Petticoat (finally)

[cimorene]

I've been failing to get this petticoat finished basically all month, so I'm counting it as a major win now! Also I wore it to vote in the presidential election today (but only the first round) and we had a nice little walk so I can confirm that in spite of being cotton and not at all slippery, it works perfectly to keep the wool skirt from sticking to my knees.



As mentioned before, the reason this petticoat took so long is that it's tiered, and the reason it's tiered is because I was using an inherited sheet with a border of hand embroidery on one end. I wanted to use the embroidery fully, but there wasn't enough of it to be the bottom edge of a petticoat that would still have enough fullness for freedom of movement. So instead I used the full width of the sheet for the top tier of the petticoat here, hence wasting none of the embroidery, and made a second tier for the bottom. This second tier is also kinda why it took so long - I tried to make a hand-gathered ruffle and top stitch it on top, but I ended up with too many thicknesses of fabric because I wanted to be clever and save time by hemming the top edge before I gathered it so it could be, you know, decorative on the front. I unpicked all those stitches last weekend and instead measured, ironed, and pinned in place these little box pleats on Friday night, one every ten centimeters along the top of the bottom tier.

I still need to hand-finish the insides of the seams, but it's wearable now. Also you see some water soluble marker on the waistband that should wash out after it goes through the laundry. It's only wearable as a petticoat because of the twill tape closure you see there, but it's white anyway so it wouldn't be wearable as a standalone skirt without adding another white layer as lining. If I decide to do that at some point I can also change the closure to a zipper or button placket.

Comments

[msilverstar]

I can see why you wanted to keep the embroidery, it's lovely and the whole thing looks great! Also I'm a big fan of pleats vs. gathering.

[cimorene]

Yeah, I love the look of pleats, I just hate ironing, so I was draggig my feet a lot about actually making them. But I'm happy with the result!

[cesy]

It's so pretty and practical!

[cimorene]

Thanks 😊

[princessofgeeks]

Hurray!

[cimorene]

🍻

[james]

That looks nice!

[cimorene]

Thanks! 😊

[ilyena_sylph]

Holy crap that is so lovely!!!!

[cimorene]

Thanks!

[zana16]

Pretty!

[cimorene]

Thanks 😊

[viggorlijah]

Absolutely beautiful and I love the embroidery at the top - I would add a matching blue ribbon as he closure? A ribbon closure instead of a zip suits the petticoat skirt’s style. But oh so pretty with those pleats!!

[cimorene]

Well, the twill tape is a ribbon for now! I had enough trouble finding cotton tape and silk ribbon is nearly impossible. The satin is all pure polyester, even on most of etsy.

If I wanted to wear it as a skirt the placket would need a modesty panel though so I would probably go ahead and add hooks and eyes and snaps once I was sewing that much anyway.

[laurajv]

that's a nice bit of embroidery -- I can see why you didn't want to lose it!

[cimorene]

Yeah, it's so cute and it's quite impressive when I think about how much time it would take me to embroider that much!

[laurenthemself]

It looks very lovely, you've done well!

[cimorene]

Thanks! (Is there an emoji for letting out a huge sigh of relief?)

[ursamajor]

Omigosh, that is beautiful! *hearteyes* Good work!

[cimorene]

Thanks! ☺️