So I am back from the wedding in CT, and from visiting friends in MA. For the first time in 18 years I did NOT do anything for Halloween since we were driving back home Monday afternoon through the evening. But that means that today I started attaching the skirts to the bodice. Well first I had to readjust the pleating so it can fit within the 28 inch mark line , but that was relatively easy.(taffeta is a DREAM to pleat honestly!!! And once the pleats were adjusted and pinned, it was time to actually attach the skirts. Using silk thread for the very first time made a world of difference! I also learned that you should typically sew with the type of thread that your fabric is: so cotton to cotton, linen to linen, silk to silk, etc. This is news to me 😂 I have until Friday evening to get this finished. I still have to sew the rest 50% of the half of the skirt to the bodice, cut the sleeves and sew them, sew the straps, and hem this gown, and my black chemise a la reine. For the sake of time and my sanity, I will be using my sewing machine to hem it. Tomorrow I plan in running by JoAnn fabrics for items for product photography for a couple of small businesses, but also to see if I can find a lightweight sheer cotton that would work as a fichu. I got the white fabric that I’m wearing for this one pictures below .
Oh! And I still have to make two petticoats to wear each gown! I have faith!!! After all this sewing for myself, I’m going to start working on a couple of projects for my husband. Including an 18th century waistcoat, a sleeved waistcoat, and a new shirt. Oh! November letters for my $10 tier patrons will be going out VERY soon!
So it took just under three weeks, but the Angelica gown is done. HOORAY! (I repeat, HOORAY!). Even though I’ve been sewing and doing historical costuming for years, this gown was the first truly historical pattern I attempted, and boy did it kick me in the butt. I tend to take a lot of shortcuts and do what I want to do when it comes to sewing and using patterns, but this one has shown me that I can’t do that all the time UNLESS I already know what I’m doing. For example, I can knock a regency gown out with a sewing machine in under 2 days.
A couple of things I have learned from making this gown:
1-Historical patterns are VASTLY different from modern commercial patterns.
2-Some things just NEED to be hand stitched. I’m used to taking shortcuts and machine-sewing everything. NOT with this gown!
3-Hand sewing is not all that bad. I used to hate it but found out that I’m quite quick with it once I get a good rhythm going and focus
4-PRESS. OPEN. SEAMS. Trust me on this.
Now, the dress still needs to be hemmed, which I can do at any time since it’s a wearable mock-up, but other than that it is done! Here are some pictures:
Also, can we get a round of applause for these pictures taken by my 11 year old? Looks like she is following in my footsteps as a wedding photographer!
Now that the mock-up is done, I feel way more confident in starting the real version, and cutting into my silk baron tafetta! I have an event to go to on the 5th, and the theme is dark and moody. So although I already have a black chemise a la reine (which still needs to be hemmed), I am EXTRA, so I want a second gown to change into. But if it doesn’t get done, then I’ll be changing into edwardian.
What can I say about this gown? For one, it’s the first actual historical pattern that I have ever worked on, and if you know me, you know that patterns and I never work out. Secondly, this thing has different techniques that I have never heard off PLUS there’s a ton of hand sewing.
So I started the mock up for this gown by Scroops Patterns and Virgil’s Fine Goods two weeks ago. It is being made out of a honey colored linen with a white Muslim lining for the bodice. Haven’t quite decided on the color of the petticoat yet, but I’m thinking of a black one since I kind of need one anyway, and maybe one with a gorgeous African print.
I will admit, the beginning of this project had me STRESSED, but it’s nice to see everything starting to come together. More handstitching on the bodice before I move onto the skirts!
So now with the pleating on the skirts done, I need to baste them down to keep them in place, and then comes the exciting part aka stressful part: attaching the bodice to the skirts! I am so so nervous to do this. But I need to get it done, because I have to turn around and do this all over again with the main fabric. Let me show you! It’s called Bruja by The Silk Baron and it is seriously gorgeous! Perfect for my spooky themed costume meet up coming up in November (let’s hope I can get it done before then though!)
As far as the petticoat, I’m going to do with a simple black one so it can go with the mock up version and real version. May add some decorative ruffle trim, we shall see!
Other than that, I have to get the monthly rewards (wax sealed letters for my patrons done this weekend, along with a wedding tomorrow. Let’s hope the rain from this storm holds off so my couple can get some gorgeous sunset images.
So that’s it for now. Wish me luck in the finishing of this gown!
I did it yall! After a long time of wanting to make my own chemise a la reine, I finally did it! Well, this is not my first one. My husband had one made for me in white as a Mothers Day gift like two years ago. Since one of my friends is doing a spooky/dark themed costumed meetup in November, right after Halloween, I definitely wanted a black one.
So to start with, I had to decide whether I wanted to do it from a pattern or from scratch. I headed to Instagram with a poll, and a majority of people suggested the Laughing Moon Chemise A La Reine Pattern. But then others suggested that it wouldn’t be too terribly hard being that at the base of it, it is just rectangular panels with straps and sleeves, so my chaotic goblin sewing brain decided to give that a try.
First, the fabric!!!! I knew that I wanted it black, but didn’t know exactly which fabric to choose. Apparently cotton voile is popular, but on a random trip to a JoAnn fabrics out of town I went the Linen Look Fabric Solid from JoAnn (the fabric content is 85% viscose and 15% linen, and drapes like a dream).
Let’s get in how I went about construction. After doing a lot of online searching, and getting input from friends, I came across the blog post about a simple chemise a la reine from Fresh Frippery’s blog, and decided to go with that. She used 3 panels of 55″ fabric (one back, and two sides). Since I am larger than her and wanted a lot of floor, I went with four panels of 52″ fabric. One back, two sides, and the third panel was cut in half length wise and each one added to the sides, like so:
After sewing the panels together, I then sewed a channel for the ribbon along the top. The squiqly bits shown are where the ribbon was incased, and be sure to leave a 12″ opening (do not put ribbon in the casing) on either side of the back panel for the arms. Then you run the ribbon through each of the channels, gather to high heaven, and sew down at the back two anchor points, and the two side anchor points of the channels. For the front, you don’t achor the ribbon down, as you will use those two ribbons to tie the front of the gown closed. And being that there is a lot of gathered fabric, it closes beautifully once done.
This is what it looks like with everything gathered, those two hanging bits on the sides are where the arms go.
I found that I had to gather the back A LOT for it to not hang, since the weight of the fabric makes it want to drape down naturally. So again, lots and lots of gathering. After gathering and placing on the dress form where it would ideally fall on me, I made the straps. Now these were straightforward, two straps that ended up being about 10 inches in length and three inches in width, with a slightly curved edge at one side. At first, I thought that these would be two short and then I made a second set that was slightly longer, but remember that drape I talked about? I ended up going with the shorter straps.
Now at this point, I flipped the gown inside out and put it back on the dressform, then took a ribbon (as you can see) to tie where the waist band would be. I then marked where that would go. But during the final fitting, I decided that I wouldn’t sew in a channel for a waistband because tying it with the wide ribbon was enough to keep it in place.
Moving forward to my favorite part: THE SLEEVES! I’m kidding! If you know me,you know I hate sleeves and they make me cry. My last two regency gowns, my friend Renee had to come over to help me, because my brain literally locks up when I think about doing sleeves. So of course, I wanted to go with something super simple for me to make. Now, with the chemise a la reine, there are so many paintings of this dress in various styles: fitted sleeves, fitted three quarter sleeves, poofy sleeves, etc. So I decided to go with a poof sleeve with one simple ruffle at the elbow. Definitely not hard. Cue, the panic.
Ribbn casing about to be sewn.
So my good friend Shasta (ScifiCheerGirl on IG) came over to help me! So what she did was make a simple rectangle, and draped it from my shoulders to where the ruffle was. I then sewed a ribbon for the casing on the inside, and finished the top and the bottom of the sleeve. We had to do a little gather along the top of the sleeve to fit it, we then set it, and it worked!
And with all that said, here is the semi-final product! I just got in a wide, deep-purple ribbon for the waist, and of course I still have to hem this beast (205″ of hemming to do!). Introducing…her:
Now all I need is an epic hat like this one!
Now all in all, it took roughly 5-6 hours of work. I would have probably been able to do it all in one day, but again…sleeves, so it took two days. Also, the robe makes for a FANTASTIC vintage looking night robe to flounce around the house in with pretty undergarments.
If you know me, you know that I love to wear a good open cardigan or wrap with a lot of my ensembles. Especially my vintage ensembles. So when I saw this fabric at JoAnn Fabrics, I KNEW it had to come home with me!
2 yards of a lovely buronon cotton velvet in a floral design
So with this fabric, I knew that I could whip up a little open front cardigan within an hour, and that’s what I set to do yesterday! Here is the tutorial from my TikTok Page:
I hope its easy to follow along with, and if you do make your own, I would love to see it! In other news, I woke up today to a new patron supporting my account, so yay for that! Any and all supports means the world, so what does your support go to financially? Well first, remember that this is all a hobby, and nobody is obliged to support. But your support goes into me deep diving into the historical costuming community of the periods that I am obsessed with, it goes to learning materials and patterns, fabrics, and offsets the cost from taking out of my home budget. Hopefully, it can help with some historical themed trips so I can film lost of content for you. So again, thank you from but bottom of my heart that is literted in fabric remnants and pins.
With all that said, I have get into mom mode and get the house cleaned up with the kids are out of school, get some business stuff sorted away, and then start working a new project! A velvet 1950’s swing dress. Stay tuned!
One of the first things I did was head to One Elven pottery to get one of her gorgeous mugs since I forgot mine at home, and within a few short hours of moving within the crowd and having it tied to my side, it broke 😅. I was devastated
we had some yummy food, ran into friends, watched a great rendition of The Little Slippers. And I was even picked to be a participant in a show. In which I immediately panicked when I was told that I would be throwing a shot knife to a man balancing on a ball while he juggles. TALK ABOUT PRESSURE, HUH!!!
We do plan on going again once the weather is a bit cooler, but it was still a fun day. In the meantime, I’m starting another challenge: Vintage October. In which I will wear a vintage ensemble from the 1920s-1950s everyday during the month of October (save for when I’m working or camping). I also have an Amazon wishlist for that to help build up the wardrobe a couple of pieces that can be changed and mixed-matched together: https://a.co/671b5FP So that shall be fun! And no worries, I will still be doing my 28 days of historical dress this February. This time with more Edwardian and 18th century I think!
Today I stopped by the JoAnn Fabrics in Frederick, MD after visiting a friend for her birthday and getting my daughters ears pierced. I fell in love with the zodiac velvet fabric but didn’t get it. I did, however, get some black linen for my upcoming chemise a la reine. I am using the blog post from Fresh Frippery’s blog to make it. Wish me luck!
I’m also in the process of re-launching my Patreon to focus on my historical costuming and such. Some of the tiers will include monthly wax-sealed letters, zoom calls and more. So if you have it in you to contribute, you can do so here.
I hope your summer has been a good one everyone! We just got back from Pennsic about a week and a half ago, and I haven’t picked up anything to sew since then. Although, I did fall in love with ancient Roman garb while at Pennsic, and made two new Roman gowns to wear while there, and brought fabric to make more. I brought some cotton gauze, and silk sari’s to make the gowns out of. You can check out a lot of on my Instagram page, but here are a couple of me in said gowns:
Now onto my upcoming projects! In the fall, I have an 18th century picnic in October and a spooky themed costumed meet-up in November, so of course I need two new gowns to attend. I plan on making a black chemise a la reine, and trying my hand at the Angelica Gown by Scroops Patterns
Now for the chemise a la reine, I did a poll on my Instagram asking for pattern recommendations, and I go two answers. The top one being the Laughing Moon chemise a la reine, OR coming in at a close second, it would be to free hand it. Apparently it’s just big rectangles, stragitcally gathered and pinned down, and then add sleeves. I’m going to attempt a free hand mock-up using the instructions from the Chemise A La Reine post from the Fresh Frippery blog.
The second gown I am going to attempt is the Angelica gown. Admittedly, I have been sewing for over 10 years and have made a ton of costumes. But I tend not to use patterns, and take a lot of shortcuts. So besides the two regency gowns that I made a few weeks back, this is going to be a big undertaking for me. Thankfully my friend Shasta said she will help me, since she has already made two of these gowns and was a product tester for the pattern. In keeping with the spooky theme, I feel that I found THE PERFECT fabric from The Silk Baron. It’s a silk taffeta, and the name of the color is Hex. I am in LOVE.
For the chemise a la reine, I think I am going to go with a black cotton voile. For the Angelica gown, I am thinking either linen or possibly faux dupioni or tafetta. What do you think? I anticipate I will be making a lot of mistakes!
So that’s it for now. Besides these two gowns, I have to figure out what we as a family are doing for Halloween. Last year, we went as The Ghostbusters. So we shall see! Stay tuned for the next blog post, which undoubtedly be me saying that I hate this costuming hobby as I attempt the next two gowns
A few weeks ago,I duetted the trailer from Mr. Malcom’s list on tiktok, and said how i was probably going to make a new gown just for the movie. Well, the official account for the film politely requested to see the gown when it was done, so off i went to making a new regency gown.
This go round took my a little under three days. It helped that I already had the pattern pieces cut out from the 5 day regency dress that i did. a large portion of time for prepping for sewing is cutting the pattern pieces/fabric because of my back issues. so it helped with having them already cut out
Look at those princess seams!
I originally wanted a champagne colored gown, but could only find a blush pink satin at JoAnn Fabrics, so I made do.
Yes, I do have a serger. Am I terrified of that thing? Also yes.
I did have a minor freakout with the sleeves. Who am I kidding? it was a major freak out. i swear sleeves are my worst enemy. It took me 2 attempts, but i finally conquered them and…. STILL DID THEM WRONG. i forgot to gather the bottom edging of the cap sleeve. so i left it and just went with a flutter sleeve
So here is the final dress in all of her glory, and I cannot wait to wear it to see Mr. Malcoms List.
Yes, you heard that right. I made a regency gown in five days. My friend Jenny-Rose invited me to her Regency lawn party which took place almost two weeks ago, and it was so much fun. When I got the invite, I was set on wearing the blue and gold regency ensemble that I wore to the Bridgerton Ball (the ball in which I was declared the diamond of the evening!!!). But me being me, I wanted to wear something new, and I had 4 2/3 yards of this gorgeous lavender satin sitting in my fabric bin, so I knew what had to be done!
But before that, here is me in my blue and gold regency gown and open robe at the Bridgerton Ball:
I used Simplicity pattern 9502 to get the pieces of the gown so I wouldn’t have to draft a new pattern, however I did not follow the instructions at all, haha.
I can say though, that the final product fit me perfectly without any adjustments. Based on my measurements, I was a size 24 in the pattern.
Now, sewing together the pieces for the bodice was fairly easy, again I did this without following the instructions of the pattern. But if you know me, you know me and sleeves have a long standing history of not liking each other, so my friend Renee came over to help me with them. In the end, I went with cap sleeves that were gathered at the top of the sleeve and the bottom.
So enough of me talking, let’s take a look at the gown!
theplushseamstress.com 