I've been planning to sew a basic white Regency dress since 2016. I started blogging about my plans in 2017. In 2020, and in the midst of a global pandemic, I finally decided to start making the damn thing.
The last four years have not been wasted, though! I've made all the necessary underthings, expanded my sewing skills, looked at fashion plates, read other blogs, and accumulated books on historical costuming.
For this white dress I'll be referencing two books in particular - "Regency Women's Dress: Techniques and Patterns 1800-1830" for the pattern and "The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking" for assembly guidance.
The pattern I'm using from "Regency Women's Dress" is described as a morning dress and is dated 1800-1805, which is, coincidentally, exactly the time period I've been aiming for. The original dress is a bib-front or apron-front gown, but I'll be adapting it so it closes with drawstrings at the center front.
To start the drafting process, I transferred the gridded bodice pattern pieces onto the similarly-gridded back of some wrapping pattern. That, in turn, was transferred onto some stash fabric, given seam allowances, and basted together to form a mockup.
That first mockup didn't work. The front lining pieces needed to be made longer and wider, and they would need darts to shape them. I also made the straps narrower to widen the neckline.
Adjustments and a second mockup were made. On that version, I made the center back panel slightly narrower, adjusted the armholes, and curved the bottom of the front lining panels so the waistline sits slightly higher at the back than the front.
Rinse and repeat. The third mockup required adjustments to the armhole again, but this time in the back where the straps attach to the center back panel. The fourth mockup gave me a chance to check on those adjustments and work on the bust darts in the front panels.
I put the project away for almost four months after that.
When I got back to it in August, I pulled out my fourth mockup again to see where I left off. I cleaned up the darts a little and deemed it "good enough," despite some minor gaping at the armscye.
I transferred the pieces to a grided paper (ok, so it was the gridded back of some wrapping paper again) and added seam allowances. When I did this, I angled the straps slightly toward the arm, which is meant to help with the gaping.
I did one last mockup using my final pattern and it went great! Angling the straps did help some with the armscye gaping, so I was pleased.
With the lining drafted, it was time to draft the outer later. The back panel will be exactly the same, but the front pieces needed to be extended so it can be gathered with the drawstring at the neck and underbust. (I had to stop and do some skirt math to figure out how much it needed to be extended, but I'll go over the skirt math in part 3 of this little series.) I opted not to do a mockup of this layer, since the fitted parts are the same as the lining, and the gathering should make the rest pretty forgiving. (I hope. I really, really hope.)
And that's it! Here's a comparison of the pattern I started with and my final pattern:
With my Regency dress bodice pattern done, I cut out my pieces and thread marked them to prepare for sewing.
In Sewing a Regency Gown Part 2: Sewing the Bodice, I'll be back to go over the construction of the bodice, including at least one drawstring!
Things are difficult right now. Stay warm. Stay safe. Stay healthy.
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