English Country Dance Costumes

I wanted a summery cotton dress to wear at conference in April.  As it turned out, no-one wore costume during the day, and I didn’t take my ball gown for the evening reception, so I was a bit miffed!  However, it got me sewing on my nice piece of fabric that I had been saving, and now I have a nice cool summer outfit.

I had been looking at the Fig Leaf front opening dress as a model of a North American pattern.  It is taken from an extant dress in Massachusetts.  I thought the Sensibility pattern could be adapted for this, and so made the bodice with a front opening and two drawstrings, neckline and underbust.  I had a small frill below the underbust drawstring, but it is not quite long enough to prevent the apron front skirt from slipping down, and I added some hooks and thread eyes to support it.  Inside the dress I added a small bum roll to hold out the gathers on the skirt.

Bodice with underlining pinned across bosom, apron front down.

Bodice closed with two drawstrings and apron front up.

Inside dress with bum roll sewn in just below underbust line.

Spencer and reticule added.

Here is the bonnet I wear with it

This dress was designed from an illustration by Mary Gardiner in Cunnington’s book, English Women’s Clothing in the Nineteenth Century.  I am particularly interested in front opening gowns, since it is hard for a single person to don dresses that fasten up at the back, and I am sure that not everyone in those days (and certainly in these days!) had personal maids!  All the exterior finishing is by hand.

I had found some silk twill, another online bargain, and had been thinking about this design for some time.  An occasion arose (a talk to the JASNA chapter in London, ON) which gave me a deadline, and so I got busy.  The silk was a very pale creamy yellow, not very interesting, so I decided to dye it with tea.  I used many teabags in the largest pot I had, and simmered it for 20 min or so.  It came out fairly even, and there were only a few spots I had to avoid during cutting.

I started with Sense & Sensibility’s crossover bodice, but made the opening in the centre front, and used the normal skirt pattern, attaching a band and ties to the skirt front.  I had been experimenting with fine cotton lace crochet, and had some pieces that I thought would do.  I decided not to insert the lace, but apply it to the surface, easier to manage, and also did not do all the insertions that Cunnington shows.  I experimented with dorset thread buttons, often found on dresses of this time, and found I could make 1/2 inch ones on some small jewellery rings I found.   For the sleeves, I made only one tie, and edged the sleeve end with a crochet trim.  The dress has a slight train, as I had just enough fabric for this.

  Front drawstring behind buttons.  It was not clear from the illustration in Cunnington how the bodice was shaped and this was my solution, as seen on other front opening dresses of this time.

Sleeve detail and bodice front.

The apron front ties over the bodice at the gathering line, and would be better with some hooks and eyes to keep it from slipping down.  The ties have carrier just under the arm, and could have two more at centre back, but it is not completely necessary.

Closeup of buttons and lace.

Side view of full dress

Back view.

I wore this hat and the dark green spencer with this dress.

This dress developed out of my new (well, since last May!) interest in my volunteer work at Westfield Heritage Village.  There I provide help with the costume department, particularly with the earlier time periods as Georgian, including war of 1812 and Regency, and am on a fast learning curve for the 1860’s.  I also work in the Printshop there, learning letterpress printing and demonstrating bookbinding techinques, so I have to have appropriate costumes for that time period as well.  It has been a lot of fun, but it could take over my life!  and I am struggling to balance things out.  I found a bargain (I thought) on the internet, of 15 yards of wonderful rayon taffeta tartan.  Once it came, I found it had a gold thread as part of the pattern, not exactly period correct, but colourful for the Christmas season and was given the go-ahead to make a gown.

I chose a fitted jacket and skirt design, suitable for late 50’s-early 60’s, without too many complicated pieces to make the tartan matching difficult.  As it was, it wasn’t possible to match exactly, because of the curved seams, but the mis-matches are balanced.  If I had included piping (traditional at this time) in all seams, it would have helped to hide this.

The black fringe is classic for this time period, and would have been around the bottom of the jacket too, but I had two points in front and three at the back, and it was a waste of the design to fringe it also.  I felt the ribbon line emphasized it nicely.

I wear an appropriate corset, the the traditional red flannel petticoat for warmth (it was freezing the three days at Christmas we were open!), also a cotton petticoat very full, but don’t wear hoops as people who worked in small shops could not navigate in the fashionable hoops.  And to tell the truth, a shop girl would not have worn such a dress, but the shop owner might, if she thought herself a bit above the rest!

  Chemisette/habit-shirt from Verona lawn, with pleats and embroidery on the stand-up collar.  Modern tatting-like lace edging.

I made the undersleeves from fine cotton Verona lawn, embroidered with trapunto and French knots and hand-made buttonholes, and after this photo I added the same lace edging as the chemisette.

Here I am standing outside our Printshop in the gown and ‘elderly ladies cap’!

My next commission was to make a ball gown for another friend, out of some shot pink rayon taffeta that I had in stock.  It is woven from two different colours, pink and a bright blue, with the visual blending creating a mauve colour.  We decided on a fairly plain dress, in the Folkwear pattern.  I added a narrow waistband and removed the gathers in the back bodice (after the only fitting) as it did not need to be adjustable.  I kept the drawstring in the neckline as it is the easiest way to fit the neck when making a dress for a customer who cannot come for a fitting.

Rosette on the sleeve

I added the rosettes, one on each sleeve, and created a corsage of rosettes made on a tiny base which could be pinned anywhere on the dress.   She wore them at the neckline, and it looked quite lovely!

This dress was a real challenge!  A friend asked me to do it at the last minute for her niece, for her 16th birthday party, which was to be a real Regency dance.  She had very definite ideas, having done her research, and the Monday before the event I received some lovely (but fragile looking) white crinkled gauze with blue rosebuds sprigged all over, and a set of measurements.  She wanted quite short puffy sleeves, a high waist and the usual skirt with gathers at the back and front mostly plain.

My heart sank when I saw the gauze, never having used it before, but there was no time to agonize over it.  I washed it and the lovely lawn lining fabric.  And then when I ironed them, realized the difficulty with the crinkled gauze, that I would have to iron it flat before cutting it out.  I warned them that it would be somewhat flattened, but that was OK.  Then I had to re-draught the pattern as mine (basic Folkwear gown)  didn’t have a small enough size, that was a good learning experience, especially since I had never seen my customer!

I plunged ahead with some trepidation, deciding to insert a narrow waistband in order to manage the gathered gauze.  I lined the bodice (simplifying the front into one pattern piece),  removed the gathering in the back bodice, and left some gathers in the front skirt as I felt the thin gauze would look too skimpy and it would not flare well if cut as in the original pattern.

Bodice side front

I left the sleeves unlined, and inserted the drawstring in neckline and sleeve cuff centre so that they could be sewn down once the dress was fitted.  Then I added a separate skirt petticoat that could be removed (only basted in due to time constraints)  so that they could make a bodiced petticoat if they wished.

At 4:45 on the Friday afternoon the messenger arrived at my door and I had just finished the hem!  Off it went, to some success, as it fit, and it was “just as I imagined it”!  I was also very pleased and relieved!

Bodice back

It’s been a while since I posted…..lots of sewing under the bridge since then, and I’ll try to bring you up to date.

I had a lot of fun making up some beautiful fabric, one of those finds you just have to buy even if you don’t know just what you are going to do with it at the time.  This fabric is a dotted swiss with a lacy stripe and thick and thin warp threads.  It had to be something light and airy!

I decided to go to my newest (at that time) reference book, Nancy Bradfield’s Costume in Detail.  She has several early 1800’s muslin dresses which are very finely sewn, and I itched to do something similar.  I chose one with multiple casings around the neck, and decided to do only two, using ribbon for the drawstring.  All the casings at neck and sleeve were sewn by hand, as was all  other exterior work.

I also wanted a dress which was easy to get into if you dress by yourself, so decided on a version of a bib front dress, but with the ‘bib’ attached at front to make it easier to manage.  So the back has no opening, except for the drawstrings at the neck, and the openings are on both sides at the front side seams.

The other requirement was to have a dress that could adjust to several sizes, so as make it more available to a larger number of people.

This is what resulted, with some adjustments as I worked.

Closeups:

Bodice front

sleeve detail

Side opening

The new owner was very happy with her dress!  And I learned a lot, and loved working with this delicate fabric.  It was not lined, as drawstring dresses often were not, but you would need to wear a white slip under.

Here is a dress I just finished for a customer….starting with Sense and Sensibility’s The Elegant Ladies Closet crossover bodice pattern.  I sewed down the shoulder pleats to give a more open neckline.  I added one inch to the length of the bodice back, and inserted a ‘waistband’ to the bodice front, as I felt it would be more secure for this person who is a performer.  In addition, instead of leaving the skirt open, I sewed the two sections together behind the wrap front, making a placket which could not fall open by mistake, and left the edge of the pleat unpressed.  The sleeves were made longer and finished as for the Folkways pattern as she did not want the short puffy sleeves.   It looks really delightful on her and she was very pleased!  The fabric is cotton in a ‘turkey red’ with small chevron print in light tan, with the bodice fully lined with dotted Swiss lawn.  The little decoration at the opening is just a coil of braid sewn to itself and made into a medallion, as it looked unfinished without something.

Bodice front:

Bodice back:

Shoulder pleats (sewn down)

Front Placket:

Side view:

Full Length:

This dress is made from the drawstring dress pattern in Sense and Sensibility’s Elegant Ladies Closet pattern, as a test piece which I will alter again ( it is a D cup at the moment) and wear myself.   I used inexpensive fabric which is probably polyester, but drapes nicely.  I changed the pattern slightly as I wanted to have a smooth skirt front with only some gathers at the side, and it could be difficult to pull it over your head if the front was too snug (the drawstring at this level does not go across the back).  So I aimed for a final underbust measurement of approximately the bust measurement of my customer.  This meant gathering the bodice front to reduce the overall measurement to the right size.  This left some extra material on the skirt front, so I cut it off, sloping down to the full width at the hem.  I sewed the underbust seam and encased it as instructed, sewing up the front section to form the casing for the drawstring.  Then I inserted the drawstring and tacked it down at each side of the bodice front gathers, so that portion would not draw up, but only the side sections.  Here is the bodice

The arrows point to the spot where I tacked the drawstring down on the inside.  All the casings were sewn by hand so that there is no machine stitching on the outside.  In this pattern the drawstring at the neck exits at the front, and the back has the small back cut of the early ‘vertical epoch’.  Here is a view of the inside of the dress, showing the casing

You can see the points at which I tacked the drawstring.  You can also see the two flaps of the front lining folded over the top, out of the way.  I did not insert a small stays in this dress as it is a size sample at this point, I may add them later, but since the fabric is not the best, I may just keep it as a sample dress.  Here is a view of the side of the dress, showing the three sections, the front bodice gathers, the side skirt gathers, and the drawstring going around to tie at the back.

I even sewed the drawstring by hand, as I found that doing it on the machine made it very stiff and I thought it would not tie very gracefully, at least in this fabric…..something to keep my hands busy while I watched TV!  You are right, Jennie, it doesn’t take very long to do it by hand once you get going.

I have been having fun adapting my first gown to change the bodice to the wrap bodice in Sense and Sensibility’s new empire gown pattern, from Sense and Sensibility’s Elegant Ladies Closet pattern.  I removed the bodice, and altered the skirt so that there was a placket in the petticoat under the divided skirt.  The top was sewn on so that the edges of the wrap came to the edges of the divided skirt, it went together very nicely.

Here is the new bodice

You will notice that I put a small row of gathers at each side of the neckline, to widen it a bit.  Plus my opening is closer to the front than on Jennie’s pattern, to fit the skirt pieces, I just had to add one more pleat (about 3/4 inch).  I also added lace to the sleeves as the new sleeves are shorter than the old and I wanted more length.  The bodice is lined with linen and I have inserted a small stays, like those in the pale blue brocade dress, into the front bodice lining piece (two layers of the linen).

Here is the full length image

This all began because someone wanted me to make a front-opening gown for them, and so I did some more research into different patterns.  The Elegant Ladies Closet to the rescue!  Both gown patterns there can be put on by someone without assistance, so I wanted to try them before making one for a customer.  My next post shows the second sample, the drawstring dress.

Finally, the fifth and most recent dress I have made!  This one is also based on the Folkwear Regency Gown pattern, but with a lot of help from Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion I, specifically the dress from Salisbury Museum, circa 1798-1805.  {Edit: I was delighted to find an historic dress with the same type of built-in stays on the wonderful web-site of the Nationalmuseet, Denmark.  Here is their time line section.}

The fabric is rayon brocade with a small diamond pattern.  Seed pearls are sewn at the neckline and ‘waist’ to the grosgrain ribbon used.  The little rosette on the hanger is a hair ornament.  I used the Folkwear bodice and skirt with the following modifications:

1.  Back and side neckline: added 3/4 inch to neckline of back and side fronts.

2. Back bodice: remove enough at the back fold to make the bodice form-fitting, and shape with a dart which is larger at the bottom seam and finishes about 2 inches from the neckline.

3. Stays: added front under bodice (estimated depth measurement from 1″ below underbust line to just above nipple, and then corrected with fitting adding darts) to the sides of front bodice side pieces, so as to make a small stays attached to the dress.  Linen lines the bodice and forms a double layer for the stays.  There are 5 bones in each side.  It would be good to line the whole thing with interfacing, depending on the firmness of the outer fabric.  I expect this would suit A to B cups only, and the Mantua Maker’s Regency stays would be more appropriate for larger busts.  In that case the dress could be made with plain underbust flaps as in Janet Arnold’s pattern.

attached stays before eyelets added.

4. Skirt: added plackets to both sides of front skirt piece.  They foldback to meet the front edge of the side skirt pieces where the same amount of fabric was added.  There was some extra fabric which I gathered  just infront of the placket.  The ribbon underbust is sewn to the skirt front from the placket edge across the front so that the long ends reach around and tie in the front below the bust and under the drop front.  For my size (large), the (folded) front edge of the front skirt piece is 1 1/2 inches beyond the edge of the drop front.

5. Drop front: the regular Folkwear front bodice is gathered on the top with two ribbons in a casing sewn so that there is a small ruffle once the ribbon is pulled up and tied inside (easier fit over the bust); and at the bottom, by gathering to the measurement on the pattern, and sewing to the ribbon that binds the skirt.  The second ribbon is added to the back to face the under bust band.  Button loops were made from folded ribbon and attached with a ribbon facing to the sides of the drop front, to be buttoned with pearl buttons on the side fronts.

6. Sleeves:  I added one inch to the length and as much to the width as the 45″ wide fabric would allow.  They were made with the larger Folkwear sleeve pattern.

The dress is put on by first fastening up the stays, then wrapping the under bust ribbons around the body (through the belt loops on the back) and tieing at the front under the bust.  Then the drop front is buttoned up to the side front pieces.