petticoat junction

I have had a mental block when it comes to executing the petticoat.  There is something quite foreign to me about trying to scoop out the front of skirt to ensure the hem lays parallel the ground. I am accustomed to be able to adjust the hem after the fact!

My futile desire for perfection has caused a great deal of procrastination.

That said- I finally decided to break down and create a petticoat out of muslin.  I wound up rebuilding the waist band twice.  The first time I pleated the fabric up- I found that it made odd bumps at the side of the hip.  Sloping the waist more gently rather than eliminating it to a direct point helped to eliminate this problem. I added a ruffle at the bottom for weight

  I initially thought that I could use this as an extra layer over my quilted petticoat for fullness. The reality is I am not likely to put a muslin skirt over a silk one. Still I am glad I made it because I learned a lot about the process without having to cut into a more expensive project.   

Quilted Petticoat

I have made great progress on my quilted petticoat.  A quilted petticoat helps to hide the hoop ridges made by the Panniers/Pocket hoops.  As an added bonus- it will help to keep me warm (probably too warm).  I have to remember that Carnevale is in Febuary and likely I will spend the whole time vacillating from freezing outdoors to sweltering indoors.

The Fabric:

Many months ago in the garment district I saw this embroidered gold scroll scroll quilted dupioni. I knew right away that is what I would use to for my petticoat but as I was in the very initial stages of researching- It was not the time to buy.  At the time I didn't have even a clue as to how much I would need and at 35$ a yard- I didnt want to get the wrong amount. I had a minor heart attack when I went back (months later) and could not find the bolt. Luckily I had photographed it and the salesman knew where it had been stored away. Had it been sold- It would not have been the first time that I have missed out on a stellar piece of fabric because I was unable to make a decision when I saw it.

Anyway- here is my fabric:

Along with my fabric I bought a 1/2 a yard of the closest matching silk dupioni I could find.  This is to add to the top of the skirt so I don't have to pleat the quilting into the waistband. Despite having 34,623 colors to choose from- they did not have a matching so I went with one slightly lighter.

When I got home I found that the slightly lighter dupioni really bothered me so I decided to take the risk and try to dye it ....in Luca's fancy coffee.  (it was all we had!)  I used the anything but scientific method of boiling 6 espresso's mixed with a wine glass full of water. I tested a swatch and it seemed to work. In goes the actual yardage- fingers crossed.  BAM! The fabric came out great  albeit as silk does it lost its crunchy hand when wet. I am ecstatic over the results and more than a little proud of myself (even if the results should really be attributed to luck over any skill on my part.)

I didnt have a big enough pot or enough coffee

fabric on top is original. In the middle is after dying and on the bottom is the embroidered quilting.

Construction: 

Unlike some store bought quilted fabrics which have fashion fabric on both sides-  this one is dupioni on front, polyester batting and a fusible web/stiffener on back.  It makes sense that they created the fabric this way because it would be a waste to use silk on the back of what likely to be a home decorating fabric. The unfinished back meant a lot more work for me though.

Not only do I hate seeing things unfinished but I also was afraid this would be scratchy/uncomfortable on my legs so I decided to back the quilting.    When I initially sewed the quilting, skirt yoke and cotton muslin backing together I found that the stiffness of the quilting and embroidery left odd bumps at the top of the skirt.  I unstitched the yoke and by hand removed all of the embroidery in the seam allowance. I then pulled as much batting as possible from the top of the quilting to make it as thin as possible.  It took much longer and was much messier than I expected- but it worked.  

The quilted petticoat ties on in the standard way of 18th century petticoats.  All of my petticoats are being made with temporary ties which I will replace later.  

I hemmed the petticoat pretty short because I need to be able to wear it under both evening and walking skirts.  It is hemmed by hand with the fabric backing slip stitched to the hem for a clean interior.

Pocket hoops

I have finally completed my Panniers- twice. 

SET 1 (½) :

After reading so many blog posts about proportions and petticoats- I decided to undo the progress I had made on the initial set to make the pannier 3 inches larger.

The problem is that making the hoops larger made them very flimsy.  These were probably at the size that they needed to be a pannier instead of pocket hoops.  Making it even more difficult is that I was trying to achieve the pocket hoop look while only using the skeleton (bones) and no fabric.  This was strictly an aesthetic decision as I am likely to take a few photos in my unmentionables and find that pocket hoops are ugly.

I was finally able to make this shape work by adding a reverse hoop that help the largest and middle hoops out.  Supporting braces- much like a bridge- held the end of the hoop to the waistband while still leaving space to utilize the (yet to be made) pocket underneath.

These hoops worked.  That in and of itself is a feat!  However-  when I draped fabric over them (I hadn’t made a petticoat yet) I found that I just did not LIKE them.  I know that at carnavale bigger is better- I just could not get used to the proportions.  They seemed  comical, contrived and costume-y.  Three things I do not want.

This set back completely halted my progress and for about a week I hemmed and hawed over IF I should make a new set (So much work went into this pair!)  I could not make a petticoat until my hoops were confirmed and this (and my inability to make a decision) greatly stalled my progress. 

Set 2.

Of course I decided to remake the hoops- slightly smaller this time. I took each hoop down by 3” and am much much happier with the result.   The slightly smaller hoops mean that I no longer need the reverse hoop (which worked but I did not like).

As I have dropped the top Hoop off from the waist- I still need the supporting pieces however these actually add to the architectural feel of the piece.

I also have tested to see if the waistband will fit under my stays like I want - and it does! 

Finally I have no excuse to not move on to my petticoat (except my own procrastination)

Ring around

Since my stays are complete- I have begun work on my Pannier.  It is proving to be much more difficult that I expected to achieve all of my wants with this project

The pannier is made of buckram covered hooping wire sewn into natural colored twill tape channels.  Each of the bones are trimmed and taped to prevent them from poking through.  I use the natural bend of the wire to achieve the shape. 

• Wants:
• For it to be supportive!!!
• For the pannier to fit under my corset (this is the first thing I Will abandon if necessary)
• For it to be a skeletal frame only (rather than pocket hoops which I find to be ugly)

I'm finding that I can achieve the look I want but it does not have the strength I desire. The cage skirts I already make are more modern but are intended as outwear.  I am trying to achieve the same look but with enough strength to hold up 2 or 3 (or 4) skirts.  I am also trying to keep the proportions grand enough for a costume as opposed to clothing. I find that I tend to err on the subtle or simple side.  That will NOT work for this event.

Slow uneven progress

Stays

Last week I finished the first piece of the costumes- My Stays!!  (As it is 4 months into the process... this does not bode well...but anyway...)

Being that I started this blog long after I started sewing- I don't have as many pictures of the process as I would like.  There are many many blogs devoted to 18th century stay-making.  [thanks both for the inspiration and overwhelming feeling of insecurity!] and so in the effort to not repeat what can be found elsewhere in better detail- I will simply give an overview of my process. 

An atypical effort went into achieving the proper fit of the stays as the fit of the garments over them will be determined by this one item.  If your stays don't fit- your gown never will.  Hopefully proper fitting stays prevent my gowns from looking like a rental!


The Pattern: 
 
I used a slightly altered JP Ryan's Half boned stays  Found here.  The major change that I made to the stays was that I eliminated the center front seam and made them wider.  The elimination of the center front seam was intentional-  making them wider was not.  Fortunately it worked out. Also I found that the directions for the pattern aren't great and are riddled with errors. I would still recommend it, however, as a starting point if you are a pretty confidant sew-er

Mock up 1:

I started by cutting out the pattern and making a simple un-boned mock up out of whatever canvas fabric I Had laying around.  I did this to give me a general idea of fit and if there was anything drastic that needed to be changed.  I found that overall this pattern was a close fit to my body measurements and that even with canvas I could see how the garment would reshape my figure. (I am just holding it shut here)

Cardboard Mock up:

Following some advise I found on different blogs I decided to make a cardboard mock up.  This was actually quite fun albeit more costly than I had expected. Duck tape is ridiculously expensive in the [easy to reach] places in the city and I was too impatient to wait.  Much to my annoyance- I ran out of tape midway and had to buy a second roll. I sat around for the cardboard stays for about an hour to let it fit better to my body and see how it felt. Actually I tried cleaning the apartment [do not do this].   It's amazing that I have a boyfriend really. [luckily he was out of town and didn't witness this level of crazy]  I could tell from the mock up that I was going to have problems with my bust/waist ratio. I always do with clothes as my waist is proportionately too large for my bust.

Trashion

Mock up 2: 
 
The cardboard mock up gave me a much better idea of where the garment [or I] had its shortcomings and where I needed to make adjustments but I still needed more accuracy.  So... I made mock up number 2. 

Mock up #2 is cut from the same canvas I planned on using as lining for the final garment.  I included a few bone channels to see what a stiffened effect would look like and punched eyelets in center back so I could lace it up on my own.  It was here that I eliminated the center front seam- and accidentally forgot to eliminate the seam allowance.

From this pattern I confirmed that the garment was too big in the bust [not helped by the additional 1" I added]  I went back to the pattern and removed 1.25 inches from the bust.

Final Garment:

Luckily I realized before I cut my fabric the error that I made above.  And so- I had a decision to make-  Should I cut the center front correctly and eliminate the seam allowance or should I leave it in and cut as I had already altered the pattern to fit?  At this point I did NOT want to make a third mock up [but briefly considered it]

I decided to cut the garment as per my second mock up because I really liked the additional width that the seam allowance gave me in the neckline. I want to be able to make the neckline of my gown really wide without having my stays show. 

I do not have any process photos here but as you would expect the garment goes together as per usual.  

The stays are boned with 3/16" oval cane that I bought from WM booth draper. I used 2 pieces in each channel (flat sides together) as suggested by the site.  This seems pretty strong and I like the narrow width of the cane.  The ends of the cane are cut, rounded and smoothed with sand paper. (you can still see them poking out in these photos)

Hey it looks like I have a bust.  (I really don't)

 

Striped lining

Back with offset eyelets. 

Hand Sewn Finishing:

• Eyelets:  



Love this.




• For my stays I learned how to make hand bound eyelets!  I am very excited about this as I debated it quite a while.  I used a metal awl I had fron scrapbooking to make the initial hole and then a bone awl I bought on a whim while getting my cane [so happy for that 3$ impulse buy]  I didnt have any button twist and instead used some natural colored hy-mark.
•  By far this is the best thing to come out of this project. I highly recommend learning how to do this- its very easy once you've done a few.

• Binding:



Bias tape and tab detail

• I knew Sewing the binding would be a huge pain. I ignored the instructions and made bias tape instead of cutting on the straight of grain.  This made the process much easier however I am still not 100% thrilled with the look of the binding.  While it took me a long time to do- perhaps I needed to spend even more time perfecting the look.  It is entirely done by hand    
• The binding alone makes me question the idea of ever making another one of these. Ugh

  

  Didn't know I had those.

What I like about them:

• I'm pretty pleased with the overall fit (except as per below). I find these to be quite flattering on the bust line and they do a great job of reshaping my figure.  Unfortunately they do not downsize my figure at all and if anything the width of the stays and cane might make it slightly larger.
• I like the effect of boning with cane.  It is light and seems stable.  I will be interested to see how they wear. I plan on bringing extra pieces of with me in case some snap during wearing
• I know the color is plain but I actually like the idea of having neutral palette undergarments.  Initially I looked for a variety of printed/woven options but fear of having the pattern not fit let me start with less expensive unbleached denim. I think it is a nice contrast to the [likely] very colorful gowns that will go over them.

What I would change for "next time":

• I would make my next pair slightly smaller.  The back of my stays matches up perfectly. I would prefer there was a slight gap to lace tighter if needed.  I am concerned that when they break in or if i lose weight (haha) that I will have to make a new pair. 
• I would use stronger than regular thread to sew the pieces together.  I really really hope the thread does not pop as there is immense pressure on them.  So far it seems ok.
• The pattern is a huge pain in behind when it comes to directions. Specifically in explaining boning the tabs. I am still not sure that i did this right. It really takes working through the process to understand what is being described
• I would like to use a contrast thread on the boning channels. I briefly considered this this time- but to save time decided not to.