Welcome! Thistle + Lilly is a newly created pattern brand, currently targeted to designing clothing patterns for babies and children for the Victorian era. While many initial patterns will be for the 1850s and 1860s, the long-term goal is to have patterns ranging from 1830-1900.

3/6/13

Sneak Peek! 1848 "Elisabethe Dress"

Making patterns is a fiddly business.  Time-consuming.  More than I expected it to be.  But there is a distinct thrill when all your hard work begins to pay off.  You've diddled with the muslin, you've drawn a pattern, re-drawn, thrown away, re-printed, re-cut, you've ripped out, re-sewn, basted, tacked and made untold numbers of mock-ups, but then after a while, it's time to pull out the fashion fabric and make one up for real.  And it actually turns out...pretty good!

This dress is based on an 1848 photograph of a little girl, approximately aged 8, and her family.  The fabric in the original photo appears to be a gingham.  Gingham or a small check is particularly fitting for this pattern, since the grain of the fabric is sewn at an angle towards the point in the front, creating a nice effect.  I thought it was just lovely, and since a good friend inspired me to make a pattern for her daughter, I thought it fitting to name the pattern after sweet little girl!

So here is the first peek at the Elisabethe Dress pattern, soon to be ready for testing!  It features a wide neckline, a tightly-gathered fan-front, petal sleeves, and full skirt.  (Please note that I opted to cartridge pleat this version for my daughter, but the pattern will include instructions for traditional gathering to match the original.)


I hope to get this into the hands of my testers within the next 3 weeks, and after any necessary revisions, it will go into my soon-to-be-open store!  Thank you for all your support and encouragement.

xoxo  Amy

5 comments:

  1. Wow, that is gorgeous! Particularly love the detail around the sleeves :)

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  2. ooooh, that is lovely!! It's just tempting enough for me to stretch my comfort zone and learn some new techniques! <3

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  3. I can't wait to try it out, Bep is bouncing off the walls in anticipation too!

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  4. Hi! I love your blog so much that i've nominated you for a Very Inspiring Blogger Award! http://fairyfingers.blogspot.ca/2013/04/very-inspiring-blogger-award.html These little dresses and shoes you make for your little girl are just darling!

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  5. Oh my gosh! That is gorgeous!

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