Regency: White Cotton Neck Frill

I made a silly accessory just for fun! My original inspiration for this frill (also called a ruff or fraise) came from two places:  this pointed and ruffled chemisette made by Sarah at Romantic History, which was based on a Janet Arnold Patterns of Fashion pattern, and which I love to pieces; and the ruffled collars worn in the 2020 movie adaptation of Emma by Emma and Mrs. Elton.  

I haven’t seen these frills terribly often in fashion plates or in impressions by other costumers; but I did manage to find a couple of historical examples in museums and fashion plates: 

1800s ruffed frill from Meg Andrews auctions

1807 ruffled collar from the Metropolitan museum

ruff worn with a pelisse; no clue if it's part of an underlying chemisette or not. 
LACMA

another similar fashion plate

Mrs. Elton’s orange ruffled collar in 2020 Emma

I essentially copied Sarah's design for the ruffles and neck band, and omitted the chemisette panels.  My ruffle pieces were 34” long and 3” wide at the widest point (narrower in the front, about 1.5”); and the neck band (finished) 17” x 1.”

The fabric is cotton voile, starched a tiny bit to make the ruffles stand out.  I didn’t have any starch on hand, so I mixed a tablespoon of cornstarch into 2c hot water and sprayed the fabric with that before I completed assembly. I honestly had no idea you could do that. No, seriously, all my life I thought laundry starch was just some magical (and probably dangerous) chemical concoction.  The more you know. 

pinning the ruffles to the neck band

I used two ruffles, each gathered and sewn into the neck band of the same fabric, one at the top and one at the bottom. I cheated and cut them as one piece and hemmed the pointed edges that way before cutting them apart, to keep the straight edges from fraying while I worked on the points.

TINIEST ROLLED HEM EVER

I attached a vintage silver-colored 1/8” silk tape to the neck band ends that I had in stash, and left long tasseled ties in the back to hang down. 

the finished fraise/ruffled collar

Tada!  I love this piece. It’s very silly and froofy, and I had a lot of fun making it. In retrospect, I think I should have paid more attention to staggering the ruffles so they weren't so stacked on top of one another; and I think I should have made them longer on the bottom than on the top to accentuate the layers more.  Overall, I like it, though, and I plan to wear it with...a dress I haven't made yet.  More on that at a later date.