The easy (supposedly) 18th century petticoat

I tend to do lots of research before I make something... sometimes its specific but most times I just read everything I can find on the subject and look for the similarities.  In making this skirt, I read all the blogs/articles listed below, some were merely (ha!) inspiration and others were like a map for what I wanted to do. 

Jessamy's Regency Costume Companion
La Couturiere Parisienne...
American Duchess 
La Couturiere Vienoise
Armed & Slightly Dangerous
and many others that I just can't seem to find at this point...

I just completed this petticoat for my 19 year old daughter.  The quick and easy description of what I did was measure the circumference of her in her pocket hoops and the distance between the floor and her side waist over the hoops. 

To make my life easier I cut the panels and sewed them together and hemmed the bottom.  The (probably) was way easier than trying to hem it while it was on V.  I used grosgrain ribbon for the waist ties.  I had her put on the pocket hoops and dropped the skirt over her head until the hem hit the floor.  Then I simply (kind of - if anything is simple when pinning to a squirming person) pinned the skirt to the waist ties...

Although this is all you HAVE to do to create this type of petticoat; I, OF COURSE, had to add a knife pleat ruffle along the bottom.  In general this wouldn't have been a problem at all, but the fabric tried REALLY hard to not have a pleat at the bottom of the skirt.  The sewing complications actually caused a lot of hilarity, but suffice to say 'tis done!

Adventures in 18th Century costuming

I have just finished Victoria's 18th Century corset. Why did I make Victoria an 18th Century corset? Because in a rare bit of mother-daughter bonding she told me that she wanted one of those fancy dresses from the Colonial/American Revolution era. So after some research (which did require some arm-twisting) I was able to determine that she REALLY wanted an a la englaise.

So as with all good costuming, the underwear comes first. My good friend Hannah was over one day and was able to draft a pattern for a corset. The photo contains the finished product. Along with the pocket hoops that *only* took 5 hours from idea to completion made by Hannah as a gift for Victoria. Victoria's only job is to add a hook and a bar to the waist band of the hoops.

Alteration notes have been taken on the corset - it needs to be longer and smaller in the shoulders. As it stands now the corset closes and the back. Because of her scoliosis, the front doesn't look just right - to help with that I may add an inch to the top of the left side. This will make the corset look odd on paper, but should help with coverage in her front.