This is my Federal (Regency) gown. I used Past Patterns Lewis & Clark Era 1796-1806 (#031) pattern. It's madder wool purchased from Burnley & Trowbridge. The wool is very lightweight and has beautiful drape. It's light enough to wear in the summer too. The pattern is very well done, with excellent instructions. It closes in the center front with drawstrings at the neckline and waist. I did struggle with the back bodice. The pattern is drafted from an original gown, and it has an unusual seaming across the back that I could not get to lie flat and to not gap and pucker in an unflattering way. I had copied all the pattern markings carefully, but as I am not very familiar with dress construction for this period, I just couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. Eventually I cut the whole back off at the shoulder seams and drafted a more conventional back using curved back seams and a slightly scooped neckline. I used Nora Waugh's The Cut of Women's Clothes as a guide. I cartridge pleated the back instead of knife pleating it as per the pattern. I am very pleased with the gown and enjoyed wearing it for the first time this weekend. The chemisette is plain white sheer cotton. I used a Simplicity Pattern (Sense & Sensibility Regency Underthings) for it. One of my Edwardian full slips worked well enough as a petticoat, along with a shorter Victorian wool petticoat. I can wear this dress without a corset.
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Done with cooking for the day! The fire is almost out. My guess is that the fire both days was running about 450 F or hotter. We could barely shovel out coals for the hearth burners and had mild burns on our forearms at the end of each day. Ugh.
My 1770s costume was my first attempt at making clothes for this period. It was challenging, not having extant garments to study, as I do for the Victorian and Edwardian periods. I was struggling with trying to figure out appropriate seam placement, finishes, closures, etc. I used JP Ryan's pattern for my wool jacket. The fit was confusing. I wasn't sure how it was supposed to hang. It seemed like it was cut to hang straight from the shoulders in the front, but a long jacket like this has to curve over the hips. It buckled in an unflattering way at the waist. I decided to put horizontal darts at the waist, although I doubt this is correct for the period. I was in such a quandary over this! I perused photos of extant garments, and photos of reproductions, but...I still could not figure out what was the right approach. Anyway, the jacket is medium weight brown wool, lined in plain white cotton. Is this correct? I do not know. My skirt is also wool, pleated to a narrow tape waistband. I used the Nora Waugh book again to draft the skirt. It's rather impractical to have a pale colored skirt to work and cook in, but I made the skirt in light blue wool because I thought it a pretty color. My cream wool apron covers a lot of it, so it hasn't gotten too beat up and mucky from cooking in it. My cotton cap was made using Miller's Millinery pattern (#C12B). The neckerchief and my brown buckled shoes came from Burnley & Trowbridge. I bought plain canvas stays from Jas. Townsend. I made lovely brocade stays for this period, but they lace up the back which is a rather impractical arrangement for dressing myself. The Townsend stays lace front and back. Stays for this period flatten the bust, and they don't really pull in the waist. They take some getting used to, after years of wearing longer corsets from the Victorian period that don't suppress the bust and which support the weight of the skirts. I made my chemise from the Regency Underthings pattern in a lightweight linen. My cap, apron, and the neckline of my chemise are handsewn. I used a machine for the rest of the seams.
