I Won't Give In

Having got my 1830s ballgown finished well ahead of Jafa I decided now was the time to make that new regency ballgown I hadn't got to yet. This dress has been a long time coming. I’ve had the fabric for years and been planning it for longer. I originally had it planned for Jafa 2015 but that was derailed by a) needing new stays and b) my sewing machine dying. So I added it to my plans for 2016 (notice how only one other of those plans has actually happened).

The ball gown is based on a fashion plate in Fashions in the Era of Jane Austen. The dress is described in the book as being crimson satin under silver-stripe French gauze, edged in satin and “the body of the dress has open fronds [sic] with stomacher”.

I was unable to find a silver-striped fabric but instead I have a plain white ‘silky’ chiffon to go over red faille – they’re not the fabric types listed but they are both lovely. I have a white satin single-fold bias and multi-purpose red ribbons for the edging. The flowers I've got are foam which... will do.

The new stays mentioned above turned out to be perfect for 1830s but rubbish for 1815. I did a couple of muslins for this gown, couldn't make them work and gave up. I consoled myself with an 1830s day dress.

Jafa 2017 came and went and as 2018's event started looming on the horizon I decided to have another attempt at regency stays. Success. Now, finally with the right undergarments, I attempted another muslin.

And to my great surprise it was pretty close.

All this time I had been looking at the bodice design and couldn't work out how it was meant to work. I considered bib front and wrap but neither seemed to really fit the fashion plate – especially the way the skirt peaks up in the centre front waistline under the trim of the bodice. Also, whoever heard of a stomacher on a regency gown?

I eventually decided (after nearly giving up on the whole thing once again) that 'open fronds' was probably meant to be 'open fronts' – Google at least returns results with that phrase. So I made a sort of half-bib front underbodice attached to the skirt with two 'fronts' that close over the top.

The front on the bib side is sewn into the waistline for part of the way. I gathered the pieces slightly along the top and bottom to smooth out the curved shape. I was very pleased to find they sat exactly on the curved waistband – shaping the fronts was an inexact science. The fronts hook together in the centre over the stomacher which is sewn to the underbodice.

It looks quite nice not having a back opening.

I made a channel for the waist tie (the most important part of any regency dress) from the front waist seam allowance. The cord goes around behind me and then through an eyelet in the underbodice to tie at the side.

I didn't try to make my shoulder straps exactly the same as the picture, instead using a substantial enough design that had a slight risk that the thing might actually stay on my shoulders. For the sleeve pattern I started with Sleeve C from Period Costumes for the Stage and Screen but cut quite a lot out of the middle so now it is a smaller puff.

For the skirt I used my standard pattern (based on figure 37 in The Cut of Women's Clothes), which I love, but moved the side seams further to the front and removed the centre back seam. And I added the peak to the skirt front. I used French seams on the tulle skirt. I should probably stop harbouring suspicion towards French seams at some point soon as they turned out quite neatly.

The white satin is sewed on by machine and the red ribbon (which covers the machine stitches) is sewn by hand (I got so sick of it). I figured out a neater way of doing it about halfway through but that was too late. I don't love this design, because regency, so I was not as careful or fussy as I might have been otherwise.

Or at least, I didn't love it until I got to wearing it. It turned out so well and I felt amazing. Other people at the festival enjoyed it too; I got stopped for lots of photos and two people recognised it from the fashion plate. I didn't always love it, but I love it now so very dearly.

There were many gorgeous ballgowns on the dance floor.

Achievement unlocked: Silk ball gown

The Jane Austen festival this year was very exciting for me as I had two new ball gowns. I mean there were also wonderful people and fun activities and interesting workshops but the clothes are what it’s really all about.

Friday was a day of re-wears with my blue day dress and Joker evening ensemble. I also dressed a couple of friends.

On Saturday I was enrolled in two workshops: death head buttons and mourning jewellery. I decided to goth it up in my demi-mourning ball gown in honour of the day’s morbid theme. The fashion plate on which the dress is based actually has it with a chemisette and hat so it may well have been meant to be a day dress in the first place.

This year was the warmest and coldest and windiest Jafa I’ve been to so I got to actually wear my spencer for a significant amount of time. But my hat stayed in the car.

In the evening I wore the 1815 ball gown that I’ve been trying to get made for years. I had decided not to attempt it this year but when I got my silk gown done with plenty of time to spare I thought I’d give it another go. Three weeks later it was done and I love it.

On Sunday I re-wore my 1830s day dress but with my new bonnet. The bonnet is very comfortable and stayed on my head very easily.

 I did my hair myself and am very happy with how it turned out.

On Sunday night I debuted my silk 1830s ball gown. It was fabulous to wear. (It took me a while to stop grinning.)

Last year I did a major shopping spree on American Duchess. At Jafa I wore three pairs of their stockings. The Victorian Silk Stockings wore through the toe on the first day (sadness), but the other two lasted fine. All were comfortable and stayed in place pretty well.

Shoe-wise, I wore Dashwoods most of the time. I sewed on ribbons to secure them to my feet and used the non-slip soles to stop them making like roller skates. With these additions they were great for dancing in. I barely noticed them even though this is the first time I’ve worn them. I wore Gettysburgs for the picnic which were also perfectly satisfactory.

This festival was remarkable in that I got so much made for it in time. Turns out this can happen if you start preparing six months out. I made:

• Stays
• A chemisette
• A long petticoat (cos I sold the one I made last year)
• Two chemises. One for me and one for lending (a designated lending chemise is a useful thing to have. I had had a chemise I made for myself in the role before – don’t think I ever actually wore it – but it needed replacing, having gone the way of oft-lent things.)
• 1830s bonnet
• 1830s ball gown and belt
• 1815 ball gown

We had people staying with us in the week before Jafa so I had to get everything I would need out of the spare room. It was actually very convenient to work out everything I needed in advance and have it laid out ready. Of course by the end of the week my room looked like it had been hit by an early 19th century hurricane – but it made getting ready each day a lot less stressful.