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This past winter we decided to do something to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Wedding of Lucy Maud Montgomery and the Rev. Ewen MacDonald who were married on July the 5th, 1911 at Park Corner, Prince Edward Island. We chose to reproduce the the clothing she purchased for her Trousseau. She had a keen eye for fashion and with the income from her writing she was able to purchase a number of outfits what were fashionable yet dignified enough for a new minister's wife.

This is my home in Pleasant Valley, Prince Edward Island. The house dated from 1860 and was built by my Sharpe ancestors, it was slated for demolition in 1999 and I was able to save it by moving it 1 1/2 miles to the home farm and spent the next 2 years restoring it. I will tell you more about the house in later blogs.

We worked from the basement walk out family room with a view out over the countryside. The room was large enough that we were able to work on the 6 outfits at one time and each one had its own dress form so it was interesting to see them take shape. We started by studing the pictures and drafting patterns and doing mock ups of each outfit to develop a working pattern. This process took many long hours of trial and error, fitting and altering until we were satisifyed. Next came finding the right fabrics, colors, accent fabrics and trims and notions. This project would not have been possible without the help and support of Fabricville in Charlottetown. http://www.fabricville.com/  They have a wonderful staff and have even ordered in needed fabric and dress forms for us.