Creating a Gown, Part I: Trial and Error, but Mostly Error

When it comes to the jacket or gown or whatever you want to call it, I've had a difficult time up until very recently.

First, I tried a short gown. The pattern by JP Ryan seemed straightforward to put together, and it was. However, I didn't compensate for my waist length when cutting the pattern out. I have a lovely cotton short gown in a blue on white palempore print that hits about three inches too high in the waist, and the flare around the hip is overall too wide to suit my shape. Lesson learned. I can make it work with an apron, but why wear something that doesn't make you happy? The short gown now hangs in my closet until I can either repurpose it or pass it along to someone else. 

I next tried to make a long gown, using the J.P. Ryan "Robe a l'Anglaise." To say there were some fitting issues would be an understatement. Some are construction errors on my part, like incorrectly pleating the skirt to fit the bodice, and not making my customary length adjustment to the torso. Some issues, however, are with the pattern. According to some helpful folks, the neckline and side seams aren't in the correct place on this pattern. One issue, however, is that while a working woman's ensemble could exclude hip padding, a long gown (and this pattern in particular) just will not hang correctly without it, as you can see from the photos below. You can see the difference in the way the skirt lays pretty clearly. I experimented with a couple of different padding options as seen on various costuming blogs. 

L-R: No padding, bum roll, hip pad

L-R: No padding, bum roll, hip pad

For my first attempt, I threw together a simple bum roll, as several sources said those were used especially for women of lower classes into the 18th century. Thanks to my first dives into historical costuming with my American Girl dolls, I remembered how to make a bum roll without much trouble. The trouble came once I tried it on. As you can see in the photos above, not only was the bum roll too big, but the hard angle from waist to hip is not historically accurate for a middle class ensemble, pulling the silhouette and the skirt out of line. The photos don't quite do justice to how dramatically bad things were. I tried a smaller bum roll, but things still didn't sit right. While it filled out the skirt well, the overall silhouette was far from what I was looking for. 

After two swings, two misses, I found that Scroop Patterns offers the print-at-home version of their Frances rump for free. As I'd had a positive experience with the Scroop/Virgil's Fine Goods cap pattern, I decided to try this pattern as well. There are two views offered in the pattern, one for costumes in the 1775-1787 range, with equal focus on hips and rump, and the other giving a 1785-1795 shape with less emphasis on the hips. I opted to try the 1770s version, and it is a much more suitable option than what I'd tried before. You can see the more natural silhouette it provides for my smaller frame. 

What you may also notice in the photos is that something still didn't look right, even with the rump. I fussed and fidgeted with this pattern for weeks, and while I somehow got the sleeves in perfectly on the first try, I could not get the skirt and front to hang properly. Something in the very nature of this gown didn't work for me. Like the partially-boned stays from the Butterick pattern, this muslin ended up going into the bin. The fabric cost me very little, and had been purchased to use for experimenting with historical styles, so it was no great loss. Honestly, I'm proud of myself for getting rid of it, rather than putting it aside so I could get rid of it next year instead. At this point, I felt so frustrated with my experiments that I put aside my 18th century project for months, overwhelmed with my failings here and my other responsibilities. It took nearly four months before I found the energy to return to the 18th century ensemble project, but over Christmas break 2022, I was able to get back to it, and the experience was very much a different one. I'll discuss that more in a future post.