Making a petticoat "full"

I've been trying to make one of those "full" petticoats,
one that sticks out a lot, but I haven't found a pattern
and the few articles I've found on the web aren't all that
clear to me.

I've tried experimenting, but the small pieces I've come
up with look like a mess, so I'm reluctant to go out and
buy a lot of material to try bigger samples.

Can anyone offer advice as to how petticoats are made fuller
(other than by sewing 50 kg. of cotton together)?

For instance, one article just said to use a full circle of
cloth. Another just talks about sewing cloth onto a lining
(sort of a half-slip, I guess.) One picture I saw looked
like the "flounces" consisted of several strips of cloth sewn
side-by-side, sort of like a broomstick skirt.

I'm wondering if the trick is to use straight strips of net/tulle/other
fabric and just gather a lot, or to cut arcs (circle-skirt style),
or use arcs and gather, etc.


Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.

-- AM

wrote:
I've been trying to make one of those "full" petticoats,
one that sticks out a lot, but I haven't found a pattern
and the few articles I've found on the web aren't all that
clear to me.

I've tried experimenting, but the small pieces I've come
up with look like a mess, so I'm reluctant to go out and
buy a lot of material to try bigger samples.

Can anyone offer advice as to how petticoats are made fuller
(other than by sewing 50 kg. of cotton together)?

What are you making it out of? What sort of effect do you want?

For example, if you want a poly/cotton petticoat with some body to the hem,
you can zigzag over thick fishing line. If you want layers of fluff, you
need graded layers of net.

Those old (early Victorian) petticoats _were_ heavy. They must have been
horrible when it rained and they trailed in the wet. That's why the cage
crinoline was seen as a liberating garment.

--
Sally Holmes
Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England

wrote:
I've been trying to make one of those "full" petticoats,
one that sticks out a lot, but I haven't found a pattern
and the few articles I've found on the web aren't all that
clear to me.


I don't know what exactly you mean, but I have made a petticoat in the
following fashion. I took a strip of fabric about 25% longer than the
measurement of around my hips, and about 12 inches wide. I made a
drawstring casing on one long edge and sewed the short edges together,
making a very squatty tube.
Then I took another 12" wide strip of fabric, this one twice as long as
the previous, gathered that up on a long side, sewed the short ends
together, and sewed it to the long edge of the previous strip.
Keep doing this until the petticoat is as long as you want.

liz young

wrote:
I've been trying to make one of those "full" petticoats,
one that sticks out a lot, but I haven't found a pattern
and the few articles I've found on the web aren't all that
clear to me.

I've tried experimenting, but the small pieces I've come
up with look like a mess, so I'm reluctant to go out and
buy a lot of material to try bigger samples.

Can anyone offer advice as to how petticoats are made fuller
(other than by sewing 50 kg. of cotton together)?

For instance, one article just said to use a full circle of
cloth. Another just talks about sewing cloth onto a lining
(sort of a half-slip, I guess.) One picture I saw looked
like the "flounces" consisted of several strips of cloth sewn
side-by-side, sort of like a broomstick skirt.

I'm wondering if the trick is to use straight strips of net/tulle/other
fabric and just gather a lot, or to cut arcs (circle-skirt style),
or use arcs and gather, etc.


Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.

-- AM

I made a full petticoat for a fifties-style skirt to fit my DSD as follows:

I made a very short (hip-length) cotton half-slip with an elastic waist.

Then I gathered a double layer of stiff net as 'gatherish' as I could
make it (ie pulled it up *really* tightly). The width of the net was
double the required length from the hem of the half-slip to the bottom
of the finished item. I ran a long machine stitch right up its middle,
folded it in half along the stitching line and then gathered. And
gathered. And gathered. This step was quite difficult because the
gathering thread wanted to break. In the end, I did a narrow zig-zag
stitch over fishing line. That did the trick!!!

Finally, I whipped the net to the hem of the half-slip by hand. The net
was so bulky and so intractable, doing it by machine was going to be
impossible. I just safety pinned the net to the skirt in four places and
used a double thread and a tapestry needle (blunt0. This was easy and
took no time at all.

The resulting petticoat was *perfect* and the circular skirt sat
beautifully on it. With this particular garment, it suited me to allow
the net to show about eight inches beneath the skirt to good effect. One
slight drawback was the cut edge of the net: it's scratchy and snags
stockings. The best way around this, I found, was to run a narrow
overlocker (serger) rolled hem around it. Twice! This gave the hem body
and really covered the nasty snaggy bits of net. (Of course, it would be
*much* easier to do this rolled hemming *before* you gathered the net.
Not as I did, when it was gathered up and busy and bulky...
Hnnnnnnnhhhh!!!!! =:-0 )

Another way around it might be to finish the net with some narrow lace
before gathering?

Anyway, do let us know what you decide to do! Best of luck! ;-D

--
Trish {|:-}
Newcastle, Australia

Simplicity and all the major pattern companies have patterns available for
petticoats and slips. You will also find victorian style ones in the costume
section.........Amelia in Australia
wrote in message
ups.com...
I've been trying to make one of those "full" petticoats,
one that sticks out a lot, but I haven't found a pattern
and the few articles I've found on the web aren't all that
clear to me.

I've tried experimenting, but the small pieces I've come
up with look like a mess, so I'm reluctant to go out and
buy a lot of material to try bigger samples.

Can anyone offer advice as to how petticoats are made fuller
(other than by sewing 50 kg. of cotton together)?

For instance, one article just said to use a full circle of
cloth. Another just talks about sewing cloth onto a lining
(sort of a half-slip, I guess.) One picture I saw looked
like the "flounces" consisted of several strips of cloth sewn
side-by-side, sort of like a broomstick skirt.

I'm wondering if the trick is to use straight strips of net/tulle/other
fabric and just gather a lot, or to cut arcs (circle-skirt style),
or use arcs and gather, etc.


Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.

-- AM

Sally Holmes wrote:
wrote:
I've been trying to make one of those "full" petticoats,
one that sticks out a lot,
....

Can anyone offer advice as to how petticoats are made fuller
(other than by sewing 50 kg. of cotton together)?

What are you making it out of?

Whatever it takes to get the effect.
Something light-weight and stiff, I would think.

What sort of effect do you want?

I don't have a single, specific look in mind, but generally,
I want to make a skirt -- e.g., a circle skirt -- stick
out like a cone. One example is a 50's dress, another is your
typical square dancing dress. The effect I want is "light and
airy." Not quite a tutu, but maybe in that direction.

-- AMM

Petticoats! After making a dozen for the "Can-Cans"!...
What kind are you needing? For a petticoat to go under a little girls party
dress or...?
The simplest petticoat is a crinoline-type. For that, I would measure the
finished length desired and add enough for your top waistband and bottom
hem. I usually use a knitted elastic for the waist of between 1/2 and 1
inch - that depends on my mood at the time. For the hem, a rolled hem on
the serger is perfectly fine.
Depending on fullness desired (and length of the petticoat!), you are going
to want between 1 and 4 layers of gathered fabric. Here is where things get
different: petticoats usually have the ruffling on the legs side and use
softer fabrics, whereas crinolines have a stiffer ruffle (netting or
crinolining) that goes to the outside. A petticoat is made with a circular
skirt base and a crinoline can use either a circular or tubular base. I
make lots of both kinds so can 'walk you through it' if you'd like. For
more complete directions, drop me an e-mail with the type you need and
approximate size of person it is for.
Cynthia
(In British Columbia, Canada)
"romanyroamer" wrote in message
...
Simplicity and all the major pattern companies have patterns available for
petticoats and slips. You will also find victorian style ones in the
costume
section.........Amelia in Australia
wrote in message
ups.com...
I've been trying to make one of those "full" petticoats,
one that sticks out a lot, but I haven't found a pattern
and the few articles I've found on the web aren't all that
clear to me.

snip Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.

-- AM

In article . com,
wrote:
....
For instance, one article just said to use a full circle of
cloth. Another just talks about sewing cloth onto a lining
(sort of a half-slip, I guess.) One picture I saw looked
like the "flounces" consisted of several strips of cloth sewn
side-by-side, sort of like a broomstick skirt.

I'm wondering if the trick is to use straight strips of net/tulle/other
fabric and just gather a lot, or to cut arcs (circle-skirt style),
or use arcs and gather, etc.


Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.

-- AM

Trish's method will give you good results. Another thing you might
consider is horsehair braid in the hem. With a circular skirt it
wouldn't work in the skirt itself, but in the petticoat hem it would
give stiffness at the hem edge only. You could see an example at
http://www.patternreview.com by searching for Vogue 8020. The review by
'fzxdoc' of this dress is very thorough, and she uses both horsehair
braid and netting ruffles to achieve fullness.
Lee

In article ,
Lee Kerrighan wrote:
Correction needed!
I misspoke; you have to search for 8020, without the company name,
and the reviewer is Kathryn. Sorry about that.

Lee
Trish's method will give you good results. Another thing you might
consider is horsehair braid in the hem. With a circular skirt it
wouldn't work in the skirt itself, but in the petticoat hem it would
give stiffness at the hem edge only. You could see an example at
http://www.patternreview.com by searching for Vogue 8020. The review by
'fzxdoc' of this dress is very thorough, and she uses both horsehair
braid and netting ruffles to achieve fullness.
Lee

Trish Brown wrote:
The resulting petticoat was *perfect* and the circular skirt sat
beautifully on it. With this particular garment, it suited me to allow
the net to show about eight inches beneath the skirt to good effect. One
slight drawback was the cut edge of the net: it's scratchy and snags
stockings. The best way around this, I found, was to run a narrow
overlocker (serger) rolled hem around it. Twice! This gave the hem body

With a petticoat made as Trish describes, I'd be tempted to make a
complete cotton half slip, and then apply the netting to the outside of
it, as per Trish's description. No more scratchies on the legs then!
That net can be vicous stuff!

HTH

Sarah