Petticoat Party!

Petticoats are brilliant for creating a really good Victorian silhouette – no matter what decade/style era you’re sewing. Two, or even three petticoats can take a skirt’s shape from good to great.

I recently made up two new petticoats for myself – another one for the 1890s, and a new 1880s petticoat with lovely organdy ruffles. Gosh, I love those ruffles. If you haven’t used cotton organdy before then it’s definitely worth trying out. I even added a cheeky organdy ruffle at the back of my 1890s pattern.

I’ve also just finished sewing up two 1890s petticoats for Mum’s outfit (because one does not simply skip their undergarments). The first is a hybrid of View 2 and 4 from the Truly Victorian petticoat patterns, and the second is View 4.

And… here they are!

Mum’s 1890s petticoats

Petticoat Number One

Petticoat Number Two

And both of those together, can you see how much better the silhouette becomes when you wear two petticoats?

Mum’s two petticoats together

Side profile

My new 1890s petticoat, shown over another petticoat

Worn over another petticoat

Cheeky organdy ruffle at the back

And sitting over a new hip pad that I’ve made up

Worn over hip pad and another petticoat

Cheeky organdy ruffle

And my ruffled 1880s petticoat, worn over a bustle cage, pad, and another petticoat

This is definitely a business-in-the-front-party-in-the-back petticoat

Worn over a bustle cage, pad, and another petticoat

Petticoats make such a difference to the way a dress or a skirt sits for any Victorian outift. Yes, they take time to make up but it’s so worth it. Made up from lightweight, breathable, natural fabrics (I made these up from lawn cotton) they add hardly any weight to your outfit so you really can layer them on if you want to.

Now, that these undergarments are complete I can get on with the outer garments. You’ve seen my skirt already, I’m making great progress on my cape (finally finished the beading!), my bodice mockup is almost assembled. I’m also about to get to work on Mum’s skirt and I’m quite looking forward to seeing how it sits over the new petticoats!