Robe Francaise

Pictures of Gown

Here's the finished product!! If you want to compare it to the inspiration, click here.

Robe Francaise Complete!

My Robe Francaise is now 100% complete, and I even had time to make a little pinner cap for my hair today. Yesterday, Katie helped me pin up my hem and attach a pleated flounce to my underskirt.

We then spent lots of time, cutting, pinking, sewing, and gathering ruffles and ruching for the dress. My first attempt at decorating the dress did not come out the way I wanted, so I started again today. To the left are pictures of my trim options.

Below are the finished underskirt and sleeve trim.


And while I realize this isn't the greatest of pictures (the sun had long gone down when I finished sewing), here is a picture of the final product.

I'm desperate to go outside in good light and have some pictures taken with me actually wearing the dress...but Katie left this morning, so I don't have anyone to take picutres of me. Rotten timing. I know.

Unfortunatley, since I'm out of muslin, and I'm currently paying off next week's vacation, there isn't any fabric money this month. I also don't have any more projects sitting around waiting to be started (other then the evil civil war dress that is on hold until Simplicity has a $1 sale and I can get a new pattern), so I imagine there isn't going to be much sewing for me to post about in the next few months. Just lots of dreaming and planning.

Trimmed Stomacher

I finished trimming my 18th century stomacher tonight. I sewed on some fine lace, and the attached ruching in a 3 tiered figure eight. 4 pinwheels then decorate a few remaining spots on the dress. I need a second opinion: should I add on any more pinwheels? I see two spots that could be covered up, but I don't want to overdo the trim. So far I like the overall effect, though I think I would be happier if the last tier of the figure eight weren't so circle like...

What do you all think?

The stomacher trim was inspired by this original garment.

Basic gown complete

The basic dress is all assembled! Yippee!!! The picture is completely underwhelming, but here it is. Check out the gorgeous sleeves!!!

So, here's what's left on the To-Do list:

• hem the dress (I need a helper for this)
• Tack the fold of the dress down so it won't fold back
• Sew in hook and eyes for stomacher*
• Trim the dress
• Have someone else take some pictures. I'm getting tired of the silly/ugly mirror pictures, unworthy of the glory of this gown.

*I tried pinning the stomacher to the dress, and after stabbing myself repeatedly with the pins, and then still having the stomacher move and pull around, this is required. Kendra, of Demode, did this on her dress and it looks great.

Gown Coming together

The robe francaise is coming together very nicely! The lining is attached to the completed dress. I'm in the process of sewing on the sleeve flounces, and then I'll need to sew up the stomacher. A quick hem, and the gown will be ready to wear. I'll still have lots of trim to add the dress, some of which I still need to buy, but I'm very happy with the way the dress is coming together.

My biggest gripe so far about the pattern was when I sewed in the side extension and pleats. This part isn't visible on this picture, but the instructions were very confusing, and I walked through the process about 6 times before I finally figured out what I was supposed to be doing. There was a neck binding piece that was also very frustrating because I had to take it out and redo it several times due to unclear instructions. Despite these issues, the gown is fitting nicely, and I can't wait for the final product! See the pretty back pleats below.

Does everyone agree with me that I MUST have a fan to go with this outfit? I've also got to figure out what to do with my hair since my haircut is all wrong for the time period. I could probably make a little lace cap, pin my hair back, and then cover it all with the cap.

Completed Lining

Here's the finished lining. Inbetween my last post, I became paranoid about the changes I'd made to the neckline of the muslin, so I went ahead and made up a muslin Robe and sewed it to the muslin of the lining to make sure it fit. Surprising, everything went together just fine, so I went ahead and started making the final product.

The first thing I did was take apart the muslin of the lining, and then re-stiched everything together. When I'd been working on the muslin, I'd been using green thread, and hadn't been backstitching. I also attached the boning and ties to the back of the lining that will permit me to adjust the size of the dress (this is a really neat feature that allowed women to easily let their dresses out when they got pregnant). Other then needing a second person to help me adjust the ties in the back, everything is fitting nicely, so I added the eyelets to the front, and I'm now moving on to the Robe.

Pools of Taffeta!!

Hurray for the arrival of the taffeta!! May I say that 14 yards of silk taffeta is a beautiful, beautiful thing! I went ahead and cut out the entire pattern, including the pieces I need for the skirt. Altering the pattern from the pet-en-l'air to the robe francaise was very easy, and JP Ryan's instructions were very straight forward. I have some thread and might start sewing the skirt up, but I'm not going to delve too far into this project until the box of supplies my mom sent me arrives. She's sending interfacing, some thread, pinking shears, and very fine needles for the silk. I have TONS of fabric left over, so I now need to start deciding how I'm going to trim this fabulous gown. Anna has already promised me lace from Belgium for the sleeve flounces! :)

Muslin: take two!

Here is my new Muslin! Notice how nicely it lays flat along the whole neckline now - I pinned out all of the eccess fabric that was causing gapping, but was careful to leave the arm holes alone. All the pattern pieces still fit together perfectly. I think this is the first time I've actually successfully altered a pattern (without causing fitting problems in other areas) so I'm very proud! We'll have to see if I can easily transfer the change from the linning to the real fabric (which by the way...has still not arrived). Below is a picture of the pinned muslin piece that is now my new pattern peice for the side front of the linning,

Robe Francaise: Muslin

Here's the completed Muslin for the Robe francaise. I'm wearing it inside out, because I was pinning a few seams that needed adjusting. The only fitting issue I'm going to have is through the neck/shoulders area where there is too much fabric - this causes gaping from the shoulder to the bust area. I think I can solve the problem by sewing larger seams at the shoulder seam, which maked the pattern fit smoothly like it should. The sleeves fit well, and the understomacher (that front part of the dress) seems to fit right where it should.

The lining pieces do not match up with the pattern pieces exactly, so I'm a little nervous about how I'll transfer the changes I make on the muslin to the pattern itself.

This week I also did a little bit of work on a corset I bought off of ebay almost a year ago. I'd always been very dissapointed with it: it's a pretty blue satin 18th century corset, but very poorly made. After waiting for 4 months to receive it instead of the promised 4 weeks, the edges of the corset were left raw and unbound, the legnth of the corset was a ridiculous 5 inches too long (so I couldn't sit in it), and there were these silly unboned tabs that just sort of hung off the corset and didn't do anything.

Since my fully boned corset (pictured underneath the muslin above) is so uncomfortable, I thought I'd alter the blue satin corset, and see if I could make it work. I did a lot of cutting and handsewing one evening in front of the TV, and I think I have a much nicer finished product now. I shortned the corset, cut off the useless tabs, and bound the edges. It's a little short in the waist, which unfortunately seems to be a design flaw, but it's MUCH more comfortable, plus it actually has a wooden busk that makes it very period. Pictures to come!

A girl can change her mind...

Well, I was all set with fabric and pattern to start my civil war day dress, but I think I'm a bit burned out on civil war projects for now after the Ball gown. And, this weekend, the exact kind of silk taffeta I've been waiting for finally popped up on Ebay. How could I resist? So, I've changed projects, and my Robe Francaise is now underway.

I was so excited about the project, that I didn't even wait for my fabric to arrive, but instead went ahead and cut/sewed the muslin for the project. I finished it kind of late, and didn't feel like bothering myself or my husband to get laced into my 18th century corset and fit the muslin, so you'll have to wait for pictures.

Also, in case anyone is curious to see an example of the final product, the webmistress of Demode made her own Robe Francaise with this pattern, and you all should definitely check it out!