Sewing History

Today, we're going to do something a little different.  I'm going to introduce my readers to historical sewing.  Sewing is a lost skill among the current generation.  Schools have been discouraging consumer science classes in various localities.  However, some schools have a "seniors only" or "Adulting 101" as part of their curriculum to teach sewing skills.  These classes teach students how to pay bills, open a bank account, do simple repairs, how to sew and how to cook.

Since I love history and historic costumes and fashions, I thought I would share some historic costumers that share their craft on YouTube.  I would have no problem sharing these creators in a history or consumer education classroom.  These creators show off how to sew, layout a pattern, how to modify a pattern, and how to do mock-ups.  Other skills include how to drape cloth on a mannequin or a beauty routine of the time period.

These links are current as of 3/14/2021, these videos may be deleted in the future.

Bernadette Banner: She worked in Broadway making costumes and is a historic costumer.   She is very eloquent and enthusiastic about her work.  On top of that, she is very well researched and thoughtful in her presentations.  I will admit, that I have no self-control and have mentioned her frequently on my class message boards.

1) Buying a Knock Off of my Dress: This does not teach sewing, but it is a fun video where she roasts a company that knocked off a dress that she had designed and sewed on her own.

2) Busting Corset Myths: Bernadette busts the myths that have circulated about wearing corsets and she brings proof that corset wearing wasn't the death trap it was made out to be.    She spent years in a medical corset to correct her scoliosis. 

3) Adding Pockets to a Dress:  How to guide on how to add pockets to skirts and dresses that don't have pockets.

4) Making a Modern Edwardian Walking Skirt: A very good video on how to make a skirt, layout a pattern, modify a pattern and sew a skirt.

5) 500 Years of Correcting "Historical" Halloween Costumes:  Bernadette corrects Halloween costumes, incorporating more historical accuracy in her sketches.

Morgan Donner: She works in the Medieval period.  However, from time to time she posts on other time eras.

1) Covering a Plunging Neckline: This is a quick tutorial on how to fix a plunging neckline on a dress.

2) Holiday Dress Out of an Amazon Bag:  Morgan makes a dress out of an Amazon gift bag.  During the Depression, flour companies used to make patterned flour bags and people would make dresses out of them.

3) Adding Pockets to Dresses:  This is another tutorial on how to add pockets to dresses.

4) Sewing a Gusset - This is a video on how to sew a square gusset on a sewing machine.

5) How to Drape a Medieval Dress - This is a tutorial on how to make a fitted medieval dress without using math or geometry.

Cathy Hay - She is an English historic costumer.  She works with the Victorian and Edwardian Periods.  She is planning on recreating the Peacock Dress.  She also hosts pep talks for people who need it.

Karolina Żebrowska - She is a Polish costumer and works a variety of time periods.  She also reviews historic movies for their costumes' accuracy.