Regency Immersion

 

 

 

This weekend I've been immersed in the Regency era! I was commissioned by a friend to make a dress similar in style to this one created by Colonial Williamsburg. The dress is being created from a sheer white voile with flowers woven into the fabric. It will have 3/4 length sleeves rather than the longer sleeves in the picture. The dress will have no lining but will be worn over a white silk bodiced petticoat. She has a pair of stays which will be worn under that for support.

I am also making three other regency dresses to sell, and perhaps a fourth for myself. And I've been working on a pattern for a pelisse...which I have desperately wanted since seeing Sense and Sensibility ages ago (Middle School?). I'm still working towards that! I think the pattern is making a little progress. I started drafting it several years ago from the pattern in 'Patterns of Fashion' by Janet Arnold. I drafted it up, but the size was still far to small to fit me. So I'm working on enlarging it to fit my size...which is rather challenging, I find. I want to keep the same lines but just expand it...and often I wonder if it wouldn't just be easier to create a pattern from scratch. But I've already come this far so I figure that I might as well finish it!

Now I'm looking into purchasing the 'Laughing Moon' Early 1860's Day Dress pattern. Does anyone know how htis one goes together? It looks great on the website, but the last thing I need is another poorly drafted pattern to fiddle with!

Did you see the latest Simplicity 'Civil War Era' dress. I can envision a particular fashion plate that it may have been pulled from. But I'm not sure how correct it actually is. It looks sort of hideous the way it is, but perhaps the bodice pattern would be useable for something...a tableaux dress? Ugh. Yes, it's really dreadful the way it's made up on the website!

JoAnn's has been my friend this weekend. I visited both Saturday and today. Yesterday I found some more lovely voile fabric on the clearance. Mom purchased some for a petticoat for a 1790s dress she's making, and I purchased the remainder for something...a civil war dress? It's white with a white stripe. I also found some lovely scrapbooking ribbons in the clearance section which I like to use for the drawstrings on regency dresses...just what I was looking for. Fabulous scissors on sale...I've purchased four pairs in the last week. They were on sale! Hmmm...life is wonderful! I <3 fabric stores.