The Fairy Godmother at Home

The outfit consists of a shift, petticoat, separate pocket, circle skirt, vest, and apron. The vest was made using Simplicity pattern #3809 vest B modified to have a new neckline, cording at center front and back rather than diagonal boning at side front, shoulder seams rather than straps that tie at the top of the shoulder, hook and eye closures at center front and decorative rather than functional lacing. I went through one paper toile and two muslins to make certain that I understood the construction before moving on to a cotton canvas structure and black cotton gaberdine fashion fabric. I drafted the shift directly onto the final fabric, an old sheet chosen for its opacity, plain weave, and natural fiber. I followed Bernadette Banner’s video on making an 18th/Early 19th century shift for directions, although, I did add sleeve cuffs and increase the overall size so that the garment would be poofier. The petticoat was simply made of rectangles from the remainder of the sheet, each gathered down to just over half my waist measurement before being attached to separate waist ties for front and back halves. The pocket and apron were similarly made from scrap fabric pieced and cut to shape. I drafted a circle skirt made from the remainder of the black fashion fabric and faced the hem with some sturdy purple scrap from my stash. The metal closures were embroidered over with the same thread I used to weave the vest lacing, drawstring and sleeve ties