So yeah, I am working on another 18th century gown, this time a robe a l'anglaise. I am using a JP Ryan pattern. I decided to do the pieced back gown instead of the en fourreau since my francaise already has a pleated back and I wanted something with a different look.
To start with the underpinnings, I only needed to make a bum pad, since this is a later 18th century dress and hip panniers were on their way out. I used the tutorial in my American Duchess book for a split bum pad. I like big butts and I cannot lie!
I wanted a quilted petticoat, but I don't quilt. I did research and found that matelasse is period appropriate, and found a beautiful blanket on eBay. Boy was this a pain to work with. It's 78" by 78" and I wanted to use the whole thing. Pleating a 78" panel down to about 16" took a lot of trial and error to get the pleats right. It's very bulky and heavy. I had to overlap the pleats quite a lot to get the width right. I ended up sewing on a linen waistband and attaching twill ties to the edges. I first was going to make both panels the same length and level the waist ala the AD book, but that was just too hard, so I decided to scoop out the waist in the same fashion that I did on my francaise petticoats. Then I made a crucial error and cut the fabric in the wrong spot!! I figured it out halfway through cutting. I had no choice but to piece the fabric back together and hope it won't show too much once it's pleated and the gown is over it. I think it will be okay. It's really pretty though, and the cats LOVE this blanket. I had Bobo and Fiona both on my lap while I was mounting the waistband.
The gown itself is made from a queen-sized Ikea duvet cover! Apparently Ikea did a lot of period-appropriate prints. The fabric is very soft, almost like flannel. It smelled weird so I washed it, and apparently Fiona approves of it even stinky!
I made a mockup out of the linen from my aborted bleached chemise fabric, and it fit pretty well, only requiring a little tightening in the neckline and back armscye. I was lazy and didn't iron the duvet after washing it, which I realized was a crucial error, because when I pressed the bodice pieces they didn't match the pattern piece at all! Luckily there's plenty of fabric so I ironed and cut new ones.
The gown went together pretty easily. This one has a TON of hand sewing, I had to roll hem the silk organza for the sleeve flounces, then hand stitch them to the gown. Then I had to hand hem the gown facings, and tack the lining down once it was finished. All in all it went together pretty quickly. The point in the back was a bit challenging, and I think one of the back pieces was slightly larger than the other because the point isn't perfectly symmetric, but it looks pretty darn good! The front will overlap into a point on me as well, Petunia has a pretty different shape than me and is not wearing stays.
It's almost done now. I need to tack down the sleeve lining, then try it on for hemming. I also want to do a box pleat trim for the neckline, and am debating between self-fabric or using more of the organza. I thought the flannel-like cotton might be too flimsy, but ladies in my sewing group assure me it will pleat up fine once it's hemmed, so I think I'll give that a try because I like the look of self-trim.
