This pattern is for the (over) gown only. The photos show it over the petticoat but the petticoat is not included. It is available as pattern #181.
This is not a printed pattern. This is for a digital PDF download. You will receive a zip file of PDF files. Double click on the zip file to open to the PDF files. Instructions for printing are included in the download. In the digital file you will receive 2 pages of the front and back covers, 63 pages of instructions, and "how to print". You will also receive 4 A0 size pages for Sizes 4-12, 6 A0 pages for sizes 14-24, and 6 A0 pages for sizes 26-36. You can tile the A0 pages by using a PDF Reader like Adobe Acrobat or Foxit. You can use the size layer function by using Adobe Acrobat where you can choose to print just one size if desired. If you are unable or unwilling to install a PDF Reader, this pattern has been pre-tiled in size sections also. You will receive 100 pages of tiled sizes 4-12, 150 pages of tiled sizes 14-24, and 150 tiled pages of sizes 26-36. Please note that if you use the pre-tiled files you cannot choose any size paper other than letter or A4, and the size layer option will not work.
Laughing Moon Mercantile #182— Robe a l’Anglaise c. 1770s-1780. Sewing sizes 4-36 (sewing sizes are not retail sizes)This pattern was created by copying a period gown in the author's collection
Intermediate Sewing Difficulty. This pattern is for an 18th century gown which has been described by different terms, depending on the source. The most common term used to be Robe a l’Anglaise en Fourreau, but some find this name incorrect. It has also has been described as a close-bodied gown, English nightgown, or fitted back gown. To describe it in more specific terms, this gown has a fitted bodice with the back bodice and back part of the skirt cut as one piece of fabric. The front bodice, the side skirt, and the front skirt are cut from different pieces of fabric. It can be worn retrousse, or drawn up with inside strings. A notable design element in this pattern is that the back bodice pleats near the center back fold toward the center back, a less common feature as opposed to back pleats that fold away from the center back. The center back has two long bones. The bodice just meets at the center front and is meant to be pinned together and to the stays worn under it. The gown must be worn over stays appropriate to the time frame, but no particular set of stays is required or recommended. Stays are not included. The gown can be worn over an under-petticoat, a rump, pockets, and an outer-petticoat, such as Laughing Moon #180 and 181, but they are not required or included. The gown can also be worn over pocket hoops instead of a rump which are not included. There are slits for access to pockets in the skirts if desired. Pockets are not included. The sleeves end at the elbow and are contoured there. The skirt can be worn down or gathered up using strings attached to the underside of the skirt. If the skirt is worn down it trains slightly on an average (5’4”) tall woman. The pattern includes pleating diagrams for the skirt for every size included, but the user does not have to use them and can use their own pleating method as desired. The bodice and sleeves are fully lined but the skirt is not. This pattern was drafted by copying an extant garment belonging to the author that can be seen in the Pinterest board LaughingMoonMer/robe-a-langlaise-green-striped-copied-for-LMM182. Hand sewing instructions using 18th century methods are not included but that information is available elsewhere and are easily found in books and online tutorials. To see other gowns with inward facing back pleats see Costume in Detail (Bradfield) pages 53 and 54. Also see www.pinterest.com/LaughingMoonMer/robe-a-langlaise-inward-facing-pleats/. For gowns with drawstrings at the neck see Costume in Detail pages 60 and 64, and Patterns of Fashion 1 (Arnold) page 41. For more photos of examples of gowns made with this pattern see the Pinterest Board https://www.pinterest.com/LaughingMoonMer/lmm182-examples/