A Civil War Tea Gown

And here's the finished project! This was a fun sewing project. The dress went together very quickly, partly because I just used this pattern on the purple dress, so I knew what I was doing. I made a few modifications - instead of tabs on the skirt, I made a looped overskirt; I added a modesty chemisette to the neckline; I did away with the skirt pattern altogether, and simply made a skirt of large panels of material, and pleated it into the waistband; and, something I always to do dresses like this, I fully lined the bodice, to hide all the raw edges. I know it's not quite so historically accurate, but I hate leaving raw edges showing. The material I used - a light cotton lawn - was perfect for this pattern, although, because it was so sheer, I ended up doing an underlining of the blue material for most of it. The bonnet was a challenge. For one thing, I couldn't get ahold of any buckram - the correct stiffening material, so I used some really stiff interfacing instead. It worked, but it made it a little more difficult. I had to hand-sew almost everything on the bonnet, so it ended up taking me nearly as long to make the bonnet as it took me to make the dress! The reticule was a last-minute addition, I just threw it together from some scraps, but I think it turned out really cute! All in all, this outfit is one of my favorites that I've made so far!