All posts tagged: chemise

A simple Regency chemise

Published by The Dreamstress

One of my goals for the Historical Sew Fortnightly, both 2013 & 2014, has been to expand my Regency wardrobe. So far, progress has been slow.  I’ve made mitts, and my 1813 Kashmiri dress is a thing of beauty and a joy forever, but my wrap corset  a la paresseus  is a disappointment on. But look, now I finally have a proper chemise, so I can stop wearing my 1880s ones under my Regency dresses! (and I just feel the URGENT  need to point out here that I’m wearing a bra, camisole, knickers, tap pants, and a slip under the chemise, so any  weird shadows in the photo are  JUST weird shadows!) It’s entirely hand sewn, in a lightweight (not quite handkerchief weight) linen I picked up at Fabric-a-Brac for $5. The chemise is  classic fabric-saving geometric construction: one rectangle for the body, little rectangles for the sleeves, the extra fabric cut into long triangles to add width to the chemise, and square gussets under the arms to help with movement. All the seams are …

A simple shift for Ninon

Published by The Dreamstress

In order to give myself a break from the endless eyelets, I whipped up a shift to go under Ninon’s dress. Unlike the rest of the dress, I can’t claim historical accuracy with the shift. I couldn’t find enough resources on 17th century undergarments to feel that I could draft a pattern and construct a shift that would be accurate so I figured why bother with all the handsewing and expensive linen and other nitpicky details that go with accuracy? So my shift is cotton. (*gasp*) And almost entirely machine sewn.  (*double gasp*) So, no, it’s not accurate, but I did try my best to do the proper research. My pattern is a mash of the two 17th c shift/chemise patterns I could find: the 1660s (but very old-fashioned for that date, so more like 1600) Catherine of Braganza shift in Patterns of Fashion 4, and a ca. 1700 shift depicted in Willet and Cunnington’s ‘The History of Underclothes’; as well as the standard 18th century shift pattern. I used the full sleeves and small …