Crinolines on Parade!

Goodness, my demi-plié isn't what it used to be....

Oh, you're here!

Friends, I am happy to announce that my crinolines are nearly finished.  Yes, you read that right: crinolines -- plural.  As I was gathering my 10 yards of nylon net yesterday and realizing I could wrap my entire living room with it, twice, I came to the conclusion that it would make more sense to make two crinolines, which could be worn one on top of the other, or separately.  Eureka!

Perhaps you're wondering: what is the difference between a crinoline and a petticoat?  Basically, nothing.  People often use the word crinoline to mean a stiff net petticoat, or underskirt.  And crinoline is often what people call the stiff nylon net fabric (as opposed to tulle, which is soft net).  But here in Chelsea, at least, we use the words interchangeably.

Part of the challenge of making the gathered tiers, which a number of you alluded to in your comments yesterday, is that working with a ruffler foot, one can only gather so much.  Setting the stitch length down to the tiniest stitch made the gathers much denser, since there's less space between the ruffles, but there's a limit.



Many commenters recommended gathering by hand, and in theory I get why that would create a denser ruffle.  The problem is that it's very difficult to put a pin through the net I am working with, so how do you "anchor" the gather once you've pulled your gathering threads, or if you need to adjust it?  The weave is so wide that the pin usually falls right out.  The other challenge is that the denser (and higher) the gather, the harder it is to fit it under the presser foot of my sewing machine when you're attaching the gathered tier to the next higher tier.



Anyway, I made two crinoline petticoats, and I love them.  I still have to bind the seam allowances with ribbon.  The seams themselves are very strong, but the raw edges are a little rough to the touch.  If the bottom crinoline were worn with the raw seam allowances facing up, and the top crinoline worn with the raw seam allowances facing down, would I have to bind those edges at all?   Isn't that basically just for show?  Anywho, I will definitely bind the seam allowance where the top net tier attaches to the fabric, since the fabric (sort of a cotton batiste) frays.

Here's the cotton yoke.  There's nothing to it, though I did use a piece of the Simplicity petticoat pattern I have, since I had it.





One crinoline has an elastic waistband in a casing.  Here's the yoke without the net attached.







For the other, just to keep things interesting, I stitched grosgrain ribbon to the top and ran twill tape through for a drawstring.  A drawstring's a little classier than elastic, no?



One short cut I discovered was this:

The tutorial I followed has you close up each tier into a cylinder before gathering and attaching to the next highest tier.  This means that the tiers (one gathered, one not) must be precisely the same circumference (like easing in a sleeve).  I found that I could get the the same result by attaching the two tiers flat (like attaching a sleeve with the torso still open).  That way, if there's a little extra net on one tier or the other at the end, you can simply cut it off.

Then, after all the net tiers are attached, you can simply make a single vertical french seam up the side.  Since the net is very flouncy and gathered -- not to mention that it's worn under a skirt (or another petticoat)-- the seam doesn't affect the drape of the crinoline, not in my experience anyway.  (You can actually sew the net to the cotton yoke open as well.)  It just makes the whole thing easier.

I am so glad I pushed through this, though, like I said, there's still some trim to add, which I hope to put behind me today.



You may be wondering how the crinolines look under the strapless cocktail dress.  Wonderful!

In closing, readers, now that skirts for men are taking the world by storm, can the crinoline be far behind?  I may have hit upon the next big thing in men's fashion.  At least in big cosmopolitan cities and Fire Island. 

If you have any questions about crinolines, please feel free to ask.  I may not be able to answer them but somebody out there will, no doubt.

Have a great day, everybody!

Anyone out there wearing a crinoline?

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Time to make the crinoline!

Good morning, readers, and welcome to MPB, home of the crinoline!

I am happy to report that I have pushed past my sewing block and the crinoline is underway.  Here's what I've done so far:

Laying out my net and weighing it down with books, I cut six 9-inch wide strips of net, each slightly more than 4 yards long.  (The total width of my net is 54".)



There was no need to use Fray Check on the edges, as recommended in the tutorial I'm following (thank goodness!) -- this net does not fray.  It would have set me back days and that stuff off-gases like nobody's business.

After I cut a 4-yard strip, I rolled it up to keep things neat.



The plan is to make four gathered tiers: the longest 10 yards (the bottom tier) long, then 8 yards, then 4 yards, then 2.  This adds up to 24 yards, which is the amount of net I was able to cut.



Since the net was originally a little more than four yards long, to make a 10-yard strip I had to attach two 4-yard pieces and then an additional 2 yards.  I attached these by creating a french seam, which I then edgestitched down.  The seams are very strong and smooth.
 

Finally, I attached both ends, creating one huge cylinder, 10 yards in circumference and 9" wide.  Michael helped me roll it up (see top pic).

Rather than pinning folded-over ribbon to the bottom edge of this largest tier, I simply stitched the ribbon on, wrong side up, and then folded it over and topstitched.  I couldn't imagine pinning ribbon to 10 yards of net!

I've been doing all this on my featherweight, btw, which has been performing flawlessly.  One of the things I love about this machine is that the motor is silent.





It took a few hours, but I finally got the ribbon trim on the edge.  This wasn't difficult, just a little tedious.  I used a fine stitch length which helped keep the ribbon feeding slowly.   Then I ironed the ribbon on a cool setting.



Finally, I rolled up the whole thing again and went to bed.



Today I gather, gather, and gather some more.  I'll likely do this with my ruffler attachment, which I've had a lot of luck with.  Gathering it by hand sounds more difficult to me and harder to control.

I'll then attach the top (ruffled) edge of this bottom, 10-yard tier to the unruffled bottom edge of the 8-yard tier, and stitch ribbon over the seam allowance.  Then I will ruffle the top of that tier, and attach it to the next highest tier.  (All raw edges will be enclosed with ribbon.)  See where this is going?  But I'm getting ahead of myself!

I still haven't decided whether I want the top of the crinoline to be net or fabric.  I think a fabric top would be easier to adjust should Cathy want to wear this crinoline with a shorter dress -- she'd just roll the waistband down a few inches.  We'll see how it goes.

Friends, that's it!  Needless to say, we'll be talking crinoline tomorrow, and hopefully I'll have something finished -- or nearly finished -- to show you.

Happy sewing, everybody, and keep the good crinoline karma coming!

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Pushing Past the Sewing Block

Readers, do you ever come up against a sewing block (block, as in obstacle)?

Are there things you're simply afraid to try: insert a lapped zipper, pad stitch a lapel, underline a bodice?  Would part of you like to be able to tackle these challenges but you just can't get over your irrational fear?

I, for example, have a fear of crinolines.  I don't know why.  Perhaps I was Little Bo-Peep in a former life.  Or Alice Lon.

I've gathered tulle and nylon net with my ruffler attachment with great success.  I know it can be done.



But there's something about all that measuring, all those long, loooong cylinders of net that has me spooked.  Well this is the week I'm going to do something about it.  I mean, I must.

I even have a petticoat pattern, though I doubt I'll use it.



Instead, I'll likely follow an online tutorial, like this one.  I've looked at a lot of crinolines in person, and some of them are thrown together without a whole lot of finesse; it doesn't have to be perfect to get the job done.

Yesterday, I saw a gorgeous vintage silk dress with a Saks Fifth Avenue label at the flea market ($525!) and it had an attached three-tiered net crinoline whose edges were simply folded over and stitched: no ribbon, lace, or what have you.  The rougher edges were facing the skirt (as opposed to the legs), of course, where they might snag one's nylons.

But it reminded me that this can be a simple job.

Anyway, I have my nylon net.



I have some light poly lining material I can use for the top, or I can use lightweight cotton.  I have to decide whether I want this to zip up the side or just have an elastic casing.  That might add a little unwanted thickness in the waistline area, though it would likely sit lower, and certainly beneath the waist stay of the dress.



I also have tons of tulle, which I may or may not even use. 





The stiffer net provides the greatest amount of loft.  The tulle, while soft and pretty, is less effective.  That Carolyn Schnurer tulle petticoat I found on Saturday, for example, while pretty, provides essentially no loft at all.  It just sort of hangs there, droopy.



So this is likely to be a net crinoline.  I even have a roll of ivory polyester ribbon if I need to trim edges, as well as a roll of poly lace, if I want to use that (the same lace I used for the hem).



So I'm good to go.  I need to push past this block, is all.  Hey, I had the same block about boning and lining a bodice and I got over it!

A few of you asked whyever svelte Cathy would need a Maidenform "Control It!" Waistnipper Brief, mentioned briefly in yesterday's blog post.  Here's the thing: it's not so much that Cathy is lumpy, which she isn't, or needs to "tame her tummy."  But the brief, which rises well above the waist, provides a smooth layer between the lower part of the bodice and Cathy's skin.  Party due to the heat and humidity, no doubt, the cotton bodice lining had a tendency to stick to the skin, which is not only uncomfortable, it drags on the dress itself, particularly in back.  With that extra layer of smooth nylon/elastane, the dress hangs smoothly.  Trust me on this one.

Finally, the length of the dress: is it too long?  I can only say, we shall see.  In the worst case I can shorten it, though it might be faster to just grow Cathy a few inches.  I consider this dress "tea length" and tea length is a much debated topic on sewing blogs, I've discovered.  Some consider it unflattering to nearly everyone.  We'll just have to see how it goes.

Friends, in closing, do you have irrational fear of certain sewing tasks?

Is there something you yearn to master, like, I don't know, working with faux fur or sequins (no wait, those are mine) but you just can't quite get up the gumption to do it?  Maybe this fall -- which is just around the corner, alas -- we'll challenge ourselves to take one (or more) of these on.

Remember: fear is just another word for too scared to try!  (?)

Have a great day, everybody!

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Gather ye rosebuds while ye may...

Readers, it seems not a week goes by but we are reminded yet again of the fragility of life.  Our human existence is nothing if not impermanent and unpredictable, as today's frightening headlines from Japan make clear.

At times like this, I recall the immortal words of Doris Martin as played by Doris Day in Season 2 of the The Doris Day Show as she seeks to comfort young April, played by Meredith Baxter, who -- if I recall correctly -- has just broken up with her boyfriend.  (This was a TV pilot never picked up, a spin-off of The Doris Day Show entitled Young Love.)  To paraphrase Doris:  Everything changes, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, but everything changes; change is a part of life.

Apropos of which, let us remember the words of Seventeenth Century British poet Robert Herrick who wrote:

GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
    Old time is still a-flying :
And this same flower that smiles to-day
    To-morrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
    The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
    And nearer he's to setting.

Dear loyal MPB readers, yesterday, amid the ever-darkening news from abroad, I gathered, gathered, oh, how I gathered!
 




And really, when life looks darkest, isn't that what we should do: celebrate life and enjoy the time we have, amid a cloud of tulle and rose-print cotton sateen?



Friends, I will admit that there's more than a little Mister Rogers' Neighborhood to Male Pattern Boldness, except Mr. Rogers and Lady Elaine are the same person.   I do strive to create a safe and sunny place for all of you here, a harbor from life's intermittent gloom and despair.  And we have hand puppets.

Of course my ambitions lean more toward The Dinah Shore Show or Lawrence Welk but it's so hard to get suitable musical guests these days, plus Bobby Burgess is in retirement.

But let's get back to sewing, or rather gathering.  I finally got my rotary cutter into my rose-print fabric yesterday and started making Cathy's Comeback Dress.  I have it on the authority of none other than the State of Massachusetts Department of Correctional Services that my little lawbreaker is to be released this coming Friday and handed a one-way bus ticket out of state.

Here's the tentative plan and I can hardly contain my excitement:

Remember the wacky-but-true story about my getting two free tickets to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert, which will soon be opening on Broadway?  Well my idea is to go to the show with Cathy IN the rose print dress!  (Cathy in the dress, I mean, obviously.)  Doesn't that sound fantastic, in the literal sense of the word?  Now before you get your hopes up too high, please remember that this all depends on my actually finishing the dress by Saturday, along with the double-layered, four-tiered crinoline.   Cross your fingers!

But enough. We're running out of time and I have to get out of this bagel cafe and back to my sewing machines.  As you can see from the photo up top, it finally dawned on me that if the music blaring on the radio here was bothering me  I could supply my own -- and so I am!  Instead of Sugar, Sugar and Love is Blue I'm listening to the song stylings of Hal Kemp and his Orchestra.  So soothing!

In closing, one quick question: the bodice -- should I make it in the black sateen I have in my stash or the same rose-print fabric as the skirt?  Michael says too much rose print starts looking like upholstery.

Thoughts?

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Crinoline confessions for a Wednesday morning

OK, Debbie, climb out of that tree and let's get down to business.

Yesterday, I hightailed it to a few local fabric dives to hunt for crinoline supplies. 

I also swung by my local Goodwill and checked under a few wedding gowns -- were you expecting Vera Wang?  One dress, a 3/4 length, had a full slip with two rows of net sewn onto the slip itself.  It looked something like this, with a layer of gathered net stitched midway down, and then another layer along the hem gathered more densely:
 

It seemed to provide a lot of volume.  I am wondering, wouldn't this be sturdier -- and easier -- than layers of tulle or net stitched to each other?

The alternative, of course, is a traditional crinoline, which I'll probably end up making.  Here's one made primarily of tulle, and you can see that while it's flouncy, it lacks the height I'm looking for.

Net provides the height, but it's coarse and need to be covered up with something.  Both require an underskirt between the tulle/net and one's legs.



Anyway, here's what I've picked up so far.  Not sure if this is exactly what I want, but I think I'm on the right track.  All of it was in the $1-2 a yd. price range.



Stiff net, about 4 yds of a 60" bolt.



Ivory tulle, 4 yds, about 120" wide.



Ivory acetate (or something resembling good quality slip or lining material), 2 yds.



I'm wondering if it would be preferable to use cotton, or a stretch material of some sort for the underskirt.  Thoughts?

What I am envisioning is the yoke/slip top made of the ivory acetate with two layers of net divided into three tiers.  Then I'd cover the whole thing with a layer or two of fluffy tulle.  Ideally I'd like to be able to parachute off my balcony in it and not break anything.

Today I'll be experimenting with my sewing machine feet on these fabrics.  I have a few rufflers but I'm just not sure how well they'll hand tulle or net.  Most of the tutorials I've seen online show the gathers being made by hand using basting thread.  I don't have a gathering foot.

I can also gather with my serger by adjusting the differential feed but I'm not sure if the gathers will be dense enough.

I guess I'll need some trim -- lace, satin ribbon -- certainly something to enclose the rough raw edges of the net where the tiers attach, like so:



I already have elastic as well a few hook-and-eye variations.  It's an adventure, right?

In closing, thanks for all your helpful comments and crinoline resources yesterday.

The variety of these veil-like fabrics available is incredible and there's so much to learn. I know a number of you recommended just buying a ready-made crinoline, but I need to take this on.

When Cathy is ready to walk down the aisle, I want to be ready!

Happy Wednesday, everybody!

UPDATE:  Happy Day -- it works with the net, and on a treadle, no less!



Tulle ruffles too -- top row serger with differential feed adjustment, bottom row ruffler:



I think we're in business.  Veils for everyone!

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