White Regency Gown

Pattern Used: Simplicity #4055, View B

Days it Took to Make It: 3 days

Satisfaction: *****

This is my favorite project of all. It is all-white and I LOVE white!!!!

I made this dress a little bit differently than the last one. One of my alterations was that I lengthened the bodice one inch. I didn't like how the last one had such a high waistline. The one inch made a nice difference and it gives the appearance of the late 1790's, early 1800's style more than the very high empire waistlines of the teens. Another feature that I altered started as an idea that I got watching "Sense and Sensibility" (Emma Thompson). I noticed that many of the sleeves were 3/4 (the long sleeves that come down almost past the wrist are a feature of the early teens, I believe.) Here is a screen still from S&S with the sleeves that I'm talking about.

For my dress I cut down the sleeve-length to make them 3/4. Still a little longer than I'd like, but it was hard to judge by holding the pattern piece up to my arm.

One more alteration-- actually, it wasn't much of an alteration, really. With my blue dress (and this one) I had a hard time with the lacing. It's supposed to lace at the top and at the bottom, but then it gapes terribly. For my blue dress I used hook-and-eyes, and for this one I was going to, but only had one hook-and-eye left. :-/ So I decided to try lacing it! All I did was sewing the string through at intervals. This worked for a while, but then the string broke, so I am not sure what to do with it now. I might find another way to lace it with the string. I welcome any suggestions!

So there's my dress! And I've probably rambled on quite enough about it. :-)

Here's a close-up shot of the fabric. I love the subtle flowers! :-D