Star princess meets Regency aesthetics. Royalty core meets
cottage core. This Regency Star Sequin Tulle Overdress is a perfect blend of
the two, with minimal sewing too!
I’ve been planning on making a new Regency wardrobe for a
few years now *stares at the silk in my stash I bought 4 years ago* from the
inside out starting with a shift and stays, but of course, the shiny sparkly
projects seem to catch my attention faster.
When Vivien of Fresh
Frippery was destashing some star sequined tulle, I bought the yardage like
a magpie, figuring I would use it to 1) overcome my fear of sewing with
sequined fabric and 2) be sparkly in some era or world.
Fast forward a month or so, my local costuming guild
announced that our Bridgerton-themed picnic would be happening and I knew this
would be the perfect opportunity to update my existing Regency wardrobe and use
this new-to-me fabric. I was inspired by the sheer overdress with metallic
embroidery Emma wears to the first ball in the 2020 film adaption designed by Alexandra Byrne and the over
the top sparkliness of all the costumes in Bridgerton designed by Ellen Mirojnick.
Working with sequined and patterned fabric posed a fun
challenge for me. I’m used to mostly solids and non-directional fabrics that
allow me easily maximize fabric utilization. I was determined to do so with
this project again, so please note that depending on what fabric you use, you
may want to adapt this tutorial slightly.
My fabric was 2 yards 17” long and 62” wide, but the cut
edges were uneven and the two selvage edges had about 6 inches of plain tulle.
After referencing a few books with patterns and notes on extants, I decided I
would drape on a dress form, rather than flat pattern this piece. You don’t
need a dress form as I’ll share my rough pattern and tips to fit on yourself.
If you’re making this to wear over a Regency dress, then you should make the
dress first so that you can use that as a fit guide. Or your stays, so you know
where your underbust/empire waist line is.
Since I’ve only ever made one Regency dress before, I
automatically started draping the fabric lengthwise as a separate skirt and
bodice, but then realized I might not have enough fabric that way. So I
switched the fabric orientation such that the width ran the length of my body.
Remember the plain tulle? I would use that to my advantage for the shoulder
seams so I wouldn’t have to worry about sequins there.
I played around with the draping, pleating, pinning for a
while and what I eventually landed on was this. Front: shoulder pleats angled
down and in towards the center of the bust into pleats at the empire waist
line. Smooth the fabric around the sides towards the back. Back: should pleats
(total width should match the front shoulder pleats) angled down and in towards
the center of the back, with pleats at the empire waist line.
If you’re working with a dress form, then have your Regency
dress and stays on there so you can use that as a guide for where your
underbust pleats should go and how wide your shoulder pleats are in relation do
your dress. If you don’t have a dress form, then you’ll want to hold up the
overdress against your body in stays to check the underbust alignment. Don’t
worry too much about making the pleats match perfectly, you’re going for an
organic, Grecian revival look of the Regency.
TIP: To try and stay somewhat even with my fabric usage, I
folded the fabric in half at the back and pinned the center in place so I would
have an even amount of fabric to work with on either side.
Again, I draped this, but it should roughly flat pattern
into this.
Variation options: gather instead of pleat, especially if
you have fabric with a softer drape. My tulle, while not stiff, wasn’t a soft
drape, so I chose to pleat.
Once you’re happy with your shoulder and waist line pleats,
it’s time to sew!
Take a length of ribbon or tape longer than your underbust
and pin it at the underbust/Empire waistline where all your pleats are. I used
the Dual Feed Foot (walking foot) on my Janome Skyline S9 with a straight
stitch to attach the ribbon. This was my first time sewing with sequins and
I’ve heard all sorts of stories about how finnicky it can be to work with and
to remove sequins at seams. Since this wasn’t a seam, I didn’t want to remove
sequins in a line across my dress. I started sewing slowly to make sure my
needle would go through the sequins (if you have extra fabric, do a test!). My
Skyline S9 sewed through the sequins like a breeze. Do remember to replace your
sewing needle if yours is older.
Variation options: I sewed a neutral/almost matching color ribbon
to the inside of my dress so that I would more easily cover it with other
ribbons on the outside in the future to switch up my look. If you have don’t
plan to switch up your ribbon, then you can sew it on the outside.
The armscyes. With my overdress on the dress form and my
dress underneath, I tuck the dress sleeves in so the tulle lays relatively
smooth and flat on both sides. The shoulder seams are roughly pinned together
right now. Now I cut into the tulle starting at the top of the shoulder seam
and follow the armscye of my dress but a little wider. That’s it. If you’re
doing this without a dress form, cut a slit down the middle of what would be
the armscye so you can slip your arm through. With the overdress on, use
something (pins, water soluble marker etc) to mark where the armscye of your
dress is on the overdress. Take it off and cut out the armscye.
At this point, if the front edges of your overdress aren’t
to your liking, now is the time to adjust or trim before sewing the shoulders
down. My fabric came with some jagged edges so I used a rotary cutter and
smoothed them out.
Next, you’ll want to sew the shoulder pleats down on all
four sides. This will secure the pleats and allow you to remove the pins and
check the shoulder seam before sewing that together. I used the Dual Feed Foot
again for this.
Fit the shoulders. Remember, this overdress is a drapey fit,
so it doesn’t have to be perfect. If you’re using a dress form, put the
overdress on inside out, pull the shoulder seams together so that the empire
waist line aligns with your dress and pin the seams, right sides together. Sew
using the Dual Feed Foot. Trim the excess tulle to about ¾” from the seam. Fold
the seam towards the back and top stitch ½” from the first seam. This will keep
the tulle flat against your shoulder.
With the shoulders secured, cut away the “v” shape excess
fabric at the back. I did this with the overdress on the dress form. Then
finish the hem by cutting off excess plain tulle. If you’re doing this on
yourself, then mark an approximate hem with pins, try on the dress and look in
a mirror to check where if the pins need to move up or down. Repeat until
you’re happy, and cut away!
I had a little blank tulle space at the back so I cut out a
star sequin applique from some of the scraps and hand tacked it on, careful to
only catch the top pleats so I wouldn’t prevent the pleats from flowing.
To close the overdress, you can tie it into a bow or use a
brooch to secure the ribbons. If tying, make sure to use enough ribbon.
Here I am wearing the finished overdress with a swiss dot
cotton dress to the GBACG Bridgerton picnic. Photo credit Lori Fisher.
Sewing books referenced:
Patterns of Fashion 1
Costume in Detail
The Cut of Women's Clothes
The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking
Disclosures: This post and project are sponsored as a part of the Janome Maker program. I sewed this on the Janome Skyline S9.