I made the Crossover Bodice Gown, View C with the long sleeves from View D . I made this dress without the train. I was making it to wear to a picnic and anticipated a lot of walking throughtout the afternoon. I felt a little daunted when I started this dress. I thought, ‘what a lot of pattern pieces’. It went together like a dream. There are so many possibilites for trimming this gown. You can keep it simple (as I did) or let your imagination run wild.
I think my favorite part of this outfit — believe it or not — is the bodice petticoat. I am a big girl but, with the bodice petticoat, I did not need a corset or a bra. There is a drawstring around the neckline and a few well-placed bones. With that you are fully supported and completely comfortable.
I also cut out View H, the Spenser Jacket and skirt pieces to join together and make a pelisse but, I have not had time to finish it up. I intend to finish it off with a matching reticule and a wonderful beret. This pattern package is expensive but, well worth the money. Pictured at right.
Rated 4 out of 5
Robin Berry –
This package is a good buy. I made the Bodice Petticoat. I’ve seen it made up in all sizes and bust-lines. The dresses make up easily and look wonderful in cottons for day and silk for evening. They had some problem with the first printing of the patterns. Not all the construction steps were printed and some of the pieces were missing notches.
Rated 5 out of 5
Maura Burns –
This is the only Regency pattern I ever anticipate needing. I am a B-cup and have had no trouble with fitting any of the pieces; the only significant alteration I had to make was cutting the armholes on the Bodice Petticoat deeper to accommodate my large shoulders. Beyond that, this pattern has worked wonderfully. With the interchangeable parts and different fabric choices, you really can make just about anything you need.
So far I have made the bodiced petticoat, a cotton day dress (Drop Front Bodice and Long Sleeves) and a silk taffeta evening dress (Crossover Bodice, Short Sleeves and Train). The day dress is shown on the right; the evening dress is shown on the left.
Rated 4 out of 5
Loren Dearborn –
The Bodice Petticoat went together easily and give me good support and a nice regency silhouette without having to wear a corset! I made two versions of the Crossover Bodice Trained Gown. One is an open robe gown; the other is a light muslin round gown. They both worked very well and look great.
Rated 5 out of 5
Danine Cozzens –
I made the Bodice Petticoat and the Crossover Bodice Gown without a Train. The Bodice Petticoat really does give you the correct Regency silhouette without a Regency corset. Their are a lot of pattern pieces in this package so your first step should be to find and separate the pieces you’ll need and put all the other pieces away. The dress went together well. I’m really pleased with the result.
Rated 4 out of 5
Leigh Ann Hildebrand –
I’ve found this pattern to be a great investment. I’ve made it in cotton for day wear and in red and white silk as an evening gown. The boning placement markings are missing on the DD bodice petticoat pieces.I wrote Tamara at LMB about this and she confirmed that the 4 1/2″ boning on the DD pattern is inserted into the side seam and the 6″ boning is placed diagonally, similarly to the smaller bust size markings. She also stressed that for best support, the Bodice Petticoat waistband should be very snug.
Rated 4 out of 5
Victoria Meyn –
I made the Crossover Bodice Gown without a train. I really like this pattern. I found it easy to work with and am very pleased with the result. I made the dress in pale pink and white to wear as a ballgown and also to wear to a summer Regency wedding.
Rated 4 out of 5
Jane Barnes –
The La Mode Bagatelle package is very good. This pattern makes up easily. The result fits well and looks wonderful. It’s a simple gown but, the result is truly elegant. I made the Crossover Bodice Gown without a train. The crossover line is trimmed in an elaborate, wide gold braid.
Rated 4 out of 5
Elizabeth Atwater –
I made the Bodice Petticoat with an attached decorative overskirt of lightweight organza and the pelisse with open skirt fronts and neckline and collar variations. I also added cording throughout and flat-lined the sleeves with netting. A few small issues: one pattern piece (a waistband – easy to reproduce) was missing as were several paragraphs of the Spencer instructions. I figured out what was missing, but a less experienced seamstress might be very confused. I also made the peplum but I may remove it as I think it is very unattractive – it is too short and the pleats would look much better if they opened from the same point as the seams of the bodice and not several inches to the sides. And the gathers on the sleeve caps are marked way too far to the back in the pattern. Definitely a good idea to make this on a form and experiment before you commit to placement of gathers, pleats, collars, etc.
Rated 4 out of 5
Christine James –
I made the Pelisse with the Stand-Up Collar. It’s such a large package with so many pattern pieces and pages and pages of text. I had trouble finding the small pattern piece for the collar. The pattern went together well but, the instructions assume you are an experienced seamstress. These patterns are not suitable for a beginner. If you have experience and patience, the result is worth all the effort. The Pelisse gorgeous. I always receive complitments when I wear it.
Rated 4 out of 5
Anita Klein –
This pattern makes up really well; I didn’t have any problems with the pattern. I did the Crossover Bodice Gown without a Train. I made it as a day gown with long sleeves. The white cord trim on the skirt was copied from Regency fashion plates I studied.
Rated 3 out of 5
Aylwen Garde –
I love this pattern but, find the numerous sheets irritating and hard to trace off. The Mock Drop Front bodice pattern is excellent. I made a simple gown. I ended up using the Sense and Sensibility Regency Dress pattern pieces for the skirt and sleeves.
Rated 4 out of 5
Katherine Caron-Greig –
I don’t recommend this pattern for small sizes; their size six is about a retail size 6, not a pattern size six. I knew that the pattern ran large when I bought it, but when it arrived I was really surprised just how large it ran. I altered it so much I may as well have started from scratch. That said, the pattern is a nice one. I’ve used my altered pieces twice and will use them again. For my first dress, which I made in white batiste, I used the Mock Drop Front bodice without the Mock Drop Front, a shortened version of the Straight Sleeves and the Round Gown Skirt. The pattern is versatile and combines nicely with other patterns. My second dress was a copy of a c.1820 bodice and made of blue silk gauze. I used the same bodice pattern, but this time I used the short sleeves from the Sense and Sensibility Regency gown and Skirt E from pattern sheet five from Period Costume for Stage and Screen. You do need a corset for the dresses to look right, since the waist is so high. I haven’t tried the bodice petticoat or any other of the pattern pieces. I’d much rather use another pattern that was actually sized correctly than go through the frustration of sizing this one down again!
Rated 3 out of 5
Ruth Leibig –
I made the the Mock Drop Front Gown without the train (easier to manage for dancing). The pattern does run large. I had a sewing buddy and we helped each other fitting our gowns. Having someone else make fitting adjustments does make the process much easier. Both our gowns turned out well.
Rated 4 out of 5
Louisa Pineault –
I’ve made the Bodice Petticoat (a sort of combination stays/petticoat garment) and the Mock Drop Front Trained Gown. I’m tall and very slender, but not small-busted. I had an AWFUL time getting both garments to fit. Unless your bosom is (a) very tiny or (b) pushed up to your collarbone, the bodice pieces won’t be long enough to cover. Even the smallest size (6) was about four inches too big around my ribcage in the waistband and the armholes were far too tight. I ended up re-drafting the petticoat pattern and making it up in muslin four times before I got it to fit properly. I had to convert the bodice from a 2-piece front and back to a 3-piece back, side front and front pattern to accommodate my bosom; and I had to add two inches to the armhole to achieve any degree of comfort. Since the gown pattern bodice gathers in the center front to the waistband, it was easier to fit, but I still had to shorten the waistband by 4+ inches and lengthen the armholes by 2 inches. The problems only seem to be in the smaller sizes. Friends who have made it in a size 12 or larger (it goes up to 22DD) have not had many fitting problems. It’s just poorly scaled down to the smaller sizes. The instructions are a bit sketchy in places (such as, which SIDE of the fabric are you sewing things to and what is the seam allowance). The markings don’t match precisely. It is a beautifully presented pattern set. The pieces are on proper tissue. If you’re prepared to spend a lot of time working out the fitting problems in the bodices, you can put together a beautiful wardrobe, especially if you use the patterns only as a guide. Read Nancy Bradfield’s Costume in Detail for accurate information. I’m on my fourth gown so the pattern can’t be all that impossible to master. I just wouldn’t volunteer to make it for anyone that I didn’t love dearly because fitting took up a whole lot of time.
Jana Keeler –
I made the Crossover Bodice Gown, View C with the long sleeves from View D . I made this dress without the train. I was making it to wear to a picnic and anticipated a lot of walking throughtout the afternoon. I felt a little daunted when I started this dress. I thought, ‘what a lot of pattern pieces’. It went together like a dream. There are so many possibilites for trimming this gown. You can keep it simple (as I did) or let your imagination run wild.
I think my favorite part of this outfit — believe it or not — is the bodice petticoat. I am a big girl but, with the bodice petticoat, I did not need a corset or a bra. There is a drawstring around the neckline and a few well-placed bones. With that you are fully supported and completely comfortable.
I also cut out View H, the Spenser Jacket and skirt pieces to join together and make a pelisse but, I have not had time to finish it up. I intend to finish it off with a matching reticule and a wonderful beret. This pattern package is expensive but, well worth the money. Pictured at right.
Robin Berry –
This package is a good buy. I made the Bodice Petticoat. I’ve seen it made up in all sizes and bust-lines. The dresses make up easily and look wonderful in cottons for day and silk for evening. They had some problem with the first printing of the patterns. Not all the construction steps were printed and some of the pieces were missing notches.
Maura Burns –
This is the only Regency pattern I ever anticipate needing. I am a B-cup and have had no trouble with fitting any of the pieces; the only significant alteration I had to make was cutting the armholes on the Bodice Petticoat deeper to accommodate my large shoulders. Beyond that, this pattern has worked wonderfully. With the interchangeable parts and different fabric choices, you really can make just about anything you need.
So far I have made the bodiced petticoat, a cotton day dress (Drop Front Bodice and Long Sleeves) and a silk taffeta evening dress (Crossover Bodice, Short Sleeves and Train). The day dress is shown on the right; the evening dress is shown on the left.
Loren Dearborn –
The Bodice Petticoat went together easily and give me good support and a nice regency silhouette without having to wear a corset! I made two versions of the Crossover Bodice Trained Gown. One is an open robe gown; the other is a light muslin round gown. They both worked very well and look great.
Danine Cozzens –
I made the Bodice Petticoat and the Crossover Bodice Gown without a Train. The Bodice Petticoat really does give you the correct Regency silhouette without a Regency corset. Their are a lot of pattern pieces in this package so your first step should be to find and separate the pieces you’ll need and put all the other pieces away. The dress went together well. I’m really pleased with the result.
Leigh Ann Hildebrand –
I’ve found this pattern to be a great investment. I’ve made it in cotton for day wear and in red and white silk as an evening gown. The boning placement markings are missing on the DD bodice petticoat pieces.I wrote Tamara at LMB about this and she confirmed that the 4 1/2″ boning on the DD pattern is inserted into the side seam and the 6″ boning is placed diagonally, similarly to the smaller bust size markings. She also stressed that for best support, the Bodice Petticoat waistband should be very snug.
Victoria Meyn –
I made the Crossover Bodice Gown without a train. I really like this pattern. I found it easy to work with and am very pleased with the result. I made the dress in pale pink and white to wear as a ballgown and also to wear to a summer Regency wedding.
Jane Barnes –
The La Mode Bagatelle package is very good. This pattern makes up easily. The result fits well and looks wonderful. It’s a simple gown but, the result is truly elegant. I made the Crossover Bodice Gown without a train. The crossover line is trimmed in an elaborate, wide gold braid.
Elizabeth Atwater –
I made the Bodice Petticoat with an attached decorative overskirt of lightweight organza and the pelisse with open skirt fronts and neckline and collar variations. I also added cording throughout and flat-lined the sleeves with netting. A few small issues: one pattern piece (a waistband – easy to reproduce) was missing as were several paragraphs of the Spencer instructions. I figured out what was missing, but a less experienced seamstress might be very confused. I also made the peplum but I may remove it as I think it is very unattractive – it is too short and the pleats would look much better if they opened from the same point as the seams of the bodice and not several inches to the sides. And the gathers on the sleeve caps are marked way too far to the back in the pattern. Definitely a good idea to make this on a form and experiment before you commit to placement of gathers, pleats, collars, etc.
Christine James –
I made the Pelisse with the Stand-Up Collar. It’s such a large package with so many pattern pieces and pages and pages of text. I had trouble finding the small pattern piece for the collar. The pattern went together well but, the instructions assume you are an experienced seamstress. These patterns are not suitable for a beginner. If you have experience and patience, the result is worth all the effort. The Pelisse gorgeous. I always receive complitments when I wear it.
Anita Klein –
This pattern makes up really well; I didn’t have any problems with the pattern. I did the Crossover Bodice Gown without a Train. I made it as a day gown with long sleeves. The white cord trim on the skirt was copied from Regency fashion plates I studied.
Aylwen Garde –
I love this pattern but, find the numerous sheets irritating and hard to trace off. The Mock Drop Front bodice pattern is excellent. I made a simple gown. I ended up using the Sense and Sensibility Regency Dress pattern pieces for the skirt and sleeves.
Katherine Caron-Greig –
I don’t recommend this pattern for small sizes; their size six is about a retail size 6, not a pattern size six. I knew that the pattern ran large when I bought it, but when it arrived I was really surprised just how large it ran. I altered it so much I may as well have started from scratch. That said, the pattern is a nice one. I’ve used my altered pieces twice and will use them again. For my first dress, which I made in white batiste, I used the Mock Drop Front bodice without the Mock Drop Front, a shortened version of the Straight Sleeves and the Round Gown Skirt. The pattern is versatile and combines nicely with other patterns. My second dress was a copy of a c.1820 bodice and made of blue silk gauze. I used the same bodice pattern, but this time I used the short sleeves from the Sense and Sensibility Regency gown and Skirt E from pattern sheet five from Period Costume for Stage and Screen. You do need a corset for the dresses to look right, since the waist is so high. I haven’t tried the bodice petticoat or any other of the pattern pieces. I’d much rather use another pattern that was actually sized correctly than go through the frustration of sizing this one down again!
Ruth Leibig –
I made the the Mock Drop Front Gown without the train (easier to manage for dancing). The pattern does run large. I had a sewing buddy and we helped each other fitting our gowns. Having someone else make fitting adjustments does make the process much easier. Both our gowns turned out well.
Louisa Pineault –
I’ve made the Bodice Petticoat (a sort of combination stays/petticoat garment) and the Mock Drop Front Trained Gown. I’m tall and very slender, but not small-busted. I had an AWFUL time getting both garments to fit. Unless your bosom is (a) very tiny or (b) pushed up to your collarbone, the bodice pieces won’t be long enough to cover. Even the smallest size (6) was about four inches too big around my ribcage in the waistband and the armholes were far too tight. I ended up re-drafting the petticoat pattern and making it up in muslin four times before I got it to fit properly. I had to convert the bodice from a 2-piece front and back to a 3-piece back, side front and front pattern to accommodate my bosom; and I had to add two inches to the armhole to achieve any degree of comfort. Since the gown pattern bodice gathers in the center front to the waistband, it was easier to fit, but I still had to shorten the waistband by 4+ inches and lengthen the armholes by 2 inches. The problems only seem to be in the smaller sizes. Friends who have made it in a size 12 or larger (it goes up to 22DD) have not had many fitting problems. It’s just poorly scaled down to the smaller sizes. The instructions are a bit sketchy in places (such as, which SIDE of the fabric are you sewing things to and what is the seam allowance). The markings don’t match precisely. It is a beautifully presented pattern set. The pieces are on proper tissue. If you’re prepared to spend a lot of time working out the fitting problems in the bodices, you can put together a beautiful wardrobe, especially if you use the patterns only as a guide. Read Nancy Bradfield’s Costume in Detail for accurate information. I’m on my fourth gown so the pattern can’t be all that impossible to master. I just wouldn’t volunteer to make it for anyone that I didn’t love dearly because fitting took up a whole lot of time.