Angela's Collection:
Historical Clothing & Accessories

1840s
      
Brick-red day dress with matching pelerine.

           
Dress without the pelerine.  This is a back closing dress with stand up collar and fan front.  The skirt is cartridge pleated to a waist band; the bodice is attached over top of the waist band.  On my next 40s dress I hope to shape the skirt front so I can pleat and sew it directly to the bodice.  The sleeves are fairly fitted and the trim is attached to jockeys.

           
I made this green 1840s dress 2 years before making the red dress above.  Details are similar to the one above, same skirt waist treatment, fitted sleeves, and similar looking fan front, however, this dress closes down the center front instead of center back.  Also, the fan front on this dress was made from separate pieces sewn over the bodice.  The red dress front is one piece cut large enough to gather and sew on the fitted lining.

    
Melody in her 1840s day dress. 
We made this dress and bonnet together.  For the bodice we used a Period Impressions pattern... I think the bonnet sat squished in a box for a while before this picture.  The print on this pink fabric is wild; it was not specifically labeled as a reproduction print, but I think it's very close to some original prints.  Very Melody-ish. :)
 

1850s

       
I made this 1850s day dress in 2005 for a Christmas time event which was almost snowed out.  I have worn the dress only once since then, and unfortunately did not get any better photos of the dress that day.  The petticoats have flattened out a bit after wearing the dress for a while, a problem which I need to fix!