Cotton Day Dress: Hand-Sewn Victorian Replica

This project is a simpler day dress than the many flounced skirts shown in the fashion plates of this period, and perhaps reflects a more ordinary dress and plainer everyday style. The pattern is taken directly from an original garment, and therefore gives you a real feel of the genuine mid-Victorian shape and how the body was intended to be fashioned and moulded at this time. This beautiful original printed cotton day dress from the 1850s is a fine example of a neatly made garment that was probably made at home by the wearer. The bodice features tight gathers on both sides at the front and, in contrast to the previous dress, it fastens at the front rather than the back, making it much easier to put on without any assistance.

Fig. 7.9. Three-quarter view of the finished 1850s printed cotton day dress project

Fig. 7.11. Detail of the front bodice gathers from the finished 1850s printed cotton day dress project

The sleeves have a small cap at the top and are cut with a wide curve which gives some fullness, which is then gathered into a tight wrist cuff, fastened with hooks and eyes. The edges of the bodice and sleeves are finished with a very fine piping of the same fabric as the rest of the dress. The skirt, like the previous one, is very tightly gathered into the waistline, and the hemline dips lower at the back than at the front, suggesting multiple petticoats that helped to extend the skirt out at the back, and perhaps the addition of a small bumroll bustle which was popular during the 1840s. The dress itself does not contain any boning but it does have a very small and tightly fitted bodice, and would have been worn with a corset. Every part of this dress is hand-sewn, as this was before the advent of the domestic sewing machine in the home.

Fig. 7.12. Detail of the skirt gathers into the back waistline of the finished 1850s printed cotton day dress project

Although it is practical (being made of cotton which is washable), it has several features which would point to its origin being middle-rather than working-class. The fine piping details where the sleeve joins the bodice and where the bodice joins the skirt are nicely done, and the fine gathers at the centre front of the bodice show some very neat stitching. The cotton itself has a woven design as well as a printed one, making it a very pretty fabric. It is also predominantly white, which obviously shows the dirt much more quickly than a darker colour, perhaps indicating it was a best dress, or worn by someone who could have it washed frequently and was less likely to get it dirty.

Replica Historic printed cotton fabrics. Both the light and dark printed cottons I have used here are reproduction fabrics, aimed towards the patchwork and quilting market. They copy the printed designs found in original surviving garments and fabric samples from the Victorian period, and emulate the colours and printed motifs that were popular. They are often used in small pieces to try to replicate traditional heritage quilts which contain a wide variety of dressmaking fabric remnants.

This is an authentic-looking option, but also an expensive one. Many of these fabrics cost (at the time of writing) between £12 and £15 a metre, which is fine when you are purchasing a relatively small amount for patchwork, but soon adds up with the 5-6 metres needed for a large Victorian dress. If this is a little out of your price range, take inspiration from the designs and colours in these reproduction fabrics and try to find some cheaper alternatives. Some simpler motifs can be found in cheaper fabrics, and designs such as stripes and checks had long periods of popularity, and can be used to create something with pattern that isn’t necessarily that expensive.