Regency Costume

Making the dress & petticoat

I made the bodiced petticoat using a cream sateen cotton, and used the same fabric to line the bodice of both the petticoat and the dress. I was looking for a white or very pale printed cotton for the dress itself, with some kind of delicate pattern. What I chose in the end wasn't exactly period correct if you look close up but from a distance it's great! It's a cream background with a tiny gold dot print. All pure cotton of course, no polycotton!

Sewing in the cotton fabric was easy, and good thing given the number of seams I had to unpick and re-do! I tend to naturally cut corners or ignore pattern instructions at will. Sometimes it comes off, sometimes not!

With the dress, I'm not entirely happy with how the neckline turned out, the fit isn't great, but maybe that's because I changed my mind from the crossover bodice to the round neck, after I'd cut it out, and was determined to patch it up rather than start again! Next time I would start again.

I enjoyed adding my own details: the ribbon ties on the sleeves, the overstitching on the neckline and the mother of pearl buttons. Thanks to Saira at The-Stitchery who put me right about buttons - bone or wood only, no plastic please!

Although I enjoyed following the pattern there were a few niggly things - like being told to 'cut 2' of certain pieces only to realise later it should have read 'cut 4'. Also, the illustrations didn't always apply to the style I was following, and sometimes whole stages were missed out, leaving the reader to fill in the gaps!

I was pleased with the the waistline gathers on both dress and petticoat - I made them flat at the front and put all the gathers at the back, giving a nice swishy feel and a smooth front (as opposed to the pregnant look). I'm no sylph and I need all the help I can get.

A word about underwear

I had read that to make my costume truly authentic I needed to start with regency-correct underwear, which meant stays. Stays are the foreunner to the corset, and instead of boning they have cording, with a busk centre front. I was keen to get the ‘uplift’ of a corset, especially as I had seen some photos of homemade dresses which had ended up without a great deal of support (it looked like!)

I found this pattern on the Jane Austen centre website  - which looked a little daunting. My friend Saira who runs The-Stitchery here in Lewes gave me some advice about corsetry and showed me the Rigilene synthetic boning material that she recommended I use. You can see I was wavering already as regards the period-correct detail!

When I studied the La Mode Bagatelle pattern that I’d bought, I realised it included a ‘bodiced petticoat’, so actually I could get away without the stays. Hurrah! As Jessamyn says, that means about a quarter of the work. Although she also says the bodiced petticoat doesn’t work for large busts, and on this I have to disagree.

Once I got going on the petticoat I decided I would give myself a break. I would wear a bra – one I knew gave me a good ‘uplifted’ shape. Stays or corsets – they would have to wait for another project. I had to think of the principal reason I was making this outfit – to wear on Bonfire night, which means walking in processions through the town all evening (about 6 miles in all), plus all the standing around at the firesite, carrying flaming torches and looking generally dignified in front of a huge audience – I had to think of comfort above all!