Petticoat Bodies

June 8, 2007
(from myspace and xanga blogs)

I washed all the fabrics today. Then spent 2 hrs ironing all that washed fabric. Watched a couple eps of House while doing it. I usually watch movies with great costumes, but I felt like watching something funny today.

June 10, 2007

I spent all day Saturday working on the petticoat. I had to draft the pattern from this book,The Tudor Tailor which kindly included the pattern on a graph with the ratios. So I was able to create a full size version of the graph and draw out the pattern. Then, because the pattern was for a smaller person than I'll ever be again, I had to scale it up a bit.

I cut out a toile, stitched it up and called it good. Cut out the good fabrics and started stitching away.

All in all the bodice part alone took 11 hours to finish! 11 hours! And technically, it's not finished because I have to sew the skirts on first. Then I can finish the waistline and finish the binding on the front edge and add 4 eyelets to the front closure. Then it will be done.

Today I snipped up the top fabric (bright red light-weight taffeta) and got it stitched together. But I'm totally bummed about this fabric. While I was pressing it open I noticed this huge gap in the weave right along the fold! And since I'd already cut this stuff I couldn't take it back! But you can bet I'll be opening up the fabrics from now on! So I just changed the way I cut out the panels and made the gap run vertical to hide it in the folds of the pleats. Only the top skirt is done at this point, which brings my total hours for this project up to 14. I'm hoping tomorrow it'll go faster and I'll get the other 2 layers cut and sewn and then all 3 layers tacked together so I can start pleating. It'd be really great if I could get it all done and attached to the bodice! The hemming will take forever, I'm sure.

June 11, 2007

Today I worked on the skirts. I only put in about 3 hrs today. I managed to get the interlining and the lining pinned together at the top, but the two fabrics don't slide at all, so it's going to take a bit of work to get them to hang nice and smoothly. Tomorrow I'll work on that, and hopefully get the top skirt on as well. Then to the pleats! I'm getting there. I'm getting there.

June 13, 2007

Except for hemming all 3 layers, my red petticoat is finished! Total hrs = 21

Left to Right:
Front with opening where you see a peek of the farthingale. Side view. Back with deep "V" and big pleats. Now that I look at the picture, I think I may have to pad those pleats after all. I was thinking I might not need to, but it doesn't seem to flare out like I thought. We'll see after I try it on and see how it looks on me. So I'll leave the hems for now until I decide.

August 4, 2007

I went out to the trailer to get my petticoat today. I finally had some time to work on it again. But, I was soon quite angry. Apparently, the seal around the back door isn't all that great. We had a huge rain storm a few days before and the rain found it's way into the trailer and right into the bag holding my farthingale and petticoat. Sopping wet. GRRR...

I hung them out to dry tonight. I hope I don't have to wash them. I will have to press the petticoat before I can hem it. Which is what I need to get moving on. GRRR

August 13, 2007

Turns out I didn't need to wash them. But it took quite a while to press out all those wrinkles. I'd say about an hour and a half at least. It was difficult to turn all the skirts and keep them lined up, and getting the iron into those pleats! Gah! I really hope I don't have to do that again.

After I got it all pressed out, I put the farthingale and the petticoat on the mannequin and started working on the hem. I decided not to pad the pleats on the petticoat.

It took about an hour to pin up the hem and get it level. Now I just need to try it on ME and make sure it's a-okay. Brings project total to 22.5 hours.

September 9, 2007

I'm not as smart as I thought I was. After all that time spent pinning up the hem, I finally tried it on. DOH! Thanks to my generously padded backside, the hemline was 6" too short! That's a lot of fabric!

Yesterday I pieced together some scraps of the red tapheta and pinned them onto the hem beginning at the center seam and working to the sides. Then I stiched them together and removed the pins. The next, really fun step, was to re-pin the hemline. The front I dropped down about 4 inches, and thankfully, there was enough fabric there that I didn't need to add anything. Which is good, because I only had enough for that back section!

Before I pinned up the back section, I decided that I needed to stuff those pleats after all. Don't do this! If you want to pad them, do it before you pleat! What a nightmare. I've learned the hard way. I also did the historically correct thing by using up my "cabbage" to stuff the pleats. As I gleefully informed my husband, cabbage is the historical term for scraps. So much more colorful isn't it? And since I really hate tossing scraps, this is perfect for me. I'll probably stuff the pleats on every skirt I make now!

I only had enough cabbage to stuff the back center 5 pleats. Which works out fairly well, but I wish I could have stuffed all the back pleats. I wonder if I have any other scraps somewhere? I'd hate to cut up the pieces that are large enough to use for another project.

Anyway, I pinned up the back hem and twirled her around a few times checking to see if the lines are even. It looks pretty good. But I need to press out that seam where the fabric was added on, and then I'm sure there'll be a few adjustments. And while I'm making those few adjustments, I'm betting I'll find a way to stuff those other pleats!

This brings the project total to 25.5 hours.

September 12, 2007

This petticoat pattern is officially a bust. I don't like what's happening here. I spent 4 1/2 hours working on the hemline. I pressed out the seam where I added fabric to the hem and discovered I still don't have enough fabric to cover up where the lining fabric is too short. GRRR

I also noticed that the hemline was very, very light. I thought about using some wadding to make the hem heavier, but decided, since I have so little, that I would save that to pad the pleats on the kirtle. So instead I cut some strips of canvas, doubled it, and added it into the hem. At this point, I don't know if it's going to work out so well.

I set up shop and got to work. I couldn't get it to lie correctly while working flat so I took everything over to the lounge at the RV park where we're staying and put the dressform up on a table. That way I could sit comfortably while working.

I turned the TV to the Travel Channel and popped the air conditioner on, moved the table so I was sitting right in the flow of cooler air and grabbed my box of pins.

After quite a bit of figeting, I got it to hang somewhat straight. It's still a bit uneven, but I really don't care at this moment! blah! On the upside, the canvas helped keep the petticoat from kicking under the farthingale. I was thinking I'd have to put a pleat on the farthingale, but now, it looks like it'll be okay.

I made a quick basting stitch all the way around 132 1/2 inches of hemline. Now I need to decide if I'm going to put a guard on it or just put a welt on the inside where I need to cover up the misshapen, weirdly pieced hem and lack of lining in some spots! I'm thinking burgandy velvet might look nice...although I have been toying with the idea of orange as well...hmmm...something to think about.

Needless to say, I'm not happy with this pattern. It left no allowance for the padding in the pleats, which is why I came up short in the back. Also - trying to make the hem work like this is literally a pain in the neck! Not doing it again.

Project total = 30 hrs.

September 29, 2007

About 8 o'clock this morning I woke up thinking today would be a good day to work on the petticoat hem.

At 7:30 this evening I actually got to work!

I decided that I'm only going to finish up the inside hem. I'm not going to put any kind of guard on the red gown, only the lining. So I spent 2.5 hours cutting 3 strips at 12" wide and then sewed them together and basted the long edges. This gives me one long piece at 10" finished width. Just enough to cover the missing lining.

My goal is to finish it up tomorrow. We'll see what happens! :P

Project total = 32.5 hours

September 30, 2007

Two rows of stitching, 132.5 inches each. I'm still not done with this hem! One more row of stitching to go. So I didn't meet my goal of finishing up today. Oh well.

Project total = 38.5 hours

Sometime in November

A while ago I actually finished the final hem on the petticoat, I just didn't have the time to post anything. It took about an hour and a half for the final hem.

Project total: 40 hours

December 10, 2007

The petticoat has been hanging, rather forlornly, on the mannequin for sometime now. There she stands, silently waiting for some loving attention. I passed by her several times today, twitching her skirts as I rushed from project to project. At last I took a moment to actually try the petticoat on!

I put the petticoat on first to see how much would drag if I decided to not wear the farthingale. I discovered that I have no choice but to wear the farthingale if I wish to stay on my feet. Otherwise I could have a pretty nasty fall.

Then I slipped the farthingale off the rack and put it on the floor. I lifted my brilliant red skirts and tentatively stepped into the puddle of fabric. It was quite a trick to keep the petticoat skirts up so as to get the farthingale around my hips and hooked together! I realized I did it backwards, but that was the plan!

I shook out the skirts and then realized I have no mirrors to see myself! So I enlisted my wonderful little son to help me visualize what was going on below my knees. I asked him if any of the red was touching the floor and he reported dutifully, "No, mom." I spun a couple times and asked how much room I had before it hit the floor and he said, "Well, let's see." He got down on his hands and knees and measured the gap with his little fingers. He held up his thumb and forefinger a good 1 1/2" apart and said, "You've got this much, mom."

What a great little helper! That's exactly how I would have done it too! :D