How to zigzag linen for prewashing

I use to preshrink fabrics before cutting and sewing, but I've always had trouble with linen fabrics which tend to fray in the washing machine even though I've zigzaged the edge. Recently I came up with a better way of zigzaging these tricky fabrics.

Book review: The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking

"The American Duchess Guide to18th Century
Dressmaking", by Lauren Stowell and Abby Cox

Yay—I got "The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking" for Christmas. :) It provides a wealth of information on how to hand sew British-influenced fashion. As I'm living in a different cultural sphere, I wanted to see to what extent this book's patterns are applicable in countries that were mainly influenced by French fashion.

I'm especially interested in how women's clothes were cut in the 18th century, and as I haven't seen any reviews that have focused on that aspect, I'm also going to share my thoughts on how the book's patterns compare to patterns from extant gowns.

Vive la différence!

One of the things that fascinate me about period fashion, is the range of variation. Styles didn't just change over time—they varied subtly from country to country (or region to region), as well as across the social scale, and between everyday clothing and Sunday best. There were multiple reasons for this, including tradition, economy, climate, and legislation.

I'll be using the 'vive la différence!' tag to highlight such differences. Kudos to organizations that encourage people to research local clothing!