How to Sew a Pioneer Costume

Life in a pioneer cabin left no room for hoop skirts and no money for lacy petticoats.

The clothes women wore as they helped to pioneer the settlement of the American West had to work harder than the clothes depicted in "Godey's Lady's Book," but these women did their best. The simplest pioneer outfit, then and now, is a skirt and "shirtwaist" or blouse that you can make in printed all-cotton fabric. Use any fitted modern pattern with front buttons and either no or a high collar, or a historical pattern such as those offered by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring tape
• 4 yards plain all-cotton fabric
• Scissors
• Dressmaker pins
• Threaded sewing machine
• 4 flat shell or wood buttons

Instructions

1. Measure the waist of the wearer. Cut two pieces of fabric for the skirt's waistband, at least 5 inches deep. Cut one strip half the measure of the wearer's waist, the other half plus 9 inches. Cut the remaining fabric into three even lengths.

2. Stitch two lengths of the fabric together lengthwise and right sides together to form the back of the skirt. Sew the third piece, for the front, to the sides, stopping 6 inches from the top on each seam. Stitch down the folded-back seam allowances in this open slot.

3. Fold in and pin box pleats along the top of the back pieces, working outward from the center seam and keeping the pleats even on the two sides, until the back measures one inch less than the longer waistband piece.

4. Stitch the longer waistband piece, right side to the wrong side of the skirt back, using 1/2 inch seam allowance and leaving 1/2 inch on each end of the band. Fold the waistband in half, inside out, and stitch the ends even with the skirt. Turn right-side out. Turn under the seam allowance along the remaining side and stitch it to the right side of the skirt back.

5. Fit the skirt to the wearer, drawing the finished back band around to the front. Tuck in the front panel so the stitched-down seam allowances match those of the back panels, folding the front panel back on itself no farther than where ordinary side seams would fall; pin these folds. If the front panel is not yet smooth, run a basting thread across it (omitting the folded-in ends) and draw up soft gathers.

6. Apply the second waistband piece over the front panel. Make buttonholes in both ends of both waistband pieces, and sew buttons to match them.

7. Trim the skirt to length and hem. If you have enough extra length, cut the back panels into a blunted V and hem in a slight train.

Tips & Warnings

• Men's and boys' costumes can be assembled from selected modern clothing. Riveted Levi's jeans, however, were not available before 1873, and they didn't have the leather patch until 1886. Shirts should be collarless.

• Babies and toddlers of both sexes can be clothed authentically in white cotton dresses.

• Young pioneer girls wore loose-fitting dresses below their knees, with or without more washable pinafores.

• For authenticity, avoid anachronistic sewing notions such as zippers and elastic.

• Pioneer women rarely used expensive and fragile lace, except perhaps on a set of collar and cuffs to add to their blouse for dressier occasions.

References

• Levi Strauss & Co.: "History of the Levi's 501 Jeans";
• Clothesline Journal.com: "Commonly Held Misconceptions About Historic Costume"; Elizabeth Walton
• Patterns of History: "Notes on Late 1850s Fashion"
• "The Workwoman's Guide"; A Lady; 1838; Facsimile edition Opus Publications; 1986

Resources

• "Middle Class Women's Dress During the Westward Expansion 1850-1914"; Anne Foster; 3/15/2006
• "Godey's Lady's Book Online"