18th century

The Georgian dress

Miss Montagu

I needed a dress for the Bath Minuet Georgian Ball. I had a dress that was quickly sewn up last September for a ball but I was never really happy with it. So I decided to do a revamp!

This was the dress before…. it was meant to be 1790’s but I was wearing the wrong pair of stays. Everything was a bit bumpy and wrong.

I didn’t have enough material for a whole new bodice so had to adjust the original. The waist line is abit too high but I not have a very long torso anyway.

I chopped away the front closure to allow for a stomacher.

I also used a different pair of stays as well as created a new petticoat for body.

I experimented with different bum padding…

These ranged from side hip pads, full bum roll based on American Duchess pattern, as well as a pair of pocket hoops.

In the end I took my hip pads with me but ended up wearing the pocket hoops.

I experiment with different stomacher combinations for colour contrasts.

And in the end I went for the green with yellow ribbon decoration.

I added decoration on the skirt and around the bodice. This was done by crimping the fabric edges, then sewing along the fabric in a zigzag pattern which was then gathered.

This taught me that fabric will fray one way but not the other way, depending on which way it is cut along the grain. Thus some of the trim has frayed and and other have not (I’m going to redo the frayed trim now).

I made bows the stomacher as well as for decoration for my hair.

In the end I quite like the result and the over all outfit!

I used powder and pomade on my hair to recreate a hair style of the period. Love the volume! I commissioned a lovely hair feather from Jane Walton at Hats Period, it really finished of my outfit!

The overall look is more of an inspired by generic Georgian look than anything from a particular period.

Unfortunately as I rushed my pocket hoops and used plastic boning (I should of gone with my gut with metal). This meant during the night the hoops collapsed and went flat. I also didn’t righted the bottom of my stays so I got a little bend which can be seen on the skirts.

This project taught me a lot, especially what works and what does not. It has given me new trimming skills (everything with have bows on!!!).

I now will fix my mistakes and use what I have learnt for the future.

With every make we learn more and develop our skills!

Here’s a few pictures of the Ball,

Hope you have enjoyed this post,

Your sewing friend,

Miss Montagu

Published by Miss Montagu

A warm welcome to Miss Montagu's Makes! Here I hope to share with you my historical makes and the prices I create. I also hope to share bits of fun information on historical accessories, crafts and food. I am a historical costume seamstress. I mainly produce clothing from the 17th century and Regency periods, but I also venture into other eras such as Viking, Tudor and Victorian. I am self taught with a long life background of Reenactmemt, as well as a supportive family who have helped guide and inspire me. I used period patterns as well as draft my own from period examples. I try to use period fabrics and techniques where possible. Though sometimes the pieces I create are just inspired by a particular period. I mainly produce pieces for myself and family, as well as some commissions for friends. I am currently developing talks and demos on a number of topics such as 'Dressing the Regency Lady', 'Womens clothing in the 17th century' and 'A 17th century ladies guide to hygiene and cosmetics'. With plans to add more in the future! Please feel free to contact me for details, if you would like me to give a talk or demonstration to you group. I hope you enjoy reading about my costuming journey and the projects I create. Best wishes and happy sewing, Miss Montagu

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