In P&P, I noticed that Lydia found some cloth in a shop window, and they make a joke about it being hideous, so only appropriate for Mary.
What I want to know is - would middle class girls like the Bennetts make their own dresses, or employ a dress maker? I remember reading about JA in real life presenting Cassandra Austen with some dress material as a present, but what about her characters? We see the Bennett girls embroidering, but not sewing dresses, but I imagine it was skilled work to their own ball gowns.
Can anyone shed light?