simple tip for gathering the fabric by hand: use a twin needle and the largest stitch length on the machine that you have. "Sew" once without thread on the side of the fabric to be gathered. Now you have two parallel lines and puncture holes at the same distance. This saves you the work of marking with a ruler and pen.
You can buy sewing machine feet that do tucks automatically. They also have feet that do pin tucks, feed bias tapes, elastic and more. Also get a cutting mat and a rotary cutter with a quilting ruler. You can get exact straight cuts much faster than with a scissors.
So impressed with your hand sewing. What a beautiful skirt you have created. You mention in the beginning suggestions for fabric and give some indication of density, but I wonder if you happen to know the approximate gsm or oz/yd of the cotton you bought at Joanns? I am in Australia so hoping to find something similar here.
you are a great teacher...your sewing is super clean and your voice is perfect for the job !!! Some people use this platform as a theater stage or self therapy, and it's very annoying to watch!!!! Your voice is calm, your mind is focus, and you know a lot!!!!....Bravo!!!
thank you so much for this video! this has answered so many questions i've had about the finer details of petticoat construction; i now feel much more comfortable with the idea of finally finishing a petticoat i've been afraid to tackle.
Thank you! I try to use antique porcelain buttons on my historic undergarments, but I tend to wear that short petticoat with lace trim as a modern skirt and I personally like the pop of blue from the thrifted buttons 🥰
hello, i love this video, and have watched it at least 4 times. one question: you mentioned pima/supima cotton, and showed a screenshot of joann’s “singer cotton fabric solids”. this does come up if your search term is pima or supima. however, the description does not include that term. also, is a bolt of this 8 or 15 yards? i want to buy a bolt! thanks for your advice. ☁️🧻🤍
Hello! I bought my bolt of pima cotton from Joanns in... 2017 I think? and at the time the bolt was 11 or 12 yards. They may have changed their search terms or inventory since I made this video; the Singer cotton solids no longer mentions pima/supima or thread count. Looks like Dharma Trading Co is selling pimatex cotton for $6-7 depending on if by the yard or by the bolt (30 yards in a bolt!).
Thank you. Your workmanship is impressive 🤩 Do you have any advice about using flannel to make a petticoat from this era. I’m wondering how wide the circumstance should be and is it still possible to gather? I will be using brushed cotton and not wool flannel. Thank you 😊
Thank you! For this era, flannel petticoats were generally considered "under petticoats" and worn closer to the body - because of that and the bulk of the fabric, they would be made narrower. Two widths of 45" wide fabric would suffice :) These flannel underpetticoats were generally shorter and sometimes had a yoke to reduce bulk at the waist. And if you're feeling fancy, you can add a crochet or lace detail to the hem!
I don't have a shop/do commissions at this time, but I think an easier project might be my cartridge pleated skirt - no pintucks, no tiny seams, and you can make it in a lightweight fabric and wear as a petticoat if you desire.
Do you find that this fabric shrinks much? I wouldn’t want to wash an entire bolt of fabric. Or do you cut off what you need and then wash it prior to sewing?
This particular cotton fabric didn't shrink much, but I've worked with some fabrics that noticeably do. For this large bolt of fabric, I cut it into 2 or 3 pieces and washed those chunks separately.
