American Duchess Historic Shoes Blog
Pattern Notes & Adjustments for Simplicity S8941
As promised, here is my really big post of pattern notes and adjustments for Simplicity S8941 1790s to Regency Round Gown and Open Robe pattern.This pattern was originally designed in...
Gown-in-a-Weekend: 1790s Vigee-Lebrun Round Gown from Simplicity S8941
For some reason I got a wild hair to do a "gown in a weekend" project. Dr. Carolyn Dowdell and I made a pact to fill the void of black...
1765 Robe a la Bon Bon Sacque - Simplicity 8578 - Construction Complete!
Trying on the new sacque - it's always nice to have something, y'know, fit at its first real try-on. Next time I say something like, "oh I'll just throw this...
Pattern Notes on Simplicity 8578 - Robe a la Francaise Dress Pattern
A couple years ago now we worked with Simplicity to create a Robe a la Francaise pattern (Simplicity 8578) based on Abby's sacque in The American Duchess Guide to 18th...
Spring2019 - A New Pattern for Simplicity - 1790s Gown and Open Robe!
Ann Frankland Lewis - 1794. LACMA I'm excited to officially announce that we've developed another new historical dress pattern for Simplicity! Since first partnering with Simplicity several years ago I've...
Simplicity Patterns Now Available on AmericanDuchess.com
Hi! This is just a quick announcement to let you know that we now have all of our American Duchess Simplicity costume patterns available at AmericanDuchess.com, woo! You'll find Simplicity...
1760s Robe a la Bon Bon - The Petticoat
Finished sacque petticoat over pocket hoops I've been steadily progressing on my new sacque, using the Simplicity 8578 Robe a la Francaise pattern we released December 2017. Since I already...
A *New* 1760s Robe a la Bon Bon (or Sacque-a-Macarons?)
I have a confession to make. I admit to feeling quite jealous whenever I see Abby dressed in the pink and white 1768 sacque from The American Duchess Guide. To...
Simplicity 8411 - A New 18th Century Pattern!
Howdy! After many moons we finally get to announce the release of our new collaboration with Simplicity Patterns - Simplicity 8411. Now right off the bat many of you will...
Simplicity Pattern Catalog, June 1946
I promised I would show snaps from the other 1940s Simplicity pattern catalog I recently purchased, so here we go! Last time, I shared with you my favorites from the...
Simplicity Pattern Catalog, August 1940
Simplicity Pattern Catalog, August 1940 About a month ago I acquired my first vintage counter book - you know, the big pattern catalogs we go and flip through at the...
Behind the Scenes at Simplicity Creative Group, NYC
Lauren reporting - We're back! Last week Abby and I traveled to The East Coast to attend Rufflecon and spend a few days in New York City afterwards. While we...