General Construction

There are four features of petticoat construction that I have not dealt with before, that I will address here:

• Waist treatment
• Plackets
• Seam finishes in the body of the petticoat
• Skirt loops

Waist Treatment

Four of the six petticoats we’re analyzing have a waistband (although the Woven Lace Petticoat has a waist facing rather then a traditional band), the Embroidered Petticoat has a yoke with a drawstring, and the waist treatment for the Lacy Petticoat has been removed. Most of the Belle Époque sewing manuals I looked at seem to think that waistbands are so basic that they only refer to them glancingly. Clothing for Women is the only one that actually gives detailed instructions for sewing a waistband:

“Prepare Waist Band: Take a lengthwise strip of material two inches wide and four inches longer than the waist measure, turn in both lengthwise edges of band one-quarter inch, crease very hard. Find the center of the length and mark with thread; measure one-half the waist measure on each side from the center of band; mark with thread. Turn one end of band on the mark and crease; measure three-quarter inch outside the mark on the other end, turn and crease; then fold though the center lengthwise, crease and baste near fold….

“Placing Band. – (a) Gather back of petticoat if fullness is to be placed in this way; (b) lay plait [pleat] as fitted; or (c) have plain and smooth. Place front folded edge of band to the wrong side of the petticoat, fold directly on waistline and on gathers (if any) in back, letting center of band come to center of skirt, and seams meet marks on band, extension of placket facing to extension of band. Baste side of band to skirt, being sure that the ends of the bands meet. Baste carefully. Stitch all round band, directly on edge and again one-sixteenth inch inside first stitching if desired.”( Baldt 277-278)

 

Plain Undergarments says: “The band should be made double and of the same material as the petticoat; also, it should be finished from ½” to ¾” wide.”(Picken 26) All four waistbands in our petticoats are made from the same fabric as the body of the petticoat, however only one of them falls within the recommended size-range. (This, in fact, conflicts with the size Clothing for Women directed us to use as well.)

Plain Sewing says, “As strength is of primary importance, bands should be cut with the selvedge running lengthwise. If possible, remove the actual selvedge itself, as it is apt to cause puckering when the gathers are set in.”(Roberts 38) While all four waistbands in our petticoats are cut on the straight-of-grain, two of them leave the selvedge in tact.

The sewing manuals spend a fair amount of time describing how to distribute gathers evenly along the waistband (by diving both the band and the skirt into equal sections before starting), the simplest instructions were in The Edwardian Modiste, “To put on the band, notch the center of the strip intended for the band. Put this notch to center of drawers [or petticoat; the same instructions apply to both]. Baste on the gathers.”(Grimble, The Edwardian Modiste, 365) However, only the Cutwork Petticoat has gathering around the entire waist, and even there, the gathering is not evenly distributed. It is pretty minimal in the front but is quite dense in the back.

How the petticoats fasten vary a bit, three of the 4 with waistbands fasten with a button and buttonhole at the top while the forth uses a hook and eye closure. Plain Undergarments gives the following advice on choosing fastenings:

“Buttons and buttonholes, snap fasteners, and hooks and eyes may be used for the placket openings. Wash materials usually require buttons and buttonholes, while for non-washable materials snap fasteners or hooks and eyes are more satisfactory. If snap fasteners are used on a placket opening, the band, since it fits snug, should be provided with hooks and eyes, so that it will hold together well when the garment is being worn.”(Pickens 27)

The buttonholes in the three petticoats that have them are each done slightly differently. If you’re interested in a detailed discussion of buttonholes, I recommend looking at Plain Needlework by Melissa Roberts.

The Voice of Fashion gives instructions for how to place hooks and eyes, “sew hooks on right front and eyes on left side… Sew the hook on so that the end extends about 1/8” in back from the front edge of the lining. The loop of the eye should then extend over the edge of the left front a little less then 1/8”, sufficient distance for the looping of the hook.” (Grimble, Voice of Fashion, 14). However, the Eyelet Petticoat (the only one we’re looking at that uses hooks and eyes) doesn’t follow these directions.

Bess Moser’s Petticoat

The waistband on Bess Moser’s Petticoat is a 23” by 2” (plus seam allowance) band, cut on the selvedge. It is folded in half to be a 1” band. The selvedge edge is on the inside of the petticoat. This could’ve been achieved in a number of ways; the way I think it was done is:

1. The seam allowance along the short end is tucked under and ironed.
2. The waistband is folded in half lengthwise and ironed.
3. The top of the skirt is basted to the long raw edge of the waistband, right sides to right sides.
4. The waistband is flipped into place.
5. The long bottom edge is topstitched down. When doing this make sure to catch the bottom edge of both sides of the waistband.
6. The short ends of the waistband are whipstitched together.

Waistband	Reverse
Left side opening	Right side opening
Reverse	Reverse

On the left opening there is a 5” extension that looks to me like it was put in place after the button ripped out, since there’s a large and ragged hole where I would expect the button to be. The extension is a 2” by 5” (plus seam allowance) rectangle cut on the straight of grain. The long end is sewn together with an invisible slip stitch. This seam is not placed along an edge; it runs along the center of the inside of the flap. The seam allowance on the short ends of the extension is tucked inside and whipstitched down. The extension is attached to the waistband with whipstitching along 4 sides, forming a 1” square reinforcing the area where the original button was.

The buttonhole on the right side is 5/8” long, and is hand-done using the buttonhole stitch. It is placed ¼” from the edge of the opening and has a single shank reinforcing the side of the opening.

 

Lacy Petticoat

The waist treatment for the Lacy Petticoat has at least been partially removed (if not completely removed and badly replaced); currently there is no way to fasten the petticoat. The current waist treatment is a 3/8” band of cotton twill tape that is attached to the petticoat by a large running stitch down the center of the twill tape. The tape does not quite reach either edge of the opening.

Twill tape band at the waist, it is folded around the stitching attaching it to the petticoat.	Reverse
Left side of the opening	Right side of the opening
Reverse	Reverse

 

Woven Lace Petticoat

Waistband

Reverse

The waistband on the Woven Lace Petticoat is a 39 ¾” by 3/8” (plus seam allowance) facing cut on the straight-of-grain. This could’ve been sewn in a number of ways; the way I think it was done is:

1. The seam allowance at the bottom of the facing is folded towards the back and ironed in place.
2. The back of the skirt is gathered into the desired length.
3. The top of the facing is sewn to the waist, right-sides to right-sides.
4. (Optional) trim the seam allowance.
5. The facing is flipped into place on the inside of the petticoat, and ironed.
6. The top edge of the facing (and the petticoat) is topstitched 1/8” from the edge.
7. The bottom edge of the facing is top stitched down, about 1/16” from the edge of the facing.
8. The short ends of the facing are whipstitched to the petticoat, along the opening.

There are two places along the waistband where it looks like the waist has been taken in. There are two pleats in the waistband that are stitched flat on both the inside and the outside.

The button is 9/16” in diameter and feels slightly rough. I’m not sure what it’s made of. The button is place 5/8” from the right opening. The buttonhole is hand down with buttonhole stitches. It is 5/8” long and placed only ¼” from the left edge. There is a single shank on the edge opposite the placket opening.

Left side opening	Reverse
Right side opening	Reverse
Pleat in waistband	Reverse

Eyelet Petticoat

The waistband of the Eyelet Petticoat is a 27” by 1 3/16” rectangle (plus seam allowance), cut on the selvedge. The petticoat fastens with a large hook and eye. The loop of the eye is placed 1/16” from the right side opening. The tip of the hook is 3/8” from the left side opening.

Waistband	Right side opening	Left side opening
Reverse	Reverse	Reverse

 

The waistband could’ve been sewn in a number of ways; the way I think it was done is:

1. The seam allowance along the short end is tucked under and ironed, as is the seam allowance along the raw long edge.
2. The waistband is folded in half lengthwise and ironed.
3. The top of the skirt is inserted into the waistband; the selvedge edge of the waistband is placed on the inside of the petticoat.
4. The long bottom edge and the two short ends are topstitched down. When doing this make sure to catch the bottom edge of both sides of the waistband.

 

Embroidered Petticoat

The top of the Embroidered Petticoat is a yoke with a drawstring. The top of the yoke is folded down 7/8” (plus seam allowance) and topstitched down to form the drawstring casing.

At the center front a hole is sliced through the front of the casing to admit the drawstring. The edges of this slit are roughly whipstitched and the top and bottom have large shanks, like a modern buttonhole.

The yoke is attached to the body of the petticoat with three rows of stitching. I think the order of construction went like this:

1. Gather the body of the petticoat to the length of the yoke.
2. Sew the petticoat to the yoke, right-sides to right-sides.
3. Sew only the seam allowance together, 1/8” from the seam.
4. Iron the seam allowance so that it points towards the top of the yoke.
5. Topstitch the seam allowance to the yoke, sewing with the yoke on top to make sure that on the outside the stitching runs just above the original seam.

Yoke exterior	Yoke interior
Seam at the bottom of the yoke	Reverse
Drawstring opening	Reverse

 

Cutwork Petticoat

The Cutwork Petticoat’s waistband is a 22” by 2 ½” (plus seam allowance) rectangle cut on the straight-of-grain. It is folded in half to become a 1 ¼’ band.

The button is now missing. The buttonhole is hand sewn with neat buttonhole stitches in a large oval. It has no shank on either side. It’s placed ¼” from the left side and is 11/16” long.

Waistband	Reverse
Right side opening	Reverse
Left side opening	Reverse

The waistband could’ve been sewn in a number of ways; the way I think it was done is:

1. The seam allowance on the short edges of the waistband is folded inside and ironed. The seam allowance along the inside edge of the waistband is also folded inside and ironed.
2. The petticoat is gathered to the correct length and basted to the waistband, right-sides to right-sides.
3. The waistband is folded in half and ironed, sandwiching the top of the petticoat between the edges.
4. The bottom of the waistband and the short edges are topstitched down. When doing this make sure to catch both sides.
5. To reinforce the button and buttonhole a 1 ¼” square is topstitched around each end.