For measuring lengths on yourself, I find it helpful to hold the middle of the tape measure and drop the start of it to the floor. Then when it reaches the length I want, I can just read off the number I am pinching at my waistband rather than having to lean over and try to see what the number near the floor is without disrupting the reading. Makes self measurements sooo much easier.
Organdy makes great petticoats. I also like to use it for stiff interlining in place of beetled linen. But it's also very helpful for darning jeans and other stiff fabric.
Im glad im not the only one that looks at my thhreads and goes "I REFUSE to be defeated by 4 short lengths of white thread. You WILL be enough!". Ah - a sewer after my own heart! Well done!
My goodness woman - you are amazing. Oh to have your training. I have a daughter in the SCA doing Grecian and Viking ensemble and she stresses out so much. 😊❤
Absolutely love your "aim and fire" approach. Using LOGIC to solve problems in textile engineering. Both beautiful pieces which will ultimately shape the viewable piece. Fantastic! Very excited for the next bit. The fact you show warts and all the process of planning, thinking then problem solving with perseverance is very inspiring. God given talent generously given. ❤
It looks amazing! I'm glad you were able to make lighter petticoats that still had such great volume! Also, as you said about the inside of the petticoat, no one is going to see that your top petticoat is too short, so it doesn't matter. Also, the waist yoke looks amazing with those pleats and keeps so much bulk away from the waist of the silhouette. It was an ingenious idea.
Definitely team 'do it fast, with whatever color thread you grab first' and I generally don't bother to remove gathering stitches 😆. The organdy looks like great petticoat material, I gotta try that next time. 💜
As someone who just... cannot bend down to measure skirt length or leg length, I've found holding the tape measure upside down (so 1 where you want the bottom of your skirt to be, bigger numbers at the top) with a peg clipped to the bottom so it hangs straight to be a pretty accurate method. Might need a mirror to check it's definitely at the right length, but you can just pinch where the right number is and pull the tape up rather than do the awkward bending and checking dance
They turned out beautiful 🧡🧡 I tend to do the "divide and conquer" "method" for pleating when it doesn't have to be exact, it distributes the pleats pretty evenly.
This was quite a fun journey to embark on with you! Your "gotta get it done" approach made it kind of freewheeling, and it was helpful to take us along on your problem-solving process. Also, great PSA when you said you were running out of white thread. I thought " who runs out of white thread? Ooh wait, when's the last time I actually bought white thread?" Then I had to have a look in my thread drawer!😂
I too feel victim to the 'surely I'll have more white thread? I always have white thread in!' But it turns out when you sew lots of white stuff it does in fact use the white thread up and it doesn't magically replace itself!
Done is better than perfect! I am glad you got through these so quickly and yeah sometimes decisions get made because that is just what works best at the time. We don't all have the time or energy to just run out to the store to get more thread.
I love you're approach to using the mock-up as a process to work you're way to the final piece. And all with using the same fabric that you started with. Thank you for sharing your creative practice. - Cathy (&, accidently, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown/Pimisi
Your honesty about these low dopamine tasks had me busting out laughing. It’s refreshing to see blunt honesty- some of these things suck, lol, but they are for the greater good. I wanted to drop a line to say thank you- you’ve inspired me to plan for what *I* need to be comfortable in historical clothing, and same for adapting what I need to be able to make items without hurting my health. On to the pretty silk! ❤
I also ironed sitting down today. On your recommendation Claude, I bought a wool ironing mat (fantastic!) and this week a mini iron (found a cheaper brand knock off at Aldi). I was so thankful to God I took your advise, so I could do the next step, even with more pain today, and I didn't have to stand for the 5.5m of circle skirt hem! So thanks 😊 The way the organdie moves makes me think of the disposable gowns one gets given for medical tests and such (although usually dark blue or black and not see through 😅). Also did you get your ears pierced this year, or have you always had them pierced and my foggy brain hasn't noticed?
Skirt, petticoat, and dress length hack: get help to measure and record your waist to floor, waist to ankle, and waist to knee measurements. Then it's fairly easy to estimate other lengths. So, if it's 100 cm (using an easy number here 😅) from waist to floor and 65 cm from waist to knee, 80 cm plus hem and seam allowances is a fairly safe guess for a mid-calf length. Also, extra wide sheeting is my favorite sewing hack.
Not great 😅 even though they were short they trailed on the ground behind my feet. The organdie one was a bit more cooperative but very crispy to sit on.
They're lovely and look like they feel really nice on..reminds me of my wedding dress which I cut in half the night before and added a bit as it felt too short! I felt so good in it... I always learn something new in your videos and you're going to look beautiful.
The Petticoats looked great. Liked the yoke idea. Less bulk, but still has the floof. Thank you for linking the organdy. I've been failing to find any. will now be able to interline my light weight cotton i want to use for a costume jacket (fell in love with the pattern). I use a lot of cotton sheeting for historical shirts and other stuff as its cheaper than standard width cotton. Thank you again for the link. They have more colours than my usual place.
I dont know how "historically accurate" it is, but for cotton petty coats, I make the big tube with the placlet opening, as you did, but I make a casing at the waist band and run a ribbon through to use as a tie. It gathers as it gets tied on, the gathers can be shifted to distribute where I'd like them, and it's very simple. If all the outer garments are done right, no one will see the petty coat waist band. This is my "good enough", and honestly, I don't shoot for a better than this on petty coats, basically ever.
Love the petticoat ! And I was wandering if the knitted green shirt you are wearing, the one with the bobbles, is one you knitted. If so, I was wandering what pattern you used : it really looks great!
Yep! The one with the bobbles is one I knitted. It's the Nutcracker Jumper by Fabel Knitwear and there should now be a link to the Ravelry page in the description 😊
Excellent bell shape! I used cotton organdy for my corded petticoat - 10/10. Although I doubt you'll want to make one as they are heavy. I love how the organdy softens with handling and then crisps up again when washed. Haven't tried starching it yet to get even more loft. Did you?
No I didn't try that. I didn't have time before ball and you need quite a lot of space to dry them so that means the garden for me and it's rained non stop since July 😂
🤦♀️ How Many Times Have I turned away from my sewing machine to find a ruler... Thank you for pointing this out, in the context of a use-case scenario. Because while I had clearly seen it, and knew it was there as soon as I saw you use yours... I have never used it. It has both cm and inches, perfect for a Canadian who goes both ways, (and sometimes has to dig for one of the ruler-rulers as my quilt grids are only in inches) and it's zeroed off the centre needle position, which makes perfect sense... Wow. Next you'll be telling me there's a needle down function! j/k it's the main reason I use the contemporary machine over my vintage one.
I've heard organdy is great for petticoats, and I'd love it for the lightness because I dislike the feeling of heavier petticoats. But damn if it isn't absolutely impossible to find anywhere in my country, and I just get organza instead when searching. Might have to look at German sites or something.
You are refreshingly wonderful in the way you approach sewing historical underwear. I too just sew underwear to get it done so I can move on to the pretty dress. Thanks for the validation. 🎉
The organdie one yes, the cotton one not so much. I think adding the yoke helped as it meant the bottom of my corset did a lot of supporting work which made it more bearable!
Fantastic use of safety pins! 😉 I've often wondered if I should be cannibalizing my old bras for their hook & eye closures to make my petticoats adjustable 😁
I've cheated making petticoat ruffles by using dust ruffles in the past. (not sure if these are called the same thing in Britain?) They're already gathered and usually long enough to make it around a petticoat with extra leftover!
These are fabulous, and Done! That wide cotton sheeting tho... thinking of a circle skirt, with wide bands of organdy with a gathering foot? Also, not historically accurate, but...stiff netting. In more modern petticoats...and it's soooo light and stiff. Refit a giant one to go under an A-line wedding dress. No way I could've worn one in cotton.
The fullness looks great. I also like how you transferred the bulk downward by adding the yoke-waistband. Maybe you could make some sort of separate ruffle that has a band at the top, and to that band you can add snaps or loops, adding the other side of the snaps or buttons onto the underside of the over-petticoat. That way you have a shorter one when you need it and an option for a longer one when you need it.
They do they job they don't have to be pretty unless you want them to be pretty. And anyone close enough to see your petticoats is too close and can be kicked. :)
