Evenstar Designs

After watching a Facebook live stream of the milliner's at Colonial Williamsburg making a Robe a la Francaise in a day, I was inspired to make a pet en l'air . What is a pet en l'air ? Glad you asked. A pet en l'air is similar to a Robe a la Francaise , but it is shorter. I guess you could call it the 18th century "mini dress".  Pet en l'airs were considered "undress" (   deshabille in French) or in other words, casual attire . One thing I noticed that the mantua makers in CW did was that they started the gown in the front, and worked backwards, whic h makes sense. (I've had great difficulties in the past getting a gown to fit properly in the front because I had already finished the back and sides.) So I draped the pleats in the back, basted them in place, then un-basted them a few days later because I didn't like the way they looked, and then re-basted them. Story of my life. Next I made the stomacher. It attaches with hooks and eyes ...

I've pinned some trim on the edges, and finished the stomacher. I'm super happy with the fit of this dress! Here are some pictures: The stomacher Look how smooth the sides are! So super happy about that!!! Now I just need to sew the trim on, add the sleeve ruffles, hem the petticoat...

Here is another example of how I start one project before finishing another... but when I went to a thrift store and found some awesome fabric, I just had to jump headfirst into a new project. The store was having a sale on oblong table clothes, so I bought two matching ones for $3. I also found 5+ yards of raw silk for $6, so with just $9, I had enough fabric to make a francaise. I used the silk for the petticoat, and the table clothes for the francaise. I sewed it entirely by hand. This would be the first time I've worked with silk ... can you tell I enjoyed it? To make the petticoat, I cut four panels that where roughly 38"X46", and sewed them together. Two opposite panels make the front, and the other two make the sides. I pleated the front and back panels and sewed bias tape on the top to close them. For the sides, I made a casing and and used ribbon to gather the fullness around the hips. The petticoat was so big, it could be used as a...

So I made this prototype of a robe a la francaise... My facial expressions are kinda weird... sorry about that. I decided that in the real thing, I'll make the side pleats deeper, and close it with hooks and eyes or laces instead of pins. That's just my personal preference. Here are the pictures! The cut out bodice: The back: Adding the laces for adjustability: The pinning in the front: Trim on the top Pleats on the side skirt Pleats on the petticoat: