Ruth Watkin ✂ on Instagram: "In my humble opinion, before the sewing machine came along, we attached our skirts and bodices together in much more pleasing ways. This is one of them. The skirt seam allowance (on top) is folded back onto the skirt rather than into the waistband (bottom). Making the waistband much less bulky, because the bulk is moved to the skirt. It's a lovely original technique for anyone out there #historybounding I wrote an article on several different hand joining methods

The detail

catharine brass yates by gilbert stuart, 1793