Early 1920s Silk Taffeta Petticoat

My new 1922 frock needed a petticoat.  I normally would wear a full slip but since the frock has a separate lining for the bodice I decided to go with a petticoat.  The frock is black so I decide to do a black taffeta petticoat since I had plenty of black silk in my stash. 

My 1922 catalog gave me all the information I needed for the petticoat.  Here are some pics:

                     

The majority of them are silk taffeta and there are some with silk jersey or cotton tops and taffeta flounces.  The descriptions say they have elastic waists with hook and eye closure.  A close look at the waistband below tells me that the front waist is flat and there is a center front panel.  I suspect there is a placket at the left front seam with the hook and eye and the elastic is around the sides and back.

The flounces on all of the slips seem to have pleats and pin tucks.  Here are a few examples.

I really like the last one best but I decided to do something similar to the first one for the sake of speed.  Before starting, I needed to work out the math.

After figuring out the length of my ruffle strips and the fullness, I got to work.  I did want to keep  flat panel in the front.

I made the ruffle strips, using my pin tuck foot and stitched them together then I seamed 3 crosswise strips of fabric together for the bottom ruffle. After making a narrow hem in one long edge,  I used my perfect pleater--every other pleat--to pleat the ruffle.  Then all the pieces of the flounce were stitched together.

For the top part of the petticoat, I tore a 14.5 inch strip across the grain of my taffeta then cut off a 12.5 inch wide piece for the front flat panel.  The remaining long piece wraps around the body and is seamed to the edges of the smaller piece.  The left side of the flat piece has a placket opening.  I stitched a 2 inch seam allowance on the left edge of the front panel.  I trimmed away the excess seam allowance below the placket using pinking shears and pressed the seam toward the center.

For the underlap of the placket I pressed under 1/4 inch then folded the allowance in to the seam line and pinned it in place (left side).  For the overlap, I trimmed away a little of the allowance and folded the raw edge in twice, pinning in place.  Here's the wrong side.

Here's the right side of the placket.

I tore a 4 inch wide strip of taffeta cross grain for the waist band.  I folded it in half lengthwise and seamed the raw edges to the top of the petticoat, finishing the short edges.  Then I folded the band to the inside and whip stitched the folded edge of the band to the seam, leaving the flat part of the waistband open.    I fed elastic through the back part of the waistband and checked for fit then stitched the ends of the elastic down to the waistband.  The remainder of the waistband was whip stitched in place.

Here's the petticoat waiting for the hooks and snaps.

Here is the finished closure.

I like the way this turned out though I should've followed my gut instinct and done the waistband differently.  I originally thought I'd do an "in case" waistband which doesn't have the bulk. What is an in case waistband?  It's a fitted waistband that is about 2 inches bigger than your waist with elastic threaded through to snug it up.  It looks fairly tailored but allows for weight fluctuations.  I was in a hurry and opted to just make a casing with elastic for the sake of speed.  Since this is being worn under frocks that don't have fitted waists, it will be fine since the bulk won't show but I won't make that mistake again.

Here it is worn over an envelope chemise, French corset and 20s brassiere.

1920s Underpinnings Take 2: French Corset

Once again I've been studying 1920s corsets.

1920

1924

I felt a need to upgrade my 1920s shapewear that I wrote about in this post.  As noted in that post I noted that the corselette was not right for my shape so I moved on to plan B.  My 1922 catalog shows pages and pages of corsets, which look like a hybrid between an Edwardian corset and a modern girdle so I looked for extants to study the details and I discovered French corsets that were more like a girdle .  Let's look at some extants.

All of these corsets are made from coutil and contain both back lacing and a hook and eye front side closure.  The first one has the lacing and closure both in the front.  They all appear to have fairly wide boning.  The last example has narrower boning along the grommets in the back.  All of them also have at least one elastic insert.  The second example also looks like it extends above the waist. I also noticed that they seem to have wider boning in single rows instead of double rows of 1/4 inch boning as my Edwardian corset has.

I figured it would be pretty straightforward to reproduce one of these.  I started out using the Rilla Corset pattern from Scroop patterns due to the simple lines it has.  Another plus with this pattern is that it has 2 sizing categories--one with a greater waist to hip ratio and one without.  I figured it would be easier for me to get the shape right for my body.  The object here is for more compression at the hips, control of my little tummy and little compression on my waist.  I looked at the measurements and made a couple of adjustments on the paper pattern and drew in the lines for the bottom hem and lowering the top to be about 2 inches above the waist.  I decided to use the last corset example above for my model.

After tracing the pieces onto pattern fitting cloth, it occurred to me that the front side seam was not in a good place for a closure so I pinned the front/front side pieces together and redrew the seam line--the example on the left being the original and the one on the right being the new pieces.  I added a boning line to the right of the new seam line.

I cut out the pieces in a heavy poplin for fitting and it was pretty close.  I needed to take in the seam allowance a tiny bit at the bottom 4 inches or so on the sides and back.  I had enough coutil left from my corselette if I cut this cross grain but it was really close given the scraps I had left!

There's enough for the back facing but I decided to save this for the front under lap at the closure and to use plain white coutil for the back facings.  Other materials needed:  1/2 inch German faux whalebone boning, 3/4 inch boning chanel, small hook and eye tape, 1/2 inch cotton twill tape, size 00 grommets and lacing.

Next steps: stitch seams, press hems, apply back facings, stitch boning channels by the grommet area, cover seams with boning channel tape.   I also cut the elastic insert.  I didn't photograph these steps.  Here is the corset with the boning channel tape pinned over the seam lines and the elastic insert pinned in.

Inside of corset with tape and elastic pinned in place.

Outside of corset with boning tape and elastic insert pinned in place:

Next steps:  Insert grommets, finish front closure, finish bottom hem.  The idea here is to leave the top hem open to be able to insert the boning.  I need to be able to try the corset on to determine how long the front boning pieces need to be in order to be able to sit comfortably.

Grommets set:

Seams, boning channels, bottom hem taped and sewn and front closure completed. Boning along both sides of lacing in place:

Next step:  try on and mark the length of front boning, put boning in, hem the top and make the suspenders.  After marking how long the boning should be, I had to stitch a line in each boning channel since most of them run the full length of each seam.

I used 3/4 inch satin bra strap elastic for the suspenders with vintage style sliders and grips.  I also decided to go with six suspenders which I prefer to four.

It probably would've been better to sew these on before binding the bottom hem but I simply didn't think of it!

Here is the finished corset closed and open

Front:

Back:

Here it is open

Inside:

Outside:

I'm very pleased with the way this turned out.  It fit perfectly and having it extend a bit above the waist eliminates muffin top.  This was the piece I needed. 

I'm sure glad to get this one finished!

Here it is over my envelope chemise.

1920s Underpinnings, part 2: Back to the drawing board!

After engaging in a fair amount of research into 1920s underpinnings, I decided to get down to making mine.  Some people can just get away with a teddy or tap pants and a simple bandeau bra.  I'm NOT one of those people.  I have curves which are definitely not a 1920s silhouette.  My research revealed a wide variety of corset styles that evolved through the decade as you can see in this post.  I knew that I'd need a chemise and some sort of corset.  1920s corsets tended to be under bust corsets so I also needed something up top to flatten my chest.

Since I work from the skin out, I started with my envelope chemise. I found this reprint of a 20s pattern that came in one size--bust 36--which happened to fit.  I traced the pattern using pattern tracing cloth on the fold for the front and 2 pieces for the back, pinning the seams together to fit it.  Perfect fit except the torso was too long.  I took a 1 inch tuck to shorten the body 2 inches for a perfect fit.  I chose to make the view with the straps.

I used Nelona Swiss batiste and French valenciennes lace.  The trim at the top is 3 rows of lace beading stitched together with a narrow lace edging.  The straps are made of the same lace beading stitched to cotton twill tape for durability.  The ribbon is pink double sided satin.   I added the same lace edging to the bottom edge and used 2 antique mother of pearl buttons for the closure.

 

I thought a corselette would be a good way to achieve the straight silhouette.  I found 2 downloadable patterns that were similar to period garments I had seen.  I have to admit that in the back of my mind, I had my doubts about this type of garment given my body shape.

I decided on the Reconstructing History pattern because I liked that it had elastic inserts.  I was able to find 8 inch wide elastic which was still not wide enough.

I experimented with zigzag stitching two pieces together and that worked so I was in business.

I have read for years that Reconstructing History patterns have horrendous fitting issues.  I took my body measurements and followed the measurements listed in the pattern sizing and made adjustments to the pattern pieces before tracing them off.  For some reason, I didn't flat measure the pattern pieces.  This is something I typically do.  I made a fitting muslin out of heavy denim and was stunned to find the pattern to be about 6 inches too small around--something that flat measuring would've revealed.  That's a ridiculous amount given that I followed the body measurements listed in the pattern.  I ripped the muslin apart and cut new side pieces with a new pattern piece that had 3 inches added to the center of it.  That worked.

I constructed the corselette as indicated, using satin bias tape on the edges and adding an underlap to the closure.  I also covered the seams with tape for a cleaner finish.

Back

Closure--eye side with the underlap

Closure--hook side

Inside construction

Front

Back

The jury is still out on this one.  The very top of the  bust area is too large.  I plan on cutting a "V" in the center back and inserting an elastic wedge to pull it in.  I don't think I'll really be able to use this though.  I'm not liking this corselette. Coutil is very stiff and this isn't fitted to the body at the waist which is causing wrinkles in the coutil.  It's like wearing bent cardboard.  I have a couple of choices:  I can attempt to put darts in the waist area to attempt to fit it better or I can go with my original instinct (which I should've done in the first place) and make a corset and brassiere.   My waist to hip ratio really requires a fitted boned garment to hold things in.  My bust just needs some flattening.  If you note the waist area, you can see wrinkles in the coutil.  Because it's such a stiff fabric, these wrinkles show through my dresses.

The lack of boning allows the bottom of the corselette to ride up over my thighs.  The wrinkling is really a problem and requires me to pull the corselette down to straighten it out.

The bust is flattened sufficiently so it would seem that a brassiere made from a firm fabric would have the same effect.

Next I needed a slip.  I chose to use silk crepe de chine which seems to have been a common textile used for slips based on ads I've studied.  I found this pattern for sale on Etsy but didn't buy it.  The pics reveal that it is nothing more than a one hour dress shape in the body.

I had already drafted a one hour dress so I took my chemise pattern  and laid it over the dress pattern, tracing the shape of the neckline/straps.  

I made the slip up which was pretty basic.  Side seams then a facing on the slashed area that overlaps the side pleats.  The neckline was finished with a row of French beading with a narrow edging.  The edging was also applied to the armholes.

Plan B:

Make a brassiere and corset which was my original plan.  I found this brassiere in my 1922 catalog that I like.  It's simple and has a front closure.  There is an elastic insert in the back.  It is made from "lightweight but firm cotton tricot mesh" which seems to have no modern equivalent.  It also appears to have boning at the side seams.  I noted other brassieres that were made out of cambric--almost like Edwardian corset covers.  

I had bought this pattern by Wearing History that came in one size (38).  I took my measurements and adjusted the pattern accordingly to fit.  I cut it out with an opening at the center front with a 1/2 inch turn under.  I cut the back with a seam allowance added to the center back.  I figured I'd just fit it as I went since I was just using some polished cotton.  

I seamed the center back and sewed the darts and found that it fit perfectly.  I cut a 4 inch wide piece of my 8 inch wide elastic and cut away 3 inches from the center back, turning under 1/2 inch and stitching the cotton over the elastic.   I turned under the hems at the top and bottom  The bottom hem had to be increased as the brassiere was a little too long.  I used twill tape to face the hems then turned under and pressed the front edges.

I trimmed away the dart and decided to cover it with 3/4 inch boning channel.

Boning channel was stitched in and German artificial whale bone was added.  The hook and eye tape was added.   

I added lace beading and ribbon to the top and bottom and made straps like those on my chemise--lace beading stitched to twill tape.

Front:

Back:

I'm happy with this piece.  I would like to make one that's a bit heavier--perhaps out of coutil.

Next the corset--I don't have time to get to this one right now. I had found this extant one for sale with about a dozen pics so I feel I can reproduce it.  It's really the shape I would prefer. I'm torn between ripping apart the corselette and using that same coutil or using the fabric I have left.  I need to draft this from a well fitted corset pattern.  I bought the Scroop late Edwardian corset which will have the right shape so I will need to fit it, move seam lines etc. That is my long term goal.  This one has a hook and eye closure on the side front and lacing in the back.  I'm always more comfortable in a well fitted boned garment.

What to do in the meantime?  Well they did have garter belts.  I need something to hold up my stockings.  

I decided to go with a plain modern garter belt in the meantime.  Not exactly accurate but close enough to do what I need it to do.

Let's see how this works.

This is way more comfortable.  

Flattening is okay but would be improved with a firmer textile such as coutil.

Here's the slip which is very comfortable.

Chest flattening is fine as can be seen here.

Conclusion:  This will be a challenging era for me to achieve the "correct" silhouette.  I think my original plan of a boned corset will be better for my body type.  Worn with the flattening brassiere, it should give me as close of a 20s silhouette as I'm going to get.  Plus the open bottom girdle styling was also popular in the 1930s and I can use the same garment for that era.