Two New 18th Century Day Dresses

My sister in law and I went to Fort Frederick Market Faire in Big Pool Maryland today. We met up with a bunch of other lovely people to include Stephanie, Maggie, and Jess. Since all my old outfits are now too small and my sister in law didn't have any day dresses, I had to create two new ones!

My sister in law is wearing what was a quilt and is now a petticoat as well as what was a tablecloth, we think, and is now a dress. :-) I got both the quilt and the tablecloth at a thrift store I go to all the time. I made the petticoat years ago - it's mine but it was cool and wet in the morning which is a no go for white linen/cotton petticoats. The dress I made last night. It's machine sewn but the lines are correct for the later half of the 18th century. It's a linen blend - we think. I probably should burn test the scraps....Just did! It's linen and poly mix. The dress is lined in what I'm pretty sure is a linen rayon (but one of the old more rayon than linen mixes). All thrift store finds and they all look good enough to use. Of course, I'll need to make her a different outfit for when it's not 72F and lovely, which it ended up being.

My dress is out of the Williamsburg cotton I know everyone has. At least five other ladies were wearing the same print! Mine is entirely handsewn and lined in cotton and linen (the sleeves). The sleeves are pieced. The upper part of one of the sleeves is pieced on. I had forgotten to cut out sleeves for my dress and, by the time I remembered, it was almost too late! I only had enough left over for a stomacher - I thought- but I managed to get enough out for two short sleeves. I then added linen cuffs, going for a 1770's look:

See?  White cuffs!

We both has a great time as did Abigail the pup. The pup was a huge people magnet and loved the attention. :-) Of course, she always tried to get either myself or my sister in law to pick her up when the pressures of instant celebrity got to her.