Jane Austen Goes to Ikea – Slow Progress

Slow progress on this 1790s gown, but it’ll {eventually} come together in time for JA Fest in July.

Jane Austen Festival in Louisville, Kentucky, is 10 weeks away and I got nothin’.

I’ve got a part of a thing. It’s a thing in progress, but with a grand total of, like, 5 sewing hours per week, I need to pull it together!

The nice thing about 1790s gowns is that they go together relatively quickly. I have all my pieces ready to assemble, at least. I just have to…assemble them.

The bodice is assembled, awaiting the front treatment (gathered pieces), skirt, and sleeves.

The skirt is seamed, shaped, and hemmed, it’s just not whipped to the bodice yet. The bodice front treatment is patterned, cut, and the drawstrings applied; the sleeves are patterned, seamed, and ready to be set in. There’s probably one good day’s worth of work in this only, which is comforting.

Draping the bodice front treatment. Something I love about 1790s bodices is you can just apply any design to the front that you like – gathered, bib front, surplice, etc.

Prepping the bodice front treatment for the drawstrings – all edges basted.

Carefully hemming the neckline edge up over the drawstring.

Then a quick petticoat, and thankfully we have a great many accessories already hanging around (chemisettes, caps, reticules, shoes), so that’ll be that.

It just feels so… slow! My goal is to finish this up this weekend, then. It’s a good goal. Let’s see if it happens (lol.)