Inspiration:

My first inspiration for making a Georgian dress was because I started volunteering at a historical house down the street in October 2004. Next, I needed a decent outfit to wear to the Tomas' 4th of July celebration every year. Also, my Pa's favorite era of reenacting is the Revolutionary war, so I expected to get a lot of use out of a costume for that era, and decided it would be a good idea to have one on hand.

The Georgian era isn't my favorite, but I was still excited about this project!

Materials:

Butterick pattern 3640, J.P. Ryan's Caraco Jacket pattern, cotton for the skirt, cotton for the jacket fabric, cotton twill for the lining, hooks and eyes, spiral steel boning from Corset Making, bias tape for boning casings.

Construction:

I made the skirt for this gown (from Butterick 3640) in October of 2004, in time to wear it for my tours at the Woodcock Garrison House down the street. It went together extremely well and is a pretty accurate skirt pattern. I highly recommend it to anyone!

Originally I was going to make my caraco jacket from the Butterick pattern, but after hours of research I realized how most of the seams were placed inaccurately. I then endeavored to move them all into their proper places. It was nightmare! Learn from me: don't alter an inexpensive pattern to get the right look, save your money to buy a more expensive accurate pattern and save the headache! I don't know how many hours I spent trying to alter that pattern. It was such a waste of time!

So I decided (wisely) to buy J.P. Ryan's Caraco Jacket pattern, and was very happy with it. I cut out my fabric and the work began!

I had to make costumes for my whole family the few weeks before the 4th of July (thank the Lord for Rebekah's help!) so I was sewing nonstop. Our cousins had just moved in at our grandparent's house next door and it was torture! I wanted to spend time with them and I was chained to the sewing machine!

This pattern was very good and the construction went very well, although I had to take the front seams in considerably and there were the usual small problems to deal with. It would have been a very enjoyable experience, except that I had a stressful deadline, and I wanted to hang out with my cousins!

I didn't have time to make a corset before the 4th, so I purchased some spiral steel boning from Corset Making and fully boned the jacket. It worked pretty well, except that every time I wash the jacket (every time I wear it) I have to remove all of the bones. Ugg...

On the day before the 4th, I discovered that my dress was a little tighter than I planned, and with the boning and all, I was afraid I might not be able to breathe well. So I did a last minute quick fix by adding a small panel where the dress opened, attached by hooks and eyes. I'm hoping to make some better adjustments in the future.

We performed a very detailed play this year, and it was very hard to learn my lines and squeeze in practice time while I was sewing. Dad bought us all coolattas (sp?) from Dunkin Donuts to pep us up during our last rehearsal at 10:00pm. After everyone went to bed late, Mom and Pa edited the script while I tried to finish my outfit. I called the Thomas girls at about 12:00pm and they were still at work on their outfits! It was so nice to to know that they were working, too - just a phone call away! I finally went to bed at 1:00am and woke up at 7:00am to put the finishing touches on the gown. Melissa and Melanie Thomas and I all had red swollen fingers the next day :) !

The Finished Gown:

Although this outfit has some issues fit and comfort-wise, I absolutely love the way it looks and am almost 100% happy with it!

Here's two pictures from the 4th of July in which you can see the colors and details a little better.

For more photos of me wearing my caraco dress view my 4th of July 2005 celebration pictures!

Updates:

Due the the many fit and comfort problems I had with this outfit, I did a remake in Spring 06.
Click here to check it out.