A 1780s Portrait Dress for Annie

 Annie and I have been eyeing Sensibility's Portrait Dress for a while now (I've actually been eyeing it for years). 

I finally decided to make a wearable muslin of it in a thrifted yellow floral fabric.  We chose to fully line it with a white cotton sheet, and use the white cotton for the sleeve ruffles and the sash. 

I've made a few dresses in my day, but I was a little confused at times with this pattern.  I also made a few minor, yet sloppy, errors.  On the whole, however, I was very pleased with it! My favorite thing?  The fully-lined construction which hid all inside seams (except for the armscye). This makes it so comfortable! And it feels very *high quality* even though it's simply made from thrifted materials. 

Annie is ten and a half years old, but quite slim.  After measuring her, I cut out a size 8, but cut the skirt length to fit size 10. It was just right. 

My goal was to have the dress finished in time to wear to Williamsburg, for obvious reasons! It's as close to a colonial style as we could probably get.  She loved wearing this "around town." I wish I could show you her face--she's so sweet.  So happy! 

The dress fastens with hook-and-eyes, which set my teeth on edge sewing them.  Annie and I spent no small amount of time in Tarpley, Thompson, and Company (the clothing store in Colonial Williamsburg), obsessing over the details of dress construction.  We decided to make the Portrait Dress again, but this time: *make a shift to wear underneath *fasten with ribbon ties (the girls' dresses in the shop were fastened this way!)  *create an underskirt  *create slits in the side seams for pockets *sew pockets (back in the day, the pockets were independent of the dress--you just tie a band around your waist with your "pockets" hanging down, and reach through your dress to access them)

Don't look too closely--there's a bit of sloppy construction here.  And the sash turned out way too short! But no matter.  She's a happy girl. 

I am going to make another iteration of this dress using fabric that I have in my stash, and then we will cut into the 3 yards of reproduction fabric we purchased at the shop in Williamsburg. Annie chose it: blue and white floral.  We also purchased a long matching blue sash.  I will make the back ties out of the floral fabric, so they blend in with the dress, and the ruffles on the sleeves will also be out of the dress fabric.  Oh!  It will be a delight to behold. 

I love Annie at this age: so refreshingly confident in what she loves, so un-self-conscious in her enthusiasms, so dear.  

Many, many thanks to Jennie Chancey (the owner/designer of Sensibility patterns) for making beautiful historical sewing so accessible, and making my little Annie's vision come to life! Maybe her mother needs an Edwardian walking skirt.....