Ages ago, on my cyber travels, I found a shop in India that does hand/block printed cotton voile, and it's so gloriously cheap, which possibly doesn't say great things about the world economy. They aren't exactly period accurate, but as some may know my mantra for 2018 is "F***k HA". They are bright, bold, and just so pretty.
I think I bought 10 yards, so just over 10m, of the stuff for about £40. Don't get me wrong, the quality wasn't perfect, and the fabric is quite narrow, but besides that it was lovely.
My original plan was to make a simple gathered gown with drawstrings at the front for closure. Due to some measurement error I ended up having issues with the skirt panels, but the bodice itself went together alright, with minor adjustments at the straps.
I hand-sewed casings on the front for drawstring to go through, bias bound the neck edge and covered the seam allowance at the waistline. I should say here this is a little lower than empire waist because it's meant to be "transitional". When I tried it on....it wasn't great. I honestly thought that because I'd lowered the waistline it might suit me better than the empire line but that did not pan out. I think it might be the 1793 stays flattening me rather than thrusting me forward to give me some shape, but who knows.
I have always wanted to do a train. My first foray was my natural form era gown which is still sitting unfinished, but I felt like this wouldn't be a 1790s ridiculously high maintenance gown if it didn't have a train.
Drawstring gown
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| The lengths we go to.... |
Bib-front
**TBC**The making of....
As I said at the start of this post this was meant to be a quick and easy break away from the nightmare that my 1660s court gown was becoming, but this became it's own nightmare.
I already had a pattern for the bodice from the AD 1790s petticoat pattern, and all I had to do was alter the front piece. I've made a drawstring regency gown before and I remember the construction and design of the pattern piece, so I copied it.
What I didn't realise was that it's only really the excess between the shoulder straps that gets gathered, but I had put the drawstring at the waistline all the way to the side seams, hence there is an inch or so at the side front that isn't gathered at all, and it looks weird to me.
Despite popular opinion empire waistlines do not suit people shaped like me with small waist and rounded hips. I like accentuating my waist, so the regency is an absolute nightmare. I thought that if I lowered the waistline to halfway between empire and natural waist it may improve, but I don't think I lowered it enough because I still look like a shapeless block.
The train was the most fun thing, but it was actually the hardest. Instead of cutting a straight panel for the back, I made it quite curved at the top to accommodate the train, but I made the curve too deep because when I attached it the back panel didn't sit right so I the seam ripper came out and I just flipped the panel until the curve was at the bottom. Lesson learned.
I had measurement error in the length and width of the panels, and so the seams for the skirt aren't symmetrical on each side.
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| Shapeless....even with a belt |
I should be thankful for small mercies in that at least this time the skirt panels were the right length, unlike my chemise a la reine.
Then came the sleeves. I decided around this time, with the nightmare sleeves of the 1660s, and then these, that perhaps I'm not so good at them. I used the same pattern as I had for the chemise a la reine, but came across the same problem in that the arm scye was too deep. It also turns out that they perhaps weren't the right width for the arm hole of the bodice either. I got them in, but they're uneven, and slightly too tight. I don't really mind much because let's face it, I'm not going to be wearing this outside with a train that length.
That brings us onto the 2nd dress. In all honesty I didn't have that much fabric left and because it was so narrow needed a lot of it for the skirt panels. I managed to use scraps for the second bodice. The 2nd dress would be a bib-front, because I've always wanted one, and wouldn't have a train so I can wear it outside, which helped with the length of the skirt panels since I was cutting it short on fabric.
I'm currently sidetracked with another set of 1790s stays, and until they're finished the bib front gown is on hold, but I will update this post when it's done.
