Saturday, July 2, 2016

Regency Shawl Dress

For the month of June the Historical Sew Monthly Challenge was set  for "travel".  I live in California.  It is 100 degrees F. here.  It is really hard to think of making a coat or anything to wear over clothing for travel purposes.  So I went a different route. I decided to go with the angle that my fabric has traveled.  When The Dreamstress posted about her  Regency Gown made from shawls I got to thinking.  
Why not have my husband bring me a pair of matching shawls while he is on his travel.  He travels to the Middle East on business every few months. So he brought back four of these light purple, mauve colored shawls.  They are not paisley like the ones that were so wildly popular in the Regency era. 
These scarves were purchased in Turkey.  They are cotton and had a set of stripes across each end.


This is my inspiration photo. I wanted to use the stripes around the hem and then use the stripes again at the sleeves.

Painting 2: Yelizaveta Demidova (1779-1818) , previously Baroness Elisabeth Alexandrovna Stroganoff, wife of Nikolai Demidov, the exceeding wealthy owner of mines and foundries in the Urals, Russia; c.1805 (oil on canvas) by Lefevre, Robert (1755-1830) – Wearing Kashmir Shawl and a dress with Kashmiri Paisley motif embroidery.

I used the Simplicity pattern found here as my basis.


I decided to use white muslin for the actual sleeves and then split the pattern in half and cut the sleeves out again in two pieces. I have not draped them properly yet.







Unfortunately the pattern came out larger than I planned on. It is probably a size too large. I will need to unsew the skirt from the bodice and gather the front more and fix the size issue.  I will also make a fake bodice insert for the front and sew it in, a "dickey" of sorts.



I did try the dress on with the proper short stays and chemise.  However, the short stays do not give me the proper figure.  I will be making a set of long Regency stays soon to aid in achieving the proper figure.
Thanks for taking a look.
Blessings,
Jeannine





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