I’ve wanted to own one of these for a very long time, but they’re rare. I would imagine that 90% just didn’t survive because they’re so delicate.

I’m using organdy, which was common for this kind of gown. It’s like fabric paper – easy to fold, sew and shape, but if you have to unpick some stitching…you just perforated your paper, queen.

This was such a labour, and there’s no way I would have finished it if it hadn’t been Christmas. This was my only aim for the longest break I take all year, so I had to persist. But what a slog.

Day one

I started with making a toile, because I am a GROWNUP WOMAN, and I have reluctantly accepted that it’s unavoidable.

The bodice was fairly simple to piece together and the sleeves went well because I’ve done puffed sleeves before. I did set in one of the sleeves inside-out, but that’s just par for the course.

The toile turned out satisfyingly nice, so I’ll probably do some finishing on it in the future so it’s wearable.

Day two

I’m now trying to do everything more tidily, pressing darts down the same way and making the collar my own way.

I took the collar off and redid it after this because it was uneven and not close enough together at the front. I then bound the neckband with cute wavy bias tape for structure.

Sleeves went well – didn’t sew one inside-out unlike yesterday. But THAT’S WHY WE MAKE A TOILE HONOR.

I’m now up to the point I got to on the toile, so tomorrow I’ll bind the hem, possibly by hand. Then it’s just deciding wtf to do about fastenings at the back. I found some incredible vintage frosted glass diamante buttons (in two sizes, from different sellers!) but the vintage button loop tape I have is too small for one of the sizes so I’m going to have to mix the litt’luns with another kind of button.

Trying to find enough matching buttons among my many thousands was one of the more frustrating elements of making this damned dress.

Day three

Second day working on the real version, but we’ve been doing like two-hour sessions rather than my usual entranced eight because I have enough days.

I bound the hem of the bodice after a failed practice on my toile. The difficulty was binding around a point, when I’d never even successfully bound around a 90° corner. My brain does not compute stuff that is backwards or inside-out? I don’t have 3D visualisation skills or something. However, I got it the second time (possibly by accident) and I love it. So pointy, so neat. Great skill acquired. Ish.

Next, I unpicked the elastic button loop trim I’d done on the toile because this fabric isn’t strong enough to support elastic without wrinkling. I experimented with my vintage button loop trim and loooooved how it looked. It’s so great, I’m going to use it as-is on my second version even though I have nowhere near that many buttons. Of course, it would look sick with buttons the whole way down the back, but we’re working within the art of the possible here. I’m not a time traveller or a millionaire.

I have to say, at this point having the toile to try each step as I went was very handy. Practising things right before doing it for real totally works for my brain, rather than making the pattern all the way through and then having to remember for the next go.

Day four

The morning was for finishing the bodice with the button loop trim and closing the binding. Fiddly as HECK, my lord. And still buttons to do.

In the afternoon, I finally got to the skirt. I pretty much freewheeled this because it’s a simple shape and I wanted to make it as a separate rather than attaching it to the bodice, so I also decided that I would make up a waistband and fastenings.

Putting the actual skirt together was cake. Then began the bloody seams.

I abided by the seam allowance for the skirt so I could do a proper French seam with no raw edges, which I should have done for the bodice but I needed a smaller seam allowance for fit. The French seams, shit though mine are, make the characteristic lines in the skirt that these gowns have. It’s like looking at an x-ray or a ghost. I die.

I screwed up one seam by being too slapdash and catching the fabric (yes, you apparently do need to press seams before sewing them down ffs) but it ironed out OK, which is a blessing of organdy. I was so done by that point. I spent probably two hours just on the skirt because the VOLUME of fabric made everything loooong.

Day five

God, I’m sick of this skirt. I put in a dart each side at the front and then gently gathered the back for soft folds.

I made a waistband and attached that, finishing the opening of the skirt at the same time. I had a rejected first-pass waistband so I bound that with the wavy binding and attached it to a vintage mother-of-pearl buckle to make a wee belt.

I literally had no more time because I’m out of holiday, so it was buttons and poppers in front of Traitors this evening to get it over the line. For such a spare pattern, this was probably the biggest project I’ve ever done. I maybe could have done it in three longer days but I knew I’d feel like my holiday had disappeared in a haze if I did.

The main thing is: I now know this pattern by heart because there were no instructions. It makes it so much easier for me to feel MY way, so the steps make sense to me and I can remember them. I can make a blouse off the top of my head! I’ll definitely do another before long.

The skirt…I don’t need to make again. No thank you.