A much needed petticoat


I started reenacting the French and Indian wars era last year and very quickly threw together the basic costume pieces. Now, it's time to add more items to my wardrobe. I definitely need a couple of petticoats as I had only made one wool one to start. For the Historical Sew Monthly February 2016 challenge, I wanted to finish my 1750's gown, but I hadn't yet gotten to it. So, on the very last day of February, I quickly whipped up this petticoat. It's the same fabric as my gown.


These pictures feature the debut of my model, Penelope. She's been in my life for well over a year, but I don't quite know how to approach her. We haven't actually collaborated on any projects yet. Here she is showing off my petticoat. FYI, Penelope is significantly shorter than me and is incapable of growing taller.

Back

Front

February's challenge is about pleating. I'm disappointed that I ended up entering something so basic, but it's something that I truly needed and it also allowed me to enter the HSM. I used fabric for the waist bands and then attached tapes. Some originals were made like this and some were made with tape as the entire waistband. It was cheaper for me to use less of the linen tape, and it's also easier to attach the pleats to a wide waistband instead of a narrow piece of tape.


I didn't research this item too much as it's a very basic garment. There is a slide show on the 18th Century Material Culture website. I looked at options for waistbands and hems. For this petticoat, I measured my waist and cut the two halves of the waistband so that there's a two inch overlap on each side--is that too much? Next, I machine sewed the two side seams, leaving a 10" pocket slit. Then, I pinned the skirts to the waistbands, forming the pleats. I made wide pleats in the centers of the front and the back as per an expert's advice. I also made the pleats point outward on the front and in toward the center on the back, as per my fabric dealer's advice (also an expert). The pleats are attached with machine sewing, then I hand whip stitched the inside of the waistband. I hand sewed the 1/2" double turned hem, also with a whip stitch.

1/2" seam allowance (not accurate, but quick and easy) and bar tack at bottom of pocket slit

What the item is: petticoat

The Challenge: Tucks and pleating

Fabric/Materials: 100% linen osnaburg, linen tape

Pattern: none

Year: 18th century

Notions: thread, linen tape

How historically accurate is it? Pretty good. Maybe 80%. There's some machine sewing.

Hours to complete: Hmm... 4? Most of that was spent pulling threads on the linen so I could cut it straight.

First worn: Not yet

Total cost: The fabric was less than $2 (I got a bolt of 23 yards at a yard sale for $20!!!!!!). The linen tape was probably a few dollars. Maybe $5 U.S.

1/2" turned hem

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

18th century Garsault shirt

Image
Last month, I wrote about researching an upcoming shirt project. Well, I made the shirt a few weeks ago, and I am so happy with it! I used Garsault's instructions from L'art du tailleur , which La Couturiere Parisienne graciously shared on http://www.marquise.de/en/1700/howto/maenner/18hemd.shtml. I followed these instructions pretty closely since I am not yet familiar enough to sew on the fly, but I would really like to study several original shirts. La Couturiere Parisienne made the instructions very easy to follow, but there is a feature of Garsault's approach that I and my customer both disliked. The neck gusset is set into the shoulder strap instead of the shoulder strap. I'll illustrate with pictures below. It's fine for now, but next time I'll do it differently.  Narrow rolled hem edge on the neck slit, plus the reinforcement heart as per Garsault's version The neckline is stroke gathered to the collar, while the neck gusset and shoul
Read more

18th Century Hunting Shirt

Image
This hunting shirt is the first that I've tried to make. It went very well because I had help from an expert, but there were some small issues that I'd like to record for future reference. I entered this project in the Historical Sew Monthly ( http://thedreamstress.com/the-historical-sew-monthly-2015/ )  for September, so I'll start with the information for the challenge. The Challenge: Color Challenge Brown Fabric:100% linen, unbleached tow linen shirting Pattern: None--I used Neal Hurst's thesis, "Kind of armour, being peculiar to America: The American Hunting Shirt" (https://www.academia.edu/3336557/_kind_of_armour_being_peculiar_to_America_The_American_Hunting_Shirt), images including "The Surrender of General Burgoyne" by John Trumbull (http://www.aoc.gov/capitol-hill/historic-rotunda-paintings/surrender-general-burgoyne), and input from my sewing advisor. Year: 1770's, though it can be used for about 1750-1800
Read more

Inserting gussets on a chemise

Image
I'm currently making a 19th century chemise to use for reenacting. I just set gussets into it and want to show exactly how I did it for future reference and also to open discussion for different methods. Maybe there is a way that is easier or more effective. I welcome input! First, I cut these triangular gussets. They are four inches on each side. The lines mark the seam half an inch from each edge, wide enough to fell the seam to hide raw edges. Lines aren't necessary, but make it easier to align the gusset perfectly and also show exactly how I did this process. This is the slit into which I am inserting the gussets, cut along the grain. Notice how it is a cut slit, not an open seam. That made the process slightly more challenging since the raw edges of the slit were facing toward the gusset, in contrast to a seam, where there would be a folded edge facing the gusset. I set the gusset piece like so, right sides facing, and stitched
Read more