Corded Petticoat

I finished up the corded petticoat yesterday! It's definitely not the best one out there.... but it works  well enough.  The hem is kinda pretty uneven also...  but I tell myself it's okay and that the back can be a little bit longer than the front.

If I were to have the patience to make another, I would definitely want to do the sandwich method of placing the cord in between two pieces of fabric rather than tucking the cord into the fabric. I never do measure well enough and I think that's why it came out shorter on one side.

So next I'll probably get the apron finished up and then finally get the dress done.

On the side I'm working on knitting a quilt (or a counterpane) shown here on Ravelry  or here on the knitting wiki . I also like this one too though. The second shell one looks a bit easier than the leaf pattern but I couldn't find size 12 cotton, only 10 and the leaf one calls for 10 and the shell for 12.  I think I'll try the shell one anyways with the size 10 cotton.

1850 Work Dress

I'm about to start volunteering at a living history village and while I do have my old dresses, they're a little small and they aren't fully accurate. I haven't had the opportunity to do any living history in the last year, so I'm really excited to get back into it.

It is going to be a work dress so it's not the most interesting or prettiest thing but I mean to try a new style.  I was really inspired by Stitches of the Past's dress.

 I'm too old to wear short sleeves so I am going to do a basic coat sleeve.  In my research it seems to be a common style for younger girls, but there's buttons in the back. I have seen some examples of older women with the gathered and yoked bodice but they were a little different. Anyways, I just turned 20 and people typically mistake me for much younger so I think with long sleeves and a front opening it will be fine. I love this style too much not to do it. 

Source

I also ordered Simplicity 7212. I know a lot of people don't like the Simplicity patterns because of historical accuracy but I need a base pattern to go off of and I found this on ebay for 2.95! 

So I bought this pretty cotton plaid, mostly because it was on sale. It's a little too light in color and in weight but it will do for now. I'd like to get a dark blue plaid later for a second work dress in the same style. On the screen, the color actually looks worse than it really looks in person!

Then because it's more 1840's and 1850's, I can't really use my hoop. I wouldn't really want to with a work dress anyways, so I'm going to start on a corded petticoat. I have my crochet yarn and white fabric so that will be in the making soon! Along with an apron to wear over my dress from this blue homespun fabric I had just enough to make an apron out of.

More about Dirndls

I did decide to make a new apron for my dirndl because I didn't like the length of the white one. My friend needed an apron to wear so it works out perfectly. I didn't end up using the blue plaid silk, I just couldn't bring myself to cut it. I have just enough to make a gorgeous 1860 dress out of it and I think it would be better suited.

Source

But, I did have some fabric left over from the curtains I made. So, in true Sound of Music style, I'm using that for a new apron. It works out perfectly because I think the pink actually looks better with it and the design looks more like traditional dirndl apron fabrics.

I'm going to try to take more picture as I make up the apron.

And here is a photo of the dirndl actually on me! Though I really am still trying to find time to make a more traditional shirt (this is just a random shirt I have) before I go out of town Wednesday. But as you can see the apron is just a bit too short, at least in my opinion.
And on a side note, I feel like whenever I put pictures in Instagram I never can quite fit all of me in them....