Factory-made women’s clothing did not become widely available until near the end of the 1800s. Before then, all clothing was custom made for the woman wearing it. To keep herself and her family clothed, a woman either sewed the garments herself or hired a dressmaker or seamstress. Sometimes she did both.

Women tended to make their own personal linens such as undergarments, caps, aprons, and handkerchiefs. They also made their children’s and often their husband’s clothing. Dressmakers were hired to make more complicated items like bodices, which required a precise fit, or special occasion dresses. Sometimes women worked together with the dressmaker. A woman might cut pieces for the dressmaker to assemble, or she might hem and sew pieces that the dressmaker had cut.

Learning to Sew

“A woman who does not know how to sew is as deficient in her education as a man who cannot write.”

Eliza Farrar, The Young Lady’s Friend, 1849.

Girls were first taught “plain sewing” – skills like hemming, sewing seams, darning, and making buttonholes. These would be useful for making and mending clothing. Many girls practiced their needlework by making clothing for dolls and by helping their mothers with mending.

A Woman's "Work"

Fashion Magazines

We do not forget that, while our magazine lies upon city centre-tables, by far its warmest welcome is in the far-off homes of the North, West, and South, where our countrywomen are, in a measure, dependent upon their own resources of fancy and invention. – Godey’s Lady’s Book, 1851

Nineteenth-century women kept up-to-date with clothing styles through ladies’ magazines. Most fashion began in Paris, the style capital of the world. French fashion drawings were then quickly copied and published for American women in magazines such as Godey’s Lady’s Book, Peterson’s Magazine, and Demorest’s Illustrated Monthly Magazine.

Studies show these magazines were read by members of all social classes all over the United States. These magazines gave women equal access to the status conferred by stylish clothing.

Commercial Dress Patterns

The Sewing Machine: Blessing or Curse?

The sewing machine was advertised as a labor-saving device that would free women from the endless chore of sewing by hand. In reality, the sewing machine was a mixed blessing to both home sewers and professional seamstresses.

Home sewers could indeed sew much faster on a machine. A shirt that took 14 hours to sew by hand could be finished in an hour and a half by machine. However, clothing styles grew more complicated as the home sewing machines became more common. Women were expected to keep up with fashions for more trim, draping, and ruffles, which ate up any time saved by the machine.

Many women used their sewing machines to add to their family income. Some became self-supporting in their own businesses as seamstresses or dressmakers. Yet the introduction of sewing machines to the garment industry put tens of thousands of hand sewers out of work. It drove down wages for those who still sewed by hand. Machine sewers were pushed to increase production and work longer hours for less pay to increase profits for the garment industry.

Dressmakers

Seamstresses

Shirtwaist