A Regency dress has been on my to-do list for a while.
I grabbed the Simplicity S9434 pattern for less than a dollar from JoAnn a few weeks ago during one of their pattern sales. Generally, I prefer to draft my own patterns, but that good of a sale seemed like the perfect excuse to practice with the classic tissue-paper patterns!
After comparing the different views with photos of extant dresses, I decided to use View B as my base pattern. This pattern is for a costume version of a Regency dress, complete with a zipper closure in the back and elastic in the sleeves to give them a little ‘poof.’ I knew I’d want to modify it to give me something a bit more historically adequate; as usual, I started with only a vague plan and figured things out along the way. I’m pretty satisfied with the result!
Studying and Altering the Pattern
I only had 2 yards of 60″ wide fabric to work with, given that I was planning to use a gorgeous piece of fabric that came inside a mystery fabric box from Nick of Time Textiles. (If there was any way for me to get more of this specific fabric, I absolutely would, because it’s very silky but was still easy to sew)! My first thought was to use some small pieces of Casa Collection satin from the remnant bin at JoAnn to make up the bodice and/or the sleeves. My second thought was, ‘Nah, I’ll just alter things until I can make it work on the pretty floral fabric.’
I try to be as efficient as possible when cutting fabric for garments, so Thought #2 ended up becoming my plan of action. I began by shortening each of the skirt pieces by 4 inches after measuring my neck-to-floor length and comparing it to the ‘finished measurements’ chart on the back of the pattern. For reference, I am 5’3″ and taking off 4″ was just right for me. Instead of permanently altering any of the pattern pieces, I simply folded them and held the folds in place with a paperclip.
With dresses and gowns, if you’re going to try to squeeze pieces onto too-small cuts of fabric, take a look at the skirts. Skirts can be a great place to sneakily shave off an inch here and an inch there, or to alter the angle of the edge of a skirt piece, which may be all that it takes to make your pattern fit onto your fabric. This can get fiddly, but it is certainly possible when the pattern pieces for the skirt of your dress are wide enough to allow gathering, like they are with this Regency dress pattern. You’ll just need to gather more loosely when the time comes to fit the skirt to the bodice!
I laid out and cut the lining pieces first on plain muslin left over from a previous project. I did do some piecing, but piecing is historically-accurate! Waste not, want not. The fashion fabric came next. It was slippery, but some pins and makeshift pattern weights (aka ceramic mugs) helped things go relatively smoothly.
Sewing My Regency Dress
Long, straight seams are mind-numbingly tedious for me to sew, so I did those first to get them out of the way. For the skirt, I went ahead and used my sewing machine for French seams to speed things along. Following the pattern instructions, I left the center back seam open near the waist and finished that portion of the skirt with a simple hand-rolled hem.
Then, I machine-sewed the bodice lining and the bodice pieces together. For the rest of this Regency dress, the sewing was done by hand. I sewed the bodice and lining right-sides together along the neck and back, turned it right-side out, then basted around the armscyes and the waist to keep everything from shifting while I worked on gathering.
The Fastening Conundrum
As previously mentioned, I wanted to change the zipper closure to something more historically-accurate. I also just don’t really love zippers; buttons and lacings can add such a nice touch to a garment. My original plan was to make fabric buttons using the same fabric as the dress, since making nice little round cloth buttons is something I find very satisfying. However, after doing some reading and looking at pictures of actual Regency dresses, I discovered that it was fairly common for the dresses to only be fastened with drawstrings at the neck and waist!
Since I was already planning to use a straight tape or ribbon to cover the inner seam where the bodice is attached to the skirt, I decided to go ahead and kill two birds with one stone. I cut a strip of muslin 2 inches wide, sewed a narrow seam along the length, and turned it inside-out. Then, I pinned it in place and used a fell stitch to attach it to the inner waistline of the dress, making sure that any raw edges were covered.
Then, I very carefully stitched two buttonholes/openings for the neck closure into the lining near the neckline. If I’d planned this in advance, I would’ve added the buttonholes before attaching the lining to the fashion fabric. Since I didn’t, I had to be very careful and pinch up the muslin to keep from catching my needle on the fashion fabric. I used a loop turner to thread ribbons through the neckline and through the waistline casing.
Sleeve Setting & Finishing Touches
I used French seams to close the sleeves, then ran a gathering/basting stitch across the fullest part of the sleeve and eased it into the armscye. I pinned it and sewed it in place. Next, since I wanted to get the little ‘poof’ shape of the sleeve without using elastic, I measured around the part of my arm where I wanted the sleeve to fit. I cut two thin strips of muslin bias tape to the measured length, then gathered the bottom of the sleeve into each strip and stitched it down. The last step was to finish the bottom of the dress with a simple rolled hem!
(Well, really, the last step was to take my thread snips to all of the loose threads I’d left long in case I needed to adjust some of my gathering).
I then, naturally, went outside at eight o’clock in the morning to try to get some ~aesthetic~ foggy Jane-Austen-ish ‘going for a walk across the country towards the rich neighbor’s manor house’ photos. The fog did not cooperate. Still, I did get a few photos of the Regency dress itself in good natural lighting, so that’s something!
Now I just have to finish my Regency stays and chemise – you need the right underpinnings for the best fit! I might try to make a coordinating bonnet, too…
<3 Raine
