Thursday, July 3, 2014

A Regency Half-Robe and Round Gown Post {AGAIN}

No, you're right! That is my other Round Gown but the Half-Robe is new. The new Round Gown is pictured below. I understand the confusion. Actually, this pink linen Half-Robe is a refashion, just like my other Half-Robe. It's a refashion of the first Regency gown I ever made! 


See, the old gown from 2008 (that I don't have pictures of) was my first garment projet! But, I, in my ignorance, fitted the bodice to a mannequin torso. The only fault in that was the fact that it was a male torso. But I didn't realize that until I had finished the dress. There were a million other mistakes; the sleeves were going to be puffed, but I didn't bother and left them bandless so they were like butterfly sleeves (inaccurate), and I put the bodice and lining wrong sides together so had to improvise a facing among other isues. So, I set the dress aside until I had the experience to fix it...try 6 years!


Making the old gown into a new one was simple, but time-consuming. Thankfully, I had saved the leftover material and had *just* enough to rebuild the sleeves and make a closure. I am very pleased with how it turned out! I wish the closure was a bit wider but it's still accurate :)

My sister's shoes. I think they look like accurate walking boots!


I love this parasol!



My gown did fall a bit below the closure. I guess nothing's perfect!


Here below is my new blue linen Round Gown! As always, I used Jennie Chancey's "Elegant Lady's Closet" Regency pattern :) It's a super thin linen, almost like gauze so the first time I was threading the drawstring in, I ripped right through the bodice front!!! Thankfully, my dear Grandma was visiting when this catastrophe happened. I called her to the basement as I was pacing around in my Regency underthings (chemise, stays, fichu and bodiced petticoat with a shawl around my shoulders), trying not to cry...and failing. She brought a tissue and assesed the situation. 


She swooped in with her super-sewing powers and convinced me that all I needed to do to fix it was sew a band over the rip and...viola! She saved me from having to cut out a whole new bodice front and rip the entire dress apart to fix it. Sorry if it offends you, but my Grandma is the best one there is! That's the truth.









The moral of the story is...be patient. If you mess up, it's not the end of the world. Just move on and you may come back to it later. You might shed a few tears, but it's all worth it! 

8 comments:

Paige said...

Ooh, all of your pieces are so pretty, McKenna, and so are you! :D Hurray for your Grandma coming to the rescue.
This weekend I hope to post a regency Historical Post too. Haha! Great minds think alike.

McKenna said...

Awesome! Thanks, Paige :) You're a doll!

Eden said...

You've been tagged on my blog! :)

McKenna said...

Ooh! Thanks...what does that mean? ;)

Unknown said...

Wow, what beautiful dresses! You are very talented. :)

Paige said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Paige said...

So, I see you /just/ got nominated for a Liebster award not long ago, but I wanted to nominate you for another! Don't feel bad if you aren't able to do it. Here's the link if you decide to participate. :) http://styleforreallife.blogspot.com/2014/07/liebster-award_15.html

McKenna said...

Aw! Thanks Paige :) Yeah, I just don't have the time now but that's so thoughtful of you! Yeah...costume designing kind of takes up your life for a few months at a time LOL