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(This image copyright Graham Photography 2005) |
This young lady made her Regency graduation dress with overdress. The two photos on the far right in the center row show the underdress; the rest include the overdress with ribbon trim. The three pictures on the third row show the detailing of the underdress. Stunning ensemble!
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"I ordered your Regency Dress Pattern over a year ago to make a graduation dress. I got the graduation dress idea from my great-grandmother, who made a dress for herself for her graduation in 1913! The sewing bug runs in the family. :) Last year my family met a wonderful lady, Ginny Smith, who owns a local fabric/seamstress shop. She has a good eye and shops for her own fabrics, often imported from all over the world! Walking through her store is like taking a walk through a sewer's fairyland. When I walked into her shop with the pattern, all I had to do was show her the picture on the front of the package and she was bustling around pulling out bolts and saying "I have just the thing." The first thing she showed me was "just the thing." It is a light silk with a feather pattern worked into it...I can't remember exactly what she called it, but since I wanted something that was formal and white without looking too much like a wedding dress, it worked perfectly. I also reversed the fabric to make it just a bit more casual. Ginny provided beautiful trim. After I graduated, my cousins saw the pictures of the dress and wanted me to make a dress for a friend of theirs, Katy. They wanted an overdress of lace, so I went to Ginny again, and she helped me fashion a beautiful dress of an off-white batiste with an overdress of beautiful lace that can be worn four different ways, pictured below! We made the lining of cotton from Switzerland. It feels like cool soft silk. Thank you for providing wonderful patterns for creating historical clothing! The only picture that Mamma did not take was this one (seated in sun) - Image copyright Graham Photography 2005. The bodice and the skirt of the overdress both have drawstrings that I cut long so they would act as streamers falling nearly to the hem. After the dress was made, I realized that the under dress was rather plain without trim, so I used cream ribbon about twice as narrow as the reversible ribbon for tiny bows on the sleeves and neckline. The buttons I used are from a large collection I inherited from my grandmother. They are tiny diamonds. :) ~ Emily L."
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This young lady's sisters made her this gorgeous Regency gown for her birthday! "This year, my sister Alexandria and I made a Regency ballgown for one of our sisters. We added fan pleating (actually I cheated and just pressed the gathers) and added the crisscrossing on the sleeves (I don't know if someone actually has a name for that kind of sleeve, I just copied it from a picture). ~ Jessica" This is a show-stopper of a dress! The sleeve design became popular in the 18-teens when the "slashing" and puffing of the 16th century experienced a brief renaissance in Regency form.
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"I ordered the Regency Gown pattern in early summer and made a dress for my sister to wear at her bridal shower. It's a cream-colored underdress with a light, almost see-through overdress, gathered neckline, embroidered in gold. I added details like satin ribbons sparingly, as to not ruin the simplicity of the cut. My sister is small, almost petite, and the dress was very flattering on her, and she and I were lavished with praise. I did her hair myself :) The entire day was a surprise for her, as is custom here in Sweden. We were all dressed up in Regency-style clothing (girls only) and kidnapped her early in the morning, dressed her and took her out by boat to a castle outside Uppsala for a picnic. Glorious sunshine all day long, and due to our dresses we didn't have to pay the fee to enter the castle. Hugs, Kristina" Can you imagine a more perfect surprise for your own bridal shower? What a special day!
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Hold on to your hats! This is one of the best mother of the bride stories I've ever gotten! This is one amazing mama! "Hello Jennie, I am so pleased with the outcome of my boned bodice petticoat and my gown of dupioni silk that I have made as the Mother of the Bride gown for my daughter's 'PnP' Christmas wedding. Your instructions are wonderful and your fit is true to a real body and the actual measurements. Thanks for helping make her special day even more special! Included are pics of the petticoat. I followed your superb instructions and it really 'works' to give me an accurate 'look'... It looks much better on the dummy! I put a piece of upholstery piping in the hem for some soft hoop effect. My friend was a costume designer for a local college. She is a sleeve genius. Here is her design for my gown. Your patterns have helped me immensely to create her vision. She made the sleeve pattern so that when made on the bias the front of the sleeve would be in a chevron and the showy six button placket would have 'snob appeal.' The fabric is a rayon 'silk' dupioni that I got for $7/ yd! I made the Spencer vest of black velvet. The lapel has black lace beaded with black diamond Swarovski crystal. I wanted to share some pics of the wonderful outcome of your patterns for my gown. The full view is my sister buttoning me into the gown. Nice line, eh? The little velvet jacket took me days to bead the lapels with black diamond Swarovski crystal and black pearls. I added an extra wedge of fabric in the skirt of the gown and a little peplum on the back of the jacket. I made the flower girl gown using your excellent pattern. I made it rather big, put 3 1" tucks in the hem for the future. I put a drawstring in the neck and waist for an adjustable fit. It also has hand appliqued lace with jet Swarovski crystal. The little girl danced around and around when she tried it on. It fit perfectly, thanks to you! ~ Jo J." Bravo! Bravo! Thanks for sharing, Jo!
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"I just used your pattern to make my first Spencer! I was very pleased with the pattern, and here are pictures. The cloth was an old Laura Ashely duvet cover that had stains. I cut the pieces so the white emroidery on the cloth became part of the design of the jacket. I just wanted to say that I really loved this pattern and will highly recommend it to friends - you did a great job designing it, and it was such a pleasure to be able to create my own Spencer with such a wonderful pattern. Thanks for all you do for us! ~ Lily" This is so beautiful! All the white embroidery makes this a real stand-out!
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Aylwen G. shared this picture of her Heritage Dancers, an Australian group. Most of the ladies made their gowns from my Regency Gown pattern. Aylwen is a very talented seamstress and also an expert on Regency Era dancing. You can visit her website HERE!.
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"I ordered your Regency pattern last Spring to make my daughter's Prom dress, and sent an appeal for help in making a split overskirt. Well, it's taken me MONTHS to send pictures, but the dress itself only took a few days! I've only been sewing for a little over a year, and even for me, the pattern was so easy - I kept waiting for the hard part. Anyway, I ordered organdy online (that was the only hard part - nobody sells organdy anymore). The underskirt is white organdy, and the bodice and split overskirt are cream-colored organdy which is wool crewel-embroidered in the same color cream. I used cream-colored scalloped trim for the sleeve edging and all the hems, including up the front of the overskirt. At the waistline, I sewed on a sash made of off-white ribbon with green, gold, and red flowers, and when the dress was done, my daughter hand-sewed tiny red cut-glass antique beads all over it. We had a little crisis when the dress was first assembled, because my daughter thought the fullness in back made her look chunky (?!), so I had to improvise. To hold down some of the fullness, I sewed 5 horizontal seams starting about an inch down from the rear waistline. Then I gathered and tacked all the folds together around hip-level, and sewed more of the flowered ribbon from the waistline to the point where the folds were gathered. We topped it all with a brooch we found that matched her necklace. She ended up loving the whole effect. Amanda found ballet slippers with tiny heels, and we sewed red velvet ribbons on them instead of the normal pink satin ones, and with antique-looking jewelry and an elaborate hairstyle (she studied photos from "Pride and Prejudice" for inspiration, and did her hair herself), she looked amazing. She was sooooo happy the next day - said she was the only girl there who wasn't wearing a typical Prom dress, and EVERYONE came up to her and said she looked incredible. Oh, and when she posted the pictures online, one of her friends said I was her idol! Yeay! Let everybody know that I'd only been sewing for a couple of years when I made this gown - that's how easy your pattern is! You're amazing!Anyway, thanks for the fabulous pattern, and I would recommend it to anyone! ~ Nancy H." What a Mom! Isn't this a fabulously delicious gown? I've got more pictures from Nancy of the next stunner she created for her daughter--lucky girl! Scroll on down for the forest green 1910s Tea Gown she made!
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"My daughter went to her prom Saturday night, in the Titanic-era dress I made from your pattern. It was fabulous. We made an overskirt of forest green satin, while the dress itself was medium green cotton covered with pearl and sequin-embroidered cream illusion. We trimmed it with gold fringe and gold and green baroque trim. Also, I had researched online and saw that they often wore long rectangular trains, so I made one of those out of the green satin, trimmed with embroidery cut out of the illusion. It was amazing - I was so proud! And, as with the Regency pattern I used last year, it was SO easy! Thank you, thank you, thank you! ~ Nancy H."
Photos copyright Affordable Excellent Photo 2001
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"Dear Jennie,
My wedding dress was made using your Regency pattern. I was thrilled with the result! I found a gorgeous silk for the dress and a stunning lace for the overlay. I am so glad I stumbled onto your site! I wanted to share some pictures, hoping you will be able to see some of the detail as well as the overall look. That was four and a half years ago, and I am venturing to make a day dress myself this time, again using your pattern. This time I am pregnant with my third child and hope to make it a maternity dress. If I am successful (for I am no seamstress, yet) I will let you know how it goes! Thank you for providing a unique way to express one's tastes and style. Thanks, Mary" Beautiful!
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"My niece, Madeleine, got married in July and had asked me to make her and her bridesmaids 'Jane Austen' style dresses. It was with great relief that I found your invaluable pattern via the Internet. I changed the under bust gathers to darts on all the dresses, but otherwise I made very few changes to your pattern. The Bride's dress consisted of an ivory satin under-dress with a very delicate ivory silk chiffon over-dress embroidered in white silk. not an easy combination of materials to handle! I slit the over-skirt up the front to the empire line so the ivory satin under-skirt showed and piped the empire line, neck and sleeve bands in the ivory satin. Her short train was made following your instructions. Her head-dress was made of tiny white and ivory silk rosebuds. The Bridesmaids' dresses were in a fuchsia pink Dupion silk. They were piped in the same material and had self-covered buttons. I put two layers of tulle on the dress linings, one from just below mid-thigh and one from knee height to hold the skirts out a little as the material was quite stiff and did not drape very well. The Bridesmaids' head-dresses were little rose buds, just like the Bride's but in white, ivory and fuchsia pink. It was a very happy day and a great many people commented on how lovely the dresses were and how perfect the style was for Madeleine. Thank you again for providing such a very useful pattern! ~ Clare C." There really is something about the Regency Era style and weddings! I think they are a perfect match! Beautiful work, Clare!
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"Just wanted to say how pleased my 10-year-old daughter, Anne, was with the Regency dress we recently made for her home schooling project this term.
She had been studying Jane Austen's life and times, and we ordered your pattern as part of her arts and crafts project. We looked at Regency dresses on the various web sites and made our choices for materials. She was able to learn some sewing skills as well as make something she really loves. You had a very happy customer in my daughter. Many Thanks! ~ Lynn A. M." Doesn't her daughter look darling?! Such a cute ensemble!
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"I made this Spencer out of a brown velvet fabric that I had lying around and that had belonged to my grandmother before, at least so we believe. I always knew I wanted to make some kind of jacket out of it, and when I found Mrs. Chancey's Regency Spencer Jacket pattern on here I realised it would be just perfect! And it was! It worked out so well and I'm very happy with it. Thank you for making such nice and easy to use patterns! ~ Aurora B.D." Beautiful job!
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"I found out about your site through Katherine's Dress site, and recently bought your [Regency Gown] pattern. It turned out wonderfully, and I'm really pleased with the pattern :) I'm a self-taught seamstress, and the pattern was very straight-forward and easy to understand. I didn't have difficulty with any of it. I used to pattern to make a bodiced petticoat. Thank you again for your wonderful pattern- when I run out of regency dresses and start on another period I will be back for another pattern! I got the fabric at Joann's, its a calico quilting fabric. I liked the pattern, and thought it looked kinda period :) I made a black velveteen spencer to go with it, I'm very excited about it! This is the first time I've used a pattern and I'm thrilled with the results :) Thank you again :) ~ Misty" See what incredible work self-taught seamstresses can do? Anyone can sew!
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"Here are two pictures of the dress I made while taking your Regency Gown class. The striped fabric is some from my fabric stash, and the burgandy is a poly/cotton blend. Nothing fancy, but fun to experiment with! I am wearing the dress over a Chemise and Short Stays, which I made from your pattern as well. I really enjoyed the lessons and learned many new things!! Thank you for providing them and for all the inspiration to sew feminine clothing. I am looking forward to making many more dresses in the future. God bless! Sincerely, Alyssa W." Great work, Alyssa! I always love seeing what my students do with my online lessons!
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"Here are pics of the gowns I made for my 1yo daughter and myself for Christmas. We wore the dresses to church and everyone loved them. I also found a lot of people who now want to get together and sew! I am so thrilled with your patterns. I have since ordered the ELC, the girl's Pantaloons/Pinafore, the Neckline Supplement, and the Swing Era Pattern. I cannot wait to get going on the other patterns! ~ Erin B." This is such a darling mother-daughter pair! I love the striped fabric and the details, like the piping around the neckline, waistline, and sleevebands. Fantastic work!
