Camisones de mujer del siglo XVIII: un taller sobre la historia de la costura y la moda

This class is a breakout from my complete course "18th Century Working Women's Dress Sew-Along Workshop" 

It is designed for students who want to try their hand at working on one larger piece, rather than committing to an entire outfit. 

The shift is the foundation of the entire wardrobe... an essential piece that was the very first thing an 18th century woman put on!

This is a slightly more challenging piece, for a student who has already learned to basics of hand sewing and feels ready to put in a number of hours to a project. It's not a *hard* item to sew, but there are many seams, and students will learn to make their own pattern from their measurements - so the ability to carefully follow directions and do some simple addition/multiplication/division and measuring will be essential.

Week 1 - An overview of 18th century dress, specifically the shift. Pattern making & cutting fabric. Sewing first seams.
Week 2 - Sewing together. Discussion.
Week 3 - Sewing together. Discussion.
Week 4 - We will finish the garment, and students will show off their work!

********

When we think of historic 18th century costuming, it is easy to immediately find ourselves drawn to the beautiful formal garments worn by the upper class Europeans and wealthy colonial settlers, and those made for very special occasions...

But what about the real life, every day "jeans and a t-shirt" wardrobes of women working in and out of their homes? How did they dress for comfort and practicality? What did women wear while gardening, working in skilled trade shops (like tin, silver, and blacksmiths, etc.)? How did enslaved women dress? How did being colonized from afar influence dress in America, as well as other colonized lands? 

Let's look together at these hardworking women who are rarely shown with much detail in old paintings or most modern depictions of early American life, and appreciate the often overlooked contributions they made in history. 

In this class students will learn a brief history of common women's garments and their construction as they craft their way through creating a historically accurate petticoat from the late 1700s. 

The class will be casual, conversational, and very hands on - with room for lots of discussion and sharing. 

Students will join me in creating a shift for a working class woman. The style will be predominately Euro-American, but students will be given encouragement to draw from a variety of sources to create a garment unique to their own regional influences, if so desired. 

I'll walk students through the process, step by step, and in the end they will have created an amazing hand sewn piece AND mastered some important historical garment making skills.
 
We will hand sew the shifts, starting each step in class and finishing the steps as homework. 

Students do not *need* to have extensive prior sewing knowledge or skills (just some fine motor control with a needle & thread and the ability to use scissors), but this class will involve a *lot* of hand sewing and could quickly become frustrating for someone who's not ever sewn before and isn't prepared for the amount of work to be done. I'm happy to help the most novice sewer along, if they truly want to do this project!

The project will not require use of a sewing machine, and students are encouraged not to "cheat" and use one to make their project go faster. 

This class is listed as an "Arts" course, but it will obviously feature history and social studies in our discussion topics!