Chemise a la reine tutorial

The chemise a la reine is a garment with a complicated history I’ve briefly covered here. If you plan on wearing it historically accurately I advise you do more research on if the context you are going to wear it is appropriate.

You can see a video version of my tutorial here.

From a dress worn by people in the tropics to the scandalous portrait of Marie Antoinette in 1783 the chemise a la a reine is a great summer dress and a way to meet that cottagecore aesthetic.

One thing I love about this garment is there’s no complicated pattern, just some squares and pattern blocks. I am aware as someone who can pattern cut I am taking for granted how difficult this can still be for beginners but it is still significantly easier than many other garments.

The frame of reference i’m going for is the dress in the Manchester Museum which comes with a historical pattern.

Illustration

If I wasn’t going to do a Marie Antoinette homage when was I…

Pattern

A drafted my own pattern based on this. Taking measure of the distance from nape to underbust and nape to waist. This is where the channels for the drawstring will be. I have used a double layer of muslin to create channels though mere stitching. I used a running back stitch for the channels.

I’ve made this with 5 metres of fabric, 4 meters for the main dress as 2, 2 metre layers and 1metre for the sleeves.

The pattern is also split into fractions, the thirds are the back and the two halves of the front. Halfway between the two fronts are were we’re going to cut in then armeyes.

Main body

The main body is fairly straightforward, layer the 2 metre fabric on top each other and tack in place to make sewing easier.

Then sew the underbust and waist channels in. I used about a 1.5cm width channel and went in with a running backstitch.

Sleeves

Let’s look at those armseyes. Historically these were cut higher so you could lift your arms without your whole garment moving up with you so I cut them fairy close to the circumference of my upper arm.

I do this by using my sleeve bodice block. I trace out the curve at the top where the sleeve meets the bodice. I then cut it out and am quite conservative with it to avoid an armsyeye that is too big.

To work out the placement remember my thirds rule. the sleeves midpoint is a a sixth of the way in from the centre front. You can measure that point with a tape measure then trace it int.

This is also were I use a backstitch as the armseye will take a lot of tension from movement.

The sleeves are ones I cut out on my bodice block so you might have to draft one up or trace the sleeve of an existing garment you like.

Fit test

Then comes the fun part of threading through the drawstring and the garment coming to life, this is where I try it on and sort out any fit issues.

This is were I decide on a neckline. I mark out were I want the drawstring channels to be and sew them in. if you sew the channels below the fabric edge, the remaining fabric can spill over and make a sort of flounce.

I add pleats to the back to stop a gaping back. You could alternatively have a drawstring neckline all the way through.

Once the bodice is how I like it I cut the dress shorter to the desired length and then I just have to finish all the seams and the hem and of course the giant open seam down the centre front.

Optionally you can choose a ribbon as a waistband, a fairly wide one to help define the waist.

The skirt did end up a little uneven at the hem. I did cut the hem evenly on the mannequin while it was wearing the shape wear I have on to avoid this problem.

I assume it’s from when I brought the hem up again off the mannequin. It’s an easy fix, just let the hem down a little at the back.

Regardless, I am very proud of my work. I’ve created something with my own pattern cutting skills and pure maths. I also felt cool in the height of summer as the layers of cotton were keeping the heat off of me.

I honestly love this dress and if you feel inspired to make one please tag me on @alisha.illustration on insta or @teasandqueues on tiktok

Thank you for reading

Byeeeee