
Petticoat, 2012
One of the many thing I like about historical fashions is color.
My everyday wardrobe is full of black (with just some little
lighter stuff for summertime), as it's just so convenient, but
on period wear it's refreshing to indulge in pretty colors.
I decorated the hat
intended for the pet en
l'air (aka "The
Barbie dress") with green mainly because the silk ribbon I
wanted was only available in green, but once I got to wear it I
realized that the combination of pink and green was actually
quite delicious. Now I was inspired to make a new light green
petticoat for the summer season.
For the material I
chose inexpensive and durable polyester taffeta. To get more
pretty fluffiness I added a wide ruffle on the hem. 6 meters of
neat hemming by hand sounded too laborous, so I decided to try
pinked edges for once. Apart from faster they would be also
prettier and way more period correct.
I pencilled a scalloped
edge with the help of a bowl and cut it with pinking
scissors. The nice thing about polyester is that it melts,
so I tried to melt it a bit with a lighter flame to keep it
from raveling. It was slow work too, as the edge melted too
much very easily, and the result was not very good, but
perhaps it will hold the edge together a bit. I also noticed
later that the scallop proportions were quite large and not
very delicate, but I had made it in a hurry without much
planning or testing - bad habit I seem to have developed.
I finished the skirt
hem hidden under the ruffle with machine. To protect the
pinked edge from raveling I made the petticoat quite
scandalously short, as it was designed for outdoor wear and
would have to be washed all the time if it was trailing the
ground or even close to it. If one wants to nitpick, the
frivolous length and the ruffle date the petticoat a bit
later than the pet en l'air, but I decided not to care.

I attached the ruffle on small box
pleats. Pinning the finished round ruffle on the skirt in
regular pleats took forever, and on the afterthought it
might have been more handy to leave the other side seam
open, prepare a generous amount of the ruffle and just pin
it freehand. As I was already halfway I did not care to
begin anew, but this was useful to realize for my next
grand pleating project, 1770's polonaise.

Finishing
the waist went mainly on old well-trodden paths, save one detail
I decided try. I added small loops on the front through which
the ends of the waist tapes of the skirt back can be threaded.
Thus they keep the front of the skirt securely on it's place and
stop it from sliding downwards which usually happens very
easily. This trick may not be period correct, but I have found
it so useful that I plan to make it in all my future petticoats.
The super cute petticoat gave the pet en l'air a fresh new look
like I had hoped, and for some reason the outfit always makes
people smile - and that can never be a bad thing, right?