Easy Petticoat

I have to make an easy petticoat, there is not enough time to do anything else.  My friends told me that all I had to do was measure out a length of fabric just a little bigger than my biggest hoop to make a drawstring petticoat.  This method was referred to as the sausage method – a term I am not in love with.  I mean, do I want to wear a sausage?  No, I do not.  I prefer there be no meat terms in my sewing thank you very much.

With  bottom ruffle
tacked up

With the largest hoop of 110 inches, I measured out a length of white cotton fabric 117 inches.  I sewed it together and then made a casing at the top.  To make the casing, I merely folded over a bit of the top edge of the length and sewed it down.  I then threaded cording through the opening.  Put on, pull tight and you have a quick petticoat which is over a foot too long!

So to correct the length, I made some tucks in the petticoat over where the hoops are.

Missing the bottom ruffle

Note, I had to shorten the hoop by sewing up the ruffle around the bottom.  I was tripping over the silly thing.  This was an easier fix than changing the lengths between the hoop.

Right now, I need to put a final ruffle around the bottom of the petticoat to finish it off.

The Hoop

I could make one. 

Sure I could!  It would take days and quite a bit of money to buy all the supplies.

There is no way I am going to do this.  I don’t care if I am not "period correct." When I went downtown to buy fabric, I looked around for a hoop.  the first place I saw with them hanging in the doorway, I stopped, inquired and was told the cost was $22.  Yes!!  Simple, quick and I suspect cheaper than making it myself.   I think it was a fantastic investment. It looks something like this:

Think about the time it would take to make a hoop.  I know I could not buy the supplies for under $22.

The bottom hoop is 110 inches….this is "period correct."  Oh lucky me!