Inspiration:

The Regency era being one of my favorites, I am always getting inspiration and ideas for new Regency gowns. One that I've always dreamed about was a simple white muslin evening gown. Muslin gowns were all the rage in the Regency era and I really wanted to have at least one decent evening gown to have on hand for sophisticated events. And then our friends invited us to attend their ball! What could I do? I HAD to make the dress!!! :)

Also, the release of the new Pride and Prejudice was a huge inspiration and threw my costuming brain, which was focusing on other things at the time, back into that era. Despite the fact that the costumes in this film are very inaccurate, I have enjoyed looking at many of them.

The biggest inspiration was the character of Jane (played by Rosamond Pike). Normally I've never been especially fond of Jane, but I really like what I've seen of her (so far) in this new version. Jane and her four younger sisters' ball gowns were very pretty and gave me many ideas for my dress.

Anyway, throughout this entire project I kept thinking of Jane. That's why I choose the pink trim (a color I rarely wear); it seemed to go so perfectly with her personality!

Top left image (left to right): Jena Malone, Carey Mulligan, Kiera Knightly, Rosamond Pike, and Talulah Riley in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Materials:

La Mode Bagatelle Regency Pattern, bleached muslin, white ribbon, five buttons, pink trim.

I used some of the many yards of muslin I always have hanging around, as well as some ribbon I already had. The buttons were really cute and I managed to find just enough of them in my button box! Got the trim at my local Joann's.

Construction:

I still have absolute faith in the La Mode Bagatelle pattern! The fit is wonderful! All the techniques work perfectly and I never find myself saying at the end of a project, "Why in the world did they have me do that?" Even if you question the instructions halfway through, follow them! You'll know why by the time your finished!

This was the first project that I actually fitted on my dressform, and the fit was perfect! I'm so glad that I have Maire! :) I arranged the gathers on the bodice more towards the middle so that it would look a bit more like a fan-front bodice. It doesn't really, but I like the subtle effect all the same.

At first I was just going to gather the dress at the back, but for some reason, the straight panels didn't look so good (I think they needed to flare a bit so that it wouldn't be so tight). So I gathered the dress all the way around and really like how it looks. Most everyone I know has regency dresses with the straight front (later in the period), so it was kind of nice to have something a little different.

The Finished Gown:

I absolutely LOVED this project! Everything went together so well! I even took the ugly white bows that came on my slippers off, and glued pink rosettes on instead! :)

For more pictures of me wearing my muslin evening gown view the Miller's Fall Ball Pictures!