Fitting Marathon - L & R

Imagine, if you will, fitting multiple garments from multiple eras....  It was a whirlwind of activity as we took advantage of the July 3 early close in stock markets to fit everything that we were working on.  Every surface was piled in fabric.  The floor was scattered in pins.  Robin's foot was a sad and pained thing that swelled and throbbed.  And we got a LOT of stuff done.

What we did, and what we learned while doing it:
Lisa:
Petticoat - multiple layers sewn to a yoke for mid 19th century outfits.  I'd sewn the top layer including lace on the bottom flounce and just needed to attach it to the yoke.  Robin pinned it to the yoke, allowing a level hem.  We also experimented with a 'bum pad'.  Yes...I pinned a throw pillow to my butt..
1850's skirt - with the petticoat pinned, the skirt hem could be pinned.  Well, actually the waist.  We both had already trimmed near the bottom of our skirts, following the plaid, so we adjusted the hem at the waist.
1850's bodice - THIS was interesting.  Being small boned but fat, I cut the back of my bodice roughly 5 sizes smaller than the front.  I expect to have problems matching shoulder and side seams as a result.  I had already fit a muslin and cut and sewn a new one.  So this should have fit nearly perfectly.  HOWEVER, when I was sewing the new one, I couldn't remember if I'd matched the shoulder seam at the neck or armscye. I chose to match at the armscye leaving excess at the neck (we're talking 2 inches of excess).  When I put it on with all my underthings, NOTHING FIT RIGHT.  Poor Robin! (When she does stuff like this, it makes me doubt my initial fitting abilities, thinking "I can't be THAT bad, can I?" until I find out that she's jacked up something on her own  Dude!  I didn't jack it up!  It is entirely impossible to know what to do with all that extra fabric. It wasn't THAT BIG the first time.) Luckily, before too much had been done, we decided to re-stitch the shoulder and our optional bust dart and see what happened.  It was all the difference.  Seriously.  Suddenly, everything fit.
Elizabethan underthings - I finished them.  I put them on.  The farthingale was too long so I'm taking a big tuck all the way around between two hoops.  The corset straps needed grommets, so Robin marked where they were supposed to go and I put them in (and yes, one of them is backwards).
Elizabethan bodice - Robin had taken my measurements and I compared those to the pattern.  It seemed odd and didn't make sense.  I decided to cut the pattern size that went with my corset size and add a bit to the seams on the front and side back.  Turns out I didn't need them, and Robin pinned them out.

Robin: I'd taken the train into the city so that we could both use one car to get to Lisa's house. I lugged my cage crinoline, petticoat, corset, drawers and chemise just for the fitting of the Victorian stuff. I also had to carry my Vic skirt and bodice plus the Ren corset.  Talk about a pack mule.  With my slowly healing foot, carrying that stuff almost killed me.  And then, the fitting sessions did me in entirely.

Lisa adjusted my Vic skirt from the waistband. Adjusting it over a hoop skirt that sways uncontrollably is a nightmare.  I had to take frequent "foot elevation" breaks,which slowed the process.  Adjusting from the waist is a total pain in the fanny (and the foot) but sometimes it's the only way.  Standing still while someone fits you is pure torture, with or without injuries.  We were so tired we forgot to take pictures of Rob's skirt - but you can get a glimpse of the plaid here. (And WHAT is that LOOK on my face??? You'd think I'd discovered something nasty in my tote bag!)

The Vic bodice was interesting.  I was worried that it would be too tight in the back as I'd made 3/4" seams there, but Lisa ended up taking it in even more in that area (Rats!  I'll have to take the piping out to resew that!)

The Ren corset was easy as it was only strap placement. (Except that Lisa get the right shape and I just become a cylinder cuz my ribs won't squish and there's not much room between the ribs and the hip bones )All in all, it took us 5 hours, but it had to be done in order to continue our projects. We were mentally exhausted but pleased.  And I just LOVE my pink binding on the Ren corset! (Worn here with Victorian underthings.)

Yoked Petticoat update - L

Back from vacation, and I'm back to work on my yoked petticoat.  Being a 'robustly' shaped woman, I decided that I wanted the bulk of multiple petticoats, but not the volume around the waist.  After aggressive web search, I decided to try and make a two layer petticoat with the underlayer corded and the top layer ruffled and attach them to a yoke with a single waistband.  I made up a yoke from scratch (and scraps patched together see sally petticoat) and made a corded layer.  I plan to add some more cording at the bottom of this layer IF I have time.  I already have about 35 rows.  Next I made an A-line muslin layer and stitched 5 tiers of gathered tulle to it.   The plan is to attach muslin ruffles over the tulle ruffles to smooth them out.  I have enough room to add another layer over those two if I really need it.  But I don't think I do.

I used about 60 yards of tulle.  Pretty much a nightmare, but pretty!  I cut muslin ruffles about 3 inches longer than the tulle ruffles.  I want them to smooth the tulle tiers so I'm starting each one under the edge of the row above it and letting it hang down over the next row.  And I'm adding lace to the bottom tier.  In case I get dancing like a crazy woman and my petticoat shows!
(I don't really dance, but I do sometimes act silly)
This just sounds so simple and straightforward.  And it is.  Except for the volume.  For example, the center tier (pictured here) ... the base muslin is about 90 inches in circumference.  There is about 13 feet of tulle gathered for that layer, and about 10 feet of muslin I'm TRYING to gather over it.  I get it pinned.  I moved it to the machine.  I only hear about 2 pins drop.  I get the fabric in the machine and realize I've probably lost 4 or 5 more.  Then a random but of tulle pulls the thread out of the needle and I have to re-thread it.  The ruffle is shifting due to lost pins!  Sigh!

Here is what it looked like.  I felt like a marshmallow.
A very dainty, fluffy marshmallow.

Once I got 4 tiers of muslin sewn down, I tried it on to see how it was going.  I didn't bother with a corset, since my goal was to figure out if the length was OK and if the muslin layers smoothed the tulle enough to prevent a bumpy silhouette.

I got a couple of blurry phone pics.  Don't blame the phone, though, blame the dusty mirror.  I love the ruffled petticoat.  And the lightweight cotton plaid for my dress seems to hang pretty smoothly.  Hurray!  (I really did NOT want to make another layer)  You can just make out the canvas yoke in the picture.

After I finished I decided to add a piece of stiff interfacing to the bottom of the corded layer.  It gave me a better shape.  I also make a little 'pillow' for my backside.  Again, to help the shape
of the skirt.

Short Sewing Sunday

We've been quiet, but busy.  We each have multiple projects in motion at once, and at various stages of completion.  This last Sunday, we got together to do fittings.  We thought we might squeeze in some actual sewing, but fitting took precedence since that's one thing we can't do on our own.  It's a shame, really, since sewing underthings like petticoats is generally boring, and waaay more fun to do in company.

Lisa fit her renaissance corset for the final time, and Robin reset the back strap placement so the straps stay on.  All that's left is closing the boning channels and binding the top.  Lisa also fit her 1840's bodice (a couple of times) and determined the hem of her multi-layer petticoat (which means she also knows how long to make her skirt).

Robin fit her 1840's bodice and a ballgown bodice.  She also got to try out her new corset.  PRETTY!

But first, a quick science picture!

Did you get a chance to see the Venus Transit?  We did our best with a telescope lens and a magnifying glass (the image is projected on a blue shopping bag).  See the faint circle in the upper right quadrant of the picture?  We're pretty sure that was Venus (black dot inside the circle).  thanks Greg!

So we will try to take more pictures soon.  And really, how many pictures can you expect from an afternoon of corset and bodice fittings?  We were really busy and often fairly naked.

And if you haven't been following recently, here's what we've been up to:
Men's Frock Coat

Yoked Petticoat - 1840's
Elizabethan Corset
(scroll to the end of the post for the most recent updates)

We will start posting on our 1840's dresses soon.  They are still mostly just ideas.

My Sally Pettticoat - L

Robin and I have decided to make Victorian summer day dresses.  We also decided we don't want to wear hoops with these dresses, so off to the interwebs we go to find a solution!  We each saw a blog where someone has made a yoke and then added 2 or 3 layers of petticoat to the yoke.  The purpose is to get all the fluff without all the separate waistbands (and the associated bulk).  There are 3 steps to creating this beast.

1 - design a yoke that fits over your corset
2 - figure out how many layers to attach to the yoke

3 - figure out how to create optimum volume with the layers.

I started with the yoke, and assumed that I would want the waist about an inch bigger than my corseted measurements but with a couple of different bars on my hook and bar closure.  That accounts for size variation.  Which, you know, sometimes happens.  Then I added 2 inches to my corseted hip measurement.  That's what my finished size should be.  I planned on two front and two back pieces, with the bulk (but not all) of the 'spread' occurring in the sides and back. I dug out some canvas scraps to make the yoke.  I had enough to cut the two backs but had to piece the two front sections.

From now on, this petticoat is named Sally, after the heroine of Nightmare Before Christmas.  It's a Frankenstein of pieces.   It's also going to be worn UNDER a dress.  We all save scraps for a future use.  I've finally found one.  In addition, I found some muslin to use on the other side (that will be against my corset)  and wrapped it around to finish the edges.  Then I used twill tape as a waistband.  Here's the nearly finished yoke (yes, yes, it's not so easy to see and I'm lazy).

After an active discussion, we decided to go with two layers.  The under layer will be corded and the top layer flounced with a lot of tulle.  I got some hemp twine that is pretty fine, but also pretty stiff.  I'm going to try a couple rows with it and see how it holds up.  Robin is thinking of heavier cord and fewer rows.  Which, I have to say, is mighty tempting.  I'm going to use the same pattern as I'm using for my skirt, but with fewer panels.  The corded petticoat, at least right now, will be about 84 inches at the bottom and only come down to about mid calf.  It should be roughly bell shaped.

Now that I have a yoke, I need to start cording.  My original plan was to have 4 panels that tapered from the bottom up to the top but after a lot of internet searching, I've decided to use a big rectangle.  Cording on an angle sounded like a disaster waiting to happen.

Full of  optimism I measured down 5 inches and started to cord. I actual want my cording to start down about 8 to 10 inches but I need to take into account that I'm attaching this to a yoke.  And my yoke is about 6 inches wide.  I marked the first row carefully and stitched in my 1/16 inch hemp twine.  Even with marking and pinning and sewing on grain, the fabric wants to squirrel around.

I had hoped to be able to each each row as a guideline for the next, but (as you can see in the picture) my rows start to go wrong.  Not a lot, but wrong.  I realized that I needed to stop guesstimating and mark my fabric before the rows got so crooked that I had to re-do them.

It took a long time and the lines managed to get crooked too!

Still, they're better than nothing at all.  Then follows the long and tedious task of sewing in the cords.  All 35 of them.

Here's what it looks like nearly done.  It's happily full!  Recall that I plan to add another layer on top with tulle supported ruffles.  This layer serves to hold out the ruffled layer and keep it from tangling between my legs.  And I only plan for it to be mid-calf in length.   I've left fabric at the bottom in case I want to add more cording.  Here's the finished product:

Tulle and ruffles next!

And here I am.  Buried under a mountain of netted ruffles.  Pinning away.  I pre-cut about 60 yards of heavy nylon netting into 7 inch strips.  I didn't bother to sew them end to end since it really doesn't matter.  I split them into piles for each tier (this layer of the petticoat gets wider toward the bottom) with five tiers total..  Then I gathered each piece, pinned each layer and sewed it down.  Boring.  And more boring.  And even MORE boring.  BUT it looks like two layers will make my petticoat pretty darn full.  Now I just need to add a muslin ruffle over the tulle.  It won't be as full as the tulle layer since the purpose is to smooth the surface of the petticoat.  With just the tulle, the skirt would look bumpy.  How do I know?  I held my fabric up like a skirt...and it looked bumpy.
I can see the light at the end of the tulle tunnel!  The muslin ruffles are cut and need to be hemmed.  Then I'll sew a cord thru the top and use that to gather them to the petticoat.  I plan to have the muslin overlap to help with the smoothing.
Once I'm done with this layer I'm going to sew it to the yoke, over the corded layer.  I'm waiting to hem the cored layer until everything else is done.  Then, if I want even more body, I can add stiff interfacing or horsehair canvas to the hem of the corded layer.