Historical Sew Monthly: Stash Busting - Floral Print Gown

I have a feeling I'm not going to get much done for the Historical Sew Monthly this year, I just have so many projects with deadlines I need to work on and not all of them can work for the challenges but I'll take them where I can!

I bought this fabric on sale at Michael Levine in 2011 with the idea of making an 18th C chintz gown.  I don't know if this particular pattern is true to period but it looked close to me and I loved the colors so I got enough to make a gown and matching flounced petticoat.

I've always been a bit vexed with my shape in gowns of this era - bumrolls never seem to give me enough of the side width but pocket panniers are too flat in the back.  So, as an experiment, I put both on my dress form and was pretty happy with the look.  This was an easy gown to make since I just used my basic 18th C body block and petticoat shapes, just a little tweaking was needed to accommodate the bumroll/pocket hoops comb shape.  I pleated some sheer ribbon I had in the stash for the neckline and the sleeve ruffles and paired with with an old sash, my American Duchess Antoinette mules and my Lunardi hat.


The Challenge: Stash Busting
Fabric: 100% cotton print
Pattern: draped/my own with the sleeves from the JP Ryan jacket pattern
Year: 1780s
Notions: a few yards of sheer ribbon, thread, hooks and bars, boning
How historically accurate is it?  All interior seams are machined so not very!
Hours to complete: Not sure, I don't keep track of that.
First worn: March 29, 2015
Total cost: about $55.00, the fabric was 6.40 a yard and I used I think 8 yards plus a little for the ribbon.

Comments

  1. I like your hoops and rump -- that's the closest I've seen to period shapes!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great, that's what I was hoping for!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice butt, it really pays of to wear a bum pad and hoops!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your stash-busting shames me! In my defense I have been trapped under a fabalache for days. The closet reach maximum load and presto, trapped and eaten by pugs.
    Your dress- beautiful.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment