).

The cuffs were then sewn, right sides together, around the lower edge of the cuff (with the seam allowance of the cuff facing turned over in the same way as the collar). Seam allowances were clipped and then the cuffs were turned right side out and pressed well.

The cuffs were then sewn to the bottom of the sleeve, with the cuff facing being turned under and handsewn down to hide the raw edges.

The cuffs sewn, turned right side out, and sewn to the bottom of the sleeve. The inside raw edge will be turned under and handsewn down.

Step Eight: The last step involved the hand sewing of the braid and the addition of two buttons and buttonholes.

The braid and buttons attached

I am really pleased with the finished result!

The front view

The back view

The collar does not sit quite like it should (from in the picture, anyway), so I think I will use a few tacking stitches to keep it in place.

It does look a tiny bit short at the back, but I am planning on making myself an Edwardian belt to go with this ensemble which should disguise that.

But there it is, my new dancing and (quite historical) steampunk outfit! It is lovely to dance in, too!

Related Posts

Making a 1902 Walking Skirt

Making a Bolero Jacket

Sources and Relevant Links

Image source: Walking Outfits, published in “De Gracieuse: Geïllustreerde Aglaja” (1901) from The Netherlands.

Bolero and Zouave jackets of the mid-19th century – by The Quintessential Clothes Pen

Bolero jackets of the 20th century: 1900-1909 – by The Quintessential Clothes Pen

Period Costumes for Stage and Screen, by Jean Hunnisett – buy on Amazon

McCalls Dressmaking 1901 – by Dressmaking Research

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Making a 1902 Walking Skirt

Both of these skirts have a form of circular flounce, taken from The Delineator, October 1902.

For a while I have wanted to make a new dancing skirt. I have loved dancing in my Victorian Fan Skirt and I really love this style of skirt prominent in the late Victorian and early Edwardian period. The long A-line shape with the pleated fullness at the back seems so elegant, and it is a style that I think I could wear everyday!

After the late bustle period faded away in the 1880’s, the skirt – which had already become tighter over the front of the waist and hips – lost the bustle bulge at the back and became fitted closely around the waist, but full at the bottom. This basic style continued through the 1890’s and into the Edwardian period until around 1908 when the fashions for skirts began to change again.

The type of skirt that had particularly caught my eye was one that had a circular flounce that kicked out below the knees. This seems to have been particularly popular during the early Edwardian period, when S-bend corsets were also in fashion.

“They’re–they’re not–pretty,” said Anne reluctantly.

“Pretty!” Marilla sniffed.  “I didn’t trouble my head about
getting pretty dresses for you.  I don’t believe in pampering
vanity, Anne, I’ll tell you that right off.  Those dresses
are good, sensible, serviceable dresses, without any frills
or furbelows about them, and they’re all you’ll get this
summer.  The brown gingham and the blue print will do
you for school when you begin to go.  The sateen is for
church and Sunday school.  I’ll expect you to keep them
neat and clean and not to tear them.  I should think you’d
be grateful to get most anything after those skimpy wincey
things you’ve been wearing.”

Anne Of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Walking Dress, c. 1902, pattern in “Period Costume for Stage and Screen”, by Jean Hunnisett.

Pattern

I found the pattern I wanted to use in Jean Hunnisett’s book, Period Costume for Stage and Screen. All of the patterns in this book are based on period patterns or fashion plates, but have been altered by the author to fit the more modern figure.

This particular skirt had a straight front panel with the circular flounce only going around the bottom of the side panel. This pattern consists of four main pieces; front panel, side panel, side circular flounce, and back panel (plus a waistband).

The only two measurements I took was my (corseted) waistline and my waist-to-floor length. This skirt was made from a cotton fabric with a self-woven stripe. It was flat-lined with black cotton broadcloth and trimmed with black polyester braid.

Construction Steps

Step One: All pieces of the skirt were flat-lined with cotton broadcloth. I began by basting the lining to each panel.

The front panel of the skirt, flat-lined with cotton broadcloth.

Step Two: Then I sewed the circular flounce to the bottom of the side panel.

The circular flounce is sewn to the side panel.

Step Three: Then all the skirt pieces were sewn together.

The back panels are sewn together.

Step Four: At this point I fitted the skirt. The side panel had darts to fit it to the waist, and the back panel had two large pleats on each side of the centre back seam to take in the fullness of the skirt.

The back pleats of the skirt

Step Five: Once the skirt was fitted, I attached it to the waistband in the normal manner.

Step Six: Up to this point the skirt construction had been fairly straightforward, but the hemming practices of 1902 was something I had never done before. My skirt was levelled and then hemmed using some helpful advice from Historical Sewing.

I cut a length of black broadcloth on the bias (7″ wide) for my hem facing. I also cut a length of white cotton duck on the bias (4″ wide) for a modern version of “horsehair stiffener” enclosed in the hem.

I laid the broadcloth and duck strips together and treated them as one layer. It was placed, right sides together, on the hemline of the skirt. The raw edges were stitched together at the bottom of the skirt and then the broadcloth/duck layers were turned to the inside of the skirt. The end result was that the white duck was hidden in between the hem facing and the skirt lining.

The inside of the hem, showing the folded facing stitched down. This makes four layers at the hemline; outer skirt, skirt lining, duck stiffener, and hem facing. You can see the stitching lines for the braid attached in the next step.

The upper edge of the hem facing was pleated to fit the skirt and, with the raw edge folded under, hand stitched down on the inside of the skirt. The duck would be attached/anchored in the next step.

Step Seven: Next was the trimming! Two lines of braid were handsewn through all layers along the hemline (which effectively fixed the cotton duck in place and stopped it bunching up in the hem).

The hem finished with trim.

Then a bias strip of black broadcloth was added to the seamlines, with the raw edges turned under and then edged with more of the black braid used at the hem. (At this point I had to unpick small portions of the waistband to slip the trimming into the waist seam.)

The seam trimming

I am very pleased with the end result!

The front view

The back view

I decided – on a whim – to use this skirt for an upcoming steampunk event, and so then I began planning a matching jacket for it!

Related Posts

Making a Victorian Fan Skirt

Sources and Relevant Links

The Delineator, March 1902 – an article by Antique Crochet

Anne Of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery – read online

Period Costume for Stage and Screen: Patterns for Women’s Dress 1800-1909, by Jean Hunnisett – buy on Amazon

Flatlining 19th Century Skirts – by Historical Sewing

How to Finish Skirt Hems for the Most Support – by Historical Sewing

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Making a Shirtwaist Blouse

1910’s Edwardian blouse, made from cotton batiste

I made a Victorian Fan Skirt a while ago and recently made a bolero jacket to match, using the last of the leftover fabric. The next thing to make was a blouse, often called a “shirtwaist” during this period.

Blouses for women had increased in popularity during the second half of the 19th century. This new form of dressing for daytime meant that there was a bit more flexibility in shirt-and-skirt combinations than had previously been the case, especially when the mode of dress in previous times had been only gowns. This change in fashion during the Victorian era, from gowns to two-piece ensembles, really paved the way for a new element of women’s dress that would continue into the 20th century, gradually making women’s clothing more similar to mens.

I particularly wanted a blouse with a high collar, back-closing, with a pin-tucked front and insertion lace, and with sleeves that were not too full. In short, I can’t tell if my new blouse is an early Edwardian blouse or a late Victorian one!

Pattern

I used a variety of sources to “make” my pattern.

Ladies’ Street Costume, Summer 1893, from “Authentic Victorian Fashion Patterns”.

The pattern I used for my bolero jacket (from Authentic Victorian Fashion Patterns, edited by Kristina Harris) included a pattern for a shirtwaist blouse. I used this pattern for the sleeves and the cuffs, as well as the back panel.

A free pattern from Ladies Treasury for a sleeveless blouse was helpful to use for the collar shape.

A free pattern from Vintage Connection for an Edwardian blouse was helpful to use for the enlarged front panel, which I needed to make the tucks.

I graded the different parts of the original patterns up and then made the necessary adjustments according to my measurements.

This blouse was made from white cotton batiste, with cotton embroidered insertion lace, cotton lace edging, and plastic “mother of pearl” buttons.

Construction Steps

Step One: First I did pin-tucks down the centre front of the front panel. There were fours sections of pin-tucking, each with four rows of pin-tucks each. Then the material was slashed in-between the two rows at the left and in-between the two rows at the right. This slash allowed for the insertion lace to be attached.

The front panel, with rows of pin tucks. The slash on the left of the centre front is for a row of insertion lace.

Step Two: As my insertion lace had a “seam allowance” on each side, I could not sew it the easier way. Instead I had to slash the material and sew the lace on right-sides-together. The unfinished raw edges were folded under on the wrong side and hand-stitched down.

The insertion lace pinned down to sew.

Step Three: The last thing to do on the front panel was to pin-tuck the shoulder seam area. This was tucked to fit the back shoulder seam. The tucks were released before the bustline, to allow a bit of extra fullness.

The front panel shoulder seam is tucked to fit the back shoulder seam. The tucks are released to form fullness for the bust.

Step Four: Once the centre front was completed, I turned my attention to the back panel. As the back panel housed the button placket, I prepared the centre back by folding over the centre back edges.

The back panel, with button placket preparation.

As it turned out, the back panel was not wide enough for my figure and I had to unfold this section and then add a separate button placket later to give me a few more inches!

Step Five: The side seams and shoulder seams of the blouse were then sewn.

Step Six: The top edges of the collar were sewn together. A small lace edging was also included in this seam so it would adorn the top edges of the collar when it was right side out.

The two layers of the collar was sewn right-sides-together. A small lace edging was also sewn in the seam at this step.

The collar was then attached to the garment, sewing the outer layer of the collar to the blouse with the machine, and then hand-sewing the inner layer of the collar, making sure all the raw edges are tucked under. I did gather (or heavily eased) the neck edge of the blouse to get the collar to fit better.

The collar finished, showing the lace edging.

Step Seven: The sleeves were then sewn. As this blouse needs a shirt-sleeve placket, it is wise to make the placket *before* you sew the sleeve seam (which of course is NOT what I did!). Here is a great tutorial on making a shirt-sleeve placket.

Once the sleeve seams were sewn, the head of the sleeve was gathered and set into the armhole of the blouse.

The bottom edge of the sleeve was gathered to fit the cuffs. The cuffs were sewn together, with the same thin lace edging around the outer edge that I used in the collar. Then the cuffs were attached to the bottom of the sleeve. (For more on the basic attaching of cuffs, see this tutorial.)

The cuffs finished, showing the lace edging, the button, and shirt-sleeve placket.

Step Eight: The final finishing steps involved hemming the bottom of the shirt and running a bias-binding casing around the waist. A cotton tape was inserted through this so it could be drawn up to fit snuggly underneath the skirt. Finally a row of buttons were sewn as fastenings down the centre back and on the cuffs.

Unfortunately I had not taken adequate measurements of my width, nor my height, nor my arm length! This meant that the centre back had to have an extra placket added (as mentioned above), the bottom of the blouse had a bit added beneath the casing to make it longer, and the sleeves still need to be pulled apart and re-made so they reach down to my wrists! This is one of the lessons I seem to have to learn again and again with each sewing project.

Anyway, here is the finished garment!

The front view, with three decorative buttons sewn down the centre front.

The back view, showing the buttons and the casing ties.

My daughter and I at our recent outing to see the new Anne of Green Gables movie.

My new ensemble was now desperately looking for a place to “go-and-show” and it was lucky that the new Anne of Green Gables movie was coming out in Melbourne at just the right time! My daughter and I got dressed in our finery, stocked ourselves up with some raspberry cordial and plum puffs, did our hair the best we could, and took ourselves off to the theatre.

My daughter wore her Anne of Green Gables outfit, while I wore my gored petticoat, fan skirt, bolero jacket and my new shirtwaist.

Needless to say, the movie was a great success! Whilst it could never compare to my own personal favourite Megan Follows, I am excited that a new series may reinvigorate a new generation to be Anne-ites.

Related Posts

Making a Bolero Jacket

Making a Victorian Fan Skirt

Making a Gored Petticoat

Sources and Relevant Links

Image Source: 1910’s Blouse at Adored Vintage

Authentic Victorian Fashion Patterns: A Complete Lady’s Wardrobe, edited by Kristina Harris – buy on Amazon

Sleeveless Blouse for Suits, c. 1905 – free pattern from Ladies Treasury

Edwardian Shirt Waist (Blouse) Pattern, c. 1903 – free pattern from Vintage Connection

How to sew insertion lace – by Wearing History

Attaching a collar – by Grainline Studio

The Shirt-Sleeve Placket – by Off The Cuff

How to sew a button cuff – Youtube tutorial by Professor Pincushion

Reflection on the White Shirt and Womankind – by Fashion Archeology

The new Anne of Green Gables movie – trailer on Youtube

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