Threaded Bliss

Chocolate Brown Linen Round Gown,

1775-1780

On Palace Green after a long, hot day of cooking
and messing about in camp.

Prelude to Victory, Williamsburg, October 2012.

This gown was started at the same time that I started my peachy-pink linen gown and Ashley's tobacco-brown linen round gown (ahem...December of 2010...), and it suffered the same fate as Ashley's gown, getting buried - almost finished - in the basket of projects, until we dug both out and finished them up for Rock Ford in June.  So here, much delayed but nonetheless finished, is the long-awaited gown!

The pattern: Draped by me.

Front of the gown.

Prelude to Victory, Williamsburg, October 2012.

Construction details: This gown is entirely hand-sewn using the construction techniques detailed in multiple earlier posts, so I won't bore you with those details again!  The style is identical to that of Ashley's brown round gown, and the cut very similar to my peachy-pink linen gown, as they were all made concurrently.  The innards look exactly like those of Ashley's round gown, so I won't include any interior shots here.  If there's something you're really like to see, though, just let me know and I'd be happy to add it.

The only real difference between those other gowns and this one is that because of the limited amount of fabric I had (only 3 1/2 yards), I ended up piecing some bits here and there with this gown.  One of the sleeves, for instance, is actually made of three separate pieces.  But that just adds to my camp-following character, so I was actually quite pleased that the fabric forced me to get a bit creative!

Back of the gown.

Prelude to Victory, Williamsburg, October 2012.

The fabric: A chocolate brown medium-weight linen from, of all places, Joann, back when they actually stocked 100% linen.  I only bought 3 1/2 yards of it to add to the stash, not really thinking what I'd actually want to make out of it.  When found myself in need of new gowns for camp wear, I pulled it out and decided to see what it could do!

Finishing the look: I wore this gown (finally!) for the first time at Rock Ford Plantation in June.  Being a busy and high-traffic event, we didn't get a chance to take too many pictures during the day, so the only shots I have of it are when I was preparing supper (yes, that is kind of funny...the picture says it all...!  But you have to give me just a little credit because I didn't burn anything!).

Cooking supper...yes, really...
Rock Ford Plantation, June 2012.

The gown is worn over my old Diderot stays, a linen shift, and a linen underpetticoat.  I accessorized it with a hat trimmed with forest green silk ribbons (missing in the picture, sorry!), and a red printed neck handkerchief, following the inspiration of the colors in one of my favorite prints from 1764:

A Description of a City Shower, Edward Penny, 1764.

Image linked from the Museum of London.

When I brought the gown out for wear again during Prelude to Victory a couple of months ago, I opted to go with the red handkerchief again, and added a blue checked apron to complete the look, echoing the color of the quilted petticoat in the image (see the "header" picture above).

Additional pictures of this project can be found in its flickr set here.