"My Gown is made very much like my blue one, which you always told me sat very well, with only these variations;-the sleeves are short, the wrap fuller, the apron comes over it, & a band of the same completes the whole.-"

In short, a totally different gown!

I wonder what she means by the sentence that precedes it:

"I have got over the dreadful epocha of Mantuamaking much better than I expected"