Historical Sewing Workshops

Historical Sewing Workshops Historical Sewing Workshops by Shelley Peters. Sharpen your historical sewing skills! Learn how to construct a corset in any era, then on to the rest!

Shelley Peters has been sewing for over 50 years. She sewed her first dress in 2nd grade and costumed her 8 brothers and sisters for home productions. Her three children and their friends were always dressed in creative Halloween costumes. She moved on to Renaissance, wedding gowns, and Dickens Christmas Carolers. In 2001 she discovered Civil War Reenacting and has immersed herself in learning per

iod clothing and construction methods. She saw the need for corsets to be worn with historical clothing and started her first corset workshop in 2006. Since than she has fitted, sewn or taught over 400 custom corsets. Shelley has taught at Costume college since 2003. Shelley Peters is the Proprietress of the Kansas Mercantile, a traveling store specializing in Civil War & Victorian goods for reenactors, & Historical Sewing Supplies with over 20 Pattern lines. Her custom sewing business SewPeriod! specializes in Historical Clothing with an emphasis on Corsets. To be put on the email notification list send anEmail
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08/13/2026

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On this day, American inventor Isaac Merritt Singer secured a patent that would stitch the nation into the age of mass production. His 1851 sewing machine wasn’t the first—others, like Elias Howe, had paved key pieces of the way—but Singer’s foot-treadle, straight-needle design made sewing faster, sturdier, and accessible to ordinary households and workshops. Marking the 175th anniversary, it’s worth noting a hidden innovation wasn’t purely mechanical: Singer pioneered installment plans and in-home demonstrations, an early blend of technology and modern marketing that helped his machines spread worldwide.

The Singer machine reshaped work. It shortened the time to make a shirt from hours to minutes, supercharging ready-to-wear clothing and fueling the rise of the garment industry in cities like New York. It also transformed domestic labor—women could earn wages from home—and sparked fierce patent battles that led to one of America’s first “patent pools,” a legal truce that kept innovation moving. From factory floors to family parlors, Singer’s sewing machine stitched together a new consumer economy.

08/09/2026

August Historical Sewing Workshop
I have reserved the room in Nuevo for a 3 day workshop
Thursday, August 27-Starting at 1 PM. (We meet at Perris Sizzler for lunch at 11 am)
Friday, August 28 All day
Saturday, August 29 'till 6 PM
This is 1 week before the event "Civil War Days" at Central Park in Huntington The Revolution: Huntington Beach.
Let me know which day(s) you are going to participate and what you will be working on .

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Nuevo, CA
92567

Telephone

+19513348054

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