1820s Petticoats

Yes, I have finally finished my petticoats for the 1828 dress. I made a corded one, as some of you may remember, plus a flounced one and a tucked one. Along with a two-flounce bustle.

The final result:





Pictures of each layer:

Back to Work

So I've been spending most of the past month knitting instead of sewing. I'm trying to finish a shawl for my mother, but it's become the never-ending project.

But Jenni has been talking about our "4th Annual Attempt at a Regency Picnic," so that has got me thinking about sewing again. I've got a few things in the queue:

1) My voile regency dress. I kept going back and forth as to how to contruct this. First I wanted a bib front, then a back closing gown, then a front closing gown with drawstrings. I think I've settled on the last option, after looking at the Past Patterns regency pattern. I don't think I'm going to use that pattern, but rather modify the S&S Elegant Ladies Closet pattern, which I used a while ago for my old green dress.

2) My 1828 dress. I did finish most of a flounced petticoat for this one, as you can see in this bad picture, but I haven't actually gotten to the dress!





3) Some random fiddling with my 1880s bustle dress. There are still some details I want to work on, plus I want to redo the chemisette (pictured below). I like the look of it, but I made the collar too big.

Corded Petticoat Finished!

In sewing news, I've finished my corded petticoat for my 1828 dress! I tacked down the waistband during our Boston costumers meetup with last Saturday. I put the hooks and eyes on the next day. It's only taken me nearly a year to finish this.

Back to the Corded Petticoat

I have a couple things to report.

First, I did finish that chemisette for my bustle dress, so I'm calling that ensemble "done" for now. I still want to make a corset cover, and I may need to add some more hooks and eyes in places, but the whole thing is wearable and I'm pleased with the result.

Second, I went back to working on my corded petticoat. I actually have 24 rows of cording done! I decided that was about enough, at least for now, and I'm working on the waistband and hemming. Here's a picture when 23 rows were done:

Corded Petticoat Progress

Here is a super blurry picture of my corded petticoat. I was too lazy to get a better photo, but there really isn't that much to show anyway. I have eleven rows of cording in (only ten in the photo). I'm hoping to have at least twenty-four rows. Of course, I've seen the insane amount of cording on the Kyoto petticoat, but I don't think I can go for that much. I counted the rows of cording on some other photos of period examples, and I've seen anywhere from 18 to 30. So I guess I'm okay.

After I finish this petticoat, I want to make a few others, particularly one with flounces, to add more volume under my 1828 dress. I'm not going for the huge-dome-look of the 1830s, but I don't want the skirt to look too limp.

A Little Bit of Progress

I have managed to make a little progress on Taylor's mitts. I knit a couple more inches of the body of the second mitt.

I did start a corded petticoat a couple months back, but I got stalled on that project. I only have a measly four rows of cording done. I'm using Jenni's tutorial on her website.

Here's a pic of my pathetic progress after 2.5 months