Regency Little white dress

I knew I wanted to make the Regency wardrobe foundation: the little white dress. I made it out of this fantastic fabric and it worked great for the pattern I used! It shrunk a lot, but luckily steaming the fabric kinda stretched it back out again, if that makes sense? It was kind of gauze like, so it was so very comfortable to wear!

The pattern itself was fairly straightforward, it uses historical sewing techniques, and so was mostly hand sewn. I did use my machine for the non visible and long side seams, but I got to know my needle and thimble reeeeal well with this dress. The fit was ok, but I think I’m still figuring out how to adjust for my linebacker, sloping shoulders. It’s a tough fight sometimes! I made a chemisette to wear underneath and I enjoyed the coverage it gave me! I’m a little self conscious of my shoulders if you couldn’t tell. lol.

I kinda wish I’d altered the sleeves a little to make them a tad shorter, but I do think they’re cute! It ties in back to close and it wasn’t my favorite. If I get dressed on my own (sans ladies maid of course) it’s hard to close tightly enough. I also changed the front of the dress so that it wasn’t a drawstring on the front. It wasn’t working with the thin fabric and I needed something stable.

I also added a ton of trim on the bottom, 3 different kinds! I kinda played around with them til I liked the layering, and then sewed them on. Then I had to shorten it again once I realized I’d be dragging my skirts on the ground if I didn’t! I also tacked on some velvet ribbon for the Regency Retreat, but it will be easy enough to remove and use a different color ribbon or sash if I want to change my look! That was a huge draw for me to the white dress. It was a nice base layer.

More on the Spencer & accessories soon!