Regency Project

Alright...ready for your first peek at my Regency dress? I'm mixing a bunch of ideas together so it's not a replica of any one dress. But I'm sort of getting the idea of a dress like this from Pride and Prejudice: (drawstring bodice)Or this from Becoming Jane:
But with the sleeves from this pellise in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 1:

So, here is the fabric I'm using, it has a wonderful woven pattern through it. I LOVE this fabric. :)

The lining wont really be seen but I think it's pretty, little cherry branches:

So first of I started with the sleeves. I'm realizing now I should have started with showing you what the pattern piece originaly looked like but I forgot to take a picture. I changed it though by making the edge straight like the one in Patterns of Fashion and cut five horse shoe shapes along the edge.

Then I sewed the lining (wrong sides together) only inside the shapes:

Then I turned them inside out and pressed them and sewed the side seams then sewed them into the band. I then ran a gathering stitch straight up from the top of the cut outs to the top of the sleeve:

I atatched black ribbon on the inside:

Then brought it up across the gathering and tacked it to the top of the sleeve:

I also sewed the long sleeve together and then placed it under the short sleeve. Also, gather the top of both sleeves seperately. They will be sewin in as one sleeve later.

So...there you have my progress so far! I'm moving rather slowly as I'm sewing it all by hand.

But I just have this problem where I HAVE to make it as authentic as possible. I'm hoping to get the bodice a ways today. My friend is coming over for a Gilmore Girls marathon so I shall have plenty of sitting time to sew!