New Regency Gown!! :-D

First of all, I'd like to give praise to the Lord for the beautiful day He has given us. Not only was the weather beautiful-- rain in the morning, sun in the afternoon, now a thunderstorm approaching-- but also He has given me His presence and His promises, His love and His faithfulness. Just to know Jesus is enough to make any day-- even the darkest day-- beautiful.

One of the things I am grateful for is that He allowed me to finish my second Regency gown! I love it, even better than my blue one! Because....

It's all white! I LOVE white and have always wanted an all-white dress. In the pictures below I am wearing the blue sash that goes with my blue Regency gown, but technically it is all-white. I am planning on making sashes in a variety of colours to wear according to my mood. ;-)

I made this dress a little bit differently than the last one. One of my alterations was that I lengthened the bodice one inch. I didn't like how the last one had such a high waistline. The one inch made a nice difference and it gives the appearance of the late 1790's, early 1800's style more than the very high empire waistlines of the teens. Another feature that I altered started as an idea that I got watching "Sense and Sensibility" (Emma Thompson) the other day with the Ring girls. The costumes in that film were designed to reflect the late 90's, which is when Jane Austen would have written it. I noticed that many of the sleeves were 3/4 (the long sleeves that come down almost past the wrist are a feature of the early teens). Here is a screen still from the film. Note the 3/4 sleeves.

For my dress I cut down the sleeve-length to make them 3/4. Still a little longer than I'd like, but it was hard to judge by holding the pattern piece up to my arm.

One more alteration-- actually, it wasn't much of an alteration, really. With my blue dress (and this one) I had a hard time with the lacing. It's supposed to lace at the top and at the bottom, but then it gapes terribly. For my blue dress I used hook-and-eyes, and for this one I was going to, but only had one hook-and-eye left. :-/ So I decided to try lacing it! All I did was sewing the string through at intervals. What do you think? It doesn't gape, but do you think it might pucker too much?

Well, now you know all about my white regency gown! Next projects in mind?

• Spencer jacket or pelisse
• Mid-1800's chemise and corset
• Wives and Daughters/Romantic era dress
• Bleak House/1850's dress
• 1950's jumper
• some jumpers and pantaloons for some little girls
• complete Anne of Green Gables ensemble for Amanda (when she has the money to buy the material herself... :-P )

Now, question for my friends from church:

Should I wear this to church on Sunday? I would like to wear it places, and since it's white, it will be cooler, but do you think it might draw to much attention... being all white, and of an "exotic" style? Please give me your honest opinion! I don't want to make a fool of myself. ;-)

To God be the glory! :-)