basic petticoat instructions

Sharing these basic instructions since I've been asked a few times & this should save me the extra typing. These instructions make an average sized petticoat suitable for many historical periods. I have worn mine for everything from the 15th through 19th centuries, and yes, even sometimes in my modern life.

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Materials:
2 yards of 60" wide fabric
3 yards or more 1/2" wide linen or silk tape

To make a basic petticoat:

1. Cut your material into 2, 1 yard pieces; one for the front panel, one for the back.

2. Turn the fabric so that you are pleating along the 60" side. This leaves you with a 36" long skirt, more than generous enough for most applications.

3. Knife pleat 1 panel of your fabric. See "Taking a Stab at Knife Pleating" for detail instructions.

4. Sew the pleats in place, right at the very top or the panel.

5. Repeat for your other panel.

6. Lay both panels right sides together (like the skirt is inside out).

7. Measure ~9" down from the top edge, where your pleats are.

8. Sew from the bottom edge of the panels to that 9" mark. The remaining space will act as your pocket hole.

9. Measure a piece of linen tape long enough to go around your waist & tie in back easily. Cut 2 of these, one for each side.

10. Line the center of the tape up with the center of the front panels. Lay the remainder of the tape along the panel's top edge.

11. Sew the tape to the panel.

12. Fold the tape over to the opposite (right) side. If you are lucky when you fold the tape over it will hide the machine sewing lines from attaching the tape & from sewing the pleats together.

13. Hand sew, with a whip stitch or straight stitch, the folded part of the tape in place.

14. Repeat attaching the tape for the back panel.

15. Hem the skirt. Don't be shy about this. Idea length for a working woman's skirt is short enough that she doesn't have to pick the skirt up when going up stairs with her hands full of things. Also, if it's shorter you are less likely to step on the back when crouching down & standing up again, nearly falling head first into the fire pit you were bending down to tend!

To wear your petticoat:

1. Turn the petticoat right side in (d'oh!)

2. Take the ties from the back and wrap it around your waist like a backwards apron. Tie in the front.

3. Do the same with the front ties, going around back like a traditional apron.

Taadahh! You're wearing a period correct petticoat.

Hope that helped!

Camp Dog

About a week ago I ordered a tent from Falls Creek. I know I said I was going to sew my own but lets face it, I'm not up to that yet. So I ordered their very basic A frame although I splurged and got the extra foot of height and the second door. That way it can be opening into a lean to if needed. A bell back tent would have been more appropriate to the time period, however I don't like trying to get the bells to lay out nicely.

In the mean time J has made me 2 benches similar to the 30 years war design I saw. They are very simple, 2 flat sides that fit into a top. They fold down quickly and easily with no hardware. I think he is also going to build himself a smaller bench to sit on while he plays his cello. Today's task is sanding and staining, although I'm tempted to paint one of them. I'm trying to make sure all the pieces are "matchy-matchy", even though they are pretty much the same.

J also build me a collapsing X legged table not dissimilar to the folding table Washington took on campaign. The sorts of folding tables where the top splits are very popular in camps I'm noticing. Mine looks much the same but doesn't have a split top. It actually has to have 4 pegs pulled in order to flatten. I need to stain up that one as well, but I want to make sure I like the stain color since the table is so nice looking.

Sometime next week hopefully J will make me the trestle table that I sent him links for. This one I'm thinking of painting, maybe if he does one with a nice center trestle area, I'll even paint a design on that part.




In other camp news, I need to find out if tent poles would have been painted or not. I've seen people with their poles painted and like the look. Plus I need to do something to hide the remaining lumberyard marks on my uprights. However I don't want to do something that is a reenactor-ism if I can help it. I'm not finding anything on-line telling me either way though. Frustrating since I need to get this stuff done soon.