sarahr

Sarah Rubenach

Tasmania

The 1995 BBC adaption of Pride and Prejudice opened my eyes to Jane Austen. For well over a decade I had intended to create my own Regency dresses but never prioritised the time and space to dedicate to achieving this dream. Two years ago I first experienced Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and during my very slow recovery, I have found the time and space to re-prioritise and focus on my fulfilling my dream. All my previous activities and interests such as hiking, camping, pole dancing, and yoga continue to remain on hold. I am finding sewing rewarding and stimulating but also cognitively tiring and taxing. I can only sew for very short amounts of time before needing to rest as my concentration remains very poor. I am conscious I need to self-pace all tasks and not place too much pressure or demands on myself otherwise I am likely to become unwell. Hence, I am looking forward to the challenge as a part-time participant and feel my goals are achievable by allowing two months to complete each item.

a short description of your proposed outfit:

Although I have an extensive list of items to sew, my

focus will be on creating:

* corset

* chemise

* spencer jacket

* day dress

* bonnet

* ball dress

* ridicule

Of course, if my dear "Mr Darcy" miraculously decides he wishes to emerse himself in the Jane Austen world, then my focus will be creating the gentleman's attire.

Update: I am making a 1800-1820 Regency Corset from The Mantua-Maker pattern. My corset is white and will have baby pink binding.

So far I have sewn each of the layers and am now up to the stage of basting it all together. Next moth will be all the hand sewing. I purchased all my materials (coutil fabric, corset satin, artificial whale bone, etc) from Vena Cava Design in the UK.