Making a Victorian Nightie – But Can I do it Zero Waste?
Teen has requested a Victorian nightie, with all the trimmings.
We happen to live in a Victorian-era house, so she’ll fit in nicely with the architecture 🙂
Of course, a new project involves much fun planning: choosing fabric and trims, creating a Pinterest board, and looking through my not insignificant collection of books and patterns.
There was a bit of a Victorian clothes revival in the 1970s and 1980s (I think for various reasons: bicentennials in Australia and US, Little House on the Prairie/Picnic at Hanging Rock/BBC period costume dramas, romantic/bohemian/rural aesthetics vibe, Laura Ashley, etc) and there’s sewing resources from that time too.
Some of those original Victorian nighties sure didn’t skimp on the trimmings. Flounces! Lace! Tucks! Panels!
I found a Victorian nightgown pattern in Kaori O’Connor‘s Creative Dressing (“the unique collection of top designer looks that you can make yourself”, 1980 Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd), and thought it would make a good starting point. I bought this book many years ago at a secondhand place. It’s a ripper of a book. It’s a collection of patterns by different fashion designers – sewing, hand knitting and machine knitting.
The Victorian nightie pattern is only in one size (as are all the patterns in the book) but fortunately it’s Teen’s size.
The pattern is printed on a grid where you enlarge it.
The cutting layout is reasonably low-waste, as the body and sleeves fit across the width of the fabric.
The yoke could, I think, be switched around a bit, perhaps like Danielle Elsener’s shirt in Sewing Without Scraps, where the yoke sits between the back and front.
The designer of this pattern is Sara Fermi. I think this is her obituary.
There isn’t much about her online but her garments sometimes turn up on Ebay. She designed for Neiman Marcus at some point.
We didn’t have any suitable fabric at home. Or rather, enough suitable fabric as it takes four metres. We only had that amount in hot pink which was rejected by Teen. So I ordered some online which I hope will arrive by the end of this week, ready for weekend sewing.
Meanwhile, let me show you some of the images from this book.
There’s a very young Kaffe Fassett.
Also a very young Bruce Oldfield, with his (at the time) signature jersey dresses.
Fassett and Oldfield were the only two names I recognized.
There’s a pattern for an Edward Prince of Wales Fair Isle jumper, based on the 1925 John St. Helier Lander portrait.
Some beautiful hand and machine knitting patterns:
Antony Kwock‘s spiral sundress is the only pattern I’ve made from this book. I made it over 20 years ago, and it sparked an interest in unusual bias cutting which has never left.
At the end is a pattern for a wedding dress, by Maureen Baker who designed Princess Ann’s wedding gown. She had a long and interesting career in fashion.
Until next week!
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A fun project!
My house dates from 1984, though I haven’t (yet) found that it is an Orwellian nightmare! Maybe I should consider dressing in huge Katharine Hamnett -style slogan T-shirts to fit in…
Haha! I like the idea of dressing in the era of one’s house, although I don’t know how the original owners survived in Victorian clothes in an Aussie summer.
Hi Liz! What a cool project and the book! I knew I had to have it and have ordered it! I am not a nighty person – I turn around all night and ended up with them all twisted around me, but I love the way they look. I love reading about your adventures in patternmaking and sewing!
It remains to be seen how Teen will manage with a full-length nightie, but she thinks she will.
You will like this book – it’s full of so much interesting stuff.
You’re both impressive with your projects! Victorian nightgowns are definitely good to feel gorgeous with wearing proper clothes.
I’m wondering how comfortable it is to lie down with something so close to the neck, looking forward to see how things turn out.
Yes, I think it will feel very gorgeous to wear. Teen will be OK with the high neckline, as she can unbutton the front to be comfortable.
It does look like an amazing book. Looking forward to your nightie!
Yes, it is – it’s a wonderful snapshot of British fashion in 1980. It was fascinating looking up some of the designers. Some went on to do other non-fashion things, many have died or are very old, and some had amazing careers in fashion.
I’m a bit surprised that you didn’t go for one of the original Victorian patterns, since those were already low waste.
But then I went through the books¹ I’ve used from that period (specifically for chemises and a shirt), and the ones with nightie patterns weren’t exactly the most easy to follow, so, yeah, I can see how a victorian revival pattern would be so much more practical to use 😀
¹ scans from archive.org
You’re right I could have (maybe I should have?), but we already had this at home and I didn’t look any further after finding this pattern. The instructions in this one are, erm, brief, but I can work with it.
Now I want to hunt down this book for myself! I do have the New Look pattern from your Pinterest board. Did I ever make it? Do I still daydream about making it? Yes! I’m very interested in what you come up with.
Maybe this is the sign to give that New Look pattern a whirl!
If I may ask, from where did you order 4 metres of fabric? What fabric are you using for a nightie?
“Tootal’s fine cotton lawn” is the recommended fabric. I ordered some cotton lawn from Potter & Co in WA https://potterandco.com.au/ but they were sold out of white. Teen thought white might be too see-through anyway, so we chose some pastel blue and some black, and will choose when they arrive. The black could look a bit Victorian gothic!
I have that book too, and have been tempted to try the nightie pattern so I’m interested to see your version. I have made a couple of versions of the Indochinese jacket which is a nice casual jacket and essentially just made of rectangles.
We think it will be a fun project. The Indochinese jacket looks very versatile – perhaps I will be tempted by that next?
Thanks for sharing this book! A very interesting selection of patterns. Lots of potential for zero waste ideas. Also an interesting author and designers. The linked obituaries were fascinating reads. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the nightie.
Yes, it really is a fabulous book. I had such an interesting time finding those obituaries – could have spent all day searching and reading.
I have always loved the look of Victorian nighties, though I’m not sure I could sleep in one because my legs would get tangled up. Much nicer for wandering in the moors. 🙂
…calling out “Heathcliff!”??? It remains to be seen how Teen will manage the long length, but I guess we can always cut it a bit shorter if it doesn’t work out.