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If you wear dresses ever, chances are you are thrilled to find a dress that has pockets. Imagine my excitement at finding a fashion plate featuring an ensemble with pockets on the outside of the robe. I knew immediately that I had to copy it. Here is a picture of the specific fashion plate.
It almost looks like an apron. As there are no closures apparent on the back, it appears to be some sort of hybrid between an open robe and an apron. But the striking feature to me of course are the large pockets stitched to the outside of the robe. Our model even has her hand in one. The print on the overdress also looks to be a geometric and I just happened to have a subtle yellow and periwinkle plaid sheet that I had been hoping to use. Additionally I had a large quantity of a solid periwinkle fabric (from a thrift store of course) that just happened to match perfectly for the underdress. I started with the pattern I use every time which is https://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/225953438-regency-empire-bib-front-gown-pattern from The Hungarian Chick. I can’t recommend it enough. It is so versatile.
The bodice I just made up on the fly by looking at examples online and then just free-handing the pleats and sewing it to another piece of the periwinkle for a lining. I went with a very simple sleeve that I took from another pattern. I don’t even know what pattern because I’ve taken sleeves from several different ones and they are just in a pile in my sewing room. With this one, I didn’t put the band around the bottom of the sleeve and just left if simple and flowy (i.e. comfortable). Once you’ve made this pattern a few times you can throw a dress together pretty quickly.
Next came the tricky/creative bit; the open robe. The start is very familiar. One thing I had to contend with here was the fact that it is sleeveless. I’ve done a sleeveless bodice one other time and used bias tape to finish the arm holes. I really didn’t want to do that this time so I simply folded the outer fabric and the lining into each other and top stitched them together for a quick and easy seam.
I had copious amounts of this plaid fabric as it was a king size sheet set. So the skirt is where I certainly could have done some editing. I think I used way to much material. Toughest part was getting the two pieces of fabric pleated evenly so the two sides of the garment were equal. This was also made difficult by the amount of fabric I used.
Now I had to decide on a closure. As you can see in the fashion plate, the front closure is left completely to the imagination. I will admit that I am always under some kind of time constraint and constantly looking for the quickest and simplest way to do things. I decided a simple bow in the front would be the easiest way to go. I had some wide yellow bias tape on hand so that’s what I went with. True to my usual form, I did not have time before I packed up and headed to the AGM to add my pockets, but I had them cut so I threw them in along with a sewing kit and added them in the hotel room.
I was really happy with the final result. I went simple with my hair, buying some yellow silk ribbon in the emporium to tie round my head. I wore it to the cricket demonstration and then for some great photo ops in Colonial Williamsburg. The pockets were brilliant and large enough to hold all my stuff so I didn’t have to carry a reticule. I had to put some extra brain power into them but it was well worth it. I think what I love most about this ensemble is how wonderfully comfortable it is. And it is now my favorite of all my costumes.