Marion shares a linen chemise circa 1879 from her collection. The chemise is simple in construction with delicate hand embroidered eyelet work around the neck, minute white threadwork buttons, and an eye-opening combination of machine sewing and delicate hand stitching.

If you're looking to get a head start on your Natural Form Era undies, you can't miss this!

Chemise

The chemise is made of a fine linen, similar to the handkerchief linen from Grey Line Fabrics and is very smooth and silky. It's of very basic construction:  two angled body pieces cut the same, two sleeves, trim at neck and sleeves, buttons on the shoulders and no gussets.   

Similarly shaped chemises  can be seen in fashion magazines and catalogs from the 1850's to the 1880's.  

Peterson's, June 1855	Peterson's, January 1866

This chemise is almost identical to a chemise pattern offered for sale in the Spring of 1879 by the Domestic Fashion Co. New York, as well as one in the Spring 1883 Strawbridge Quarterly.

The are a couple of key points in dating this chemise to the late 1870's/early 1880's:

• Sleeves are short and angular.
• Mix of lock machine stitch and fine handwork
• Handmade eyelet trim, not machine embroidered
• Puffed lawn bands (very popular during this era)
• Buttoned shoulders

Domestic Fashion Co, Fashion Review, Spring 1879, p.34	Strawbridge & Clothier's quarterly, Spring 1883, p.28
This style of chemise would have been worn under a low bodice, not under a high or square necked bodice. For more styles of chemises see the B. Altman catalog (Fall/Winter 1879/1880) from the Harvard University Library. Muslin and Cambric Chemises | Muslin Chemises | Bridal sets - Nightgown, chemise and drawers

Pattern

The chemise is constructed of two trapezoid shaped body sections, a two part sleeve and a neck band. There is no shaping at the neck; it is cut straight across.  Both body sections are pieced with a section to make them wider, and the pieces are joined on their selvages with a whip stitch.

Large size printable version 

Neckband 

The neckband is made of a strip of eyelet work insertion 19.5 inches (49.5 cm) long edged with eyelet work trimming. 

Although the embroidery is done by hand, it is top-stitched by machine on the outside, and hand finished inside.

Neckband, laid out flat	Neckband outside, detail of embroidery
Neckband inside, notice the super tiny hand stitches.	Seam attaching neckband to body. The gathering stitches are still in place and the seam is bound with the edge of the insertion band, hemmed by hand.
Lace edging at top of neckband and sleeves . The eyelet work is by hand, including the tiny buttonhole stitches on the scalloped edges, but the edge is top-stitched by machine	Top edging, inside. The edges of the edging and insertion band have been left with raw edges inside.

Embroidery

When I first examined this piece, I assumed that because it was top-stitched by machine that the lace was machine made. Not so! By examining the lace closely, I could see that the thread traveled between the eyelets only on the back side.  If it was machine made eyelet work (known then as Hamburg Embroidery), the thread would have traveled from the eyelets on the front and back side.

The lace from the front	You can see here, on the back side,  the thread going from one eyelet hole to the next as it worked its way around the motif.
Examples of machine made Hamburg Embroideries from Strawbridge & Clothier's quarterly, 1883,  p. 268

Sleeves

The two halves of the sleeves are seamed in the middle, right through the puffed lawn bands and eyelet work insertion and edging. It appears that the front half and back half of the chemise were made up separately, including the edging, before the side seams were sewn.  

Sleeve, laid out flat, outside	Sleeve, laid out flat, inside

The eyelet work insertion band and sleeve are hemmed by machine, but the puffed band is whipped to the machine hems by hand with minute stitches about 1mm apart. 

Underarm seam, and closeup of puffed band outside	Underarm seam, and closeup of puffed band inside

There is a facing on the sleeve/body seam to strengthen it, and provide a smooth surface against the body. This facing is a strip of linen on the straight grain 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) wide.

Underarm seam, showing join of sleeve to body. Machine top stitching on edge of body-sleeve seam.	Inside of base of sleeve, showing facing, hemmed with minute stitches

Button and Loop

The shoulders fasten with a button and loop closure. The loop is made of a thread covered with buttonhole stitches done in a doubled thread. The button is a form covered in white thread work.
	Shoulder, fastened	Shoulder, unfastened
Button, 1/4 inch (7mm)	Button - side view	Button loop

Seams and Finishing

The body pieces are widened by joining an additional piece to the side. The pieces are whipped together along the selvage edge. The join is very smooth and almost impossible to see or feel.

Join from the outside - notice the machine-sewn hem at the bottom!	The joined edges on the inside. The whipstitches are less than 1mm apart! (ruler is metric)

The seams throughout the chemise are sewn by machine and finished by hand using a "hemmed fell seam".  The finished seams are tiny!  The finished side seams are 1/8 inch (2mm) wide and hemmed with tiny stitches less than 1mm apart.

The hem is 1.5 inches (4 cm) deep, sewn by machine.

Hem, outside	Hem, inside

Conclusion

When I purchased this chemise on eBay, I never anticipated seeing the beautiful handmade lace being stitched on by machine.  It just seems so foreign to me that they would have sewn any part of this garment on the machine after all the fine hand stitching and finishing. It's certainly been an eye-opening experience studying this fascinating garment!