1981.73.1a, b, c, f

Dress, 1865-1867

Bluish-purple silk taffeta, white china silk, black silk satin, tan cotton twill, tan polished cotton,

white starched net

Scale: 1 box = 1"

The darts are taken in the back lining (cotton twill), and the center back silk piece placed over it -

the silk is too long, and bubbles and wrinkles slightly. The side back silk pieces are then lapped

over the edges and backstitched down. The rest of the bodice is flatlined as usual, with the seams

backstitched and the allowances overcast. Hooks are placed at the back of each of the lower four

buttonholes; the matching eyes are set between the silk and lining at the edge of the other side.

Another hook is sewn to the edge of the bottom of the left side, meeting a thread eye on the other

side. From the button edge, on the proper right front, extends a 1.5" wide tab of just the silk. The

buttons are decorated with black thread-covered cording. The shoulder seam is marked on the

sleeve pattern. The neckline, lower edge, and armscye are piped with self-fabric and a narrow

cord.

The sleeve - made of two identical pieces, the back seam sewn to the mark near the cuff - is

flatlined with polished cotton and faced with a 3.5" band of taffeta. Inside the opening is a

pinked, box-pleated strip of white china silk, while the outside, marked with a dotted line, is

trimmed with a length of the patterned double-box-pleated silk trim, bound with black satin (this

binding is machine-sewn). The silk for the trim is cut on the grain and backed with the starched

net; the pleats are widely spaced, with the top and bottom at the center of each pleat crunched

down and the pleats caught at the edges with a single stitch; and the whole is placed on the

sleeve with the top edge of the trim on the dotted line, and slipstitched below the binding. The

trim is darted at the curve to fit, and is seamed at the back sleeve seam.

The peplum, flatlined with polished cotton, closes at center front, with pin holes remaining in the

waistband but no hooks and eyes. It is sewn down center back to the mark and then hangs open.

The edges are faced with a piece of on-grain taffeta, and trimmed on top with the double-box-

pleated trim, in which the pleats are spaced 3.5"-5" apart. A section of this trim is on the back of

the waistband, one double-pleat on either side of center back.

The back-closing waistband of the overskirt has a hook on the underside and an eye on top, with

a short piece of lavender wool tape sewn at the center back as a flat loop.This overskirt is lined

only from the top to the dashed line and backed with starched net at the lower edge for 3". It is

pleated slightly where marked, with the back panels each gauged to 3". The center back seam is

on the selvedge, and is open to the mark. The lower edge is decorated with the same pleated trim,

3" wide, with the folded-in pleats tacked together neatly.

The whole skirt is lined with polished cotton, the hem bound with purple wool tape. It closes in

the center front, with the corner on the right panel folded down on the dotted line, and the silk

placket applied on the left panel. The bottom of the opening is marked, as is the pocket opening

on the right side. The opening of the pocket bag is faced with a 1.5" bias strip of the silk. The top

of the skirt is pleated as shown, and then gauged to 5" on either side of the back from the mark.

The waistband, of silk lined with polished cotton, has a hook on the edge and an eye on the top

layer. The skirt is fully whipped to the waistband.