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Thursday 30 June 2016

Red chemise gown updates

I wrote earlier this year about my plans to make a red chemise gown- here is some of my progress on it!

The front is made up of two really long panels of fabric- I then put drawstrings on them at the neck and waist, and sewed them together from hem to waist. The cut of the back and shoulder straps (still yet to be covered) are from a basic late 18th century style bodice sloper that I drafted off my stays a while back. For the bodice construction on the back portions of the gown, I followed Serena Dyer's tutorial on 18th century gown construction, and stitched the fashion fabric onto my already-constructed bodice lining (not only is it historically accurate, but it's actually really nice and easy too).



Inside view of the front panel.
The lining of the gown (along with under-bodice front).

To give it some more structure (and a bit more modesty, given that the front only closes with two ties!) I added an under-bodice in the same material as the lining (a medium-ish weight linen-cotton blend).
I'll try to get some more photos up soon-ish of how it fits!