chemise dress?

[fleurdelysa]

As I work on my brocade pet-en-l'aire and trim my velvet jacket, I'm thinking about making a chemise dress. If I want to go from zero to sixty in 30 seconds, who has blog posts about making them? Pros and cons of certain patterns, good fabric choices and suppliers, recommended construction methods, etc. Merci, mes amis! :)

Comments

[my_stitching]

I made my chemise using the rockinghorse farms pattern. It is a very simple garment so it went together easily. However, there is a mistake in the pattern with regards to the waistline gathers. I just didn't do a waist gather. I wear a wide sash instead. Also, I used sleeves from a different pattern.

[fleurdelysa]

Why didn't you do the waist gathers? Did you use a straight sleeve? Thanks!

[my_stitching]

I didn't do the waist gathers for a couple of reasons. Mostly, it was because I didn't want to have to futz around with it to make it right. Because I was wearing a sash, it wasn't going to matter anyway. I think i was under a time crunch for it for a dance performance too.

Yes, I did a straight sleeve from a different 18th century pattern. I didn't care for the sleeve from this pattern and also I didn't want gathers on my arms because I would be dancing.

Here is an old posts which show the dress. The neckline is filled in with a fichu so it is hard to make out the actual neckline. It was a bit low, but that was my fault not the pattern.

http://my-stitching.livejournal.com/94273.html

[fleurdelysa]

Great info! Thanks for sharing. You looked lovely in it! :)

[demode]

There were a ton of ppl making them a few years back, check Katherine/Koshka's site/blog/LJ. I want to say there may even have been an LJ comm for them?

I do remember hearing that the waistline point on the Norah Waugh pattern is wrong. I made mine from that pattern, and I did everything but the waist, tied elastic around my waist, and marked the hem that way.

[demode]

Marked the WAIST that is!

[koshka_the_cat]

There was a community!

http://chemisedresses.livejournal.com/

It is a super easy dress, and fun to wear :)

If the back neckline is the same as the front, the waist gathers will work. Someone did it that way, I don't remember who. If you have a higher back neckline than front, it won't. Or you can just use a sash :)

[fleurdelysa]

I'll dig into that today! Thank you!