Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The "Patriot" Polonaise

The "Patriot" Polonaise

I originally made this gown years ago, when The Patriot movie first came out. It was definitely the costume highlight of the movie for me. ^^ I made the gown before I really had any idea of how to make a gown historically accurate.
I decided to drag the gown out of storage and remake it. I took apart the entire polonaise, use the bodice pieces to cut out some canvas interlining, and then reassembled everything. I was absolutely astonished to find how much fabric I had put into the skirt...four panels of 45" wide fabric. O.O I had used stacked pleats the first time around to get the entire thing on to the bodice waist, but this time I went with cartridge pleating. A bit time consuming, but so worth the effort! I love the look it gives the skirt. :D
The underskirt was a pretty straightforward remake...I just took the waistband off, took out the gathering stitch, and then remade the waistline so it would be period correct, using Katherine's instructions and some wide double-fold bias tape I had on hand. I used the removed waistband to create the cuffs for the sleeves. All the lace and gold trim were from my fabric stash. ^^

4 comments:

  1. Lovely! I was directed to your site from facebook about your awesome garden hose panniers! Can you tell me where I can find a hat like this?

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  2. I found mine at a local Ren Faire, Scarborough Faire. I don't remember the vendor name, though, it was quite a while ago. :-/ Apparently, you can make these hats out of round straw placemats! I'm going to fiddle with it and see how it turns out. :)

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  3. I've always thought about just taking apart premade hats and stitching my own.
    Placemats.. what a great idea, thanks! Do let me know if you give it a try!

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  4. Will do! I'll probably do a post about it whenever I try it, whether it's an amazing triumph or an epic fail. lol

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