Etsy Shop "Updates"

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I've just checked and realized that I never posted the "Grand Opening" draft, so ... it's not really an update, is it? Let me tell you about the things I have in my Etsy shop in general.

The first patterns I made are the "Bessie" set, one a full dress and the other just the bodice with a bit of a peplum, to be worn with a separate skirt. These are quite simple: the bodice is one large piece with two little gores inserted under the arms, and the skirt is three large, flared gores. That's probably why it's my best seller! Both patterns come in a pretty wide range of sizes, from a 20" waist to a 38" waist, and the bodice is loose enough that not much alteration should be needed based on bust size.

The Peacock Bodice is a more ambitious pattern. This is a high-waisted, fitted bodice with a lovely spreading "tail" that hangs nicely over a bustle, based on a garment in the New York State Museum. Graded to fit busts from 32" to 52", but will need more alteration at the waist, probably, and perhaps some lengthening overall.

Pattern grading is hard. I think I made this cap pattern after getting frustrated with the difficulties in trying to make something graded - this is just one size. Based on a cap from the Workwoman's Guide (1838), it's quite simple: one piece, gathered and seamed at the back of the head.

This might look familiar! I originally had a graded version of this in the shop, but after I received some very fair but critical feedback, I took it down and eventually decided to replace it with a version that was simply the original garment to scale. This includes the bodice and skirt, as well as the sash and the striped chemisette. If you can use a Janet Arnold pattern, this is for you.

Yes, this is a very bare-bones cover. I had an extraordinarily difficult time drawing the garment and sort of gave up. Like the Pingat, this one is to scale as well. (I will probably only be making gridded, scaled-down patterns from now on, unless someone who can grade wants to go into business with me, because it's simply Not In My Skillset.) A Dolly Varden dress was an outfit based on 18th century womenswear - specifically the tuck'd-up skirts of the late 1770s and early 1780s, an era made suddenly fashionable when a portrait of Charles Dickens's character Dolly Varden was auctioned in 1871.

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