I sewed this dress during my year abroad in Sweden. Around 1800, a major shift in fashion occurred, which makes the dresses from this period very interesting. My references were a Danish wedding dress and an open robe from the book “The Cut of Women’s Clothes,” both from 1797. The era lent itself well, since everything is sewn completely by hand and I didn’t have my sewing machine with me anyway. So I made it using the simplest tools and very much enjoyed the decelerated way of working.
Since I couldn’t fall back on my costume wardrobe, I had to make the complete outfit from scratch: this included a chemise, short stays, a long petticoat, and of course the actual dress. For decoration, I chose traditional Swedish woven ribbons. The small bag provides another splash of color. For this, I used a remnant piece from a local weaving mill and added small tassels.
The nice thing is that in Sweden, you can still buy a lot of craft and sewing materials in stores and aren’t constantly reliant on online retail. Accordingly, I also made myself an overdress right away. Of course, I didn’t have any suitable footwear in my suitcase either. Therefore, without further ado, I sewed myself flat shoes. I thought that this would only be a short-term solution, but they are surprisingly sturdy and already have several hours of wear behind them. In the photo, I am wearing them with local traditional socks.
