Folkwear #215

[MyLadyDedlock]

www.folkwear.com/215.html

Has anyone used this pattern? If so, what did you think?
If this review is somewhere else on the board, my apologies, and could you point me in the right direction? Thank you much!

[dawnluckham]

Yes! I use this pattern fairly often and I find it to be a really nice pattern. It's quite accurate and is VERY similar to a few extent gowns I've seen. The instructions are good and the pattern well drafted. Bonus! This dress looks good on almost everyone.

Wear a chemisette with it for day wear. The neckline is quite low.

[missmardi]

This is the pattern I used for my daughter's dress.

I found it quite simple to work with. I was also impressed to see that the bodice was done both in regular (a-b) and full (c-d) cup. I was also able to use it for my sons girlfriend. They measure the same, but with different cup sizes. I also found that the large was flexible enough to fit a friend of mine due to the gathering on ribbons. She and I both measure about a size larger than my pattern, but it did not look wrong. It still had the gathers, just not as full. If I get a picture of her in her dress, I will post it.

[MyLadyDedlock]

Thanks for the info! Do you find the train to be difficult to wear? I'd think it was impractible, but it looks like there is an option for no train - and your picture (missmardi) looks like it does not have the train. I just might try this one next!

[dawnluckham]

You're right. Trains are extremely impractical. They get filthy and they get stained.

The pattern offers three length options. One is a modern street length dress at just below the knee, the second option is the one with the train and, finally, the length that is the option I most often use is the floor length - no train.

[Mme de Beaufort]

Not ot mention that when you're dancing, you and others will constantly step on it, and I found myself shutting it in doors and finding my escape restricted various times during the ball.

[missmardi]

I did not make the version with the train. This was for a couple of reasons. The first is that we wear them for war of 1812 reenactmants, and that seemed highly impractical to me in a camp setting. I also know that (as much as I love her) my daughter is somewhat flighty, and not likely to pay attention, therefore snagging or tripping over it. I don't know my sons girlfriend quite as well, but she strikes me as being very similar. They both seem to prefer not to have to worry about it either.

[MyLadyDedlock]

i wonder if one could attach buttons to the actual gown, and then sew button holes in the train to pull it up (button up) for dancing - like they do with wedding gown trains? Hmm, interesting - but I will most likely not sew a train for the reasons that were mentioned above

[Miss Credit]

It was common to attach a little loop at the end of a train which was hooked around your fingers while dancing or you could pin it up. I think buttons would look sloppy and would be a bit more difficult to hide. I do love trains but they are quite impractical. I have a hard enough time dancing in floor length gowns I couldnt even imagine trying it with a train!

[dawnluckham]

Jane Austen mentions Catherine Moreland and her friend Isabella Thorpe “pinning” their trains for a ball.

Remember, trains were only popular for a few years past 1800. The fashion journals by 1804 were advising “no trains for morning or day”. And from there, within a few years, they faded from popularity even for evening.

Women, even then, recognized the uselessness of trains.

[MyLadyDedlock]

Hmmm, very interesting information, and loops to hold train with fingers, that's pretty neat . . I love buttons, especially beautiful ones, but they would have to really fit with the gown, or be placed in the ideal position to work I think