dress

A (girl's) dress in white light weight plain weave linen (or cotton); wide high neck opening; front and back shoulder yokes; bodice gathered into yoke and a 7/8" wide waist band of coarser linen below; bodice gathers into the waist band are concentrated towards the center front and back; the sides of the bodice are close fitting; high tight armscyes; bands of whitework and eyelet embroidered insertion at shoulder seams and yoke-to-bodice seams, front and back; all bodice seams incorporate self-fabric corded piping-neck edge, armscyes, side back seams and on both sides of insertion at shoulders and yoke-to-bodice seams; there is a fitted foundation of sturdier plain weave fabric under the outer bodice fabric at the sides and back of the bodice; sleeves with full gathered caps are cut to follow the inward curve of the arm and taper down to a fitted wrist opening; corded pintucks and the whitework and eyelet embroidered insertion embellish the hemmed edges of the sleeves; a long full skirt is gathered on to the waist band all around with more fullness concentrated towards the center back; the skirt is cut with a center back panel and narrow gores at both sides of back; the front is a continuous piece of fabric (42" wide, seam to seam; no selvedges present on this piece); a slashed center back skirt opening is reinforced at the bottom with a small piece of woven linen tape and is contiguous with the center back bodice opening; (no fasteners along the opening in the bodice or skirt); a 1 ½" horizontal pleat was at one time stitched around the skirt ~12" up from the bottom of the eyelet edging; the bottom of the skirt is embroidered with a band of whitework all around-repeating harp and floral branch motifs in padded satin stitch, stem stitch, bullion stitch, buttonhole stitch, French knots, eyelets and couched 2-ply cord; the embroidery is worked over all skirt seams except one at the proper right back gore, where adjacent harp motifs are both bullion stitch, rather than alternating bullion stitch and satin stitch as elsewhere around; a 2 ¾" wide whitework and eyelet embroidered edging with a needle lace "spider web" worked in the centers of its repeating floral motifs finishes the hem edge of the skirt; the dress is stitched entirely by hand; a hand written label is pinned to one shoulder of the dress: "McAllister, Miss Hannah, Grandmothers?, about 1820's".