Red Sacque Gown

This gown has been about 4 years in the making, and I am so glad it’s finally done!

I started it so long ago that I’m not sure where exactly all the construction pictures I took of it went.  It is fairly straightforward sacque construction, with a fitted back lining which the gown back drapes over, and a stomacher front, making it suitable for the 1760’s-1770’s or so.  I borrowed Katherine from the Fashionable Past’s idea to hide lacing under the robings to secure the gown a bit better than pinning it.  I had planned to wear the gown for an early December event last year, but I realized last minute that there was no way it would work.  I had gained about 40-50 pounds since I made the pattern for this dress four years ago and several others that no longer fit as well. In this “before” picture, you can see the problems I had. (Also I apologize for the *horrible* bathroom selfie format of these pictures! I try to get better pictures of the finished product but in-process is harder to do.)

So the first fix I did was to make new stays, which helped the situation immensely.  I am going to post about these soon, but am currently wearing them unfinished because I wanted to move on to making some gowns.


(…I did warn you! Maybe I will remember to clean the counter off next time!)
Then I began making the sacque more wearable.  I added robings on either side of the bodice, covering up the lacing holes and making the stomacher opening narrower, as it had been much too wide before adding them.  Then I started adding trim.  I did 4-inch wide self-fabric strips on the stomacher arranged in a bow shape, and on either side of the skirt opening I did 6-inch wide poufs. I thought about padding out the trim, but they held up all right without padding for now. I sewed all the poufs on from the outside using a spaced backstitch, which felt like it took forever, but it took only about 6-8 hours, sped up by Netflix watching and audiobooks.

Here is the finished gown!

I wish I always had huge historical fireplaces as the backdrop for my photos 🙂

I was worried when I first started this gown that the back pleats had too little fabric and weren’t full enough, but it worked out! I should wear more skirt supports for sure, maybe I can make some small panniers before the next wearing.

These are the hard to see poufs on the skirt fronts. I may outline them with a darker red trim someday so they stand out more.

I’m really proud of my stomacher trim! This was the first time I have ever worn a stomacher fronted gown, and it worked out perfectly! I forgot my lacing string for the hidden lacing, so I ended up pinning the robings to the stomacher (which I didn’t intend on doing) and it held up very well, with no wardrobe malfunctions at all!

Some final thoughts: The gown turned out beautifully and wore very well. With that said, I would highly recommend not using upholstery weight cotton to make a sacque or any nicer gown with, as the material is very hard to see with if multiple layers are involved. Additionally, heavy cotton is not the most accurate choice for a fine gown, which current me knows a lot better than younger me who spent 14 dollars a yard on this fabric in 2011. *sigh* Live and learn, I guess. But that’s not going to stop me from wearing this gown to all fancier occasions where I may need some of the pluses of cotton like washability, breathability, etc. I’m just glad I was able to finally get this gown done and wear it!

I’ll leave you with some more pictures of the event where I wore the gown and my hairstyle.

My husband and mother-in-law. She wore a gown I made in about 2012 or so, a silk petticoat I remodeled from a skirt from Goodwill, and a Larkin and Smith cap with ribbon to match.

I wore my hair in a high pouf with the aid of some rats I made from my own hair (rats being pads made from hair, kind of like a historical bump-it). I am going to buy some pomade and powder and experiment with real 18th century hair styling soon, so stay tuned for that!

For some reason, one strand kept wanting to fall over, so I had to keep running to the bathroom and fixing it.

I wore another Larkin & Smith cap, and I love how it turned my simple pouf into an elegant hairstyle! I will also do a review of these caps soon!

Thanks for reading!
Rebecca