The Petticoat

Friday 10th May

After another interstate trip to help a friend with his photography, I have somehow managed to make a start on the petticoat! =D

I managed to trace the pattern and cut it out in one day. But cutting out the fabric took two days...my goodness! 4 of this and 6 of that! Next time I think I should trace out 6 of those pattern pieces. Wo make my life easier.

The pattern! TV170 Victorian Petticoats by Truly Victorian

http://www.trulyvictorian.net/tvxcart/product.php?productid=28

I made view 3 which is the late bustle era and the image on the left. The pattern called for 5 1/2" tucks on that panel at the back. After seeing photos of other people having made the pattern to that specification I decided to make smaller tucks, pin tucks if you will. So I have chosen to double the amount of tucks and make them half as small so the final length of the panel will remain the same; 10 1/4" pin tucks. These pin tucks will also match the width of the stripe in the fabric I'm using :)

So this project is teaching me many new skills!!! (and frustrations =P )

The setup I had on the foor of the self-contained unit we had interstate for the week.

The pin tucks in progress...and frustration attempting to get the first lot straight.

Not too bad for my first ever attempt!

Both back panels sewn together and pin tucked. Remind me to read the instructions BEFORE I go ahead and do my own thing. I pin tucked both panels individually, read the instructions and realised I was supposed to sew the panels together THEN pin tuck lol. So I spent more time than I needed to unpicking about 20cm either side of the seam and having to resew it lol.

Wednesday 15th May

I have the petticoat mostly sewn together and pinned on the mannequin over the bustle. Oops!!

Should have listened to the instructions on the tornure pattern. It states that the skirts may need to be lengthened to fit over the imperial tornure (the big butt bustle lol)....I thought "it's just the petticoat, it'llbe right" and forgot to alter it *grins innocently*

So now without the bottom ruffle I believe I have fixed the uneven hem as best as I can without cutting a new back piece. I did this by taking a bigger seam allowance at the waist at the front and sides only. This didn't fix the problem completey, but it did help a little bit. Obviously don't do this to a skirt that is already at the right length, eause it does take the length up, and you will need to then alter the fit of the waist to the waistband at the seams because taking away that bit jst made your skirt waist slightly bigger (mine by 2cm)

Friday 17th May

Woo hoo! done =D I also added some insertion lace to the to of the bottom ruffle for some extra decoration. I havn't tried it on for length yet, but as I'm house sitting again and my overlocker is getting serviced I thought I would take a weeks break and work on an unfihished corset instead.

Cost in $au

$11        Pattern cost (not including shipping)

$14.40   Fabric cost (4.5x$3.2)

$05        Lace (guess, as I bought the whole card)

Total=$30.40

The Corset

The corset took me much longer than it should have with two cats vying for my attention and constantly sitting on my work and chair and me! Lol. I also had TAFE work to complete and hand in, I'm sure you all know the lovely end of semester rush =P

So! Without furthere adu, here are the corset specs.

The pattern http://www.etsy.com/listing/98061146/ref-v-black-royal-worcester-style99-12x2?ref=shop_home_active
Atlier Sylphe on Etsy sells some amazing antique corset patterns amongst her own magnificent work, one of which I own =P

I am learning two new things on this corset. To cord and to insert gores. Although I did run out of cord for my mockup so only half of it is corded lol. However this allows me to see how the cording effects the shape and appearance of the corset.

My mockup is made from two layers of calico (Americans call it muslin) with one of them being fused/interfaced. It is supposed to have a busk, however I'm house sitting and forgot to bring a busk with me, so I sewed the centre front together and boned it, it does the same job, just makes it more difficult to get into lol.

As you can see, the bust needs to be raised a little for modesty. The corset hips are a little too big, as they close fully at the back, and this also causes the stomach area of the corset to jut out.
The corded side buckles a little more at the waist than the non corded side, I think I'll add a spiral bone there when I fix up some of these issues for the next mockup. I'm also going to add a little to the back bust as there's a bit of a gap there at the lacing.
All in all, for a pattern that's over 100 years old, I think the fit on a modern body is just amazing! I'm quite lucky that the historical corsets measurements were very close to my own.

As I'm quite behind on the bustle class (most students are up to fitting the bodice, and the videos are only online for another month) I'm going to use this corset to fit the dress, and play around with the finery details of the corset fit after the dress is almost complete. Because the corset fits so well now, it won't alter the fit of the bodice very much when I change these minor details.

Progress pictures (mostly of the cats sitting on it =^^= )