A Dress Fit for the Fitz

By Cassandra Shaw

My first major project was a 1840s house dress which I’d like to share with you.
As the new costumer, unfamiliar with what the collection contained (although familiar with many individual items from my days as an interpreter here), I was unsure which costume items were most needed. On a whirlwind training day with Janet vanDompseler, LPV’s original Costumer, she indicated that the Fitzpatrick House was quite popular with staff and volunteers and that we could always use more dresses for its late 1840s time period. It was true! With all of the summer interpreters equipped with costumes for the season, there were only two 1840s dresses left in the collection! Although it requires more hand sewing than many styles of dress in the collection, I was up for the challenge!  

As we only interpret the Fitzpatrick house for the 1840s, it was easy to choose a style of dress; it would be a cotton house dress. We have several patterns of this type in our collection. These usually have a full skirt with cartridge pleating, a close neckline, a slightly high waist and a bodice which is gathered at the bottom front to give a puffy triangle appearance to the chest. The sleeves on this dress are close fitting, with ruffled sleeve caps.

Fabric colours at this time were often non-primary or muted. Prints could be plaids, border prints, woven stripes or small print in stripes with natural motifs. Again I went to the collection, dug around, and chose a muted mustard stripe with budding twigs. I chose this fabric based on my feeling about it and my general knowledge of the time, but much later found an image of a dress from the late 1840s which is strikingly similar, although its design includes a pelerine.

Printed Floral Wool Dress & Pelerine, 1848-1852

In the 1840s, all sewing was done by hand. Although I am not about to go to the extremes of accuracy to sew a whole dress by hand, there are certain features which are best done by hand to get the correct look. The gathering drawing in the fabric of the bodice and at the top of the skirt is called cartridge pleating or gauging. This is done by making 3 or 4 rows of gathering at regular intervals. I used the stripes on my print as guides to insert my needle, although there are transfers that can be used for fabric without stripes (this also may be a little more accurate). During the 1860s as the sewing machine became more prevalent in homes, cartridge pleating went out of style. I can understand why; the skirt on this dress is a full three widths of fabric. That’s a lot of stitching!

I finished the neckline, bodice bottom and cuffs with a contrasting fabric in a deep rust red which was drawn from the buds of the main print. I am hoping to make a second bodice from the main fabric, so it made sense to use the contrasting fabric for the ruffles as well and I am very pleased with the result!

Cassandra Shaw is the current Costumer at Lang Pioneer Village Museum. She always has her hands busy with a creative project and is a proud owner of a Biology degree and a pair of roller skates.