This is the Comfort Gown from Margo Anderson’s patterns. I can’t speak highly enough of those patterns. They are completely fabulous. I wear this gown way too much, but like the title says, it is totally comfy. Also, I love my hat. I made this dress in February 2008. If you look closely in the pictures, you can see evidence of rare Georgia snowfall.
This is my Navy kirtle. I am wearing my high necked chemise from the Tudor Tailor underneath. I made the chemise to go with my English fitted gown.
This is the back of the kirtle. You can see all the eyelets.
The Kirtle is made of navy linen and has about a million hand sewn eyelets on the shoulders and back. This was my first attempt at doing hand made eyelets, but after this project, I’m a pro. The trim is just some random gold trim they sell at Joann’s. To be more accurate, I should have made the front of the dress a fancier pattern than the back, but I wanted to be able to wear the kirtle by itself while working at events. Also, I had a ton of navy linen.
Here is the gown. I got this fabric at a warehouse sale on impulse. I have no idea what it is made of, but I love it.
This pattern called for five yards of fabric and I only had four so I had to add a seam up the back. The seam did allow me to make a split in the back bottom and add trim.
The hat is Margo's flat cap and caul. I added all the trim before sewing the cap together. I love the big feather. My friend Odette was able to procure some lovely freshwater pearls for me which I sewed on. Real pearls on my hat make me feel extra luxurious!
Here is a closer picture of the trim on the caul. I probably wear this way too much, but I love it and it matches practically all of my garb.
You can't see it well, but I used the trim pattern from Janet Arnold's patterns of Fashion that was on the loose gown. (You can also see how I was a bit short on fabric and the pattern was not able to meet in the back, le sigh)