American Duchess Historic Shoes Blog
Spotlight: New "Fraser" Early 18th Century Leather Shoes
Lauren reporting - As you all know, this year we've opened all of our new Fall/Winter historic styles for pre-order at the same time. We've also made the pre-order period...
Introducing our Fall Collection of Historic Shoes - Pre-Orders Open!
It's a big day! For the first time, we're presenting our entire Fall collection all at once. Intense. This year we have new offerings in several of our historic categories....
The Red Dress Project: Challenges
Lauren reporting > I've been working on-and-off on The Red Dress, the Robe de Cour pattern for Simplicity. I am making the master pattern in paper, but I am also...
Our Big Announcement!
Hello Lovelies! As many of you know (but maybe some of you don't) we announced last Friday via our weekly Facebook LiveCast (2pm Pacific Time/5 pm Eastern) that American Duchess...
My Big Fat Yellow English Gown - Finito!
Lauren here - Doesn't it just feel *so good* to best a cranky project, wear it, and love it? I'd been working on my yellow English Gown for most of...
My 1740s "Mutton Chop" Cap
The Athenaeum - Lettice Mary Banks (William Hoare - ) English 1746 It's getting down to the wire on Costume College preparations. Most of my major projects are a few...
Simplicity 18th Century Stays - Adding Boning
I've been MIA on the Simplicity 18th Century Pattern Hacks lately, due to moving, but I'm back! Time for more helpful hacks and hints for constructing Simplicity 8161 and 8162...
And It Was All Yellow...
You're going to think I'm all-over-the-place right now, and you would be right. Projects here, projects there, moving house, moving business, omg! It's been stressy, for sure, but this is...
The Red Dress Project: 18th Century Robes de Cour
The next on my list of Big News to share with all of you is that, due to the popularity of the first 18th century patterns (8161 and 8162), Simplicity...
18th Century Stays: Boning Patterns
In preparation for making your Simplicity 8162 18th c. stays, you may wish to re-draw the boning pattern. The pattern comes with an accurate layout for half-boned stays. If you...
18th Century Stays - Q&A about Simplicity 8162
Continuing on with the Simplicity 18th Century Pattern Hacks, I thought it would be good to cover some questions about the pattern specifically. I've finished my stays made from this...
18th Century Stays - Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How
Ladies, now it's time to get started on our Simplicity 18th Century inspired patterns! You've got two pattern packs - one with underpinnings and one with the outfit itself -...