It’s
been such a busy month here, and with my sewing sphere on the ascendant in the
house of Stitchitybits, I haven’t had headspace to even think about documenting
the chaos. But now that the rush is over I am finally sitting down to make a
retrospective list of achievements. In the midst of juggling family commitments
and the interspersed peckings at housework-never-done, I so often feel like a
big fat underachiever (aspirations consistently unfulfilled). But this month my
list is BIG, and the state of my household tangle well demonstrates the magnitude of my makings! The thing that has really pushed me off my comfy
chair and into the sewing room has been the production of Regency era garments
for the inaugural Regency Subscription Ball, held at the iconic Paragon in Katoomba. This was (I think) the first of many events oganised by my very talented friend, Lorna McKenzie from TheTailor’s Apprentice.
The
females of my establishment, and many of my significant-others, are all Jane-ites [Austen, that is]. Many a school holiday was spent tucked up on the sofa consuming Lizzy and Mr Darcy et al,
drinking pots of tea, and quietly stitching. And our affections have not been limited to the iconic P&P. Not only have the Austen classics been read and re-read with fervor, but works by the sisters Bronte, Mrs Gaskill and others have been well-thumbed by the bonnet-drama damsels. From time to time we have toyed
with the notion of attending the Jane Austen Festival events that are held throughout the year in
Canberra, but have generally been prevented by, among other things, the lack of a suitable wardrobe!
It was in a moment of excited whimsy that I pounced on tickets for
Lorna’s Regency Ball, knowing that there is nothing like a deadline for producing
results. As with most things, I had good and great intentions of starting this body of work in a timely way. It turns out that I obviously work better under
pressure. Thus, the latter part of the month of September was [quite delightfully] fraught and frenzied
in the pursuit of something to wear.
In anticipation of one day making it to the aforementioned Jane Austen Festival, my
dear Pollyanna had procured a set of La Mode Bagatelle Regency dress patterns (she is a Jane-ite
also). The patterns include several different styles of dress, including a bodiced petticoat, a gown with two bodice options and
optional train, chemisette, false sleeves, spencer, beret, muff and reticule. Sounds good . . . The work of deciphering which styles
were most suitable, and the configuration of undergarments and underpinnings
and the difference between fabrics for day-dresses vs those used for evening
gowns was the work of an entire day. Polly undertook much of the prep
work herself; tracing off pattern pieces and working out what went with what. I
actually found it a bit hard to dive back in to dressmaking, having to challenge
my left brain to talk to the right and vice-versa. The ease with which I
could once understand the ins and outs of a pattern, and conceptualise all of
the steps involved seems to have diminished just a *little*, whether through something-to-do-with-my-age, or just plain old lack of use!
But I got there in the end. The
first garment off the production line was the Regency petticoat; a bodice top
with drawstring neckline, sporting several rows of boning to (hopefully) support the bust, and a
shaped skirt with front, back and side panels. Sizing for the bodice was a bit
tricky (the DD isn't included in the smaller sizes), and despite being hopeful, yet not entirely confident, that my
ample bits would fit inside, I pressed on. But I was right. My ample bits were overly-ample
in the end. But it was perfect for my Anna-Lou, and made a welcome beginning
for her own Regency garb.
So I
went back to work and re-drafted the bodice front, adding an extra inch and a half to the depth
across the bust and grading it up to meet the back section. I had a good length
of pretty hail-spot voile tucked away in the cupboard (serendipity),
and I teamed this with a lovely, soft self-stripe cotton to complete petticoat
v.2. Which actually looks good enough to wear as a day dress.
Starting
to taste the success, I then moved on to the main course; a Regency ball gown.
Again, I re-drafted the front bodice pieces to add *ample* depth to the bust
sections. And then I was into swathes of delustered satin and the (slightly)
expensive trimmed net lace. The dress consists of a cross-over bodice
with inset sleeves. I used a lace overlay on the front and back sections, and
cut the sleeves just using the satin. The shaping on the sleeves appears very
strange at first, and not at all like modern garment designs. Most of the ease
is allowed in the back portion of the sleeve, which does allow for some
exaggeration of arm movement in the finished garment. The sleeve that I chose
to use has pleats from just below the shoulder and running around the back
edge. There are also a number of pleats around the mid-section of the arm,
covered by a separate arm band. The main skirt uses the shaped-skirt pattern
pieces from the petticoat, but the lace overlay is cut using the round-gown
pattern. I cut the lace in one straight piece, placing the hem of the skirt
along the scalloped lace edge. This was then gathered and placed over the
completed satin skirt. The skirt and bodice are then joined together, and the
back opening is closed using hooks and eyes. And it was a perfect fit. :)
Time
was really ticking by this point, and I still had a flouncy shirt and a
gentleman’s vest to make (two days to b.day). *And I still hadn’t worked out
what to do with my hair!!* The
shirt is cut from off-white voile, giving it an ever-so-slightly-aged look. It
did turn out beautifully, but is absolutely voluminous, and not a pleasant
garment to iron, what with all its gathers and frilly bits. Love these gargoyle
buttons by the way.
I
used a very basic long vest pattern instead of the more tailored and shaped
Regency style. Mostly, because I knew I would be running out of hours to do
much more. This $5 piece of remnant furnishing fabric was just the ticket, and
my Mister and me were inadvertently so very nicely matchy-matchy.
In
the middle of all the shirt and vest sewing I also re-worked the hail-spot
petticoat to make it into a suitable gown for Anna-Lou. She did conceive high
hopes of sewing a gown herself, but time, the eternal enemy, and the fact that
I was hogging the sewing machine, prevented any such scheme. So I cut simple
sleeves from one of the pattern’s sleeve options, and stitched them into the
already completed petticoat. The skirt was embellished with several rows of
pin-tucks, and sweet little grosgrain bows were placed on the waist band in
line with the front bodice seams. Then it was hooks and eyes, and eyes and
hooks all of Saturday morning and into the early afternoon.
In
my final frenzied flurry I cut a strip of russet crushed silk and sewed it into
a long band. Using my trusty foam head, I wrapped it around and pinned it
together, shaping the remainder into ruched pleats. Then it was quickly
hand-stitched to hold it all in place and finished with some remnant feathers
from my old feather-duster and embellished with a pretty pearl brooch. I think I have encased more than one pin within the folds, which just made me brave in wearing it.
Another
piece of silk, quickly cut into a bag-like shape, was whizzed around on the
sewing machine, threaded through with a cord and prettied-up with a flower and
a bow.
All this by 4:15pm on Saturday. I’m sure that no Regency lady headed for
a ball would ever have managed a hasty 20-minute stint in the dressing room,
but there we were, dressed and primped and powdered, and ready for stepping out
(though I had lost my petticoat in pursuit of Anna's gown *blush*).
It was certainly a night to remember. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves (Mrs Bennett would be proud); the assembly rooms were resplendent, our dance cards were full, the dinner was excellent, and the company unsurpassed!
There are some wonderful photos and a description of the event on Lorna's blog - Head on over and have a read (and see if you can spot me and mine).
And now it's back to my socks!
Evie xxx
