Leverett Family Petticoat Returns to Colonial Williamsburg

The Leverett family quilted petticoat, reproduced from a pattern created by pricking the design onto muslin, has been returned to the makers at the Margaret Hunter Shop, Milliners and Mantuamakers at Colonial Williamsburg. 

The pricking was in the collection of Massachusetts Historical Society, along with a written description (left by a family member) which noted it was a pale blue silk with silk thread used for the quilting, which gave it the impression of light ‘tissue.’ The recreation of the petticoat was a collaborative project between the Massachusetts Historical Society and Colonial Williamsburg, and was created for display in the exhibit entitled Fashioning the New England Family, on view from October 2018-April 2019. 

Fashioning the New England Family, www.masshist.org
Mannequins by Astrida Schaeffer

It is now safely in the hands of Mistress Whitacre, where it will be used for educational and interpretive purposes. It was entirely hand sewn by the milliners and mantua-makers.

For information on the project, see: 

http://www.silkdamask.org/2018/10/a-quilted-silk-petticoat-bridges-past.html

For information on the exhibition, see:

https://www.masshist.org/fashion

For an interview with Jared Bowen of Open Studio on WGBH:

https://www.wgbh.org/program/open-studio-with-jared-bowen/fashioning-new-england-small-mouth-sounds-and-more