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:
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:
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:
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:
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:
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!
Read Part One Here
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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 …
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!
Figuring what to make out of what fabric is another one of those things that is hard to explain. Sometimes I just know what I want to make as soon as I see a piece of fabric. Other times I buy the fabric with one or more ideas in mind, and it changes over time. It might end up making something totally different out of it than what I planned, especially if a new event comes over the horizon and I need to make something I was not originally planning to make.
So I have – as part of my sewing Kanban process – a FWAP list. I have had these two large pieces of silk for some years now and have waffled back and forth over the exact type of 18th century gowns to make out of them. The main question being, robe a la francaise (sack gown) or robe a la anglaise (fitted back). I know in both cases I wants stomacher gowns as I do not have a silk stomacher gown right now. The two fabrics are:
Pink Baranzelli 100% Silk Lisere Fabric
And
Burgundy 100% Silk Schumacher Brocade Fabric
So how does one decide? Well first I thought: maximum flexibility. I bought both of these fabrics on Ebay at a steep discount, but the pink stripe lisere was FAR more expensive. So I want as much flexibility with that as possible. So first lets think about how many different things it will match.
A single 18th century gown can be paired with a different petticoat and different accessories to create many different looks. A stomacher gown can also have multiple stomachers, and will still fit you if you gain or lose weight as the fix it more flexible. Planning ahead for this can save you a lot of money. Instead of making an entire new outfit, just make a new petticoat or stomacher!
The pink in this silk is VERY hard to match. I bought numerous swatches over the four or five years it has been in my stash and of all of them, nothing matched except for this one 5 yard piece of silk satin ribbon. It matches a few different greens due to the variation in colors in the floral stripe. I found a nice piece of trim that looks similar to period fly trim on Etsy:
Green Silk Satin Ribbon, Pink Silk Satin Ribbon, Green Faux Fly Trim
Here it is with a couple different colors of green ribbon from the stash:
Antique Olive Green Rusching Ribbon, Dark Olive Silk Satin Ribbon, Green Quilted Silk.
But honestly I like the lighter green in the first picture better. It also goes well with this piece of quilted green silk, which would give it a silk petticoat for a different look:
Green quilted silk, olive green rusching ribbon, olive green silk satin ribbon, green silk satin ribbon, pink silk satin ribbon, green faux fly fringe trim.
It will also work with my existing green silk petticoat:
And someday, something new and blue.
So really this fabric has a lot of options for different petticoats and stomachers to give it great flexibility. It could have a stomacher with decreasing size bows out of either ribbon (or both) in addition to a self fabric one, and a compere stomacher (buttoning up the front). So I have decided to make it as a robe a la anglaise as this style is also more flexible, and depending on what skirt supports I wear with it and what accessories I can make this gown work for any time from about 1750 – 1780’s. But the primary target will be 1760’s. I have a little less than 12 yards of it so that should be plenty for the gown trimmed out with box pleated trim and a petticoat with a wide box pleated ruffle around the bottom. Something like this:
18th Century Gown from Met Museum
And this:
Gown from Philadelphia Museum of Art
So now looking at the burgundy silk – I have 15 yards of it and it was far less expensive. So there is enough to make a very fancy sack gown that fits over wider panners. It also looks great with gold trim, and could also be worn with the same green quilted silk petticoat, ironically enough. But it looks its best with gold trim:
Burgundy silk with green quilted silk, green silk ribbons, and various types of gold trim. It looks better with the dark olive ribbons.
So something like this:
Robe à la française, 1760’s France, Museo de la Moda
And this:
Gown MFA Boston
I should also clarify it took me a while to make these decisions. It is better not to rush, to take time and lay the fabric out with various trims and other fabrics, and order swatches from the internet for additional fabrics and trims that might work. As a general rule, don’t cut into expensive fabric until you have sat with the decision for some time and feel at peace with your choice.
I will make up the pink lisere first as I have had it a long time and want to finally wear it!
Phew that took a long time! The worst part of making stays? Binding. Ugh took forever! But they are finally done and photographed. Photographing them was almost as much work as making them. The photos were taken in two different sessions with helpers and with a selfie stick, so the hair and chemise change sometimes. I learned a lot about how to do (mediocre) photo shoots though! But here it is – a comparison between four different 18th century stays patterns.
I am a modern size 14/16 so this gives a good idea how these patterns will look on the average lady of today. Compared to the standard measurements of these patterns, I am slightly longer waisted between waist and bust, and slightly shorter waisted from bust to hip (details like that matter when making corsets). My waist is wider than the assumed waist on the patterns because I am apple shaped, so I sized the pattern using bust size. I am reduced three inches which is about the maximum for most 18th century stays. They are not really designed for tight lacing.
High Level Comparisons
Stays: Larkin & Smith, Reconstruction History Front & Back Lacing, Reconstructing History 1790’s, JP Ryan Diderot Stays
Contestant # 1 Larkin & Smith Front and Back Lacing Stays
Larkin and Smith Front and Back Lacing Stays
I have worn these to several events and they are VERY comfortable! Great for most of the 18th century, these will get you through both the French & Indian and Rev war (unless you are going super high style, then use the Contestant #4 JP Ryan stays). These are easy to get on and off and give me a nice (as can be expected) figure. The inner layers are cotton canvas and the outer covering is red silk; construction notes can be found here. This pair is boned with synthetic whalebone, which is very light weight and thin. It was also very easy to work with. I highly recommend this pattern if this is your first pair of stays or if you only plan to make one pair. The pattern is worth its weight in gold just for the amazing instructions! Once you go through them, you can use the method on any pair of stays, including diagrams from costume books. They are easy to fit, and stays without shoulder straps are easier to move around in. Front lacing makes it so much easier to put them on and take them off by yourself. Most of us don’t have ladies maids so this is an important consideration. Here is how they turned out:
Front of red silk Larkin & Smith Stays – I thought about binding them in black but ended up using self fabric. I like the black lacing which I used because I could not find ribbon in the right color. Red is red, right? Not!
Back of red silk Larkin & Smith Stays
Side of red silk Larkin & Smith Stays – pretty straight in front despite fat gut assuming you stand correctly and don’t try to be a fucking fashion model. These stays have excellent tummy control!
Full side view red silk Larkin & Smith stays – standing straighter. Boobs look better because I am using a cheat – stick a rolled up pair of socks under each boob. Not kidding! Makes a huge difference! Apples on a tray, people!
Contestant # 2 Reconstructing History Front and Back Lacing Stays
Reconstructing History Stays
This pair of stays is longer than the others, and is boned with reed. The reed is thicker than the synthetic whalebone, but interestingly my waist measurement ends up exactly the same in this one as the Larkin & Smith stays above. Go figure! The bust is two inches smaller as it is a much more long, narrow stay. Perfect for the first quarter of the 18th century, and surprisingly comfortable! I was not sure about the reed but it worked out quite well. My only recommendation is to use steel bones on either sides of the eyelets both front and back. I did use them in the back, but not in the front. I could hear them complaining as I laced it up and I had to be careful to tighten it gradually or the reed would have snapped. The inside layers are cotton canvas and the outer fabric is blue silk brocade. Construction notes are here. This pattern has great bang for your buck as you get four different stay designs, including the rare 1790’s stay (Contestant #3 below). Drum roll please ….
Reconstructing History Blue Silk Brocade Stays Front – no room for “boob socks” in this long lean stay. They pop out pretty good on their own.
Reconstructing History Blue Silk Brocade Stays Back – sorry this one came loose in back but I was too exhausted by this point to care. It does lace evenly when one is not being lazy.
Reconstructing History Blue Silk Brocade Stays Side
Reconstructing History Blue Silk Brocade Stays Side – curving out at the bottom due to fat gut, but has a pretty straight line from waist to bust, where it shows.
Contestant # 3 Reconstructing History Wide Front 1790s Stays
Reconstructing History 1790’s Wide Front Stays
These are one of the two pairs of half boned stays, and for half boned stays I use spring steel boning. The unique thing about these stays is the very wide front. This is to help create the wide pooched out front bodices of the 1790’s. They are also much shorter than the other three pair, so they are not as flattering by themselves. However I do believe they will create the perfect silhouette for the 1790’s, which is not about looking thin! They are lined with cotton canvas and the other covering is white silk taffeta. As I plan to wear them under a chemise a la reine I wanted to stick with white that will not show through the thin fabric of the dress. I cheated and used metal eyelets with cross lacing on these, because I was afraid they would be hard to lace up on me otherwise. I also discovered that it does much better if I leave off the bottom three eyelets. I cannot remember if I copied the eyelet placement from the pattern, but most likely not. You really only need the eyelets to go down a couple of inches below the waist, and the ends – which are really tabs – know what to do. Construction notes are here. Without further ado ….
Reconstructing History Wide Front 1790s Stays Front Close Up
Reconstructing History Wide Front 1790s Stays Full Length
Reconstructing History Wide Front 1790s Stays Side – front pooching nicely. Stuff a fluffy kerchief down the front and yur done.
Reconstructing History Wide Front 1790s Stays Back
Contestant # 4 JP Ryan Half Boned Diderot Stays
JP Ryan Half Boned Stays
This pair of stays is also half boned, and therefore boned with spring steel. It has cotton canvas as the lining and green silk taffeta for the cover. Interestingly this pattern has slightly different pieces for the outer layer, but they do fit together correctly. I love the shape of these stays! One of the differences between stays in the earlier part of the 18th century vs. stays from the latter quarter is the shape of the front. Earlier stays have a conical front, that is a straight line from the waist to the top of the bust (tends to curve out a bit at the bottom on me, due to fat gut). Starting around 1780, the stays began to curve outward from the waist to the bust. This is most extreme in the example above but this pair is also cut that way, and is perfect for the 1780’s and into the 1790’s (before waistlines started to rise). They are very comfortable, but somewhat challenging to get on and off by yourself, but it can be done. I love how long and slimming they are! They are good at what they do – I feel like I am wearing a lard tutu as it squashes all that fat downwards with great efficiency. Don’t need as big a bum roll! I had some fun with this one and the new selfie stick. Pardon the side shot glasses – I just could not get a decent side view without being able to see. Construction notes are here. Last one!
JP Ryan Diderot Green Silk Stays Front
JP Ryan Diderot Green Silk Stays Front with Selfie Stick – you can’t see the lard tutu surprisingly.
JP Ryan Diderot Green Silk Stays Side
JP Ryan Diderot Green Silk Stays Back – lacing nice and even steven.
So there you have it! Which one is your favorite?
Getting a nice looking en fourreau back is one of the most noticeable struggles when sewing an 18th century gown. Â Like it or not, you will be judged on the back! Â For most of the 18th century, the robe a l’anglaise, English gown, or English nightgown was cut with a one piece back. Â The back is then pleated onto the lining, usually in 4 pleats that taper in towards the waistline. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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. Â The sleeves are also very wide, suitable for early 18th century. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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:
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. Â 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! Â 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. Â In 18th century terms this fabric was known as fustian. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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. Â You want to sew the back lining together at the center back, but not at the side seams or the shoulder strap. Â Line them up with the center backs together. Â 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. Â Sewing it this way will make the seam invisible. Â 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! Â First smooth the lining down and pin it through both layers in a few places to prevent shifting. Â You can use a running stitch to secure the pleats, but I prefer to use a narrow prick stitch. Â I find it is nearly invisible if done carefully enough. Â 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. Â But I don’t recommend it. Â Stop stitching just below the waistline. Â 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. Â I do not tie off between each stitch. Â 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. Â This will allow you to sew the side seams. Â Once the side seams are sewn, sew the skirt fronts to the skirt backs and put in the pocket slits. Â At that point, it is safe to trim the rest of the bottom lining, to just slightly under the back pleat on each side. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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
I also did a mock up of these stays, as they needed a bit of tweeking to fit me. Â I made them longer overall, and I had to do some fiddling to get the tabs somewhat even especially using the front lacing option. Â There are fewer pieces than the Larkin & Smith stays and none of them have curved 3D boning channels. Â That said, I assembled them exactly the same as the previous post.
For these stays I will be using reed boning. Â It is shown below on the right in comparison to a piece of synthetic whalebone:
Synthetic Whalebone vs Cane Boning
The boning is a little thicker than the synthetic whalebone and a little harder to slide into the boning channels. Â It does look interesting as it is rounder and has more texture. Â It will be interesting to see how it wears in comparison to the synthetic whalebone.
The difference in construction comes at the assembly stage. Â Sewing all of the pieces together using a hand whip stitch is a PITA! Â So for this pair, I decided to try it using the machine. Â So I lined up the pieces, front sides together, but instead of whip stitching I used a 3.5mm machine zig zag stitch – I like how this turned out! Â It is much more even than the hand whip stitch so it will be easier to cover with trim.
This is much easier with zig zag …
Binding is also somewhat simplified, at least for the top of the stays and stomacher – using the cane instead of the reed. Â The reed can be sewn through, using a strong enough needle and going very slowly:
Binding the stomacher by machine – the inside will be sewn down by hand. Â Don’t try this with synthetic whalebone!
Stomacher with binding, ready for hand finishing.
Let then hand sewing commence! Â At this posting, the stomacher and top binding is done. Â Binding the bottom, with all the tabs, takes forever but I will do my best to finish this while it is still 2016 and conclude the Battle of the Stays!
As many costumers will tell you, looking at original garments is the best form of learning and inspiration there is. Â While studying 18th century gowns I found this really interesting example of an 18th century petticoat with adjustable sides. Â This will allow the petticoat to be worn with different sized hooped petticoats, side hoops, hip pads, or bum roll. Â Given than petticoats often due double duty with several different outfits, this is a really great feature. Â So I decided to figure out how to replicate this. Â Here is the original gown:
Blue Robe à la Française at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1760 – 1770
Bless whomever took these photos, they included a closeup of the construction details of the petticoat!
Blue Robe à la Française at The Metropolitan Museum of Art showing construction details of petticoat.
There are quite a few take aways from this photo:
I planned two petticoats to be worn with several different mid century and later gowns, so they will be my guinea pigs in working out the details of this waist treatment.  One is embroidered linen that looks like tambour, and the other is cotton matelasse.  Cotton matelasse is a woven fabric with texture that is a pretty good fake for quilted fabric, so many of us use it to make “faux” quilted petticoats.  I used the Charleston Oyster colorway, the maker is Pindler & Pindler, from The Online Fabric Store:
Pindler & Pindler Cotton Matelasse in Charleston Oyster
This type of fabric is also available from big box stores like Jo Ann Fabrics, but the patters are less elaborate and they tend to have some synthetic content. Â But I have used them before with perfectly acceptable results. Â The Pindler & Pindler is 100% cotton but is more expensive than Jo Ann’s.
You really don’t need a pattern to make a petticoat! Â The main measurement you need is how long you want the petticoat to be in front, which will of course depend on how tall you are (with shoes) and how long you want it to be. Â 18th Century petticoats can be anywhere from ankle length to mid calf. Â Work and everyday petticoats would be shorter than formal gown petticoats. Â To this measurement add the hem at the bottom (I used a 1 1/2″ hem) and 1/2″ seam allowance at the top, AND extra length for the sides and backs. Â I have found that 3″ is enough to accommodate the underpinnings I wear. Â So that is 35″ (my finished front length) plus 1.5″ hem plus .5″ seam allowance plus 3″ for the back is 40″. Â Unless the fabric is really narrow (less than 45″) I use 2 lengths of fabric, so I cut 2 panels of fabric 40″ long.
Next, fold the front panel in half and scoop out 3″ from the center front TOP, tapering to nothing at the sides. Â This keeps the pattern of the fabric straight along the hem.
Next, sew the two sides seams leaving about 8″ for the pocket slits on each side, and hem the bottom of the skirt. Â Now you have a big tube, all ready for pleating. Â Pleat the center front and center back to the approximate point where your skirt widening device (bum roll, hip pad, etc) meets your leg:
Using the perfect pleater to measure pleats. Â I love this thing!
Cotton matelasse skirt pleated.
Now sew the pleats down using the 1/2″ seam allowance:
Sew ‘um down!
Here is the linen petticoat with the pleats sewn down:
Linen petticoat with pleats sewn at 1/2″ seam allowance. Pardon cat foot.
And the rest of the cat ….
Big Mr Red kitty working hard.
Then I made a cut 1/2″ in right next to the pleated section. Â This will allow me to turn down the seam allowance and make a casing for the drawstrings on the sides:
Clip the seam allowance right next to the pleated section on each side. That is 4 clips per petticoat.
Next, fold the seam allowance for the side casings down and sew to create the casing for the drawstrings. Â Since my fabric is very thick, I zig-zagged the raw edges and just turned it down once. Â If your fabric is medium or light thickness you can turn down 1/4″ twice to make a neater casing.
Turn down seam allowance for drawstring casings.
Sew casing for drawstring.
Next I threaded some narrow 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon through each casing and stitched it down firmly where the casing ends and the waistband begins.
Inserting the drawstring.
Since I am using a 3/4″ linen tape for the wasitband, I trimmed the seam allowance down to 1/4″.
Trim that bad boy down to 1/4″.
Time to apply the waistband! Â If you are not using a finished tape, sew the waistband on normally. Â Since I am using the tape, I sewed the tape to the back side first, then the front, so that errant seam lines would not show on the front. Â This can also be applied by hand for a truly authentic finish.
Applying the cotton tape waistband.
I did not put a hook and eye on both sides, so the right side just has the waistband sewn in half where the casing begins.
Right side with no closure.
On the left side, I turned the ends of the casing in 1/4″ and sewed them together:
Fastening side of the waistband (left side) with raw ends turned under.
Completed left side fastening of waistband.
Finally, I sewed a hook and eye on the left side. Â Gathering up and tying the side casings, it looks like the original!
Completed closure, left side.