Sewing an 18th Century Gown - Recreating the Isabella MacTavish Fraser Wedding Gown Documentary

Last summer, Abby and Lauren went off to Scotland to lend our skills on a project led by Rebecca Olds of Timesmith Dressmaking at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Recreating the Isabella MacTavish Fraser wedding gown was no easy feat (despite how simple the gown might appear...). 18th-century dressmaking is a fickle beast and a challenge for even those of us who are quite familiar with the mantua-making trades. This "simple tartan gown" demanded all of our skills, expertise, and patience to come back to life as a recreation, and luckily, we were able to document the process, from start to finish.

This documentary on recreating the Isabella MacTavish Fraser wedding gown, from its history, the history of tartan, reproducing the fabric, and recreating the gown, is a result of many months of work, research, dreams, bloody fingers, and incredible interviews with experts. We learned so much during this project, and we are thrilled to finally share it with you.

**Download a FREE PDF pattern of the gown here: (psst - there's a special bonus surprise when you download the pattern too! 😉 )

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Timesmith Dressmaking:

Chas Whatmore, Videography, (@Sole Productions):

Simon Lees, Photography:

Prickly Thistle:

The Scottish Tartans Authority:

"O Whar gat ye that hauver-meal bannock?
O Silly blind body. O dinna ye see?
I gat it frae a young, brisk sodger laddie,
Between Saint Johnston and bonie Dundee.
O gin I saw the laddie that gae me't!
Aft has he doudl'd me up on his knee:
May heav'n protect my bonie Scots laddie,
And send him safe hame to his babie and me!

My blessins upon they sweet, wee lippie!
My blessins upon they bonie e'e brie!
Thy smiles are sae like my blyth Sodger laddie,
Thou's ay the dearer, and dearer to me!
But I'll big a bow'r on yon bonie banks,
Whare Tay rins wimplin by sae clear,
And I'll cleed thee in the tartan sae fine,
And mak thee a man like thy dadie dear."

- Robbie Burns, 1787

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