18thc quilted petticoat
I'm counting this as an undergarment for the Historical Sew Fortnightly challenge...even though the reason behind its creation is to be a top petticoat (y'know, the one you see!). But I do have every intention of wearing this under things for warmth as well, now that I've got it...so it counts!
It's made to be part of a 1760s(ish) "lounging" outfit, that will sooner or later (hopefully sooner) consist of the petticoat, a cream taffeta sack jacket, and cream jumps. There's a Second Annual Francaise Dinner coming up in my neck of the woods, and many of us staying overnight at the Inn are going to dress for breakfast as well. So I want a fancy but comfy outfit!
The color doesn't show up so well in photos...it's actually very close to the shade of my cranberry wool gown. I think I've got a thing for that color.
About The Petticoat:
- It's made of pre-quilted silk/rayon velvet fabric, and flat-lined with red mid-weight wool. This makes it very much like wearing a blanket, but far less hideous than a Snuggie.
- Hand sewn, mostly for kicks. I like hand sewing.
- The historical premise of the quilted petticoat is solid - you see a lot of petticoats with more elaborate designs, but ones with plain lozenge-shaped quilting were still fashionable into the '70s. The material doesn't have such a solid historical base, though; all the fancy silk petticoats I've seen or heard of were satin. Not a velvet one to be seen! If anybody's ever heard of one I'd be very interested...
But it's pretty and snuggly and that's really all it needs to be!
Oh, and obviously the machine-quilted fabric...not so accurate, either.
I made it short enough to wear under other petticoats, mostly for any Really Cold 18thc events I might venture to (or ones where a silk velvet petticoat might be a leeetle fancy), but I'll wear it under anything that it'll fit under! Don't be surprised if it crops up under an 1860s dress if I make it to Gettysburg this year...
It's made to be part of a 1760s(ish) "lounging" outfit, that will sooner or later (hopefully sooner) consist of the petticoat, a cream taffeta sack jacket, and cream jumps. There's a Second Annual Francaise Dinner coming up in my neck of the woods, and many of us staying overnight at the Inn are going to dress for breakfast as well. So I want a fancy but comfy outfit!
About The Petticoat:
- It's made of pre-quilted silk/rayon velvet fabric, and flat-lined with red mid-weight wool. This makes it very much like wearing a blanket, but far less hideous than a Snuggie.
- Hand sewn, mostly for kicks. I like hand sewing.
- The historical premise of the quilted petticoat is solid - you see a lot of petticoats with more elaborate designs, but ones with plain lozenge-shaped quilting were still fashionable into the '70s. The material doesn't have such a solid historical base, though; all the fancy silk petticoats I've seen or heard of were satin. Not a velvet one to be seen! If anybody's ever heard of one I'd be very interested...
But it's pretty and snuggly and that's really all it needs to be!
Oh, and obviously the machine-quilted fabric...not so accurate, either.
I made it short enough to wear under other petticoats, mostly for any Really Cold 18thc events I might venture to (or ones where a silk velvet petticoat might be a leeetle fancy), but I'll wear it under anything that it'll fit under! Don't be surprised if it crops up under an 1860s dress if I make it to Gettysburg this year...
I think it is amazing that you have the talent to make these awesome dresses and various other accoutrements. Do you wear them regularly, or just for particular events? Also, how did you get into making these dresses? I just think it's very interesting!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the compliment! I wear them whenever I can come up with an excuse - I'd say, on average, my friends & I can come up with one event a month. We do anything from having tea at someone's house, to 'crashing' events at historic sites as the public! We're pretty lucky to have a good amount of pre-1900 sites in our area to do so.
DeleteAnd how did I get into it? Funny, actually...My choir in high school sang in a competition at the Renaissance Faire, and of course they made us wear the costumes...but I thought they were all incredibly ugly, and decided to make my own! While looking stuff up online, I realized there was a whole online community of people who liked to sew & wear historical fashions!