Saturday 20 August 2011

I made my very own petticoat!

Hi there lovely readers! My goodness you've all made me so very happy over the last couple of days with all your gorgeous comments on my finished Pin Up skirt, I'm so glad that you liked it, I'm loving it :) And I now have another project to share with you, a project that I've been talking about for a very long time. I've finally made myself my very own petticoat!

I used this tutorial, which is absolutely brilliant, incredibly clear and easy to follow and basically a joy to use. It involves gathering 8 yards of fabric into 4 yards into 2 yards into your waist measurement, simples. You also bind your edges in ribbon to make it look all pretty :) Here it is in all it's glory:

Three tiered petticoat

Check out all those bound edges

That's a lot of fabric!

I'm not going to lie this petticoat did take a while in it's construction, you have to cut out a lot of strips of fabric, add fray check, do a whole lot of gathering, and then binding those edges isn't a quick job either, but to be honest I think it's worth it. There are so many different styles that you could try out with this petticoat, using different fabrics, different amounts of layers, different finishing techniques. I used my Austrian organza for this petticoat and I do think it would have worked better if I had used a more substantial fabric as although the petticoat adds a great deal of sticky-outy-ness (yes, that's a technical term) to my full skirts I think I'd like a bit more. I think next time I use this tutorial - and I am sure I will use it again! - I will try using something like a fine tulle (hopefully the finer it is the less itchy it will be!) and a double layer in the largest tier, I think that would really create the optimum amount of sticky-outy-ness :)

I also did a little photo shoot for this petticoat to show you how it changes the line of a dress. I'm wearing my Cream Floral dress (remember that?) as I never actually posted any proper pictures of me wearing it, so it's a two birds, one stone kind of deal :)

Here it is without the petticoat:

Finally, a shot of me in my cream floral dress!

I love this dress and wear it all the time but as you can see the line of the full skirt looks a little lackluster. it's pretty but it definitely needs some body underneath.

I love this dress :)

And now here it is with the petticoat:

Yay for petticoat poofiness!

The petticoat just makes this dress look perfect, filling out the skirt so that it has a nice full finish. Subtle, not too many frills, just enough for day to day wear :)

Posing in my petticoat...

A bit of full skirt action :)

So there you have it, my first foray into petticoat making and it think you'd call it a success. I will be revisiting the tutorial again but for now I'm very happy with my new petticoat, it gives a very welcome ra-ra feel to my wardrobe. Plus it's great fun to swish about it!

Swish + Ra Ra = my petticoat!

Dress - Revamped by me
Petticoat - Made by me
Belt - by Cassie Stephens
Shoes - Jimmy Choo

Happy Weekend everyone!

12 comments:

Auntie said...

Lovely, just lovely!!!

Kate said...

Very lovely!! I love petticoats. I really should make some more... They really do improve the lines of 1950's style dresses and skirts :)

Brittany_Va-VoomVintage said...

love it!!! I've been wanting to make some colorful petticoats for ages but haven't gotten around to it yet. Must put that on my "do it soon" list!

Debi said...

FABULOUS! I LOVE IT!!! Off to check out that petticoat tutorial!

Rachel said...

WOW! Bookmarked the tutorial, yours is amazing- so pretty! It really makes all the difference to your beautiful dress, you should be proud, you talented thing!

Rachel
xxx

Elise said...

Ooh excellent sticky-out-ness, now you'll be great at swishing! (my technical term!). Love that we know people in the same show btw, my pal just set up his own website so I'm just gonna do some shameless promoting... ;)
http://www.matthewmckenna.co.uk/Matthew_Mckenna/HOME.html

Tasha said...

Looks lovely! I like that it's not too poofy of a petticoat, just enough to add the right amount of oomph. And great with that dress!

Anonymous said...

It's so pretty and frilly and feminine! I really like the satin binding. It makes it look extra special. The dress is gorgeous too!

Lavender and Twill said...

~ * ♥ * ~

Very cute Miss Katie ~ I am itching to get a long crinoline, but maybe now I'll make one!

xox,
bonita of Depict This!
~ * ♥ * ~

Casey said...

Beautiful job! :) I just bought several yards of netting to make a petticoat for myself. I already own a few, but want something a bit more full and poufy (and in butter-yellow; all I can find is bright yellow in the shops). ;) Love how it adds some fun to the dress you're wearing!

Nelly said...

Thats wonderful I have been wanting to have a go at them myself.I am lucky to own a couple of vintage ones but want a copule with more colour and pufiness.Checked the pattern out is done really well and easy to understand so will add it to my list of to dos Thanks for sharing.

Wendy Bayford said...

Wonderful! It adds just the right amount of sticky-outy-ness, I have had that tutorial bookmarked for a while but not the bravery to attempt it, I think you have convinced me to give it a go:)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...