The House of Wilson: Pouf! I made a petticoat, and a skirt.

This one has been in the making since about October I think. My sewing time has been very sporadic so everything is taking me AGES!!

After helping my niece make a petticoat, circle skirt and blouse for her end of year school social last year, I desperately wanted to make myself one. I'm really trying to get a vintage vibe into my clothes and what says that more than a poufy petticoat?

My niece's petticoat

Then a fabric opportunity arose and who can resist? My daughter had a minecraft themed birthday party last year, and we used green net to make a tree. With all of the 8 metres returning to my sewing room after the event, I was getting a green petticoat whether I liked green or not.

A Minecraft Tree

I had found an online tutorial to make my niece's, but I just made this one from memory of doing her's. It's made of 3 rows each 8" tall. The first row (closest to waist) is 2 metres around, the second is 4 metres and the bottom is 8 metres. The lining is made of poplin and is a half-circle skirt cut using my hip measurement plus 2" (I think). The bottom row is gathered onto the middle row, then the middle gathered onto the top, then the top row is gathered onto the lining. For the waistband, I added a cotton lycra yoga style band that is cut 12" high and the folded over double. For my niece, we did two layers the same to add extra pouf as her's was made of tulle, but for mine I decided on just one because the net is more stiff than tulle. Even then it seemed a little too stiff so I washed it to calm it down a little.

My petticoat

To finish the bottom edge, I wanted ribbon or something so the net wasn't scratchy and catching on things. A trip to Spotlight left me wandering the ribbon/trim aisle for ages not sure what to do. At 8m of hem, the ribbons I liked were going to cost me much more than I wanted to spend on a petticoat that was meant to be "free". I did fall in love with a gingham ribbon though, and then had the brilliant idea to make my own gingham bias for the hem. Only half a metre of fabric required, so only a couple of dollars! But then lots of time making bias (most of which involved it sitting around waiting for me to iron it).

I actually started making the skirt in the midst of doing the petticoat, but didn't want to finish it until the petticoat was finished and I knew how it was going to sit.

This is a circle skirt with the "waist" measurement actually being my hips plus 2". This makes it plenty big enough to get on and off without needing a zipper. The waistband is cut in two halves. The front is half of my actual waist measurement, the back is the remaining amount needed to make it the same length as the skirt opening, then elastic inserted to bring it back into my waist. The end result is actually a little loose. I think next time I will bring the elastic portion another inch or two towards the front on both sides. This puts more fullness of the skirt at the back, but on my body I really prefer this. It helps balance out my belly and doesn't have too much fabric up front.