HSF - Challenge #9 Black & White

Challenge - Black & White

Fabric - Poly/cotton broadcloth blend

Pattern - Truly Victorian Petticoats pattern (TV170)

Year - Natural Form period, about 1876-1882

Notions - Hooks and eyes for the waistband

Hours to complete - 14

First Worn - For waistband measurements. Will be wearing soon as I work on construction a Natural Form dress

Total Cost - $0, all materials were already in my stash and the pattern is one of my basics that I use frequently.

How historically accurate is it?
The pattern I use matches the silhouette needs of the Natural Form period with a slim front and some fullness towards the back. Everything is machine sewn however, so I don't know how accurate that would be in comparison to an original from that same time.

 
Yargh, I've really been slacking for my May posts. On the plus side though, I finished an item off the aforementioned project list. Double bonus, it works for one of the challenges! It's a few days late, but given my recent history with project issues, I'm not going to worry too much about being a little behind (still working on challenge #5 and #7).

The Natural Form period is one of the few areas of the Victorian Era that I don't have a dress from so I decided to make one up. Like many projects though, you have to start at the basics. In this case it was by making a petticoat. All the ones I currently have are fitted to go over hoop cages or bustles so there's a lot of extra material in them. The point of the Natural Form period is that things are very natural meaning there's very little modification to the silhouette outside of the corset.

Examples of Natural Form dress - Image via Pinterest

I dug out from my trusty TV170 pattern, which I use for most of my petticoats since it's a very universal, and managed to find the right amount of fabric in my stash then got to work.

It took a couple of nights to get everything pinned together and sewn because I like to pin and set my own ruffles rather than try to use a running stitch. The process can be very tedious at times, but the result is certainly worth it in my opinion because the ruffles are usually evenly balanced the entire length of the seam.

Hand pinned ruffles along lower tier

When going through the sewing machine, I just guide the fold in the direction I choose or press them flat.

Although Natural Form is known for some of the long, trained skirts with oodles of frills (see the above fashion plate for example), I opted to go with an untrained petticoat from the standpoint that it would be able to go under other costumes. Instead, for the trained skirts, I'll use a detachable balayeuse or dust ruffle. But that's another project for another time.