1770s English gown Version 2, modelled by Marie-Grace.

This is the second version of a 1770s English gown I’ve made this year. (There will be a third — I’ve already chosen the fabric!)

Pattern:

The pattern I used was Thimbles & Acorns 1770-01 En Fourreau Gown

I have made the following adjustments to the pattern due to issues I had in my previous attempt:

1. I widened the centre back so that all pleats fall into this piece, which allowed me to bind the top for less bulk at the neckline. Naturally I took the equivalent amount away from the bodice side backs.

2. Since dolls can’t put their hands in pockets, I removed the side seam from the skirt, which is now one piece on each side rather than two. I also deepened the dip at the front edge of the skirt to reduce the chance of gaping.

3. I took off 3/8″ from the sleeves so that the end falls just below the elbow rather than halfway down the forearm.

4. The cuff is a single thickness of fabric rather than doubled — I had to hem the upper edge but that’s a small price to pay for less bulk. I also made engageantes (detachable lace ruffles) separately rather than sewing the lace between sleeve and cuff.

5. I added 1/2″ to the petticoat because I wasn’t pleased with how short it was in the first version.

Results:

While I still intend to make a shift or chemise for some outfits, this particular pattern is a little tight at the armscye so I decided against it. There is no fichu either, as this is an evening gown.

Stockings and shoes aren’t from American Girl but will do for now. I might make proper garters if I ever make stockings for a doll but small hair elastics fit the bill quite nicely.

I made the underskirt from white cotton muslin I bought at Spotlight. It’s a lot lighter than the heavy homespun I used for the V1 underskirt, but the loose weave made it difficult to control the fraying. Seams were backstitched wth 100wt silk as usual. The seam allowances and the hem were turned twice and stitched down from the front using a simple running stitch as they don’t take any strain.

I had intended to make a much deeper waistband (about 2 cm finished) to drop the gathers a little below the waist, but I forgot. I also made the waistband shorter (28 cm instead of 30) as previous versions have been too large for some doll torsos. I used 6 mm cotton twill tape for the ties.

I borrowed the hip pads from the V1 outfit and took the polycotton bias binding off. I turned the edges in (very fiddly) and then attached 6 mm cotton twill tape which is much softer so it ties more easily and doesn’t stick out as far.

The petticoat is made from a solid cranberry quilting cotton — probably a Bella solid but I can’t swear to it. I added half an inch to the length as given in the pattern, but I cut it with a ruler and rotary cutter. I wanted gold lace for the petticoat and engageantes, but several attempts to research same on etsy led to my browser crashing twice (I suspect that a couple of foreign sites had some issues). I popped down to Spotlight in Queanbeyan where I found a lot of lace but not much in gold, and nothing that matched the tone on the fabric, although “antique gold” came very close. All the edge laces in antique gold were very modern in style and not suited to skirt decoration, so I ended up cutting a symmetrical lace strip in half. This was a terrible, terrible idea. Even though I tried to seal the edges with fabric glue the threads wouldn’t cooperate. I stitched the raw edges down with 100 wt silk thread (so forgiving!) but it still looked horrible so I covered the edge with a gold ribbon — it was a little too wide but at least it had the right tone. And yes, you spotted it — the lace is not centred. I know I marked the centre so goodness only knows how I managed to misplace everything. At least the lace strips are wide enough that the gown covers the edges on both sides. I used ribbon for the ties instead of a fabric strip — the colour doesn’t quite match, but the ribbons won’t be seen and they are much softer than the ties on the V1 petticoat.

The fabric I chose for the gown is a quilting cotton I’ve had for years. It’s a cranberry ground with blue and brown floral designs and gold outlines. The bodice lining is the same fabric as the petticoat, which was great for colour but it’s thicker than the voile I used in V1 and more inclined to fray.

The slightly shorter sleeve looks much better than the previous version. I made the cuff a single layer, which meant that the edge had to be hemmed but that wasn’t difficult. The engageantes turned out well initially — I wrote about them here. Although they looked lovely as separate entities, once tacked into the sleeves I saw that they stand out too much rather than draping softly over the forearm.

I added a small edge of cotton lace to the neckline. I had thought about inserting it into the seam but I didn’t want to make it too thick to sew through, and tacking it to the inside of the neckline is historically accurate anyway. The cotton was soft enough that it coped with the curved edge without too much buckling (I think I would have had to clip it if it had been inserted in the seam).

As with V1, I haven’t decided on a closure yet so the gown front is pinned in place.

The wider centre back went well, but I need to mark my pleats better as they aren’t quite symmetrical. I also found that in solving one problem I had created another — I was able to bind the centre back and attach the bodice lining without any issue, but there was a quarter-inch gap between the edge of the bodice side back and the shoulder piece which was difficult to turn over. I was able to overstitch it, but it’s a little messy. For my third (and hopefully final) attempt I’ll widen the shoulder portion at the back by a quarter inch so that the shoulder and side back end at the same point, enabling a continous seam.

As I stated above, I took out the side seams from the skirt so there was much less seam finishing in this garment. I also managed to get the pleats to face the right way this time. I was a little disappointed to see that the pattern adjustment at the front edge didn’t stop the gaping — I’m not sure how to proceed on that except to deepen the angle even further.

I still had problems with the armholes in the lining not matching up to the bodice properly. I was very careful attaching the shoulder seams, but obviously not careful enough. I’ll have to make more adjustments.

Lessons Learned:

1. Don’t cut symmetrical lace in half to make edge lace. Just don’t.

2. Even a soft lace wrist ruffle is too stiff to hang properly at this scale if it’s gathered.

3. When faced with pieces that join close to an inside angle, it’s better to have them align than to fiddle with trying to turn under very small seam allowances.

4. Cranberry is not Marie-Grace’s colour. I do have some rose silk satin left over from a dress I made twenty almost thirty years ago so once I have a little more confidence I’ll make it into a gown for her.

Plans for Version 3:

I will adjust the shoulder straps of the gown so that they meet at the seam between centre and side back.

I need to shift the armhole of the bodice lining outward by a millimetre or two in order to have enough fabric to turn under neatly.

I may be able to get a better drape of the ruffles by pleating the lace instead of gathering it (which would make me very happy as I’m good at pleats and very bad at gathering). If not, then I’ll have to experiment to find something soft enough to drape properly. I might be able to do machine embroidery over a fine gauze (stiffened and backed with soluble stabiliser) and if that doesn’t work I may resort to hand-stitched needlepoint lace or even trying to make crochet lace with a fine cotton thread.

The underskirt needs to have a deeper waistband so that the gathers lie slightly lower on the body and don’t interfere with the bodice fitting. If I use muslin again I may try sealing the cut edges with glue to limit fraying.

I think I’ll make another pair of hip pads that aren’t as deep and have less padding so they have a more subtle profile. I might use a couple of layers of cotton batting rather than polyster stuffing so it isn’t as springy.