The Ugly Puffer

January came and went and I barely did any sewing, which isn't the way I had hoped to start the year. I worked on a few mock-ups, sewed a few 18th century petticoats, and made an ugly puffer.

What might you ask is an ugly puffer? It's this thing.

It lives up to it's name; it's ugly and it's puffy. But it works beautifully!

I'm not sure how historically accurate it is (full quilted petticoat's were worn in colder months, but I haven't seen any half petticoat's like this before), but it gets the job done. I first came across this wonderful little piece of fluff from Lauren at American Duchess, but I decided to make one after a fellow costumer on Instagram suggested it to add some volume for my petticoats. The Ugly Puffer is great for a ton of era's: 18th century, 1830's, 1840's, etc...

Here's a before and after the Ugly Puffer with my 18th C. Petticoat. I have two petticoats, both made of cotton and roughly the same same size each pleated onto waistbands and worn over a bum/hip pad which I'll post about at another time. As you can see, the Ugly Puffer adds a lot of volume. It also makes me wish I had made the petticoats just a little bit wider...

It was a cheap, quick piece to make that adds a lot of volume. I purchases 1 1/4 yards from Joann's which ended up costing under $10. I sewed it the same why I did my 18th C. petticoats with side slits so I could reach my pockets still and it closes with a drawstring. You could make it a little less ugly and finish all the seams, but I didn't bother since it's never going to be seen (though it's kind of starting to bother me that I didn't finish the seams and I may end up going back and bind the hem with bias tape).