I tie-dyed an 18th century dress (Bonus: How to sew a Chemise a la Reine!)

When you’re meeting Marie Antoinette for tea at 3 but have a Grateful Dead concert at 5

Suddenly realizing that I deeply want a chemise a la reine with a pink to raspberry red gradient. Dip-dyed kind of look.

The Bob Ross of sewing - no mistakes, just happy little accidents.

Tie-dye pro tip: Pre-soak your garment in a solution of soda ash before applying the dye. After dying, let the garment sit in its bag for three days. Yes, three. You'll get some really deep colors that way.

Morgan: "Am I doing this for the sake of a pun?" Me: Nods like I'm there

Morgan: I'm tie-dying a Chemise a la Reine 😎 Also Morgan: Am I feeling experimental today?

I feel like this is the perfect dress to be tie dyed... the gathering leaves a lot of white and I loooove the effect you got in the end!

My kids loved this!!! My Daughter said she "hopes you sell kids sizes in the mall". I'm wondering which mall sells handmade classical clothing. Where has she gotten that idea and where can I find it. The mind of an 8 year old. 🥰🥰🥰

In case anyone is watching this and thinking of sewing a garment to dye, one tip is to use cotton thread and notions, which will take dye, unlike polyester thread. And conversely, it can be a good idea to use rubber bands or polyester thread or something that will not take dye when binding your tie-dye, not cotton thread which will take up dye and cause it to move in directions you don't want it to go. Though tie-dye is such a fun technique because many of the popular patterns are quite forgiving of a little sloppiness as long as you follow the basic directions, the part of me that learned to dye fabric in fashion school was quite concerned with all the dirt and red dye all over the place at the start, but then the part of me that tie-dyes with kids at summer camp and has eyes absolutely loved the dress as a finished product.

Oddly enough considering how many colors go into these I can imagine back in the old days nobles would've spent obscene amounts of money to have these made for them 🤣

There's some fantastic opportunity here for mixed-culture historical fashion - imagine a beautiful traditional Japanese stitch/tie resist dyes indigo linen fabric as an 18th century men's shirt, or a waistcoat with traditional quilted silk sari fabric. A 17th century crewel-work brocade fabric used for a jacket for a han-bok or kimono. Indian calico block-print fabric as a victorian walking skirt (although imported floral woodblock print calico from Calcutta was already used as skirt material in the 1700s).

The constant highlights of the mistakes to come make this like a horror film to me the very inexperienced seamstress who can't see what the issue is.

The World needs more People doing fun and whimsical things.

This is both fantastic and pun-tastic. It adds this sherbert rainbow could whimsy to historical clothing. I kinda love it 😊

You have kinda-sorta answered a question that popped into my head recently: What would Historical Tailors, Dressmakers and the like do if you brought them to modern times? Hmmm.... Here y'all are trying to recreate what they did. What would they do if they had access to the modern conveniences, supplies, etc that y'all have? I really think >someone< would have seen tie-dye and said, "Yes! I have to do that!" Great job, Lady Donner! This was TRULY a very fun video! Thank you for "coloring outside the seams".

Morgan: makes and tie-dyes entire dress from scratch Morgan 24 hours later: enjoy the little things

Concept: this is exactly what Anne Shirley’s princess Cordelia would wear and you cannot convince me otherwise

My son is obsessed with rainbows so he lost his mind when he caught the part where you were tie dying and he was riveted to the end. 10/10 son approves 👍.

Morgan: It's the summer Also Morgan: releases this literally as soon as fall begins

When I wanted to start my historical sewing journey I made a chemise. I really wanted to be able to wear it outside so I wanted a color I love. I chose blue and I was worried it wasn’t historical enough but I ended up loving it so much!