Red Worsted 1770s English gown

 My last project of the year!  I've been wanting a red worsted gown so imagine my delight when Fabric Mart finally had some red worsted on sale for $14 a yard!  The fabric was actually a tricotine which is a double twill with a smooth, plain wrong side.  I didn't care for the right side so the wrong side is what shows!

I decided to use some printed linen I had in my stash for the lining.  I have about 9 yards of this and figured I could save my white linen to line summer weight linens or silk.

There's nothing particularly special about this gown.  It's a very plain early to mid 70s gown made exactly the same way as my blue gown that I made for Battle Road.  I wanted to wear this one to Washington's Crossing but didn't get the petticoat done in time.  I guess that will be my first project for 2026!  I wore it with my gold colored silk matelasse petticoat and a lot of layers!

I'm happy with this gown.   I nice plain gown can be dressed up or down!   On to next year!

Caught in the Storm of War . . . Dressing for 1775 New England

This is a fairly short post as I was on such a tight deadline that I didn't take many construction photos. Since this was the 250th Anniversary of the start of the American War for Independence, I thought I'd make something new.  The women participating in the evacuation of the various residences in Minuteman National Historic Park are portraying middle sort women in 1775.  Dress was on the conservative side.  I planned on wearing my satin bonnet which I made as a demo piece in a workshop I taught in January.  The clothing standards indicate that wool stomacher gowns were to be worn.  Fortunately, I've been sitting on about 8 - 10 yards of imported super 360 wool/cashmere tropical weight suiting that I had bought in one of the selling groups on Facebook.  It's amazing as it feels like pima cotton and is very lightweight so I figured it would work for any weather situation.  New England in April can be all over the map weatherwise! 

I made a gown using the the bodice I had drafted in this post.  I really prefer folded robings to robing strips.  The gown was made with a fitted plain sleeve.  This is really a solid mid 1770s plain gown.  I've used this bodice pattern with some variations in a number of gowns, mostly 1760s,  and it's basically my tried and true pattern at this point. 

I wanted this gown and petticoat to be a bit shorter.  I've made this enough times that I don't really try it on until I'm attaching the shoulder strap in the back to be sure the armscye fits. I figured I should at least double check it before I pack it up and head north.

Here's a better photo on the dress form.  Both of these photos are without a shift and underpetticoat so the skirts look a bit flat.

It was great to get this done with fabric from my stash.  I still have 4 yards left so I will probably make something 1940s with the leftovers.

I also wanted to do a nicer middlin' style short cloak.  My original red one is okay but it's more of a lower sort and my others are all upper sort.  I had some black wool in my stash that seems to be between a broadcloth and a plush.  It has a hard edge.  I used Sue Felshin's, which I've used before.  A good friend of mind had made a paper pattern and copied it for me which was a great time saver.  Mohair trimmed cloaks have fascinated me for some time so I decided to trim this one with mohair and to only have a small cape and collar.

The mohair is from a supplier on Etsy.  The fabric backing is woven.  I bought one half a yard and it's about 54 inches wide.  I ended up only using a little over half of what I bought so there would've been enough for a hood had I decided to make one.  Whenever there is fur, one has to be careful to only cut the backing and avoid cutting the fur nap itself.  I decided to try to solve that problem by tearing my strips.  Determining the width of the strips was the first task.  3 inches looked right on the bottom of the cloak itself with 2 inches being better for the cape.  The front edges ended up being 1.5 inches wide.  I snipped through the selvedge and gave it a good tug and was amazed at how easily it tore!  The nap definitely lays in one direction so I had to make sure I applied the pieces going in the same direction.  The mohair is torn on grain and is applied to a curved surface so the top edge of the mohair has to be slightly eased.  

The long edges of the mohair were left raw and the short ends were turned under when pinned in place.

I whip stitched the bottom edge in place but found that process to be a bit frustrating as the whip stitched kept catching the fur.  This took longer as I had to stop and pull the fur out.  I ended up using a running stitch for the remainder of the mohair as I found I could insert my needle under the fur when stitching and go faster.  The last thing was sewing on the black wool tape ties.

I simply love how this turned out--even with the white cat hair on it!

I wore my gown with a medium weight white linen apron and a white linen handkerchief with a blue border.  Sadly I didn't get too many photos of these garments in action but I was very comfortable in them.  I know I'll get a lot of use out of them.

Checking things in the Lexington Historic Masonic Lodge:

Lexington Green--saying goodbye to our militia men as they prepare for the Regulars:

In the kitchen at Hartwell Tavern, Minuteman National Historic Park:

I know I'll get a lot of use out of both of these pieces--especially the gown which can probably be worn year round.  Now to think about linen for the hot Mid Atlantic summer!

Converting a stomacher gown pattern to a center close front

To a sewist, there is nothing more wonderful than a well-drafted well-fitting pattern.  I found this in the Larkin & Smith English gown pattern.  I made some slight adjustments to the paper pattern and I was able to achieve a perfect fit.  This gown is a stomacher front English gown with an en forreau back--representative of the early - mid 1770's.  I'm wearing this gown in the photo below which was taken after a presentation about clothing during the last quarter of the 18th century given to the General Smallwood chapter of NSDAR.  

I was so enamored with the fit of this pattern and the construction methods used that I decided to make my next center front closing gown using this same pattern.  The construction methods are period correct and the method of pleating the en forreau back is fool proof.  This conversion method will work with any stomacher gown pattern.

First I studied the differences between the two styles.  The most obvious difference is that a center front close gown doesn't have a stomacher.  It also doesn't have robings.   So it appears that the main task will be to extend the front bodice to the center front plus a turn under allowance and the add a shoulder strap made from the fashion fabric.  I settled on worsted wool for my fabric.

The first step requires a little bit of draping.  Using Swedish tracing paper (sort of like a cloth) I first traced the front bodice piece and just extended the tracing paper an un determined amount to have some paper to work with when drawing the new lines. The piece on the left is the front bodice piece. The parallel lines are the edge and seam allowance on the original pattern piece edge.  The pieces on the right are the original bodice front and lining.

Here is where a dress form comes in handy.  Mine was being used so I hung my gown and pinned the stomacher in the way I would normally wear it.  Then I pinned the new pattern piece to my gown at the side back seam, the parallel lines were pinned to the edge of the front piece and I pinned it at the center front of the stomacher.  This did involve pinning the robing out of the way.  I marked the center front and drew a line at the top of the stomacher so I'd have a rough idea as to where the neckline was.

I also made sure to mark the center front.

I redrew the neckline and bottom lines neatly and extended the front 3 inches past the center front line.  The neckline looked a little high to me and I pinned the piece on myself in my stays and determined it was.  I did end up lowering it about an inch.

I cut out the pattern piece and set about making a bodice muslin using the new pattern piece, the back lining piece and the shoulder strap. I tucked the seam allowance in along the neckline to check the depth. The front edges were folded in to achieve the correct fit. and  pinned that hem in place before taking the muslin off.

The new bodice front was cut from the fashion fabric and the lining.  I left the original pattern marks for the pocket slit and I made sure to mark where the skirt ended on the old stomacher gown to make sure it lined up the same way.

Basically I constructed this gown exactly the same as the pattern indicated for the stomacher gown. Here it is getting the skirt pleated to the bodice.

Once the skirt was sewn to the bodice, the lining shoulder strap was sewn on, the sleeve was attached and the back facing was stitched on as per pattern instructions.

Here is where things were a little different.  At this point the robings would be sewn on.  Instead, I cut shoulder straps from my fashion fabric, turned in the seam allowance on all sides and stitched them over the strap linings, encasing the sleeve seam.

Here is my first fitting.  This is where I checked how much to turn in the front on each bodice piece. Each piece required a one inch turn in.

Here is the dress as first worn over a bound wool flannel petticoat with tambour embroidered accessories:

I'm really tickled with this gown.  The fit is perfect and it's extremely comfortable.  It may be my new favorite.  I found this project to be a great learning experience and a nice intro to some basic draping. If you have this pattern, give it a try!