Jane Austen Garden party at Hildasholm, Leksand

Last weekend it was the end of season celebrations at Hildasholm in Leksand. Hildasholm is a stately cottage that is well worth a visit for the beautiful gardens and interiors from the early 20th century, a lot of arts and crafts and romanticism.. It was a small summer house for the insanely rich Hilda Munthe, so when she wasn't in one of her bigger houses in England or Italy she stayed in Leksand.

They had chosen to call the day a Garden party à la Jane Austen, and I took my mother and new late 1790's outfit and went there.

To be honest I didn't notice a lot of Jane Austen, but it was a nice market day, and if you were in historical dress you got a guided tour in the house for free. I happen to know the head guide there, and since he knows my interest in historical clothing he pointed out a few extra things. The most exciting thing was that in the big doll house there is a miniature Fortuny gown for a doll, modelled after one of the two Fortuny gowns that Hilda Munthe owned. Unfortunately those dresses are in her home in England and not in Leksand though.

I wore my new roundgown. It was really comfortable, but a bit too long even with my Kensington shoes so I will need to shorten it a few cm. Under it I wore my late 18th century stays, small bumpad and petticoats. I had borrwed a bonnet from Linnea, and added the chemisette and a new redicule as accessories. I had not had time to starch the collar of the chemisette, but it worked fine anyway. I was happy when I found a portrait of Hilda's great grandmother, and she was also wearing a soft and unstarched chemisette in the early 19th century.

The gown was really comfortable, but I will need to fasten it with some pins to keep it from sliding down, the belt was not enough to keep both of the gown in position.

As I said my mother also wanted to come, and be dressed up. My mother has a lot of physical disabilites, including the spine and hips, so she can't wear a corset. She also would need to be able to wear a pair of walking shoes instead of something more historical. That made it a bit problematic, since she's taller than me and all my 18th century skirts are on the short side to begin with. In the end she could wear my gaulle, and for headwear we wrapped a big scarf around her head as a turban.

So yes my mother was a lot more daring in her fashion choice, compared to my prim and proper dress.

I did meet up with some other people in costume, and I've been invited to their chat group, so it's quite likely that there will be more regency themed events happpening in the future.

Am I a regency convert?

While waiting for the material for my Melisandre coat I got bored, and since I have a problem with a stash that is bulging I decided to use up some of my fabric. Next week there is also a Jane Austen Garden party that I would like to go to, so I started to think about updating my gaulle in some way. The easiest way would be to make a half-robe or open robe, out of the cotton curtains that I brought home for free earlier in the year. With a half-robe I figured that it would be possible to raise the waist on the half-robe, and thus make the whole ensemble look a bit later than the mid-1790s.

I started with cutting out the fabric and linen lining, using the gaulle pattern but cutting it shorter to raise the waist.

I mainly used the half-robe from Janet Arnold's Pattern of Fashion (p, 44). To make it cross over I freehanded the bodice lines in front.

The linen lining is fitted closer to the body and closes with three sets of ties. All the photos on the progress are taken on my dress-form, which is not working when I'm doing historical fashion, so it fits better on me than on the dress-form.

For the sleeves I used the roundgown sleeve pattern from "The American Duchess guide to 18th century dressmaking" as an inspiration, but I cut it out a lot bigger and then draped it until it fit fairly well It's not my most well-fitting sleeve, but I really wanted the sleeves to be roomy and comfortable, and the regency allows for a bit of puff on the top of the sleeve.

To set the sleeves I first sewed on the bottom  of the sleeve. For this project I'm using the machine for all the invisible seams.

I then sewed the top of the sleeve to the lining, by machine, before I folded the outer fabric over te sleeve and sewed it on, covering the raw edges under the outer fabric. For this I did by hand, using a small backstitch.

Then it was only to hem the neckline of the lining and ouer fabric.

The fine tuning of the neckline shape is done with the help of two buttons and straps.

To make selfcovered buttons I cut out a round piece of fabric and made small gathering stitches all around it.

I pulled the fabric around a round shanked button, and then sewed it on to the gown.

I made a small loop of cotton ribbon and attached it to the inside of the lining.

The loop goes around the button and ruches the neckline to create the final shape.

When I had started working on the gown, and the bodice was done, I decided that since I had so much fabric, then I could just as well make a full roundgown, and not just a half-robe. I used to widths of the curtains, but I had to cut away around 10 cm on each side because they were really worn and sunbleached.

Most of the fabric was pleated into the back piece.

I pinned the rest of the fabric all around the bodice, and the excess fabric was gathered into two small pleats at the side seams. On the Arnold half-robe there is only a pleat on one of the side seams, but I rather have two pleats than cutting off fabric, also with my wide hips I figured that it wouldn't be bad to have some extra fabric there.

The last thing was to make a half belt, that goes from side seam to side seam. It fastens with a hook and bar.

While working on the gown I think I might have become a bit of regency convert. I've always said that I don't like regency and that it's a fashion that is not flattering to my figure. When I have tried it on during the process I have gotten quite surprised on that I feel really comfortable and nice in it. The simplicity of the construction, the use of cotton and comfortable sleeves have definitely made me understand why it's so popular with regency fashion.

Now it should be said that this dress is still mostly rooted in the 1790's, with the waist just a bit above the natural waist.

Now I hope that the weather will be nice and that I will get to that Jane Austen garden party.