19 Years Old and a Birthday Dress

For the first time in my life, I will be celebrating a birthday away from home. Luckily, I'll be celebrating it in Colonial Williamsburg.

I've wanted a new dress for a while now (let's be honest, I always want a new dress), and I've had my eye on the polonaise gown pattern from Mill Farm Patterns. Right before Christmas break, I bought it from Colonial Williamsburg, and decided to use the fabric that I had bought over Thanksgiving to make the dress. There were only four pattern pieces, but it still seemed really daunting - the instructions didn't seem too clear when I initially read them, and I was really nervous about not having enough fabric. I measured out the fabric I had bought, and discovered that I only had enough for the skirt. While this seemed awful, I now realize it was a blessing. My biggest complaint about my green gown is that it is too busy with a big pattern too close to my face. Had I made the entire dress out of this fabric, this one would have turned out the same. However, I remembered that I had bought a few yards of red cotton when it was on sale a while ago, and was thrilled to discover that I had more than enough to make a bodice. It matched the other fabric really well, and so all systems were go.

I started out sewing the lining, prepared to go through the horror that is resizing a pattern. However, it fit perfectly! The woman who sold me the pattern told me to go up a size, because everyone said that gave them the perfect fit, and it was definitely true in my case!

After sewing the lining, I sewed the bodice and added the boning to the lining. I guess I'm getting pretty good at working with boning, because I was able to cut, round off, and sew in all twelve pieces in an hour. I used plastic boning in a fabric casing for this, same as I did for my corset. I have found this to be the least expensive and most readily available type of boning, so while it's not 100% accurate, it is affordable and works very well!

I sewed the sleeves to the bodice after that, and I'm confident that the left sleeve is the best example of my hand-stitching in existence.

I ended the day by sewing the skirt, and getting to make a ton of pleats. For me, there is just something so lovely about seeing a row of pleats, and it's also very calming for me to sew pleats.

The next day, I was ready to make the petticoat and the hip pads. I initially contemplated using the rest of the red cotton for the petticoat, but I knew it wouldn't be that full if I did, and I also wanted something lighter. Luckily, I had purchased a lot of this gorgeous white embroidered fabric at 90% off during the summer, and so I quickly made a petticoat with a placket on each side out of that.

Finally, I made the hip pads. The tutorial that came with the gown pattern was very helpful, and they add just the right amount of lift to the skirts on the side.


I am extremely proud of this dress, and I can't wait to wear it in Colonial Williamsburg on my birthday! (My birthday falls on a Friday this year, and my classes end at eleven, so I'll have plenty of time to enjoy CW!) For anyone considering sewing a colonial gown, this is the dress for you! The pattern is wonderful, the dress turns out well, it's pretty simple, and it was one of the most enjoyable things that I have ever sewn. Happy stitching! :)

*"But Stacy!" you cry, "How do I make the dress stay closed??" I didn't include the answer in the main part of this post, because there isn't one easy answer. The pattern suggests using hooks and eyes. I initially sewed on hooks, and then tried to use thread for the eyes, just as can be seen in many period garments. However, I didn't like the way it looked when I was wearing it. So, I switched to metal eyes, and things got a bit better. I talked to an extremely nice woman at the Wythe House, and she said that I am not the only one to have this sort of problem, so that was reassuring. As many know, straight pins are also a common method of fastening historical clothing. However, after one memorable day in which I started the morning with a straight pin falling down my stays and ended up losing three pins by the evening, I have not been thrilled with having to use pins in order to keep my clothes on. I am still searching for a better (historical) method, and I will let you know if I find one!