Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Historical Sew Monthly #1: Procrastination

Here is my latest garment; I really wanted a petticoat with a more decided backside. I'm pretty proud of how my balancing turned out.
And, we got a good camera for Christmas! This post isn't really worthy of more than one picture, but I can't help it. 
Photographer (i.e. Mom): Your chemise looks terrible! Can you try to adjust it?
Me: No no, you don't understand! Every costumer has terrible chemise under corset photos, and everyone apologizes for it!


It's really more of a faked shape, because my hoop is round. I have on a bum pad, the hoop skirt with the drawstring waist gathers moved almost all the way to the back, a plain petticoat that is round shaped and doesn't really work very well with this shape, and then a second petticoat balanced to round the whole thing out.

For anyone interested in the ratio formula for the full back, I moved 12'' from each side to the back so that the back has a total of 24'' more than the front.

What the item is: Petticoat

The Challenge: Procrastination

Materials: 5 yards cotton

Pattern: None

Year: 1863

Notions: Thread, hook and bar

How historically accurate is it? Who knows? With the double row of hand gathering, then re-hand gathering, it doesn't really get much better, except for the hook and bar. I really love that closure, even though I know it isn't accurate. 88%

Hours to complete: Can I measure in Downton Abbey episodes?

First worn: For pictures, other than that not yet.

Total cost: $18

Coming up: I may actually get that green plaid finally done, either for this challenge or the next. 

1 comment:

  1. Clever about moving the gathers! I think the finished result is great, and there must have been women in the era "faking" it, too...

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