Lobsters and Petticoat's

I haven't had a ton of time for sewing lately, even though I have about a million things I need to be working on right now. But I did manage to squeeze in a new lobster bustle and crinoline petticoat last month!

Being that Halloween is just around the corner, and I'm the crazy costumer that I am, I started thinking about my Halloween costume early in August. I had decided on a costume that I've wanted to make for a long time now, but unfortunately I don't have the funds to do it properly at the moment.

The costume was Christine Daae's wedding dress from the stage version of Phantom of the Opera. It's always been a favorite of mine, but unfortunately will have to wait until a better time when I can do it right.

Anyways, that was what got me going on these foundations. While I was playing around with that idea and researching materials, I started with the undergarments. I knew I needed a larger bustle than the half bustle petticoat I made a few years back for my 1870's ensemble, and because it was a stage costume and I didn't need to be particularly historically accurate in material's, I decided I should make a crinoline petticoat.

This was something I've been meaning to do for a while, but just never got around to because I really don't like working with tulle of any kind.

And this crinoline lived up to my expectations. It was a beast to work with. Partially because I was making up the pattern as I went, when I really should have sat down and crunched some numbers before sewing, but I'm just gonna blame it on the crinoline. Fine? Fine.

In the end, the petticoat turned out quite nicely. It's made up of two layers and is stitched onto a bask with an elastic waistband. I actually added another small ruffle along the bottom edge of the top layer to help keep the shape around the hem, but I haven't gotten any pictures of it at that point yet.

Please ignore my hideous carpet. We just moved and haven't had a chance to update the floor in my sewing room yet.

The lobster bustle came together quite easily, and is taken directly out of Period Costume for the Stage and Screen. I think I will end up making another one that's just a little bit biggest, particularly on the bottom half, but otherwise I really like it! It isn't quite done, it still needs a ruffle along the bottom edge, but it's wearable.

Sadly since my costume plan's have changed the bustle won't be used, but I'll may still use the petticoat. But more on that in another post!

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).

All the Fluff | 1840's Petticoats

There are a lot of reasons why I really like my 1840's dress, but one of my absolute favorite parts is the petticoats. The fashions of the time were to have a large, full skirt but this was before the invention of the crinoline hoop skirt (which came in the 1850's), which meant lots and lots of petticoats.

I ended up using 10 yards of 60" wide cotton that I purchased at the LA Garment District while I was at Costume College in July. 10 yards was enough for 1 corded petticoat, 2 petticoats and just enough scraps left over to make the mock up of the bodice for the dress.

The patterns for my petticoats were really simple; just two square pieces 60" x 43". I wanted the end circumference of the petticoats to be approximately 120" and I cut the length at 43" to have plenty of room for a nice wide hem (I think I ended up with 5") and several rows of 1/2" pin tucks.

Underneath all of the petticoats I made a small bustle pad as well (which was popular for the era). Pretty simple, but it took me a few tries to get just the right size I wanted.

My corded petticoat. I had originally planned to do several more rows closer to the top, but I decided I didn't need to but it was still a little too long, which is why there's a random pin tuck at the top.

For the cording, I used white cotton yarn that I picked up at Joann's. I ended up buying more than I actually needed, but in the future I would try to get a thicker cording. Since this was my first time making (or wearing) a corded petticoat I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it really adds a lot of shape/volume.

Petticoat #2. Pretty simple, with lots of gathers, 3 rows of pin tucks, and a drawstring waistband.

You can still see some of my pen markings, as I hadn't washed them out at the time of taking these pictures.

And petticoat #3. This one is a few inches longer then the one beneath. I opted out of any pin tucks on this one, mostly because I was getting too lazy to add them.

On a side note, I still have to starch these petticoats. I haven't gotten around to it yet since they need to hang dry and the weather has been rainy lately.

Sewing Haul!

I had the day off work yesterday, so my mom, sister and I went out to do a little shopping. We went to JoAnn's to take advantage of their Presidents day sale, and although I didn't buy a ton of stuff (okay, I did buy a ton of patterns), I did get some awesome deals!

Simplicity patterns were on sale for $1 each, so I picked up a bunch. I don't know about you, but that's the only time I ever buy commercial patterns. ;)

I picked up this petticoat pattern, mainly thinking of the pattern in the upper left corner for my graduation dress. I could make my petticoat without a pattern, but I figured for a buck I'd pick up the pattern.

This one is also for my graduation dress, which I just realized I never shared here on my blog Oops! I'll make a post on that soon. But anyways, I picked up the pattern for the single shoulder dress pattern. The top of the dress is a separate piece from the skirt, so it should work nicely!

Another corset pattern. I realize I have yet to use a corset pattern that I've bought, but I had to picked it up. I've heard good things about this pattern.

Not sure if these tops will really work with my trousers, but I need a new top for Historic Flight events.

I've also been wanting to make a 1940's dress, so I knew I had to get this one!

Okay, so I've seen these patterns online and was really surprised at how accurate they are to the movie. I wasn't even thinking about these when I entered JoAnn's, but then I saw it sitting on the table and jumped to grab it.

I picked both patterns up. I have not idea if I'll make any of these anytime soon, but I'm ready now! :)

I'll have to look at the patterns a little farther, but I don't see much modifying that would need to be done on these patterns other than moving the leg slit on Elsa's dress to the right side, fabrics, and the capes on Elsa's dresses.

There was ribbon for $.50 and I picked up some of the super thin stuff to replace my yellow ribbon drawstrings on my petticoat and chemise (finally!).

And last but not least, muslin. I have about 2 yards left of my last bolt and have been needing more but haven't ordered it because it's been on sale online and I like to use a 50% off coupon to get a better deal. They only had 17 yards, but I ended up getting it for a super good deal! I have no idea what happened, but I ended up only paying $8 for it somehow.

Victorian Undergarments

I (mostly) finished my Victorian under garments. YAY! I'll probably need another petticoat and I still need to get some longer ribbons for my chemise and 2nd petticoat drawstrings. But I'm off to a good start!

So the last few weeks I've been working on a second petticoat for over my Truly Victorian bustle. I drafted my own pattern based on Truly Victorian 107, which surprisingly turned out really good since I pretty much drafted the whole thing with math (which I'm not very good at).

The chemise and drawers were drafted with a tutorial from The Sewing Academy. I ended up putting a drawstring neckline thought so I could adjust it for the Wishing Dress neckline.

I also finished my first corset! I drafted it with this tutorial. Over all I think it turned out pretty good for my first completed corset. The back has a bit of space but I think that's because I laced it myself. I could definitely get it tighter if someone else was doing the lacing.

Things are "Bustling"

Sorry, I couldn't help myself with that title. ;P

Last week I made my first bustle petticoat. YAY!

As I mention in my previous post, I went and bough the Truly Victorian 101 Wire Bustle pattern and wire. After the pattern arrived I went to Joanns to get fabric. I used a plain white cotton and ended up getting 10 yards because I had a 60% off coupon plus I want to make a chemise out of it. The pattern only needed a little over 7 yards though.

I have to say, it was the best pattern I've ever used! I've avoided patterns as much as possible, one because they're expensive, but also because commercial patterns can get kind of confusing. Well, that was not the case with this pattern! Sure, there was 1 or 2 things that I had to read a couple of times to understand what I needed to do, but other than that it went really smoothly!

Here's the bustle before I made the ruffle overlay for it.

And the finished bustle.

 

I think I may have read the pattern wrong because the ruffle overlay didn't cover the first bone. Unfortunately i didn't realize this until after I had sewn it on and hand stitched the sides down. I think I'm just going to add another ruffle to the top to cover it. It'll be an easy fix.

 

Even though the pattern says that with the ruffle overlay you don't need another petticoat, I'm still going to make at least one more petticoat to get the silhouette I want for the Wishing Dress. I still haven't decided on a pattern yet.

Rose Tyler {Mostly Completed Costume Pictures}

I promised pictures, and here they are! Whew! That was quick!

Anyways, this is my Rose Tyler Idiot's Lantern costume, which is mostly finished. I still have to sew the sequins onto the bodice, either find a new jacket or modify the one I have, finish the shoes, and make a new petticoat.

The jacket ended up being too long so I just flipped the bottom up and tucked it under. Otherwise it gave the dress a very ugly look. I also have to re-do my petticoat because when I got in the car tonight my shoe caught it and tore a decent sized hole in it. It's not a big loss though because I kinda didn't do the best job on it anyways, plus it's not expensive or anything.

Tonight when I wore it I left the hair down because I ran out of time before we had to leave. Oh, and I left my sleeves down because it was pretty cold. But the wig kept my head nice and warm. :D

Other than the shoes, I love wearing this costume!