Lasura

A journey into historical sewing

[lasura]

Sewing an 18th Century Gown - Planning

The importance of properly planning a large project cannot be underestimated. Unfortunately, I don’t learn my own lessons and made some mistakes.

I knew exactly the type of gown I wanted to make, though I'm not sure where I had seen it.

It had to be a Robe à la Française (or Sack-back gown), recognisable by glorious pleats on the back.

So what do I do? Buy a pattern, of course! Without delay!

Big mistake - that pattern ended up being almost entirely useless to me. Acting on impulse is fun and all, but research and planning will result in a much smoother process. It’s important to pinpoint the exact time period, research extant gowns, fabrics, construction, find out what undergarments you will be required, find the appropriate pattern (or guidance on how to make your own), then, and only then, get to buying fabrics, patterns, anything.

In the end I settled to a 1770s Robe à la Française, though my persona was going to be rather nostalgic/ old fashioned. The undergarments I would need were a shift, stays, pocket hoops, stockings, under-petticoat, petticoat, and stomacher. I did use a pattern for the stays, but the rest of the patterns were mostly drafted using guidance by Marquise.de.

Leaving here links to some helpful free resources:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/18thcenturysewing/ Facebook group for 18th century sewing

18th Century Notebook (larsdatter.com) Collection of links to extant garments

La Couturière Parisienne: 1700s (marquise.de) A great website with free patterns and instructions, as well as research

Sharon Ann Burnston (sharonburnston.com) Another great website with great research, guidance, and patterns

https://www.facebook.com/groups/18thcenturystays/ Facebook group for 18th century stays

1700 to 1794 - 18th Century Archives - GBACG - the Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild Pattern review website

I’ll leave you with my historic inspirations board:

[lasura]

Hello

Welcome. I have been making costumes for a long time and only recently decided to dedicate myself more to historical sewing.

In particular, in this blog I will be recording my experience with 18th century sewing.

To keep a long story short, it all began with project Dynastic. It is primarily a writing project. However, that feverish, unexplainable, sudden obsession with the 18th century setting did not wane after months of writing. Instead, it bled into my other interests, including costuming.

I decided to sew the gown I had designed for one of the characters and, along the way, develop a better understanding of the clothing of the period, how it was constructed, how it was put on and how it was to wear it.

And so the journey begins.