I wasn't planning to go to the Jane Austen Festival this year. I had something else on that weekend and I figured that Jafa's on every year so I'd give it a miss and come back with some new dresses next year.
And then they announced that it would be the last one. I couldn't miss that.
So two months out, Lady B and I (and Lady B's family) bought tickets for Sunday. After getting some Life out of the way we started sewing with two and a half weeks to go.
Lady B was making herself a ballgown and open robe. I needed a new daydress because I've worn all the ones I have at least twice now. That, and I had the perfect fabric set aside and this would be my last chance to use it. (Without Jafa, I never have to do regency again! 🙂🙃🙂)
My fabric came from Patchwork on Parker in Cootamundra. My mum found it one time when she was there without me and, after a quick SMS consultation, bought 4m – enough for a regency gown. The fabric instantly reminded me of one of my favourite dresses from the BBC
Pride and Prejudice.
I had to re-jig my standard regency pattern (adapted, probably now unrecognisably, from figure 37 in
The Cut of Women's Clothes) to go with my new 1815 stays. Which meant raising the waistline and lengthening the skirt and widening the bodice to allow for the gathering. I first thought of making it drawstring but decided that actually I would rather get the gathers arranged how I like them, then
make them stay there by sewing them to a tape.
The skirt I knife pleated to the bodice – largely by guesswork (ie redoing it over and over while the night got later and later).
I couldn't tell how the dress from the show did up the back. I suspect it may have been buttons, but I don't so much care for buttons (they are uncomfortable to lean against and require the making of buttonholes) so I went with self fabric ties. So, after 10 years and 6 dresses, I finally have the archetypal regency plain, pale muslin dress.
It's really boring.
I also assisted Lady B with fitting her (much fancier) ballgown. Once more, those patternmaking classes paid off and I'm getting a hang the 'art' of it. After imitating my teacher by staring at a pattern going 'hmmm' to myself, and having some wild moments of 'I think it needs this adjustment – no that's ridiculous – but I think it will work", all the issues were successfully solved as they arose. We finished our gowns on Friday night in the hotel room in Sydney (where we were for the other event of the weekend).
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| Lady B is on the right in her new gown. Photo by Steven Shaw. |
We had both booked in to a 9am session on the Sunday morning and after getting home from Sydney the night before – well, frankly, we were probably better rested than if we'd been at the Saturday ball. The talk was about Jane Austen's faith and representation of the church, and how her value of a sincere personal faith came through in her letters and novels.
Then came the picnic where we were joined by Lady B's family.
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| Happily my spencer suits my dress very nicely. The fit worked surprisingly well given that it was made for different stays. |
Then back for a class on making fly fringe:
And time to get ready for the ball where I re-wore my
1830s silk ballgown.
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| Photo by Steven Shaw |
I was especially happy with how my hairstyles turned out for the day.
