An Under-Petticoat

To go along with my split crotch drawers, I made a simple under-petticoat to wear over the drawers and under my hoops. It's just two 45 inch panels of fabric gathered onto an adjustable, drawstring waistband. A simple garment, but useful, as I can use it for any time period and with any corset.

Front View

Really, this petticoat could tie in the front or back, depending on the bulk already present from other ties

Civil War Underpinnings

Ah, the ubiquitous Civil War Dress. This era was the first era of interest for me way back when I was about 14. My very first dress I made for this era I'm not particularly proud of… It was made out of a purple, shiny, stretchy, synthetic fabric of some sort. It closed up the front with, wait for it, velcro. My hoop skirt was probably the most humorous part of the outfit. My dad had some old bandsaw blades that he lent to me to use as my hoops. I covered the still rather sharp edges with masking tape and attached the two hoops to a makeshift skirt made out of an old sheet. I wore this dress as a Halloween costume. As I was walking, one of the hoops came unattached so I had to carry it. 

I made the rest of the  underpinnings afterwards. I still use the petticoats and the chemise. The corset is a bit small, but I can still wear it.

I purchased this lovely cage crinoline. Disregard the petticoats on the floor...

Here's the crinoline with my two petticoats over the top

The chemise. It's really quite comfortable, although I think I might have put it on my dress form backwards...

And the corset…This was the first corset I had ever made. I used a simplicity pattern. I didn't make a mockup, so it was much too big at first, thanks to the added ease that commercial patterns include. "Never fear!" thought 14 year old me, "I'll just take it in using additional seams!" So that's what I did. It still gives the shape I wanted. I will admit that at the time I still had a highly romanticized view of corsets. I was convinced that I needed to make my waist as small as I could. And at the time I could probably lace myself down to about 22 inches using this corset. But as I have matured, I know now that corsets, at least during this particular time period, weren't used for tight lacing. They were used for a slight reduction in waist and support for the bust. This being said, I had to add bust gussets to this corset to make it even remotely comfortable to wear nowadays. The hips are too small now, too. But if I lace it only just snug, it's not too bad. 

Just goes to show how I have improved as a seamstress. Look at this corset and look at my most recent corset and it's hard to tell that they were made by the same person. I might even make a new corset for this era now that I know how to fit them properly. 

Late 1830's Underpinnings

I made this beautiful corded stays/corset to wear under my 1837 day Dress, but it honestly doesn't work the way I hoped it would. Because there isn't any boning (except for one bone on either side of the back opening and the busk in front) the petticoats and skirt cut into my waist…not comfortable. To top things off, I modified the bust darts (thinking they would be too large) to the point that they gave me a strange shape. You can see that I tried to remedy that by adding additional fabric to the bust gussets. Honestly, I am frustrated with these stays to no end. I like them (and spent quite a lot of time cording them) but I just can't wear them in the way I had imagined. 

Front view

Side view, and a closeup of the cording

Back view. It's also a pain to get into because the lacing is in the back and there is no separating busk

Here is my corded petticoat. It works just as well as I hoped it would, thankfully. I made it out of some wide muslin I had leftover from some other project. The cording is some very thick hemp twine.

Here is the corded petticoat with my two other petticoats over the top. I made these petticoats for my civil war dress originally, but with one modification to make them one length all around, they work just as well for an earlier period. They are made out of some old sheets… the top one is cream colored while the one underneath is made from some red satin sheets. The red one probably isn't very accurate, but it does its job and that's all that matters.