Category Archives: Gowns

1870 Raspberry Silk Bustle Dress: The Bodice

I read through the pattern instructions to make sure I understood how it goes together, especially the false bolero front which is applied on top of the front AND side pieces of the faux vest (lining). The actual assembly I did in my own order, as I have developed my way of doing things where I handle each piece as few times as possible.

After having cut out the pieces, I flat lined the main bodice pieces and assembled them, using the serger to flat line. The lining is brown polished cotton, a common lining fabric in the 19th century for women’s bodices.

What is flat lining vs bag lining? Flat lining is when you line each piece by putting the wrong sides together and either serging or sewing the seam allowances together, and then treating it as one piece. Bag lining is when you sew the right sides together and then turn it inside out finishing the edges. Bag lining is more commonly a modern method, although it was used in some cases in the 19th century. Flat lining is what is usually seen on 19th century bodices (and often skirts as well).

Side back piece flat lined at the top only – the bottom will be bag lined at a later step.

The center front I did differently. I usually sew the CF seam right sides together, turn and press (yes bag lining), and then flat line the other sides. Why? So the center front is already finished. As this CF neckline is to have a ruffle of self-fabric around it, I enclosed the ruffle in this seam. I then turned, pressed, sewed in the darts, and attached the side front piece.

I then sewed the center back seam.

And attached the back to the side backs.

Next I assembled the bolero jacket overlay for the front. For the ribbon trim along the edge of the jacket, I gathered some of the 1 1/2 inch green silk ribbon using the shirring foot, with the gathering stitch 1/4 from the edge of the ribbon:

Then I pinned and sewed the ribbon trim to the right side of the bolero fronts, to anchor it down and provide a stitching line for attaching the lining:

After pinning the lining to the bolero front, right sides together, I carefully sewed on top of the stitching line where the ribbon ruffle was attached.

Turn and press, then tack to fronts:

At this point I decided to bone the bodice, saving the final bone on the side seam until after the test fitting. I fitted the lining as mock up (Truly Victorian patterns in size J fit me 99.9% of the time) but before committing the last side seam, I wanted to do an accurate test fitting. This is best done with the bones in.

**BONES??? Says sewing dog.** **You have BONES???**

Sorry Pup, these are flat steel and spiral steel bones. The two curved back seams will have spiral steel bones that allow them to curve along that seam. The darts in the front are boned by putting a bone inside the dart’s seam allowance and sewing the bottom closed.

I am using prepackaged bone casing.

To apply boning by machine, sew the edges of the boning to the seam allowance only, centering the bone over the seamline.

I also boned the inside of the center front (right), to keep it nice and straight.

Now its ready to have the shoulder and side seams sewn and have a quick fitting.

Details to finish up: sew the last two bones over the side seams, and finish the neckline of the center back piece. I applied the trim to the neckline and bound it with a piece of bias tape, and then hand tacked the trims together.

The bottom of the bodice is finished with piping, made with self-fabric. In this case, the off white silk taffeta. I used a narrow cotton cording to making the piping.

The piping is sewn right sides together along the bottom edge, turned to the inside, and hand tacked.

On to the peplum! I gathered up more ribbon to trim the edge, using the same size ribbon as the bolero so that it gives the appearance that the bolero and back are the same piece. I assembled the lining for the peplum and pressed it.

I sewed the ribbon trim to the peplum right sides together, then pinined the lining o top, right sides together. Sewing right on top of that line of stitching (same as the bolero) I sewed the lining to the peplum, turned, and pressed.

The waist edge of the lining is turned under and tacked to the flat lining (visible in another step – sorry forgot to take a photo). Fold the center back per the pattern instructions and tack to complete.

Next, buttons! I covered button molds with the off white silk using 5/8″ buttons, spaced pretty close together as is commonly seen on Victorian bodices.

On the left side of the bodice, I measured for the buttonholes and marked them with water erasable pen, then used the marks to sew the buttonholes by machine.

Sleevils!

A term, combining sleeves and evil, coined but costumers to describe the frustrating process of getting sleeves set in right. These sleeves were no exception. The sleeve part is pretty easy, it is just a standard upper and lower sleeve with two seams. The tricky part is the ruffle. There are two ruffles, an inside and a shorter outside. I did the inside of off white taffeta and the outer taffeta plaid, both pinked with the same pinking machine I used for the neckline trim.

Originally I had planned to sew the ruffles on with the seam facing out, and then covering it with ruffled trim that matched the skirt. However, I pinned it together several times trying to do that and kept getting it wrong, so I just sewed them on the right way with the serger, which finished the pesky inside seam. The ruffle is full enough that the serged seam should not show. Worst case, I can tack some bias tape over it.

To complete the look by tying in with the skirt trim, I made ruffled strips bound on both edges with the green silk ribbon, gathered them, and sewed them over the join between the ruffles and the sleeve.

Now to set in the sleeves. To get them right, I try them on and lay them on the correct corresponding side of the work table. Then hold the bodice in front of me and choose one sleeve to begin.

These sleeves fit pretty well. I ran a gathering stitch by machine across the sleeve head to ease it in. I usually sew in the lower half of the sleeve, then fiddle with the easing of the upper sleeve. In this case, the sleeve head was a little to full and I had to remove some of the fullness to make it fit. Taffeta has very little “give” to it.

Another detail is the waist tape. This is a length of twill tape that is sewn to the three back seam allowances at waist level. Two hooks and eyes are sewn to the finished edges of the front, so it is fastened around the waist when the garment is put on. This keeps the center back tight against the waist while the peplum flairs out over the bustle.

You can see the peplum lining sewn to the bodice lining in the first photo, along with the stitches holding the ribbon bow in place.

Final trim time! Using the leftover ribbon, I made bows for the sleeves, center back, center front (removable) and the ends of the skirt ruffles.

I also hemmed the ends of a length of narrow twill tape, long enough to stretch from each bow across the back of the criniolette, and sewed hooks to the end of it. I then sewed eyes under each side ribbon so the tape could be attached to bustle the trin.

I crocheted a little raspberry reticule to go with it:

Hope to do a photo shoot of the dress very soon!

1870 Raspberry Silk Plaid Bustle Dress – Building from the Inside Out

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If you want your historical outfit to look accurate, you must build it from the inside out. Having the correct historical underpinnings are one of the most important elements, if not THE most important element, in whether or not the result looks like a “costume” as opposed to a historical garment.

My friend Kara is planning an 1870 wedding at the Cockayne House in West Virginia. The wedding is based on a historical event that took place in the house and will be targeted to the spring of 1870 specifically. I will be the mother of the groom. Since we don’t know of anything about this woman, she told me I could do anything I want.

In keeping with my theme of trying to make things using the stash instead of buying new, I chose a pink and green silk taffeta plaid from the stash, along with some matching elements for trim:

I have a ton of the dark green silk ribbon in three different widths. I cannot remember why I bought so much of this, but it looks so good with this fabric, it would be crazy not to use it. The pink ribbon I bought to make a regency sash, but it matches this fabric so well I will use it to trim this dress. The pattern I chose for the bodice has a faux vest front. The “vest” will be off white silk taffeta.

Here are the patterns I will be using:

The chemise, drawers, and corset I already have made, using this wonderful pattern from Laughing Moon Mercantile:

I will be using the Dore corset, along with the chemise and drawers.

I have been waiting for an opportunity to make this 1870 hooped bustle since I saw it come out on Truly Victorian‘s website! In 1870 they were transitioning from elliptical crinolines to the bustle. This crinoline / bustle hybrid was referred to as a “crinolette”

Over the crinolette goes the petticoat. This pattern is also from Truly Victorian and includes options for four different styles covering 1870s – 1890s. I will be using the style on the right, which is for the early bustle era:

I only have 10 yards of the pink and green plaid silk fabric, which is cutting it pretty close. After looking at several patterns and doing some math, I decided to use this skirt pattern, where the apron is part of the skirt instead of a separate overskirt. I will be using Skirt B:

I absolutely love this 1870 Senora bodice! It uses a little more fabric than the standard bodice, but by cheating a little with the skirt I can eek it out:

Next: The Foundation Garments

1780s Silk Taffeta Stripe Gown: Finished Photos

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This dress makes me feel like a million bucks! I can’t say that about every dress I make, but it was definitely true in this case.

Matching the various color stripes, I can wear it with an off white petticoat, a yellow petticoat, or a dark red petticoat. Check out the album below with more photos:

Blue Silk Taffeta Stripe 1780s Robe a l'anglaise

IMG_3180Blue Silk Taffeta Stripe 1780s Robe a l'anglaise

1780s Silk Taffeta Stripe Gown: Planning and Construction

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Today’s topic falls under the subject of outfit planning. Out of the seemingly infinite varieties of fabrics, trims, styles and ideas floating around out there, how do you decide what to make? There are several ways to approach this. This outfit is a great example of:

Start with the Most Difficult to Find Element

Sometimes you find an element of an outfit that is just to awesome to pass up. It’s rare. It’s unusual. It’s the perfect color. You never thought you would find it! Don’t pass it up! Buy The Thing and built an outfit around it. It could be anything: a piece of jewelry, fabric, shoes, any element of the ensemble really. It’s The Thing that often makes an outfit, and it is much more difficult to find The Thing to go with it, when the outfit is already made.

The Thing: This journey began with amazing necklace I bought from Dames a la Mode:

Bluish Green Collet Necklace with Clear Crystal Accents

This unusual blue/green color is one of the best colors for me, and I was so excited to find this necklace! I have worn it a lot with modern outfits, but as I soon realized, I didn’t have any 18th century gowns that match this, or even look good with it.

So I went through the fabric stash and found a yardage of striped silk taffeta I bought on eBay some years ago. It is a balanced stripe (meaning the stripe patterns are symmetrical) with a lighter shade of the same odd blue/green color, a yellowish gold, cream, and a narrow dark red stripe:

I only had 5 yards of it! I believe it was leftover from someone’s expensive home décor project, as it only had a salvage on one side. It must have been quite wide in its native state as it was still a healthy 48 inches wide. I knew I had enough for a gown (just barely) but not enough for a petticoat. So I had a choice – make a round gown or an open robe that would always be worn with a solid color petticoat. I chose the open robe. The fabric looks very nice with off white and I have some quilted silk in the dark red color that should also look nice with it. I still hope to find some yellow/gold that matches and make another petticoat. I think it is pretty near impossible to find this shade of blue green in a solid taffeta. I tried several samples I had on hand and none of them were even close.

Nevertheless, here is the primary image that is the inspiration for this dress:

1780s Blue and Cream gown sold through Daguerre Auctions.

I also have a pair of dark red shoes from American Duchess that I think will look wonderful with this fabric:

I already have the JP Ryan English Nightgown pattern fitted to myself, so I can cut this dress out and be sure it will fit me.

The pattern comes with two sleeve options and I am using the longer sleeve that has an optional cuff. Instead of using a cuff, I will put pinked trim on in two rows to create a faux cuff, like this:

Cuff detail of gown from museums.fivecolleges.edu/

As I cut the bodice on the bias to achieve the V shaped stripes on the center front, I adjusted the pattern to have no overlap in the front. I used hook and eye tape to close, as this fabric leaves very bad pin marks! I will cover the seams from the closure insertion with pinked trim.

To save fabric, I faced the hem with bias tape:

And here is a photo of the pleating on the back. There are a few pin holes, but I know of no way to do an en fourreau back without using pins!

Here is the finished gown.

Black Cotton Voile Mourning Chemise a la Reine – Construction

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Read Part One Here

Construction – Bodice Gathers

As the lining was completed in the fitting stage, the next step is the bodice. The front and backs are gathered along the bottom, neckline, and where they attach to the shoulder strap. So the first thing I did was put in these gathering stitches. As the seam allowance is 5/8″, I put one row of gathering stitches at 1/2″ and another at 3/4″. Pulling both threads at the same time creates a nice even gather. When the pieces are sewn together, the seam should be right in between these two lines of gathering stitches. Here is one of the shoulder seams showing the gathers:

Shoulder seam pinned together with gathers drawn up.

When sewn, the seam should be right in between the two rows of gathering stitches:

Seam Placement

Then, the gathering stitches are removed:

Gathering Threads Removed

Here is the shoulder seam opened out:

The holes where the gathers were are still visible, but will be gone once ironed.

And here it is after pressing:

With a little steam from the iron, the gather marks disappear.

The bodice front and side seam must be sewn before the back gathering stitches can be done, so I did this seam first, then put the final gathering threads in:

Back, side and front with gathering stitches in and shoulder strap attached.

Once the bodice was completely sewn together, I joined it to the lining around the neckline, right sides together, drawing up the neckline gathering stitches to fit. I usually do these in stages to avoid having a million pins falling out. So I did the back and shoulder straps first:

Back and shoulder strap bodice joined to lining.

After sewing the seam on both sides, I gathered up the neckline and pinned it to the lining:

Neckline joined to lining.

Making Necklines Behave – Understitching

This is a modern technique, but if you are machine sewing a gown it is worth knowing. When you join the fabric to the lining in a period correct handsewn manner, the seam allowances are folded in and the two pieces are joined. This prevents the neckline from pulling and showing the lining. But for machine sewn necklines, this rolling to the outside is a problem. To prevent it, understitch the neckline. Basically you are going to press the neckline and then sew the lining and seam allowances together very close to the fold line. This does not show on the outside but will keep the lining inside where it belongs.

The first step is to press the neckline seam open with seam allowances towards the lining:

Pressing in preparation for understitching.

Then sew a seam 1/16″ to 1/8″ from the join between the fabric and the lining:

Understitching by Machine

Here is the completed seam:

Understitching does not have to be extremely neat as it does not show on the outside, but it does need to be very close to the join between the fabric and lining.

Once the understitching is done, press the neckline in place. I then matched the arm holes and sewed them together 1/2″ to keep them in place:

Neckline completed and sewn together at arm holes.

Construction – Waist

The bodice is gathered at the front and backs and not at the sides – this helps you not look as fat as the sides are smooth. To join the fabric and lining at the waist seam, I matched up the seams and center fronts. Then I drew up the gathers on the back / side first:

Back waistline gathers pinned in place.

At this point I cut out the waistband. I don’t usually use pattern pieces to do this, I measure the width and cut the waistband to the size I want it to be. I have lost an inch in the waist (no wonder my stays are loose!) but I am going to make it the original size and just overlap more in the back, in case I gain this weight back in the future. I cut the lining waistband out of the cotton organdy as the voile is a little too loosely woven and stretchy to make a sturdy waistband even in two layers.

The pattern calls for the center front of the lining to be gathered to fit the waistband, so I applied the waistband in two steps. First I attached it on both sides to the back and sides, leaving the front unsewn between the gathering stitches:

Waistband applied to back and sides.

I then pulled up the gathering stitches on the lining, matching the center front, and sewed this at 1/2″ just to hold it while I did the fabric side:

Lining front gathered to waistband.

I then pulled the gathers in the front, matching center fronts, and pinned them in place.

Center front gathered to waistband. Notice that due to the gathering, the bottoms do not meet exactly. The fabric is about 1/8″ shorter. This does not matter, but I used the lining as the reference point for the seam. This means that more of the gathering stitches will show, but as they are pulled out anyway, it does not matter.

After the gathers were pinned, I laid the fabric side of the waistband down on top of it, pinned it in place, and sewed the seam. Here is the waistband attached, front and back, after pressing:

Front with waistband attached.

Back with waistband attached.

Construction – Sleeves

This pattern has a very nice simple two piece long tight sleeve. Since this fabric is very loosely woven I did not make the sleeve too tight. It has an upper and lower piece – the seams run along the inside and outside of your arm. When putting the sleeve together, make sure you have a left and right! Run a gathering stitch along the sleeve head at 1/2″ to facilitate easing.

Sleeve pinned together ready to sew.

I did a simple hem on the sleeve turning up the raw edges twice. I sewed it in by machine as I intended to add a ruffle that will cover the seam.

Sleeve with hem turned up.

To set in the sleeve, try the sleeve on to make sure you know which one goes on which side! I then lay them on the ironing board on the correct side if the bodice is facing the ironing board. I lost some of my photos so I don’t have one of the sleeve being pinned into the bodice. But with this pattern there are notches and dots so it goes in easily. Once the straight lower part is pinned in place, ease the upper sleeve into the armhole. Here is the bodice with both sleeves in:

Bodice complete – ready for skirt!

Construction – Skirt

This is the other casualty of my photo disaster – no skirt photos. The skirt is very easy though. You will have four panels with a seam running at the center front, center back, and each side. I ran the double gather along each top piece – having to gather the entire thing or even half of it with one set of gathering threads is very unwieldy. The gathering threads go at 1/2″ and 3/4″, so that there is one above and below the seam line. These threads are removed after the seam is sewn.

Quarter the waistband to identify the center front, center back, and sides. To do this, fold it is half and mark with a pin. Then fold each half in half again and mark with a pin. Pin the center front seam to the center front of the waistband, and repeat this process with the center back and sides. Now you have the skirt pinned on in four places.

Draw up each set of gathering threads and distribute evenly by stroking with a pin. Then pin the gathers in place. Once all four sections are pinned, sew the seam.

Because the fashion fabric is so loosely woven and stretches out of shape, I pinned the skirt to the cotton organdy waistband lining wrong sides together and sewed this seam. Then I folded the fashion fabric seam allowance under and slip stitched the front of the waistband down.

The skirt has a very narrow hem as I did not have much fabric left! By the time I straightened the grain I had just enough length in the front. So I just turned it up 1/4″ and then 1/2″. Because there will be a ruffle around the hem, I also sewed the in by machine.

Construction – Ruffled Trim

The trim is made from narrow 2″ strips of the same black voile as the gown. I measured how much I needed to go around the hem and both sleeves, then doubled this measurement and added a little extra. Then I sewed the strips together in one continuous piece, with a narrow 1/4″ seam.

To tame this fabric before hemming, I first did a zig zag stitch along both raw edges. I then used the narrow hem foot to hem the strips on both sides:

The narrow hem foot.

I then used the ruffle or shirring foot to gather up the trim:

Ruffling or shirring foot.

Final step! I sewed the trim all around the skirt hem and on both sleeves.

Final Result!

I also made a quick black organdy petticoat so that the gown would appear consistently black, but I made it a tiny bit too short so you can see a white band around the bottom where the underpetticoat sticks out. I have corrected this for the next wearing. I wore it with black 18th century shoes and a lilac colored ribbon:

Hedgehog hairpiece by jennylafleur on Etsy.

Click here to visit her shop.

Photos were taken at Woodville Plantation by Mark Fantozzi.

Black Cotton Voile Mourning Chemise a la Reine – Planning Stages

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I barely had time to make a first draft of my sewing Kanban for 2018 when my life was completely blown apart. My 19 year old son, Henry Campbell, was killed in an accident on March 24, 2018. I have not sewn anything for two months, but now that I am at the very beginning stages of adjustment, I am planning to wear mourning for costume events for at least the rest of this year.

My son Henry at his high school graduation in 2016. He was in his second year at the Community College of Allegheny County, majoring in Accounting with Mathematics minor. He was brilliant, he was kind, and I will miss him forever.

This reminds me of a few years back when several prominent costume bloggers did posts about what was going on in their lives at the time costume photo shoots were done to show they are human and have the same struggles as everyone else. This would qualify as my belated entry.

I do not have the option of skipping out on costuming – we have music gigs booked and the show must go on. The first few gigs I wore either my dark blue silk gown with black accessories or my white chemise a la reine with black accessories, but I wanted to do a black gown. Most of our events are late 18th century so I decided a black chemise a la reine would be a good choice. Several years ago I ordered what I thought was dark blue cotton voile and when it came it was black, but it was so nice I didn’t return it. Funny how life works. This fabric will now become my mourning chemise a la reine.

First, inspirational photos. I spent many hours pinning 18th century mourning things on Pinterest. It was not as developed then as it was in the 19th century with the black crepe wearing for long periods of time. In the 18th century it was more wearing somber colors with some black accessories or black with white accessories, and sometimes lilac or mauve which are considered second mourning colors.

This example is a Redingote, which I am not doing, but I love the ruffle around the hem and I do plan to do the same to mine. Also note her lavender sash.

This is basically what I plan to make, but without the neckline ruffle.

The next two examples are not chemise gowns but do show how a black gown can be accessorized with white:

The first question always is, pre-wash or not pre-wash? For a white cotton gown this would be a no brainer – they need to be washable. However this black fabric has a very subtle sheen to it that would probably wash away, so I decided to make this one dry clean only. Black will not show dirt. For the same reason I am going to give this gown a moderate train.

Black Cotton Voile Fabric

For the lining, I decided to use black cotton organdy. I thought about using some of the black linen / cotton blend fabric I bought to make Henry an 18th century suit for this coming year, but decided to keep that piece intact for now. The cotton organdy will be lighter, which will help when I have to wear this in July.

Black Cotton Organdy

I was concerned that two sheer fabrics would not provide enough coverage to prevent my stays from showing through. I have been wearing my white pair with elastic sides which enables me to play flute, but I’ve lost some weight and they are fitting pretty loose these days. So I tested it over my red silk stays:

Layer of black cotton organdy and black cotton voile on top of one another – together they are opaque!

This made me confident enough to start cutting it out. For the pattern I am using Laughing Moon Mercantile’s #133 Chemise Gown pattern:

As I want this dress to be more early 1790’s I am going with View B, fully ruffled but with the high neckline, long tight sleeves, and no ruffles. I choose the closest size. Since I have lost some weight – but are likely to get it back someday – I used one size up from that. For the normal sized pieces I trace them with pattern ease to preserve the sizes. The large skirt panels I measure and cut out without the pattern piece, so I do not waste pattern ease tracing these huge pieces.

As I tend to be long waisted and I do not want the waistline high taking it more into the late 1790’s, I lowered the waistline by one inch. The pattern says the waist should be 1/2 way between your underbust and natural waist. I felt this was too high for early 1790’s.

Here is the front lining being cut out:

And here are all the lining pieces cut out. I will use these as a mockup to fit the pattern. If they fit, they will be used to make up the dress. If too many alterations are required I will update the pattern and cut out another one.

I sewed the lining together for a fitting. Not bad! The waist was a little loose so I took in the side back seams 1 3/8 inches on each side. This left 1 1/2 inches of overlap in the back at the top and the bottom. The pattern says it is supposed to just meet in the back – this makes me nervous. I plan to let mine overlap 1″ and if I gain some weight back, I can adjust this without having to take the whole thing apart. I also plan to hide a few hooks and eyes up the center back to prevent it from gaping open as I move.

Front of mockup with neckline fitting darts sewn down.

Back of mockup pinned 1 1/2 inches overlap in back.

Next step will be cutting out the fashion fabric and assembling the bodice …

On to Part Two …

Pink Striped Silk Lisere 1760’s Gown

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Unfortunately as I was rushing to get this completed in time for the First Annual Ft Ligonier 12th Night Ball, I did not get construction pictures. But here is the gown finished:

1760’s Pink Silk Lisere Gown, with dyed American Duchess shoes and a pink Dames a la Mode necklace.

I used the Larkin and Smith English Gown Pattern, which I have used to make several other gowns so I know it fits! I cut the bodice lining out of cotton canvas (less expensive than linen canvas) and assembled it to test the fit. Knowing all was well, I cut out the bodice fronts and shoulder straps. Then I measured for the back and cut out one long panel, long enough for a small train.

I made the center back pleat a little bit deeper than what is shown on the pattern, for two reasons: I wanted the stripes to slant out in an attractive way (so the pleat needed to be deep enough to take up a whole stripe) and I wanted as much fullness in the train as I could reasonably get. Then I pleated in the en fourreau back pleats and stitched them down. Actually at first I had them backwards and had to refold them! Doh!

The pleated back.

Once the back was pleated, I could mount the gown on the lining. I then cut out the side panels and joined them, measuring over the skirt supports on my dressmaking dummy to ensure the sides were long enough. I used one full length of fabric for each side panel, which made the dress skirt three 60 inch panels wide (minus seam allowances and turn under at the side fronts). This is very wide but again, I wanted the skirt to be very full. I had to double box pleat the skirt to fit it into the waist.

The back with train. The train is the center back panel only – the side panels are regular length.

At that point, I started the petticoat. I wanted a very wide ruffle at the bottom – it is 12″ wide. I used a very narrow hem on the top and bottom and the hems are covered with trim. A wide ruffle like this takes A LOT of fabric! I box pleated it instead of knife pleating so that saved a little bit of fabric. Knife pleats will take 6 times the circumference of your petticoat. So if you are using 2 panels of fabric, you will need 6 full fabric widths of ruffle to go around it. When you have a wide ruffle, this quickly uses up fabric! At 12 inches per ruffle I could get 3 panels per yard, so the petticoat took up slightly more than 4 1/3 yards which is almost double what an unruffled petticoat would require (2 1/3 yards). I left an inch of space between each box pleat so that ended up saving one length of fabric, taking 5 lengths to cut out the ruffle.

Close up of petticoat ruffle. It is sewn down at the top and about 5 inches down, both seams covered with faux fly fringe.

Next I did the sleeves. The wrong side of this kind of fabric is pretty ugly, and I noticed originals tended to line the sleeve ruffles with a light silk. So this is how I did mine. I also lined the sleeves with the silk to avoid the bulk of a heavier fabric, and then applied the faux fringe trim over the edges. I found this trim on Etsy.

Sleeve with lined ruffle and trim. The upper ruffle is not lined as the underside is not visible when worn.

Last was to tidy up and add the trim. I box pleated the trim from pieces of fabric that were left over – they are pieced all over the place! And that is period correct! Even with a little over 11 yards of fabric, I still had only scraps left at the end. I also did not make the box pleats on the trim very deep. You only see them from the top, so who knows if they are 1/4 inch deep or 2 inches deep? Using less depth saves a lot of fabric.

Looking at originals on Pinterest, it seemed that during this earlier period it was common to have the trim – usually fly trim on originals – sewn over the raw edges of the trim rather than having the edges of the ruffles / rueshes free. So that is how I did it. I did zig zag over the edges of the trim before applying as this fabric is very prone to shedding strings everywhere.

Box pleated trim on the gown and skirt.

Last but not least – the stomacher. I had a stash of maybe 6 yards of 2″ and a dozen yards of 1″ green silk ribbon in my stash which matched the fabric and trim very well. It came from Farmhouse Fabrics, the color is leaf green. I found it nearly impossible to match the shade of pink in this fabric. I used the silk ribbon to make graduated size bows for the stomacher. It looked a bit lean with just the 2 inch wide ribbon bows so I added smaller bows from the narrower ribbon in between, and also added bows to the sleeves. The lace tucker attached to the stomacher I copied from an extant portrait. It is made from about a yard of antique valenciennes lace, starched lightly so it would stand at attention and not flop forward.

Gown stomacher with silk ribbon bows and lace tucker.

The gown is accessorized with a pink paste necklace from Dames a la Mode and dyed shoes from American Duchess. They are “Georgiana” shoes which are no longer in stock but she is always adding new styles! I did a tutorial on shoe dying that can be found here.

The Engageantes (sleeve ruffles) were from the costume stash – I made them about 25 years ago to go with a different gown. To fancy and fluffy for any sort of day dress, they were a great pairing for this extravagant gown.

Many thanks to Leslie Mack for taking these great photos and the video!

1760’s Pink Silk Lisere Gown

More to come on this gown – to get the maximum flexibility from this expensive fabric, I plan to wear it with different petticoats and stomachers. Stay tuned!

18th Century Gown En Fourreau Back Tutorial

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Getting a nice looking en fourreau back is one of the most noticeable struggles when sewing an 18th century gown. Like it or not, you will be judged on the back! For most of the 18th century, the robe a l’anglaise, English gown, or English nightgown was cut with a one piece back. The back is then pleated onto the lining, usually in 4 pleats that taper in towards the waistline. These pleats must be hand tacked to the lining before the sides of the gown are sewn.

I recently made up two test dresses to fit two different patterns that are on the market right now. The first is Larkin & Smith English Gown:

Larkin and Smith English Gown Pattern

I have to say this pattern has THE BEST instructions I have ever seen in a pattern, historical or otherwise. It is like getting a workshop in a pattern!

The other pattern is Reconstructing History’s Open Robe Anglais pattern:

RH822 – OPEN ROBE ANGLAIS WITH POLONAISE OPTION

This pattern has some unique features that are not available in other 18th century costume patterns, such as the robings and bottom center fronts that nearly meet. This is PERFECT for early 18th century – 1740’s (think Outlander) and I don’t think there is any other pattern out there that has these features. The sleeves are also very wide, suitable for early 18th century. If you want to make a gown for 1750’s or 1760’s (or later) use a sleeve from a different pattern – I used JP Ryan’s English Nightgown as I already have that pattern fit to myself. Interestingly, the pleating template for this gown’s back is more suitable for 1770’s-1780’s and I will explain why in a moment, just stick with me here. It is hard to make one pattern to cover every little style change over the course of 80 years, so you have to know the style changes and know what time period you want to recreate, and mix and match patterns accordingly.

The pleating pattern from Larkin & Smith is spot on for mid 18th century.

Why?

My research in online images from museum costume collections (The Met Museum and Victoria & Albert primarily) and the opinions of many other experienced 18th century seamstresses is this: the width of the pleats for both the robe a l’anglaise / English Gown and robe a la francaise (Sacque Gown) became more narrow as the century progressed. This includes both the pleats in the back – en fourreau back and watteau pleats – and the pleats in the skirts. That said, the size of the skirt pleats is wider depending on how heavy the fabric is. Wool or heavy brocade is around an inch while chintz gowns are more like 3/4 inch and then thin silk taffeta gowns of the later 18th century can be as small as 1/4 inch. However, the fabrics also tended to get lighter as the century wore on, although much older fabric was also remade to update the look. So this trend isn’t 100% – it is just a guideline. Here are some illustrations:

Saques were pretty much out of style by the 1780's but were still worn for court functions.

Sacques were pretty much out of style by the 1780’s but were still worn for court functions well into the early 1800’s.

And here is a comparison for the English Gowns:

English gowns were in style for nearly the entire 18th century, with pleats and fabric weight getting lighter as the century wore on.

By the 1780’s some gowns were being made with separate gowns and skirts, often with a deep V in the center back. It is not easy to tell from a full length photo if the gown has very tiny pleats that face the CB, as the yellow example above has, or if the skirt and gown are separate pieces entirely:

Same yellow gown on the left compared to a gown with a separate bodice and skirt. Hard to tell!

But close up, they are not the same! You can see the seam coming down the center back of the purple stripe gown with no pleats.

Having done the research, on to the sewing!

The Red Dress was inspired by this:

Original red print gown from Victoria & Albert.

I just lucked into some dark red print cotton while shopping on Etsy one day, and decided to make this. The original is a wool/silk blend, but my dress is cotton. I used the Reconstructing History pattern for this because it has both the narrow center front and the one piece front – the shoulder strap is cut out with the front, and it only has one seam where it joins the back. There is less margin for fitting this way but I found it was pretty easy to fit just tweeking the back seams. I did not have enough fabric to make a petticoat, so the petticoat and stomacher are made from cream colored cotton matelasse.

For the second dress I used a dark purple fabric with a small woven stripe in it – it is a cotton / linen blend. In 18th century terms this fabric was known as fustian. I did have enough fabric for a petticoat front (the back being made from a similar colored linen) but I wore it first with a stomacher and petticoat made from linen embroidered with a pattern that imitates tambour embroidery.

The Larkin & Smith pattern instructions tell you to use pins to mark the pleats, and then remove the template without moving the pins, but I have used tailor’s chalk for marking these pleats for years without any problems. Just to be on the safe side, I put the line just slightly on the underside of the pleat, and overlap the second line enough to hide the chalk, if there is any left by the time I am done handling it. Use whichever method works best for you.

So the first thing I did was sew the center back seams per the pattern instructions, and then lay the pleating template from each on top, and marked the pleats. Then using my fingers, I finger press the fold line for each pleat.

Pinch, pinch those pleats in!

Here is one pleat pinned, one pinched.

Pin those bad boys down, just over the chalk lines!

Both purple and red gowns with all four pleats pinned down. The pleats on the red dress are VERY close together – only about 1/8 inch apart. This is a more narrow pleating style from the third quarter of the 18th century.

Once the pleats are all pinned in, it is time to fit to the back lining. You want to sew the back lining together at the center back, but not at the side seams or the shoulder strap. Line them up with the center backs together. It helps to stick a pin up inside the seams to match them perfectly, then pin in place.

Pinning with center back seams aligned.

Once they are pinned the next step is to “stitch in the ditch”, meaning sew the back and lining together through the center back seams. Sewing it this way will make the seam invisible. Do this before beginning to stitch the pleats down, or you risk having the lining shift on you.

Stitch in ditch is invisible on the front – use thread that matches your fabric.

Dark thread will show on the lining side.

Now we are ready for the real fun, sewing the pleats down! First smooth the lining down and pin it through both layers in a few places to prevent shifting. You can use a running stitch to secure the pleats, but I prefer to use a narrow prick stitch. I find it is nearly invisible if done carefully enough. If you are really accurate and not as worried about authenticity, you can machine top stitch the pleats down 1/16 of an inch from the edge. But I don’t recommend it. Stop stitching just below the waistline. This is indicated on the pattern(s).

To do the prick stitch, come up through from the back so you are just barely catching the edge of the pleat, and then go down just over the edge of the pleat:

Swing pleats with prick stitch.

Move down 1/8 of an inch, rinse, lather, and repeat. I do not tie off between each stitch. When the pleats are sewn down, they look like this on the inside:

Since the red dress pleats were only 1/8 apart, I sewed both pleats at the same time. This clearly shows how much wider the purple pleats are.

Next, trim the fabric along the top and sides so the match the lining. Cut a slightly upward sloping line for top of the skirt panel. Bigger side hoops or pads = more drastic upward slope. The length of the sides of your two skirt panels should match the length of the side back skirt panels. Your pocket slits will be in these seams.

Inside of gowns with pleats done.

Outside of gowns with pleats done.

Note: Only cut about 1/2 inch in along the bottom of each side of the lining. This will allow you to sew the side seams. Once the side seams are sewn, sew the skirt fronts to the skirt backs and put in the pocket slits. At that point, it is safe to trim the rest of the bottom lining, to just slightly under the back pleat on each side. Now you are ready to pleat the skirt and attach to the bodice!

Note 2: If I had this to do over, I would make the back of the red lining shorter below the waistline. This deep V would look great with a separate skirt and bodice, but the extreme slope of the back skirt top edge that resulted from this made it REALLY difficult to pleat nicely to the bodice. Note for next time!

I will try to get better photos of the completed dresses next time, but here are two photos of the completed gowns:

Purple Fustian Gown at Ft Ligonier Days with my good friend Sally (in a silk sacque jacket).

Red Print 1760’s Gown

Psychedelic 1830’s Dress Completion and Debut

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The fabric has arrived! Time to begin cutting …

To get the period look with the fabric pattern cut on the diagonal for the fronts and backs, here is a picture of my favorite way to match patterns. Cut out the first piece, then lay it upside down and match the pattern. Then cut around it to get 2 pieces that are mirror images of each other:

Matching pattern on the diagonal

Here is the front sewn together with the matching diagonal pattern:

Bodice Front

The pattern piece for the fashion fabric front and back included extra for a gathered “bertha” type look – this fabric was too heavy for that design, and I did not feel like figuring out a pleating pattern. So I cut the bodice the same as the lining. To give it some character I finished the neckline with double piping (which is made the same way as single piping – just sew a second row of piping after the first.

Here is a great trick with piping – use a 1/2 inch metal stay as a guide to cut the piping strip so that it has exactly 1/2 seam allowance, making it easier to apply. You do need a rotary cutter to do this:

Using a 1/2 inch metal stay to cut piping seam allowance.

Despite buying special piping feet for my machine, I still find it easier to apply piping with a zipper foot:

Sewing piping to waist with a zipper foot – the 1/2 seam allowance makes it easy to line up.

I cut interlining for the sleeves out of black cotton organdy, which is thin but stiff and should help the sleeves to poof nicely.

Black cotton organdy sleeve interlining.

Black cotton organdy is stiff, thin, and not scratchy when worn.

When I tried on the bodice I found one alteration – the sides of the neckline were sticking up a bit, so I took in the shoulder seams 1/2 inch on the outside edge. The other issue I ran into was the sleeves, which I fully admit was my fault! I did not measure the circumference of the narrow part of the sleeve to make sure it would fit my tree trunk arms. When I tried it on I could not get them to close. But it was close, so I will explain how I unfucked the sleeves.

There was length to spare, so I trimmed 1 1/2 inches off the bottom of each sleeve eliminating 1 1/2 inches of not-fitting sleeve.

I reduce the seam allowances to 1/4 inch for the lower part of the sleeve, gradually easing back to the normal 1/2 inch where the full part of the sleeve is. This added 1/2 inch to the circumference and it just barely fit.

So to prevent gap-osis, I added a placket. The top side of the sleeve opening is finished with the piping in the sleeve seam:

Piping on sleeve opening.

The under side of the opening would normally be turned under and hemmed. But there was only 1/4 inch seam allowance there now. So I cut a piece of fabric the length of the sleeve opening by about 2 inches, folded it in half, and sewed it to the right side of the other sleeve opening, using 1/4 inch seam allowance:

Adding sleeve placket

The placket is then pressed flat outwards, so that the piping side of the sleeve opening covers it:

Sleeve with placket.

When closed, you cannot see the placket but it is there, anchoring things and preventing gaps:

Sleeve with opening closed.

Then I finished the bottoms of the sleeves with piping. 1830’s is all about piping. I piped the sleeve seams, the waistline, the neckline, and the armscye seams. The bodice closes with hooks and eyes in the back.

The skirt was easy – just cut 2 panels long enough for the hem plus 1/2 seam allowance at the top. The pattern also had a cutting guide for the top of the front skirt panel, to scoop it out and make the skirt slightly shorter in front. I find skirts always look better that way, so I took advantage of the template. I pleated the waist (using Clinton Pleat Maker) and sewed the skirt directly to the bodice, with piping in the seam, per the pattern instructions.

Here are some photos of the finished dress at our event, Christmas At the Village (Old Economy Village) on Dec 12, 2015. I wore the lace pelerine with it and a large black velvet Romantic era bonnet that I made last year. The weather was beautiful – it was almost too hot outside for the muff! Thank you to Janet for the photos!

OEV Christmas At the Village, Pittsburgh Historical Costume Society Outing in the Grainery

OEV Christmas At the Village, Pittsburgh Historical Costume Society Outing outside of Kitchen

Last Minute 1830’s Dress in Psychedelic Cotton Print – Planning and Mock Up

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Fabric has arrived! Now I can take a larger photo of it, to give a better idea of what it really looks like. This is oriented vertically to show what the pattern will look like once made up into the skirt:

Reproduction 1830’s Cotton Print, “Merchant’s Wife” line by Terry Thompson for RJR Fabrics

Last night I began the struggle of deciding the details. Really the first part boils down to two decisions:

Decision #1: Which pattern to use. I have two patterns:

Truly Victorian (TV455) 1830’s Romantic Era Dress

Period Impressions (440) 1830’s Day Dress and Pelerine

The Period Impressions pattern is more of the look I am going for, but the Truly Victorian patterns are much more professionally drafted and take less time to fit. I did a quick and dirty mockup of the Period Impressions pattern and the fit was quite off – the arm holes were waaaay too big and the neckline bunched up when the back was pinned closed. It would take time and possibly 2 additional mockups to fit it, so I decided to use the Truly Victorian pattern and alter it to look more like the Period Impressions. I will also make the pelerine from the Period Impressions pattern, but at a later date since I am pressed for time. For the first wearing I plan to wear a lace pelerine.

The primary issue with the Truly Victorian pattern is the waistline. The pattern has two possible waistlines – either at the natural waist or a pointed V. My understanding has always been that 1830’s dresses were slightly above the natural waistline. After looking at a lot of originals on Pinterest I came to the conclusion that the higher waistline is the early part of the decade – like 1830 – 1832, and after that the waistlines dropped to the natural waist as drafted in the pattern. Since my other two 1830’s dresses have high waistlines I think I will do this one with a more natural waistline. I want to wear a solid color dark belt with it to visually demarcate the place where the waist ends and the sleeves begin. I debated whether or not I should add a waistband, but the end decided to just leave it as a straight piped waistline. I shortened the waist 1/2 inch, and added 1/2 to the neckline in the back and on the sides (the front was fine). That is all I am changing on the pattern.

Decision #2 – Which Corset to Fit Over

If it were not for the fact that we are going English Country Dancing that night, it would be an easy decision. I would fit over a regular Victorian corset since I don’t actually have a waist. A waist is a terrible thing to waste, and I don’t have one without a good fitting corset. On the other hand, my regency corset made recently in Jennifer Rosbrugh’s Regency Corset class is correct for this era and it is so comfortable – it feels like pajamas! But the trade off is it does not provide any waist reduction. This is not an issue wearing Regency and other high waisted styles. I just hesitate to plan this dress in a way that I know I will be unhappy with in the end. So right now I am thinking of a compromise – fit with the Victorian corset laced more loosely than I normally wear it.

When I fitted the mockup I made an odd discovery! On Friday I went to a Civil War event and wore this same corset, a new one I made recently covered in pink silk (I love this corset BTW, and will feature it in an upcoming “battle of the corsets). Since I was expecting some fitting issues with my dress I laced it down as tightly as I dared in a relatively new corset, and still felt like a stuffed sausage in the dress. I barely got it hooked. My waist measured 35”. Fast forward to Sunday, when I put the corset on again and laced it so that it felt stable but not tight. I measured the waist – 34″! The only explanation I can think of is water retention. Maybe I will try taking a mild diuretic the morning before the next event.

On another tangent – as I looked at these gowns I was struck by the similarity in shape to the 1630’s. There are many periods of history where the basic silhouette is the same as another era (Regency/Edwardian, 1780s bustle / 1880s bustle) but I didn’t register this one until I was deep in the design phase of this project:

1830 vs 1630

Left Image: Dress 1832, American, made of cotton at Met Museum.

Right Image: Wenceslaus Hollar (European-born English artist, 1607-1677) Ornatus Muliebris Anglicanus; Print made by 1640. British Library.

Age Of Antiquity Historical Costuming

I don't design clothing, I design dreams – Ralph Lauren

Category Archives: Gowns

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Last Minute 1830’s Dress in Psychedelic Cotton Print – Planning and Mock Up

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Start with the Most Difficult to Find Element

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Construction – Bodice Gathers

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Construction – Ruffled Trim

Final Result!

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