4 reviews for J.P. Ryan Robe a l’Anglaise or English Nightgown
Rated 5 out of 5
Spencer Ingram –
I have made both view A and view B. The pleats down the back of view B are not really to my liking; they seem more uniform and less curved than the typical pleats on an English gown from the 18th century. On both views, I had to really alter the fit of the shoulder strap at the front, because it was too long and the neckline didn’t lay flat. The back neckline was also a little high, but it’s not difficult at all to make it lower. The assembly of the pieces is simple, but there were a couple of steps in the directions where the illustrations were hard for me to follow. However, with a few alterations and tweakings, I’m quite pleased with the gowns I’ve made from this pattern. Pictured on the right.
Rated 5 out of 5
Catherine Scholar –
I was nervous about this pattern after my crash-and-burn with the stays. But I’m delighted to report that it was a joy to work with. I made view A, the polonaise. The pieces all fit together well. I had to alter out quite a bit of space in the upper back, which was a bit odd (I’ve never made that adjustment before), but simple. Also, the back neck is quite high. Again, a simple fix. I did not much use the instructions. I used a “theatrical” construction for the bodice since my weight fluctuates and I like to have easy alteration access. So I flatlined my fashion fabric onto twill and turned the edges with bias tape. It worked well and looks just the same from the outside. The sleeves are shaped oddly to my 19th century-trained eye, but they are period for the 18th century. I had to alter them bigger but that’s not unusual for me. My only quibble with the pattern was the loops to gather up the skirt. If you follow the instructions they end up very short, and just looping a bit of ribbon over a button doesn’t hold if you move at all. I made the ribbons quite a bit longer, and tied a loop at the end that just fits over the button. They stay well and look nice.
Rated 5 out of 5
Carolyn Gardner –
First gown: Once upon a time I made a polonaise gown from Mill Farm Pattern (#MF13) but didn’t like the back seam lines and I realized the open robe wasn’t all that useful/safe around camp (read: mud and fires). I took it apart and re-made it using the Round Gown skirts with the Polonaise bodice. Went with the 135” skirt option as I’m thin. The major thing I changed is how I put the sleeve in. The pattern calls for 3 pleats in the top of the sleeve cap in both the sleeve and lining. I went with the 18th Century method of sewing the under-arm seams and then inserting the lining into the sleeve and treating them as one when sewing them into the armscye. Once the sleeve is in, tack the body lining to sleeve lining at the armscye to enclose the seam. Pictured on left.
Second gown: Round gown with the sewn-down back-pleats in a soft suiting-weight wool. It went together very straight-forwardly. More hand sewing – but I knew that going in. The thing I found VERY fiddly was pleating in the skirt! The dress back had been pleated and sewn down and there were quite a number of seams all coming together at the side-back seam and trying to get the inverted pleats at the side-back seam to work right took several tries. (It still isn’t perfect but it’s good enough!) Pros – nice rule of thumb (literally) for pleating. 2-step sleeve insertion. Pretty clear directions w/ good pictures. Cons – Not much mention of trimming seam allowances – to trim or not to trim? Pictured on right.
Rated 4 out of 5
Pamela Isaacson –
I’ve used this pattern twice (view A) to great success. Be sure to make a muslin first, as you may need to take some extra fabric out of the center back. The underskirt directions are incredibly simple,and easy to adapt for height though you might want to add small hooks and eyes to the front waist of the underskirt and edge of the polonaise bodice to keep the waistband from sliding down below the polonaise waist (the period corset is conical, so the skirt just slides down as the day goes on.) The polonaise itself goes together easily, even in stripes, and is very flattering in multiple sizes. If you are going to make it out of a lightweight fabric, I do suggest adding dress weights to the front points/hem as a light breeze will make them lift and require repeated adjustments.
Spencer Ingram –
I have made both view A and view B. The pleats down the back of view B are not really to my liking; they seem more uniform and less curved than the typical pleats on an English gown from the 18th century. On both views, I had to really alter the fit of the shoulder strap at the front, because it was too long and the neckline didn’t lay flat. The back neckline was also a little high, but it’s not difficult at all to make it lower. The assembly of the pieces is simple, but there were a couple of steps in the directions where the illustrations were hard for me to follow. However, with a few alterations and tweakings, I’m quite pleased with the gowns I’ve made from this pattern. Pictured on the right.
Catherine Scholar –
I was nervous about this pattern after my crash-and-burn with the stays. But I’m delighted to report that it was a joy to work with. I made view A, the polonaise. The pieces all fit together well. I had to alter out quite a bit of space in the upper back, which was a bit odd (I’ve never made that adjustment before), but simple. Also, the back neck is quite high. Again, a simple fix. I did not much use the instructions. I used a “theatrical” construction for the bodice since my weight fluctuates and I like to have easy alteration access. So I flatlined my fashion fabric onto twill and turned the edges with bias tape. It worked well and looks just the same from the outside. The sleeves are shaped oddly to my 19th century-trained eye, but they are period for the 18th century. I had to alter them bigger but that’s not unusual for me. My only quibble with the pattern was the loops to gather up the skirt. If you follow the instructions they end up very short, and just looping a bit of ribbon over a button doesn’t hold if you move at all. I made the ribbons quite a bit longer, and tied a loop at the end that just fits over the button. They stay well and look nice.
Carolyn Gardner –
First gown: Once upon a time I made a polonaise gown from Mill Farm Pattern (#MF13) but didn’t like the back seam lines and I realized the open robe wasn’t all that useful/safe around camp (read: mud and fires). I took it apart and re-made it using the Round Gown skirts with the Polonaise bodice. Went with the 135” skirt option as I’m thin. The major thing I changed is how I put the sleeve in. The pattern calls for 3 pleats in the top of the sleeve cap in both the sleeve and lining. I went with the 18th Century method of sewing the under-arm seams and then inserting the lining into the sleeve and treating them as one when sewing them into the armscye. Once the sleeve is in, tack the body lining to sleeve lining at the armscye to enclose the seam. Pictured on left.
Second gown: Round gown with the sewn-down back-pleats in a soft suiting-weight wool. It went together very straight-forwardly. More hand sewing – but I knew that going in. The thing I found VERY fiddly was pleating in the skirt! The dress back had been pleated and sewn down and there were quite a number of seams all coming together at the side-back seam and trying to get the inverted pleats at the side-back seam to work right took several tries. (It still isn’t perfect but it’s good enough!) Pros – nice rule of thumb (literally) for pleating. 2-step sleeve insertion. Pretty clear directions w/ good pictures. Cons – Not much mention of trimming seam allowances – to trim or not to trim? Pictured on right.
Pamela Isaacson –
I’ve used this pattern twice (view A) to great success. Be sure to make a muslin first, as you may need to take some extra fabric out of the center back. The underskirt directions are incredibly simple,and easy to adapt for height though you might want to add small hooks and eyes to the front waist of the underskirt and edge of the polonaise bodice to keep the waistband from sliding down below the polonaise waist (the period corset is conical, so the skirt just slides down as the day goes on.) The polonaise itself goes together easily, even in stripes, and is very flattering in multiple sizes. If you are going to make it out of a lightweight fabric, I do suggest adding dress weights to the front points/hem as a light breeze will make them lift and require repeated adjustments.