The First-time Petticoat...

Thursday, July 02, 2009 Jonette 2 Comments

or Ye Gods, I Think I've Created a Monster.



and that thing's not even fluffed up to maximum fullness.

This petticoat's the first of a few skirt commissions Clair commissioned me to make for her. Since they were all lolita skirts, I wanted to make the petticoat first to see how well the skirts would sit on it, to see the overall form.


It started from this:



and I later decided it would need a bit more fluff to achieve the cup-cake chape lolitas love. So, I resorted to tulle.

Lots and lots of tulle.

here are some pictures I took through the process:



This pile is made of 6 yards of tulle, about two small spools of thread, and three hours of work. These pieces are of two sizes: a pair 18-inch wide, and another pair 9-inch wide. The plan was to sew the narrower bit halfway down the bigger piece for added fluff under the skirt. It's nice working with stiff tulle: it follows your fold easily length-wise, but just have patience when you need to sew it cross-wise, where the stitching goes perpendicular to the direction of the netting.

Sewing tulle is easy; time-consuming, true, but easy.

I still had work the following day. by 6am, I hit the sack.






11:00am.

I have a bubble-bath on my table!

Here is my table with half the 9-inch ruffles sewn on. I love how the folding table looks so dainty and romantic. :) Ooh, frou-frou!




This is 5-foot-4-inch me me, standing on a 2-foot high chair, holding all three pieces together. (that's two layers of tulle, ruffles attached, and a layer of outerskirt.) I recall noting the whole thing put together was 82 inches long. Therefore, end to end, 82 inches x 3 = 246 inches, which means 20.5 feet, which means 6.84 feet. I think.

I was never really good at math. That could mean my doom. Anyway!



On solid ground again, pinning the whole dem thing together. A few minutes after, I folded it up and put it away, because good god, I've just given myself 30 minutes to take a bath and get ready for work. Sewing in the Philippines in the rainy season makes you very sweaty.

The following (few) days involve a lot of sewing, thread-foraging, smoothing out, and cursing.

Lessons learned: do not sew when your eyes are beginning to droop, and the yawns are coming more often than you'd like, and when coffee no longer helps.

Always align your pieces well if you do not want to sew over places you do not intend to sew and discover just how inventive you can be with expletives. Curse construction is an undiscovered and much often underestimated talent that eventually is honed over time and the number of projects. Trust me.

Sewing on "superfine stitches" setting may either be your saving grace or may seal your doom. Trust me. You have been warned. (I still sew anyway on this setting, but I make sure I have the patience to back it up when something goes awry. I say when, not if. )

Which brings us back to point One: Do Not sew when sleepy.

We interrupt this to give you a nice boat.



Another long strip of cotton was cut out and sewn onto the top of the whole ensemble to make a casing. Remember all those 82 inches? We will attempt to fit all those onto a 40-inch bit of garter.

And it worked.



After all that, it's still a work in progress: the back still needs to be sewn up, and I think I'd have to sew on another waistband onto the whole thing, one that will lie nice and flat against my client's waist. Oh, and I'll need to use a thicker, stronger garter, one that'll really hold the petticoat up on the wearer, because all that tulle, and cloth is positively heavy. At least, to me. but I do dare say it holds up such a lovely shape.

By god, I do believe I've created a monster.

At present, the "waistband" is all scrunched up and curly -- reminds me of brains.



I have this slowly-sinking feeling that I may have to hand-baste a smaller waistband onto the now-gathered petticoat skirt. But then, wouldn't a fixed waistband defeat the purpose of a stretchable waistline? Or am I simply confusing myself? Hmmm.





It is huge. Seriously.

As of right now, some unseen force compels me to move around the thing for fear of being eaten alive. It's watching me. It's watching me, I tells you.

More petticoat porn:

















The eroge shot. (What? Oh you know, where the girls are usually taken pictures of in a slanted view to take in all of their curves and cuteness -- and the scenery. Yes, the scenery, the background! Yes, yes.

Why do I know this? And what's eroge? Er... um....

oh look, a kitty!



One pleasant surprise for me was how this petticoat is so unexpectedly versatile. Observe:














So there.

Any suggestions, helpful hints, and comments? I'd be delighted to hear them. Specially with the waist-band, please. I'd appreciate it a lot.


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Psst! An Update! 


The petticoat's waistband transformed, you know. It went from brains.... to something tighter. Enjoy!