1840s Corded Petticoat
Dec. 1st, 2008 11:19 am5 yards quilting cotton, 250 feet of cording, 33 channels, 1 weekend: I have a corded petticoat.
Inspired by the workshop on construction from last year's Costume College (led by Jennifer Rosbrugh), I plowed into the project.I misplaced the handout, so I just plowed into the project, using references like Katherine's (aka![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
koshka_the_cat's) stupendous handsewn petticoat (while inspired, I cannot imagine hand sewing my effort--I want to finish this project before the Poe outing). Here is what I ended up with:
My technique was pretty simple. I used two layers of plain old cheap quilting cotton, prewashed it, sewed it into a big tube, then folded the back side up into the tube, so I ended up with two layers with wrong sides facing each other. I shoved 2 cm polished hemp cord (something like what Kass sells here) down into the fold and started stitching it down with a zipper foot. To get a firmly stiff bottom, I sewed six rows in a solid coil, then I left a gap and started sewing wider spaced rows above (with one band of three tightly spaced rows for stiffness).
I left the wider gaps purposefully for sewing in horsehair, though I'm now having second thoughts. It would very period--horsehair braid was stiff and known as "crinoline"--ending up as the name for this kind of stiff petticoat. Unfortunately, modern horsehair braid is only made from nylon--it looks very close to real horsehair, but I'm wondering if it will stand up to ironing (and as I don't have any on hand, I don't exactly know how it will do). Of course, if I can get my paws on eight yards of vintage horsehair, this might be moot.
Finally, when it looked about right (it falls mid calf), I cut the inside layer, folded it over and seamed it down. Finally, I tore open one seam, gathered the top and fit it into a waistband.
The little marks are remnants of temporary marking pen marks. I still need to wash it, soak it in starch and sew on a waist fastener (buttonhole? hook?).
This was an exceptionally tedious project, but I like the results. Step 2 is complete for my 1840s mourning ensemble (nb--I made a dark insulated bonnet last year, so I consider that step 1). I still have petticoats, collars (or chemisette?) and acap to sew before taking on the dress. Or maybe I'll make the dress now anyhow.
Ok, now back to work...Yes, I did agree to work for another week.
Inspired by the workshop on construction from last year's Costume College (led by Jennifer Rosbrugh), I plowed into the project.I misplaced the handout, so I just plowed into the project, using references like Katherine's (aka
koshka_the_cat's) stupendous handsewn petticoat (while inspired, I cannot imagine hand sewing my effort--I want to finish this project before the Poe outing). Here is what I ended up with:My technique was pretty simple. I used two layers of plain old cheap quilting cotton, prewashed it, sewed it into a big tube, then folded the back side up into the tube, so I ended up with two layers with wrong sides facing each other. I shoved 2 cm polished hemp cord (something like what Kass sells here) down into the fold and started stitching it down with a zipper foot. To get a firmly stiff bottom, I sewed six rows in a solid coil, then I left a gap and started sewing wider spaced rows above (with one band of three tightly spaced rows for stiffness).
I left the wider gaps purposefully for sewing in horsehair, though I'm now having second thoughts. It would very period--horsehair braid was stiff and known as "crinoline"--ending up as the name for this kind of stiff petticoat. Unfortunately, modern horsehair braid is only made from nylon--it looks very close to real horsehair, but I'm wondering if it will stand up to ironing (and as I don't have any on hand, I don't exactly know how it will do). Of course, if I can get my paws on eight yards of vintage horsehair, this might be moot.
Finally, when it looked about right (it falls mid calf), I cut the inside layer, folded it over and seamed it down. Finally, I tore open one seam, gathered the top and fit it into a waistband.
The little marks are remnants of temporary marking pen marks. I still need to wash it, soak it in starch and sew on a waist fastener (buttonhole? hook?).
This was an exceptionally tedious project, but I like the results. Step 2 is complete for my 1840s mourning ensemble (nb--I made a dark insulated bonnet last year, so I consider that step 1). I still have petticoats, collars (or chemisette?) and acap to sew before taking on the dress. Or maybe I'll make the dress now anyhow.
Ok, now back to work...Yes, I did agree to work for another week.
