I used a Truly Victorian pattern for this petticoat:

The petticoat is made up of a body that is fitted in front, a gathered flounce that can be made with or without tucks, and a ruffle that is gathered and attached to the flounce. With this easy to follow pattern you can make four different variations:

• Early bustle (1870 – 1878): Flounce goes around the entire petticoat and the back is long enough to go over a bustle.
• Natural Form (1879 – 1882): Flounce in back only, ruffle around entire hem, does not fit over a bustle.
• Late Bustle (1883 – 1889): Flounce in back only, ruffle around entire hem, fits over a bustle.
• Belle Epoch (1890 – 1900): Flounce goes around the entire petticoat, does not fit over a bustle.

Since this is for an 1870 bustle dress, I used the early bustle option. Instead of a fabric ruffle, I used some eyelet lace I had in the stash. For the rest of the petticoat I used cotton organdy, which is very light and stiff. I love this fabric for petticoats! They turn out just as stiff as dip starched petticoats and you never have to starch them.

I sewed the body of the petticoat together and then the flounce. I used a 1/4″ guide foot to sew in the tucks in the flounce. For fun I used some insertion beading in the seam between the body of the petticoat and the flounce. To keep the seams neat, I used my serger on the rolled hem setting to join the two pieces to the beading:

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Then I gathered the eyelet ruffle on the serger, and attached it to the flounce using a serger rolled hem.

Finishing consisted of setting on the waistband. Only the two back pieces are gathered onto the waistband, to keep the front flat. The fronts have darts in them to fit smothly over the hip spring of the corset.

Next Up – The Skirt

The year 1870 was in the middle of a transition from the elliptical hoops of the late 1860s and the early bustle era.

As you can see, the elliptical cage moves most of the mass of the skirt to the back. During the 1870s and 1880s bustle eras the “lobster tail” bustle became very common:

In between these two styles was a short-lived transitional style often called a “crinolette”. The skirt is more narrow than the elliptical hoop and the bustle shape makes its appearance. Unlike the lobster tail bustle, the crinolette still has hoop wires running the full circumference of the garment.

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I will be using the Truly Victorian pattern for this garment – I was very excited when this came out!

This undergarment will create the correct shape of the 1870 skirt, shown here:

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Now to begin!

I know from past experience that I need to shorten skirts from TV patterns at least two inches. After measuring the length of this petticoat I decided to shorten it four inches. Hooped petticoats that are too long will get caught in your shoes as you walk. They should be six to ten inches shorter than your skirt, hitting around mid calf.

There are no instructions for shortening it in the pattern, but I’ll tell you how to do it. Take the amount you need to shorten and divide it equally among the lower hoops that go the whole way around the petticoat. DO NOT MESS with the bustle hoops or the first hoop that goes the whole way around.

I took each pattern piece and drew two lines an inch apart between each of the lower 4 hoop wires, then folded the pattern on the lines and taped it. Then they were ready to cut out. Next step is to trace the lines for the hoop wires:

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With the casings marked, time to start sewing the pieces together! Sew the center back to the side back, and sew on the bone casings for the bustle part only. They go on the WRONG SIDE of the garment. This is important later! Note: I sewed five but you actually only need to sew four. The fifth row goes the whole way around and will be sewn on the outside of the petticoat. However, the fifth bone casing is MISSING from the center back piece, and this is why I messed up. It is easy to add later with a ruler. This is the only issue found with this pattern.

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You will have two of these two back pieces with bustle casings on and they should be mirror images of each other. There are now casings on the center back panel. This is where you will insert the bones. Sew together at the center back seam. Now you have a back piece and two fronts. Sew the fronts together at the center front seam.

The lacing panel must be sewn on before the back pieces are attached to the fronts:

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The lacing panels can now be attached to the back pieces, and the fronts attached to the backs.

Time to sew the outside boning channels!

I had an issue with the boning because I bought the bone casing some time ago, and between then and now Truly Victorian changed vendors for the boning. The old boning was 1/2″ and the new is 1/4″. I tested sewing a seam down the middle of the bone casing I had, but it was not quite wide enough for the 1/4″ boning. I decided to use twill tape for the casings instead rather than waste the 1/2″ bone casing. I sewed a seam on the existing bustle casings to make them a little smaller and prevent the bones from twisting.

The twill tape is wide enough for two bones with a seam sewn in the center. Never having used 1/4″ hoop boning before, I thought it prudent to allow more boning to be added if one row of 1/4″ boning is not enough. I can always buy more boning later and add it. When I put the 1/4″ boning in I found it to be quite stable, and I don’t think it will require the extra boning.

I had to adjust one boning line due to my shortening the petticoat and draw bone #5 a casing across the center back. The center back is very narrow and it is easy to draw the line with a ruler. If I had it to do over, I would only trace the top lines. The bottom ones are overkill, and if your bone casing is a different width than the pattern assumes you risk having an extra line showing.

I saw this message a lot when sewing on casings!

Here it is with all the casings sewn on, ready to insert boning.

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Time to cut the bones!

To cut this stuff, I use a nasty pair of tin snips. The lengths for each bone are given in a chart in the pattern. Measure and cut the bones. Use a sharpie to mark the bone number on each one – this makes it much easier to assemble later. Tip the bone ends with bone tips. Liquid bone tipping fluid could also be used for this. My grommet setter has a dye set for bone tips. You can also use pliers to attach the bone tips. It is helpful to use 2 pairs of pliers so you can squeeze both directions at the same time.

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Next put the bones into the casings!

Start at the top and put the bustle bones in first.

Then insert the hoop bones. They will overlap in the front. The pattern suggests using zip ties to fasten them, but I use tape. It is easy to undo and adjust with tape.

Lace the panels with cord or narrow ribbon (I used 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon) and adjust the bustle.

Viola!

Next – The Petticoat