Dear Petticoat

Ahhh.....Welcome to the Petticoat! 

Usually I can just whip a petticoat out on a rainy afternoon, but this time I trying out a new design (and making sure the measurements were perfect along the way) so it's a taken a little bit longer.

 

I started out with an old cotton bed sheet (white, of course!) and with some measuring and ironing, ripped it into 7 pieces. 

 

 

 

With more ironing, and lots of pins, I put the 7 pieces back together again... So then I had a massive tube.  My front piece was 34 inches across and the back piece 40 inches across (the more to ruffle with, my dear...).  Usually I have a 45-50" inch waistband and shove the whole tube in equally around the waistband, running a string in at the end for a tie.  After a summers' worth of use though, I always have to replace the waistband (it's ripping from the tie or where I pull too hard trying to shove the gathers more equally in the back...)

 Back to my new plan: using a 40" waistband, to gather the back, side back, and side pieces in 16" of the back waistband.  Leaving the rest of the 24" waistband for the front of the petticoat to have small gathers if needed and sew the ties in.  Only the front pieces would move and would create less stress on the seams and ties.

 I got to gathering...but it wasn't enough.  I had to regather again......and again....and again.

After all that gathering, I finally got to put the waistband on and add the ties.  The ties pull fantastically, although one gathers a little too much on one side than the other does.  I should pull it apart and fix it (I'm not going to though...)

 Here I thought I was finished.  I ironed my petticoat and hung it up.  Ready to start the next project, when I thought: ruffle.  I added a 6 inch ruffle all the way around the petticoat.

 

 

Finally, after all the gathering and ruffling, I added my ribbon (which I just had to put piping on) and finished the hem in matching red thread.  There was just enough red ribbon left-over that I added to the waistband to spruce it up and reinforce the weight it supports.

 

 

So I'm finished with the petticoat (at last!) and already cut out the bustle skirt yesterday.   There isn't much tuffet-ing lately though.  ~M

Finished, Fitted, and Flowing

So the working skirt is finished!  Fitted!  and flowing!

You might even notice I'm still wearing my slippers here even though I've got my corset on. You just can't accurately fit historical clothing without your corset on!

The skirt definitely has some flow to it and the lace looks good in action. I do wonder how long it will be before I've got all manner of grass, sticks, and dirt stuck in it though....

Of course, I can't leave out the back.  It will look fuller with a petticoat underneath and some days a small bustle pad!

Well that's all for the working skirt.  I'm off to my new petticoat (another blog and a new day!)

On my tuffet,
M

Working Skirt

It was definitely a work in progress, this working skirt of mine. Ironing, folding, cutting, pinning, more ironing and pinning, and then lots of sewing.

                                                                                 
After the seams came the piping for the hem (all hand-stitched mind you!) and then the kick pleat, or inside lining.

But don't forget- I had to make sure the waistband was on (and functional) first...then hem the bottom for my fabulous height.



Of course, running the piping is one row around the bottom of the skirt. Then attaching the lining to the piping and sewing the lining to the inside of the skirt. 

To make sure the lining fits the bottom row of the skirt means there is always extra at the top (think of it as an A shaped skirt) so I have to make adjustments where the skirt gathers them, and not where I want them, i.e. on the seams.






After all that mess, I stitched on the cotton lace. The lace had a mind of its own, so hours (ahem, read days) later, I'm finally finished and ready to fit it with my corset and undergarments on!

Off to my tuffet,
M