How to Make Christine's Dressing Gown

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This isn't a sewing tutorial. I'm not going to show you how to sew this. I'm going to tell you how to make it, which is a different thing.

When I built mine, I used one free pattern and then about ten or fifteen different YouTube tutorials to learn each individual step. That's the whole method. The pattern gets you the shape, and other people's tutorials get you the skills. This page pulls it together so you don't have to figure out the order.

It takes audacity, raw materials, and about a weekend.

I'm an intermediate sewist and I hadn't sewn in fifteen or twenty years when I made this. There was trial and error. I put the sleeves on upside down. There are still a couple of mistakes you can see on this gown, and as one of my friends says, don't tell anyone your secrets. It comes together anyway. I could fix them and I'm still happy with it.

Some people will tell you to start with pillowcases and tote bags. Those are great things to practice on. I skipped straight to an advanced project and I'm proud of myself for finishing it. I got frustrated at points and I stuck with it. You can make this.

1. What I used

Nothing here is specialty equipment. I used a basic entry-level Brother sewing machine. You don't need to buy anything crazy. I know people still using the ten-stitch machine they got as a kid.

2. The pattern

The base is the Hibiscus Robe from Mood Fabrics. It's completely free, it runs sizes 2 through 22, and you print and tape it at home.

One instruction that will save you an afternoon: do the no-collar version.

I used the collar from the original pattern and it was a mistake. The belt on my gown is partly covering it. Skip the collar, put a ruffle on top instead, and you'll be fine.

Print the test square before you print all the pages, and print at actual size with no scaling.

3. Make a mockup first

Before you cut into the good fabric, make the whole thing once out of an old bedsheet.

A flat sheet is ideal. It's wide, it's already flat, it costs nothing, and thrift stores have them for a couple of dollars if you don't own a spare. Cheap muslin works too.

The mockup is where you find out your sleeves are upside down, and that's a much cheaper discovery in old cotton than in ten yards of jacquard satin. Ask me how I know.

Three things to check while you have it on. Whether the bodice closes where you want it. Whether the sleeves are oriented the right way. And whether the train is the length you actually want, because that's the one you'll regret guessing at.

Keep the mockup after you're done. It's the fastest reference you'll have when you're staring at the real fabric wondering which piece goes where.

4. The fabric

Rose jacquard satin, in white or ivory. I bought mine at Jo-Ann's, rest in peace.

Fabric Wholesale Direct sells it in both colorways. They sell out of it fairly often, so check stock before you plan a build weekend around it. I've occasionally seen exact copies on Walmart, and I keep the links updated in the shop section below.

This is the fabric occasionally used in the show. It's also the fabric used for the wedding gown in season three of The Gilded Age. I know because I was an extra on that show and I stood right next to it.

On yardage: the Mood pattern gives you a number. Buy two to three yards more than that. You'll have some left over, and that's fine. The extra is what makes the train possible, and the train is the next section.

For the ruffles, you can buy pre-made ruffles by the yard on Amazon or AliExpress. If you have a local fabric store, please go there instead, or find a small maker on Etsy.

5. The train

The train on the actual pattern isn't very long. Mine is much longer, and the way I got there took about five minutes and no math.

I rolled the fabric out on the floor, as long as I wanted the train to be. Then I laid the godet pattern piece on top and dragged it down the fabric until the shape looked right. I drew the line, cut it about as long as I thought I wanted, and that was that.

Cut it longer than you think. Trimming a train down afterward is easy.

This is where those extra two or three yards go.

6. The belt

The belt isn't part of the pattern. I made mine from bridal appliques.

I took a couple of appliques and laid them over one another into a diamond pattern on a piece of iron-on transfer paper, then ironed the whole thing onto a fabric remnant. I did the same on the back. You can sew appliques on directly, and you can also find them already shaped like this, but overlaying two was easier than hunting for the right single piece.

Get an applique foot for your machine before you start this part. You'll thank me later, with a lot fewer broken needles.

Mine ties by hand. In the show they use Velcro. Use Velcro. Hand-tying it is making your life harder for no reason.

7. Sleeves and lace

I wanted thick sleeves, so mine have a few layers of lace. If you've got the right kind of lace, one layer is enough.

That decision is entirely yours, and it's one of several places on this gown where there's no wrong answer.

8. Which production are you making?

There have been so many productions of Phantom over the years that you really can't go wrong here.

The cuts have changed. Plenty of productions don't have a belt that looks like mine. The sleeves are shaped differently. The collar is different. The lace is different. Look at Maria Bjornson's original drawings and then do what looks and feels good to you.

If you think you've messed up, there's a real chance what you made looks like the Canadian version, or one of the many German productions, or one of the many Japanese ones. It might not look like the West End or the US tour right now. It might look exactly like Tokyo in 1994.

9. Where to learn each step

My own build, start to finish, is in the Christine Daaé Cosplay Tutorial playlist on YouTube. Watch that for how this gown went together.

For the individual techniques, I learned this build from ten or fifteen different YouTube tutorials, one per technique. These are the ones worth your time, in the order you'll need them.

Mood also publishes a visual construction guide alongside the Hibiscus Robe pattern, and the comments underneath it are unexpectedly useful. That's where I'd send you for the sleeves, which are the one part of this pattern people consistently get wrong. I put mine on upside down. The circle piece is cut on the fold so it becomes one full circle, and the shorter side of the circle faces the front of the bodice.

11. Shop the build

The pattern is free from Mood Fabrics.

The fabric is Rose Jacquard Satin from Fabric Wholesale Direct, in white or ivory. They sell out of it regularly. When that happens, I keep exact copies from other sellers on my Amazon storefront so you're not hunting for them yourself.

Everything else in this build is on the storefront too. The machine, the applique foot, extra bobbins, iron-on transfer paper, bridal appliques, and Velcro for the belt.

For the ruffles and lace, check a local fabric store or a small Etsy maker first. Even if it costs more than what you'd pay online, there are so few small businesses left that I'd rather send you to them.

My Etsy shop is here if you want to see what else I make.

Some links on this page are affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, which helps keep tutorials like this free.

Happy sewing.