Last January, as I was trying to
decide what all costumes to make to wear to Costume College in July, it was a
bit overwhelming. One of the events, the Sunday Breakfast, had a theme of the
Gibson Girl Breakfast Parlour.
I don’t always want to make an entirely
new outfit just to wear to breakfast, although you can wear it the rest of the
day while going to classes, or the tea, which is another theme entirely. The
last couple years I’ve been able to re-wear a previously made dress, or some kind
of morning robe. I decided to just go with a wrapper this year, which looks kind
of like a dress but is looser fitting. And it makes it easy to just throw your
historical dress on later if you already have your underpinnnings on under it.
While searching for ideas and a time
period, I came across a lot of interesting ones. These came up under the search
for wrappers or tea gowns that I liked.
The simple-ness of these cotton ones also
appealed to me.
The Artistic Reform influence on the
tea gowns are especially exciting.
After seeing my friend, Mara’s version
of this, I bought the LaMode Bagatelle Artistic Reform pattern. Its on the back
burner now because I haven’t decided on the color or type of fabric I want to
use yet.
I’ve already made an 1860s wrapper,
using Kay Fig #611. Ok, confession here. Its not finished yet. It needs some
lengthening and hemmed, and front closures added. And sleeves, since that’s
usually the last thing I sew on.
Then I made an 1882 tea gown that I
really liked, using Truly Victorian #432. I think its going to need to be enlarged
a bit because it was already tight when I wore this a few years ago at Costume
College. When I fitted my test muslin, I didn’t make it long enough to go over
my hips and so it ended up way too tight. The watteau train is lovely in back.
I also made a “Regency” one for
Costume College a few years ago, using Butterick 5544, and wore it for two
years there. I copied mine from one worn in the 1980s version of Pride & Prejudice.
These are a few other patterns I came
across or were suggested to me.
When these conversations came up, a
couple of my friends told me about the Folkwear pattern #208 Calico Day Dress
wrapper that they had made. Note-this is an out of print (OOP) pattern and Folkwear
has reissued that number to a young girl's cloak, so you can only buy it on the
secondary market now. Be prepared for sticker shock. They're worth gold now.
They shared photos of their wrappers, plus I found
some others online.
My friend Lauren also made it, and then issued a
reprint of a short version of it in her pattern line, Wearing History, as a
morning jacket. It only goes to a size
36” bust though.
I decided to go with the Folkwear pattern, and already had 8 yards of fabric in my stash I’d purchased a few years ago for an earlier dress. I bought
it from Rosie’s Calico Cupboard in San Diego, CA, from her reproduction fabric
section. I often see historical repro fabrics in quilt stores so its worth the
time looking in those.
You can also
find reproduction fabrics online and the price is about the same.
I’ve been saying all along that this was my 1890s wrapper but was
told its actually closer to 1905. I think it was the ruffle over the sleeve cap
that gave me that impression. Its kind of a generic shape so it can work either
way.
The pattern only comes in S-M-L, so a maximum size of bust-34,
waist-38, hips-42. It’s a loose-fitting gown that ties at the waist, so I
figured I could add a few inches to the seams and make do. It worked except there's not as much to pleat in the
front and back but it still worked out ok.
The instructions are well written with diagrams and
self-explanatory. My fabric was 45" wide, and the pattern said to cut 3
for the skirt flounce. Except it was about the same width as the bottom of my
skirt & had no real ruffle to it. So, I added one more. The only place I
had problems with was the inside front piece that is supposed to be closed
under the outside robe. I sewed it to the neckline as directed but when I close it, it’s
not separated to close under the outside. I'm not sure where I went wrong with
that but the outside is loose enough so I'm not worrying about it.
Also, while enlarging the pattern, I didn't make my
yoke piece and ruffle longer, so it doesn't come down as far to the center as the
pattern has. But again, it still works. I believe someone told me the front is
only open to about the knees then sewn shut but I forgot to do that. So, I'm
going to top stitch it closed.
This made up really cute and will be great to use
in-between dressing at events, fashion shows, or just prepping to get ready for
an event.
