Creating a 1750’s Gown…For Me!

 

There comes a time when all business sewing needs to take a pause, and personal sewing needs to take over.

You see, I don’t often sew for myself.

I think the last time I created a gown just for me was at least a year ago.  Most of the time, whenever I sew it is either for a client or to sell on my shop.  But with a little more free time on my hands (thanks to longer naps by my little one), I wanted to try something new and different. …something for me! 🙂

After thinking about what I wished to create, I decided on an outfit to wear at next year’s French and Indian War Reenactment…in July.  The tricky part about making a gown to wear in the summer while it is still winter is the fear that I am going to sweat like crazy!  More about that later!

So, as always, whenever I begin a brand new decade or project apart from the norm, I begin with an inspiration board.  This is where I gather images of actual gowns, paintings, or pieces of a gown I want to try and incorporate.  The problem with this particular gown is I wanted to include WAAAAY to many aspects and techniques, so I had to really cut down.

Here is the inspiration board of this particular project:

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And so it begins….

I have started working on an 18th century gown which will consist of two pieces: a caraco jacket and a pleated petticoat.  I took my inspiration for the fabric and the pattern of the jacket from the following pictures:

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I found these two fabrics that I think are going to work great….

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The jacket will be in the patterned cotton with the petticoat consisting of the beautifully textured pink fabric.  I have already begun working on the skirt focusing on trying to create deep pleats along the waist band.  I like the idea of creating a skirt which will have a little unique style to it and will be a nice balance to the jacket.

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