The Finish of Project Victorian Nightie

By lizhaywood | October 20, 2026 |

The Victorian Nightie project has finished on a high. Teen declares it the best nightie yet!

Teen requested a Victorian nightie with all the trimmings. Read about early thoughts here. I did a first sample which had issues, then the issues got resolved last week with a finished nightie sewn from stash fabric.

During the week I sewed the “real” nightie from pale blue cotton lawn from Potter & Co. It’s full length but has short sleeves. I think the fabric is one of the big reasons Teen likes it – it’s fine and very soft. She wore it last night and still has it on now.

I’d hoped to use the Stoppax Hemstitching Fork to add faggotting detail on the sleeves and hem, however I broke two machine needles on a 10cm sample which made me change my mind. Based on that average I just didn’t have enough needles!

But I’d already added extra length to the sleeves and body to allow for it, so instead I made tucks, bringing the total tuck count from 26 up to 35. I think the sleeve tucks could have been higher, but it’s too late now and I can live with it.

As I’m the same size-ish as Teen, I modeled it for this blog post. I stood out in the front paddock, in a nightie, acknowledging friendly toots from neighbours driving past who are probably used to seeing stuff like this.

I was tempted to accessorize with a candle holder, teddy bear and night cap, but was strong and resisted!

Teen reckoned the nightie looked OK worn back to front, so I tried it. Not bad, if you hadn’t already seen the front.


The pattern for this nightie was adapted from Creative Dressing by Kaori O’Connor.

If you have this book and are planning to make the nightie, below is a PDF of the pattern I used. I made some significant changes around the neckline and some other small ones.

Victorian nightie Liz Pattern FINAL.PCDownload

If you don’t have the book but are familiar with sewing shirt/blouse type garments, you could probably make one with this pattern. It fits a 36″ bust.

The book’s front placket instructions are a little sketchy, and complicated with the lace. Here’s some pics of mine.

1. Fuse half the plackets, and iron them in half longways.
Sew the lace onto the fused side, right sides together, and stop the lace 1cm from the bottom raw edge.
2. Press the seam towards the placket.
3. On the front, stay-stitch at the end of the slit, 2cm wide at the bottom, and snip exactly into the corners. Note the bottom of the stay-stitching is level with the bottom of the lace.
4. Sew the un-interfaced edge of each placket to each edge of the front’s slit. Put the right side of the placket to the wrong side of the front. Stitch exactly to the corner of the stay-stitching. The end of the placket should extend 1cm past the stay-stitching.
Bring the lace side over to the front and stitch-in-the-ditch between the lace and placket.
5. Sit the plackets on top of each other, tucking the ends inside. On the inside, stitch the little triangle at the bottom of the slit onto the plackets (pin first, check the right side, then sew).
On the right side, stitch a box with an X in it at the bottom of the placket.

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