Handsewn White Regency
Atlanta announced the Historical Costume Inspiration Festival back in June, after I had already begun work on a handsewn Regency ensemble. What fortunate timing!
Inspiration
The 1995 Pride and Prejudice was my first, and biggest, introduction to Regency dress and style many years ago. Of all the pretty frocks in that film, Lizzie's "Linen Criss-Cross Dress" has always been one of my favorites. I'm not sure why; it's such a simple-seeming dress! Perhaps twelve years of 1860s reenacting has created a love for unpretentious and subtly-detailed everyday dress.
The first thing that caught my eye was the bias cut of the front bodice. I marveled at the technique that achieved just the right amount of fullness to gather prettily over the front drawstring and have more fullness at the high waist, but all controlled smoothly and neatly into the waist.
I also love this back view. The tiny back piece is one of the first Regency construction features I learned about, and one that has always charmed me. The graceful fall of the pleats is also yummy.
The dress has long sleeves, cut to go over the hand, and snugged to the wrist with a separate band. Neither long sleeves nor wrist bands are common in reproductions. Although I'm drawn to "average" everyday looks, I adore reproducing quirky little details.
(screenshots from The Period Movie Review)
Research Resources
Lots of movies to get an idea of what I like and don't like, how garments move and hang, and overall inspiration. Besides the 1995 Pride and Prejudice, the 1990s Persuasion is actually my favorite, and the most accurate costume movie I've ever seen.
Costume in Detail: 1730-1930. The first costuming book I bought and still my favorite. The detail on actual construction is amazing.
Patterns of Fashion I: 1660-1860. No particular element came from this, but it helped with some cutting and pattern layout design.
Period Costume for Stage and Screen: Patterns for Women's Dress, 1800-1909. The source for the basic bodice shape, the particular skirt cut, and the sleeve.
Costume Close-Up: Clothing Construction and Pattern, 1750-1790. This is the previous period, but it helped a lot with specifics of seam construction and finishing.
The Fashionable Past: Katherine's Dress Site and koshka_the_cat
Katie Jacobs.com and rvqavalon
Fashion plates, the majority from Bibliothèque des Arts Décoratifs's online collection, cropped and hosted on my Flickr for convenience.
Ensemble
Although the gown is the centerpiece, my intent was to create an entire summertime Regency ensemble from the skin out. This necessarily included the following:
* Shift
* Stays
* Stockings
* Shoes
* Petticoat
* Gown
* Headwear
* Jewelry
Materials and Sources
* Shift
Handkerchief-weight linen from Fabrics-Store.com.
1/8" and 3/8" cotton tape from Wm. Booth, Draper.
* Stays
Cotton drill from Joann.
1/4" flat oval reed from The Silly Sisters, left over from my 18th-century stays.
1/8" and 1/2" cotton tape from Wm. Booth, Draper.
* Petticoat
Bodice from Pimatex cotton from Dharma Trading Co.
Skirt from cotton batiste from Silk Connection.
1/4" and 1/2" cotton tape from Wm. Booth, Draper.
* Gown
White cotton semi-sheer with woven windowpane pattern from Joann.
White Dorset or thread buttons I've had in my stash for years - I don't know where I got them! Wm. Booth, Draper does carry them now.
1/8" and 1/4" cotton tape from Wm. Booth, Draper.
* Headwear
White sewn hemp "Virginia" bonnet form, blue and yellow silk organza flowers, green velvet leaves, and blue silk ribbon from Timely Tresses.
As far as I can recall, all articles were sewn with 100% cotton thread.
I chose not to make a chemisette for this outfit, not because of the movie, but because it was not necessary. Period fashion plates, portraits, and illustrations show half-low and low necklines worn during the day and outdoors. I speculate that the decision to wear a chemisette was a combination of the wearer's preference combined with the style of the dress, the weather, and other circumstances.
Construction
I can't remember now why I determined to sew this ensemble by hand. koshka_the_cat does it all the time, so maybe she shamed me! :) Of course the sewing machine was not invented in the Regency period, so to be authentic all Regency wear should be handsewn. At the same time, I did this for my own pleasure, and not for reenacting.
I've done a lot of handsewing over the years, gradually adding to my repertoire of techniques. Some of the construction elements (gathers, buttonholes, and eyelets) require handsewing for an authentic appearance anyway. I've also found it easier to control sheer and delicate fabrics by hand. The Regency period has the least sewing of nearly any historic period, too, so it was less of a commitment. I went on a long road trip over Memorial Day that gave me a lot of time to sew by hand. And the sewing itself I often find relaxing.
Regardless, I've never regretted handsewing this. I've enjoyed it so much, and now I'm happier with it than I ever would have been otherwise.
* Shift
I used the Simplicity version of the Sense & Sensibility underthings pattern. In retrospect, I wish I'd used one of the shift layouts from Costume Close-Up, but only because they were more efficient in the use of the material. To save fabric I cut my back piece in two halves and seamed the selvedges together edge-to-edge.
I flat-felled all seams. It was fun figuring out how to do that around the underarm gussets. :)
From the Costume Close-Up example, I made the casing for the neckline drawstring out of cotton tape instead of folding the neckline over. I'm not sure it was any easier, but I liked trying out the technique. It would be better with lighter weight tape, if such is available.
* Stays
Because the handsewing was such an ambitious goal, and because I lack confidence in fitting my own stays and corsets, I decided to do short stays instead of the more-commonly-reproduced long stays.
As the basis, again I used the Simplicity version of the Sense & Sensibility underthings pattern. I did quite a bit of research, however, trying to determine the different types of short stays, what silhouette they give versus the silhouette of the long stays, and how common each was in the period. Short answer? There really are no hard rules for this period! There is no one proper Regency look, and therefore no one proper design of stays.
For my short stays, I modified the Sense & Sensibility pattern mostly by narrowing the straps, to minimize the chance of them peeking at the neckline; by cutting excess length out of the front neckline; and by lengthening the gussets to give a more curved Regency-style profile than the straight-front profile they tend to give as drafted.
I forgot to take pictures of the shift and stays when not on me. Oops.
* Petticoat
Petticoats were often made with straps or bodices to hold them up in this period. I wanted to make a bodice that fitted me closely over the stays, so that (1) the outline would not show through the semisheer bodice, and (2) the pattern would be a base pattern for the dress bodice and any future Regency gowns.
I tried to start with the basic fitted Regency bodice pattern from Hunnisett, but ended up making four separate mock-ups before achieving a good fit. I do hate pattern-making! But the end result is (I think) excellent. I made the shoulder straps very narrow, again to keep them from peeking.
For the skirt, I used the same basic pattern (skirt B) that I planned to use for the gown skirt. (As a rule of thumb, petticoats should be no more full than the dress skirt, and ideally not much less full.) This particular skirt pattern is cut from straight pieces, with two pleats at the sides, then a very deep triple pleat at the back and tight gathers at the center. The petticoat gave me a chance to experiment with the placement of the side pleats.
I worked five 1/4" tucks and a moderate hem on the petticoat to give the batiste a tiny bit of body. (I have NEVER been able to do straight tucks, even with the sewing machine!)
The petticoat fastens with tape ties at the center back. I moved the ties over on one side after this picture was taken, because when they are on the edge the bow keeps the edges from meeting exactly.
* Gown
The gown bodice wasn't too hard to pattern after some immensely-helpful advice from rvqavalon. The trickiest part was raising the neckline enough, in the right places, and adjusting the armhole to get it tight enough but not too tight. It's still not quite perfect, but there's no one thing that sticks out to me.
The sleeve, I think D from Hunnisett, gave me trouble until mlsdesigns pointed out that my armhole was still too deep. Next time around I think I'll still raise it another 1/2" or so, but it felt good while wearing it and looks very much like originals and the movie dress.
The bodice gathering worked perfectly. I ended up using a separate strip of fabric to both stabilize and encase the waist seam, a concern since the gathers needed to be secured somehow. I did not need to use the drawstring that Lizzie's dress had, and I'm honestly still not sure how it worked!
I made the wrist bands button instead of tie like Lizzie's did. Mostly that's because I used Dorset buttons on the back instead of covered buttons, and I wanted to use them some more! They are so delicate and interesting, and I think perfect for the fabric.
The neckline is gathered over a cotton cord drawstring. Inside the waist I sewed a 1/4" tape to the interior "waistband" at the center front and sides. It ties after I put the gown on but before the buttons are done; it holds the waistline nice and neat to me, without putting strain on the dress itself. This is a feature I found in Costume in Detail, and I love it.
I changed the placement and orientation of the side skirt pleats a little bit, having learned from the petticoat. I also made the front skirt waist dip slightly after a skirt from Patterns of Fashion instead of being straight across, and gathered it a tiny amount. I wanted to add enough ease to the skirt front that it would not pull across the hips. Pulling is a risk with straight-fronted skirts.
I also made this skirt (B from Hunnisett) because it has a small train. I thought I train would be fun, and I wanted to try it. :)
* Headwear
I really agonized over what to do for a bonnet. I have no confidence in my ability to learn how to sew my own straw forms, much less come up with a good shape for Regency bonnets. And while I could make and cover a bonnet form, this is a summer outfit and I really wanted a lightweight bonnet.
I love Timely Tresses! The hemp bonnet form is gorgeous, incredibly airy and lightweight. And I was able to get white, instead of straw color, which was lovely.
Accessories
* Stockings
White-on-white O Chevrons from Sock Dreams, bought for 1860s use.
* Shoes
Green kid Regency shoes from Robert Land Footwear Ltd.
* Reticule (handbag)
Drawstring bag made from a tapestry remnant probably 10 years ago for 1860s. Ironically, more appropriate for Regency than for the 1860s!
* Jewelry
Gold over sterling drop earrings from JC Penney's.
Coral bead necklaces tied with blue silk ribbon, gift from rvqavalon for my 18th-century outfit last year. :)
Completion
Photo by Jen Thompson
Photo by Jen Thompson
Photo by Jen Thompson
Photo by Jen Thompson
Photo by Kaycee Harding
Photo by Jen Thompson
Photo by Kaycee Harding