Sewing patterns are available HERE

---

Hello everyone and welcome back to another post!
It took me 3 months to list this project as finished. The dress was ready in June, in July I did another dress (which I’ll upload it in the next months) and then August came and the heat was too much even for me. I couldn’t stay near the pc to make the patterns since my blood pressure was so low that I wasn’t able to stand up with my own feet. Gladly the summer has passed and finally the cold breeze of autumn is here!

So, I made this 1898 seaside dress for an event hosted by the two fantastic ladies from Olim, that made a picnic this summer. I scrolled Pinterest and I found this fantastic dress I had to make.

The original one was made with wool. I know that wool has thermo-regulating property but no thanks. I needed something light and breezy and wool was a big no for me (here in Italy we had more or less 40°-50° C each day and lot of humidity!)

I decided to make it in white and red cotton and meters of cream soutache cord which I found on Etsy. The cord was perfect (100% cotton which is pretty rare) but at the end made my hem very sturdy. I also reinforced it with crinoline fabric so, if you’re planning to make one for you too, use a less sturdy fabric for your hem reinforcement.

The trickiest part was the bodice for sure. The collar wasn’t that difficult as I imagined, but the little details took me a lot of time. I had to altered the cuffs since I didn’t like the original ones that seemed a little bulky to me. Then I had to make a different knot for the two side strips on the bodice (I tried to knot them but I ended up with a fake knot which is a simple rectangle with fasteners on the back).

The belt was quite simple but attaching that soutache cord was extremely frustrating.
I had to baste it first, then sew it with sewing machine. I know that I should have attach it by hand with tiny running stitches but I had no time to make “the historical seamstress” way.

On my shop you can find the listings for these sewing patterns. I divided the listing in two: full dress or the bodice only. In this way you can make the bodice only if you already have a matching skirt.

Hope you like it!