1909 #16 Dressing Gown -- Robe de Chambre The apartment or dressing gown is very convenient to spare the others. It always should be given a rather simple making-up, so that it is easy to clean. And it is desirable that a housecoat is always very clean. Nothing gives a bad idea of a person like a house dress neglected. This dressing gown for Bleuette is of the Empire form, latest style, and requires five patterns. One will make it out of flannel or a little light wool. The yoke (fig.2) is cut from a single piece. To shape it, it is enough to make the two seams under the arms, (a against a; b against b). To form the lapels one folds back the tips, which are then to occupy the part striped with diagonal lines. In fact the wrong side of the yoke forms the right side of the lapels. The collar, which is indicated on the yoke by a gray striped part, will be cut separately. It will thus be necessary to copy the pattern of this gray part, then to place this pattern on the fabric and to cut all around. One will sew this collar around the neck, then one will fold it back onto the right side of the yoke (its wrong side against the right side of the dress). If it is well placed, it must seem to continue the lapels folded back. This collar and these lapels can be made out of silk or velvet. In this case, one will cut out the yoke such as it is indicated, but one will line the lapels with silk or velvet, and this lining will be on the right side, once the lapels are folded back. The seams under the arms made, one will edge the yoke on all its outline, except the armholes, with a small braid in silk ribbon placed straddling, so that this yoke presents the appearance of an Empire bolero (see the drawing of the outfit, figure 1). For the sleeves, we will need three patterns brought together in figure 4; manche [sleeve], poignant [cuff], reverse [turn back]. It is necessary, first, to cut the doubled sleeve, wrong side against wrong side; then to indent one of the sides which will be the underside of the sleeve. To cut the second sleeve without making a mistake, place it on the fabric folded wrong side against wrong side, or right side against right side; without this method, one would run the risk of cutting two sleeves for the same arm. One closes the sleeve by making the seam I H. The pattern that we give in figure 4 represents only half of the sleeve: it will thus be necessary to place it on the fabric folded double and to put it edge to edge with the fold of the fabric.

Now gather the bottom of the sleeve to bring it back to the width of the cuff which you join together by a stitching. One joins together then the reverse [fold back] with the cuff by a seam on the other edge of the cuff, a seam which, this time, is made on the right side, because, by folding back, the reverse [fold back] will hide it. The skirt (figure 3) must be 15 centimeters high. The drawing shows you only the manner of folding it. It is made simply with pleats laying down [not stitched down], with a wide box pleat flattened in the middle. This one is made by means of two pleats lying down in opposite directions. This double fold is at the middle of the back. On one side of the pattern, the upper part, are the pleats to make; the gray part must be folded under the white part. On the other side of the pattern, the part completely white; are the pleats made. The skirt must have a width of 90 centimeters; when it is pleated, it will still be a little wider than the bolero; it will be necessary to gather it a little at the back and on the sides and to close it by a seam in front not going up further than mid-height. One assembles it under the bolero with a stitching biting into the trim of the edge. Translation copyright 2011 Deirdre Gawne. Not for sale. www.dressingbleuette.com