Making a BRIDGERTON costume! (Regency)

All is fair in love and war. The making of the Bridgerton dress. Hello, in today's video I'll be showing you how to make this ridiculously wardy and barely historically accurate lilac satin gown as inspired by the dress that Philippa Featherington wears in the new Netflix show Bridgerton, which has come out on Christmas Day 2020. It's very much the Christmas gift we all needed. Wait, you guys aren't supposed to see the dress yet. As soon as I saw the teaser for the show I knew that I had to make one of the costumes that the Featheringtons wear because their colour palette is just so bright and spring-like. I picked Philippa's dress because to us mere peasants the costume is easier to create because it doesn't have a bright print on it as much of the costumes do. Now at the time of filming this Bridgerton has not actually been released yet but My New Year's is looking about as busy as an unemployed person's in tier 3 would look. So I'm obviously not going to have time to make the dress in New Year. So for this dress I'm going entirely off of the promotion pictures and also some photos that I found on the Instagram of the costume designer. So it was a smart idea right? Now initially I was torn between choosing an existing pattern to make the dress with which would be simpler but would cost me money or whether I was going to draft the pattern myself but be harder but save me money. So obviously I chose the thriftier option. Although there are loads of tutorials on YouTube about how to make a Regency dress a lot of these dresses have a drawstring neckline which this dress does not. It is a fitted bodice with darts. It also has cat puff sleeves and empire waistline and a long gathered skirt. The closure is actually unknown to me because I couldn't actually see from any of these pictures how the dress was done up. To get an idea of how Regency dresses were constructed I actually used the website called UVM Edu which has little tips as to how to construct a fitted pattern which you already have to make it into a Regency looking dress. I will link that below. So using this as a guide I took my butterick pattern bodice pieces. This is the same dress which I used to make my Agatha dress and then I basically made the bodice up, tried it on and looked at where it needed changing. You can also do this step by following the tutorial on how to construct a basic block. I decided the neckline needed lowering and squaring off. The bodice made way shorter and I definitely didn't want to use a zip. I also changed the sleeve pattern to make it tall at the top with a lot of gathers. Once I'd adapted it to the shape I wanted I then made it up adding buttons as closures to see how that would look. Right so now I've completed my first mock-up there's going to be a few more because I'm not totally happy with it. Firstly it's too big because I didn't account for the fact that there was a seam allowance in the back anyway and then I added on more of a seam allowance so now there is quite a lot of fabric in the back but that's okay we're going to fix it. I've also done some buttons which I've done badly but you know you get the idea. I'm not sure whether I want to keep the buttons or whether I'm going to do like lacing. Also the sleeves are not very regency looking and I also did the puff just at the top and I wish I'd brought them down a little bit further so I'm going to experiment with some and I obviously need to work out the skirt pattern. The overall shape I am happy with though so let's go make some sleeves. Once I'd established what I needed to change about the first bodice I made up a second one with different sleeves and these sleeves were so cute like they're so puffy and I just they're so cute. Guys the puff sleeve actually like is that what it's called puff sleeve yeah it actually worked sorry there's the Christmas tree like right here but I have nowhere else to film this. So that's what it looks like I'm very pleased with it. It took a very long time though and I should probably try and do the other side too but yeah it's cute it's really cute. To make this sleeve you will firstly need to trace out your existing sleeve so that you have two. One is the original and one is the copy you'll be chopping up. Now take the copy and divide it into six equally sized sections. To do this I measured from the upper armpit corner to the other upper armpit collar and then divided this number by six. Then you'll need to cut up these lines and then space them out on another piece of paper equally distanced apart. I did four centimetres in between all of my pieces. Then trace around the new shape leaving a little bit of a gap and making the head of the sleeve taller and also make sure to mark in the notches which are those triangle bits on the pattern pieces. Then when you cut out the fabric you will cut one of those original sleeve shapes and then one that is the bigger adapted sleeve. According to the UVM edgy website skirt pieces in the early 1800s and 18-teens had a front rectangular section, two side gauze which were kind of a triangular shape and then two back sections which were often gathered. So what you'll need to do is draw out all of these shapes first and decide on a seam allowance i.e 1.5 centimetres is what I used. Then to get the measurements I measured along the bottom of my bodice piece and then multiplied this number by two. Remember that because this pattern piece is to be cut on the fold it is only half the measurement. Then right that down on the front skirt rectangular shape and add your 1.5 centimetre seam allowance. Then you need to decide how big you want your side gauze to be. I made mine 8 centimetres in total so I wrote 8 centimetres plus the two 1.5 centimetre seam allowances on either side. And then for the back sections the back bodice is the same width as the front but because I wanted gathering in the back I doubled this measurement. So 44 centimetres for each back piece plus a 1.5 centimetre seam allowance on one side and a 7 centimetre seam allowance on the centre back so that I could fold it over to make the eyelet channel. As for the height you should measure your height from under your boobs to your ankle. I did mine 110 centimetres. Did you think the maths bit was over? Well not yet. For the centre front you need to take the width of the bodice without the seam allowance so in my case 44 centimetres and then take away half of the gusset panel from either side as the gussets are going to be placed at the sides of the dress between the front and back bodice pieces. So 44 take away 8 centimetres equals 36. Then adding the seam allowances on either side equals 39 centimetres. Then for the gussets the length of each is 8 centimetres but plus seam allowances 11 centimetres and then I just double that to get the width at the bottom which is 22 centimetres. Then the same for the back 44 centimetres plus 7 on the centre back side and 1.5 on the other side is 52.5 centimetres and so those are your skirt pieces. I did make a skirt mock-up but I made the mistake of only measuring half the bodice length forgetting it's done on the fold so don't do that. Oh my golly we are now on to the actual making of the actual costume. Wow I'm sorry this has taken so long. To make this costume you will firstly need about three metres of lilac satin. Obviously this depends on what size you want to make. I'm a size 10 and this was the perfect amount for me. You'll also need three metres of lilac organza for the outer layer, some dark purple ribbon for the waist, some faux flowers. I used wisteria because although wisteria flowers weren't the flowers used in the actual dress, wisteria is used in like all of the promotional pictures. You'll also want some matching thread, heavy interfacing, eyelets, some kind of boning, an owl or this thing from pyram and a lot of patience. In terms of machinery I used my trusty banana and an overlocker although you can easily get the same effect as overlocking by doing a zigzag stitch to finish off your seams. I also used a hot glue gun to stick down the flowers but if you like a challenge you can just as easily hand sew on the flowers. Oh and simple glue to go in the hot glue gun. The first thing to do is snip around all of your pattern pieces. The board is back and front and the five skirt panels. On the day I cut these out the boiler actually stopped working hence the bauble hat and dressing gown but honestly I would probably wear these things even if it wasn't that cold. Then it's time to pin the darts. I always draw out that outline of them in an heat erasable pen first so that I can be super precise but if you are new to sewing a dart is just a method of shaping the fabric to the body so we're taking out some of that excess fabric so it fits better. Sew them down making sure not to backstitch at the end just leave the threads long and tie them in a knot. Overlock all of the body's side seams and sew them together so the shoulders sides but not the back. At this point I cut out some heavy duty interfacing and ironed it onto the inner seven centimetre seam allowance onto the two back sections and next we're onto those puff sleeves. Now in the photo of Philippa's dress it seems like there is a sheer layer of fabric encasing some faux flowers which are making the puff so you'll need to cut out the original sleeve size in a satin fabric and a large adapted sleeve pattern out of the organza. The idea is that we're going to wedge the flowers between these two layers. Then sew the underarm sections together of both and put two gathering stitches at the top and bottom of the organza layer between the two notch markings. Then flip both sleeves so that they're facing the right way out and put the smaller sleeve inside the bigger one matching the seams. Pin up until the notches and then starting with the bottom half gather up the stitches until the outer sleeve matches the size of the inner one. Then sew that bottom gathering to the bottom of the satin sleeve. Now you can begin yanking off various parts of foliage. It's okay to get angry, I'm sure Monty Dawn has had many an angry outburst behind the scenes. Shove the wisteria inside the two layers and pin the layers together again pulling up the gathers to make the puff. Then sew the gathers in place. It should resemble a shower cap for a troll. After that I made some bias binding out of the satin by cutting strips on the cross grain and then ironing them inwards to trap the raw edges. Once you've made all the bias binding sew it along the neckline of the bodice piece so that it runs along the entire top. I used an edge footer so that I could get all up close and personal. You also need to add the binding along the sleeve edges too but I like to trim down the bulk first. Then it's time for the dreaded insertion of the sleeves which actually shouldn't be that bad if you have remembered to include the notches and pin right sides together. Next overlock those inside raw edges and admire your handiwork. Looks beaut. Amazing. Gorgeous. Philippa Featherington would definitely wear this. Oh wait she does. After a much needed tea break you can start on the boning channels. So because I'm using eyelets as my closure, researched of course, I need to reinforce the back panels with some boning so that the pressure from the eyelets doesn't rip the fabric. So I added in two channels both just under one centimetre wide as my boning was nine millimetres. In the middle of these channels I left a gap for the eyelets to fit which I made 1.3 centimetres wide. When you've cut the bones into the correct length you're supposed to put a little metal band over one end to stop the bone itself piercing through your fabric but I didn't want to buy any of those so I just used marking tape stuck on the end to make them less sharp. Lol. Then I just overlocked the bottom of the bodice so that it didn't fray while I was working on it. Now you need to put the eyelets in themselves. Firstly I used this tool from Pyram which is like a hole punch for fabric to make the initial holes before hammering the eyelets into place. After that I made a super long sneaky little tie to go through the eyelets as the fastening. I did this, guess what, the same way I do bias binding and then I sewed it down. Hey guys so it's day three of making this costume and I will be moving on to the skirt section. So for the skirt I originally wasn't sure whether there was kind of the layer of the inside fabric, so the satin that I'm using, and then a which was made into a sack shape which I would then put the flowers into or whether the flowers were sewn onto the top or glued and as I don't actually have enough organza or tulle I'm going to have to sew them on so that's kind of decided it for me. So I've sort of pinned it so you can see how it will be looking. Quite pleased, not gonna lie. I think it's looking cute. Do you like my edgy camera angles there? Yeah me too. Firstly for the skirt you'll want to overlock or zigzag stitch literally all of the pieces which in itself will probably take around an hour and gets very boring so in the meantime we'll have a talk with Academic Con. Hello drop in from Academic Con here. I just wanted to basically pop in and give some information about the backstory of the costumes and how amazing they are without giving any spoilers. I mean I can't because I literally haven't watched it yet. Like obviously most of the costumes aren't very historically accurate at all but for the they really work well and we kind of learn about the characters and what their intentions are even before they've spoken. Okay so the first thing to know about Bridgerton is that it's actually based off of a series of eight novels by writer Julia Quinn. She's an American historical romance writer and this first series is based off of her first book which is called The Duke and I and there's seven more books so are we going to get seven more series? The show is set in 1813 in London's society at the time and much like like Jane Austen we see a lot of those regency balls and the dances where the young women have like come out kind of like debutantes and they are dancing with a lot of male suitors who they are potentially going to marry but whereas Jane Austen wouldn't have shown us the scandalous side of these situations Shonda Rhimes is aimed as to do this like she is showing us the room. She is showing us everything that wouldn't have been talked about because it was scandalous. The costumes in Bridgerton are created under the vision of Ellen I hope I pronounced that correctly. I even looked it up so sorry if I haven't. She has worked on shows such as The Greatest Showman and Maleficent so it is nothing to be smithed at but she's also worked with Shonda Rhimes before and she knew that Shonda wouldn't be looking for this kind of traditional neutral coloured muslin materialed regency look. She wanted to make it new. In an interview with PopSugar Ellen actually says that she was initially inspired by the paintings as done by Irish artist Janine Figes who is known for depicting kind of macabre distressing scenes but with bright colours. Bright colours, teak, definitely got that in Bridgerton. In her interview with Vogue Ellen explains that the costumes and the making of the costumes started five whole months before the shooting of Bridgerton and that there were 238 members of the costume department all working tirelessly to create 75,000 pieces of costumes for the show so that doesn't just mean dresses it could mean like hats, jackets, shawls, gloves, all of that culminated to 75,000 things. It's insane. Among one of these costumers was the infamous corsetier Mr Pearl who is known for having clients such as Dita Von Teese and also making the corset that Kim Kardashian wore under that 2019 Met Gala look. So they did actually wear corsets in the show, I didn't make one myself because to be honest guys I don't have enough time to make a whole nother corset. I've made two already, they take weeks to make, sorry. There is a lot more that I would love to say about the costumes of the show but my channel isn't really a costume analysis, more of a costume making channel. But yeah I have a lot more to say especially on what the Queen wears, the colourblind casting and the way that this relates to the Queen's character and who she was based off of. But I will save that for another video. Hey guys, update, it's actually Christmas day and I've just watched a bit of Bridgerton and it's really good. It's like better than I expected, I thought it was going to be a bit cringey and it's not. It's really good, I'm very excited. I haven't watched all of the episodes yet obviously but very pleased. This is boxing day, this is an update from your local Forest Nymph. I actually made this and I quite like them so I hope you like them too. So Bridgerton update, I've now watched two episodes. I'm not one of those people who like binges everything because I kind of think that like detracts from the joy of the show, like I want to watch it at my own pace but I'm really liking it so far. It's not as sexy as I thought it was going to be which I think is a good thing because does anyone else just get like kind of cringed out by loads of scenes? Like maybe that's just me. But costume update, I've now got to the scene and it's the picnic scene where the dress that I made is worn and it's it's basically not in it. I've basically made a dress that is not actually in the show which is really annoying like Philippa is in the scene and she's wearing the dress but she is not really, she doesn't have a speaking line or anything and you can kind of see the dress at a distance for like two seconds. So that's kind of annoying but you can adapt this dress to make any of the dresses from the show because it's just a Regency sort of outline but that is a little bit annoying but it's still a really cute dress. I'm kind of like now I have mixed feelings. Other things I noticed from the show is that the feathering tins are always wearing like green or yellow and I think that the green is supposed to kind of symbolise like money, new money, which is what they are. Also the bridge tins always wear blue and the duke always wears like dark colours and like burgundy. I don't really know where I'm going with this colour theory analysis. Someone like Bernadette Banner she's gonna know but I like it. Right finally back to the sewing. Before I started blabbing we had just overlocked all of our skirt pieces so now you will need to pin and sew them all together except the centre back obviously because otherwise you won't have closure and we all need closure especially at the end of this year. Okay so the next thing for me to do is now add on a little bit of interfacing to the inside edges at the top because it's basically going to be too small if I don't carry on the eyelets down into the skirt a little bit I need to add some interfacing on like that but you know obviously on the wrong side so like that and then when I fold the seam allowance over it's going to be like this sort of thing and then the eyelets will be here. After ironing on the interfacing to the two centre back seven centimetre seam allowance sections I hemmed the satin skirt pieces by ironing and folding up the hem twice and then sewing down to secure it. I also hemmed the organza just by doing a zigzag stitch along the bottom. Gosh I really do need to get my glasses changed. After that I put two gathering stitches along both the satin and organza centre back skirt layers and pulled up the satin gathers to fit the width of the bodice then I pinned the organza layer on top and did the same thing there. Then I sewed on the entire skirt section to the bodice and sewed up the two layers at the centre back leaving a significant gap to put the eyelets in. Sorry there wasn't much footage of that I think I just forgot to film I don't know sorry but you can really see how it's coming together now and that adding the interfacing to the skirt back really provides good stability. Then I pinned and sewed on the dark purple ribbon to accentuate that empire waistline. Right so here we have a significant gap in the footage because I was working on this project so hard because I really wanted to get it finished so I was working till like 10 p.m half 10 maybe even 11 and it was just getting to me the eyelets were getting to me and I just started crying which is really embarrassing but do you ever like just work on something so hard and you want to get it finished and it just doesn't happen and then you kind of beat yourself over it and that's kind of what happened so I'll just explain then what I did. So after adding on the ribbon I then moved on to doing the eyelets which took me honestly about two hours because I was trying to get those tiny metal circles through two layers of satin two layers of organza a layer of interfacing and a layer of the ribbon satin so that took me so long and I was getting so angry doing it. Okay so that's apparently where I got bored talking about that but this is what the eyelets ended up looking like pretty snazzy huh? And then all I had to do for the dress was hot glue gun on the wisteria flowers which I should have done earlier in the process to avoid this rather unladylike situation the amount of times I almost hot glued my face doing this is embarrassing oh my god I feel like you can't actually see this but it looks pretty cool and then out of the leftover waistband ribbon I made this little choker by just gluing on the wisteria buds and then it was done! Okay so to get photos of this dress I enlisted the help of my boyfriend who decided that as I was super dressed up he would dress up in a suit and bow tie as well and so so many people congratulated us on getting married lol I guess this could maybe pass as a wedding dress? Anyway I did manage to get one instance on camera and this guy was offering to take photos of us because he thought that we were taking our own wedding photos. Congratulations! Do you want us to take a picture of you? No it's fine honestly! Okay au revoir I'll see you in the next video!