Warm underwear for winter - Petticoats!

Winter arrived with a bang this year so the day before the snow came crashing down, I sewed some petticoats.

And because fun, I made a video about it

link to video

I used a combination of modern and Edwardian techniques on my 103-year-old treadle sewing machine.  These are sewn in a hurry so I cut corners and used the attachments and fancy feet to do the work I would normally do by hand or iron.  But they are warm and comfortable.  I can wear one for every-day winter and layer them for extra-cold days.  



I also used a technique that I adore, but talking with the woman at the fabric shop who cut the cloth for me, it's not well known.  I can use the hemmer foot to fell the seam so that there are no raw edges or scratchy surged edges to bother me.  It also means the petticoat will hold up well with frequent washing.



The thing about this (I'm not sure I can call it a pattern, it's some rectangles I sewed together) is that it's extremely frugal with the cloth to make two, but wasteful to make one.  For one, I need just over two yards of cloth, but for two I can make it with just 3 yards of cloth and a scrap leftover for sampling.  



I didn't go into the details of the not-pattern too much in the video, but if there's enough interest, I'll try to put together a PDF of how it all fits together.  

This is a great example of how "old tech" did many of the things that computerized sewing machines do nowadays - only the computer bits often are lucky to see their tenth birthday, let alone hundredth!

I love sewing almost as much as I love growing and preserving food. Right now I am wearing the shift/nightgown in the photo. It’s my favorite nightgown, since it’s 100% soft linen and made for me. It’s so comfortable to wear. My girls has asked me to make them new nightgowns this winter, and that I finish the vest, I started last year, for my oldest.
Most of what I wear are historically inspired. It’s simply what I am most comfortable in. I find that modern cloths doesn’t protect your body the same way the HI clothes does.
We live as far south in California as you can get. We are only 30 minutes from the Mexican boarder, so while we do get temperatures in the 30’s F at night, it’s usually only chilly outside during winter. So, we don’t need the same type of winter clothes that other people do. We still have to wear more clothes, we just don’t have to bundle up.
As for petticoats, I find that the type that will give the most warmth is the quilted petticoats. I don’t need them, but my oldest get cold so she has one, and love it. The design is very simple and was made by the early American settlers. It’s 2 large rectangles thats sewn together with drawn strings at the top to hold it together. You don’t sew it all the way up, but leave room on each side, so you can still reach your tied on pockets, underneath. The top has pleats to make it sit more flat. It’s hard to explain, so I have attached pictures, so you can see. They can be made with any kind of quilted fabric.
This type of petticoat is very easy to make, and fast to sew too. I have several every day petticoats made this way. It keeps you warm, without adding too much bulk under your clothes. That’s especially important for me, since I only wear floor length skirts. My favorite is a classic Victorian walking skirt, that I have made in several different types of fabric, so I can pick according to the weather.
I know that it sounds strange to wear American petticoats under an English style skirt, but it works and I don’t care as long as I am comfortable.

When I was wearing ankle length skirts (back when I had a job that such things were feasible), I would wear multiple silk skirts and additionally a pair of silk pajama pants.  So pantaloons with my petticoats!  It worked to get me to and from work, which was a mile and a half walk.  That couple of winters it was also dipping into -30 degrees F during the day sometimes.  We haven't had winters like that for about 15 years!   With a good wool pea coat, sufficient hats, mittens and scarfs, I always made it to work without harm.  I did get a lot of incredulous looks from co-workers...

I seriously wonder if people on the choosing the daily-ish links are reading my mind sometimes. It has been a COLD December here, but January and February will be worse so I've been experimenting with outside layers. I get very uncomfortable wearing two layers of pants so I generally wear wool tights with one of my summer skirts or dresses. It helps, but my shins and knees usually end up with only one layer of fabric between me and the world. Pantaloons with petticoats are brilliant though! I can hang up a petticoat next to my long coat to slip on over whatever I'm wearing. Ulla's simple design looks perfect and easy to make. I will have to stop at the fabric store when I go to town next week!

When riding the bicycle or working in the garden wearing a long skirt or dress is not practical (is my opinion). So most of the time I wear pants/trousers, and sometimes a skirt-dress of knee-length. But when I am at home, f.e. sitting and knitting (or doing other hand crafts), probably a long quilted (under-)skirt would be better, warmer, and easier when moving around at home (now I have a lap-blanket, only useful when I sit)

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:When riding the bicycle or working in the garden wearing a long skirt or dress is not practical (is my opinion). So most of the time I wear pants/trousers, and sometimes a skirt-dress of knee-length. But when I am at home, f.e. sitting and knitting (or doing other hand crafts), probably a long quilted (under-)skirt would be better, warmer, and easier when moving around at home (now I have a lap-blanket, only useful when I sit)

My oldest daughter says, that the quilted petticoat is kind of like wearing a blanket, in a socially acceptable way LOL. That works for me too, when I am in my wheelchair. I don’t use it a lot, but I can’t walk far, so we use it for longer walks or outings. I top it all off with a nice thick shawl or cloak, and I stay nice and toasty.

Erika Bailey wrote:When I was wearing ankle length skirts (back when I had a job that such things were feasible), I would wear multiple silk skirts and additionally a pair of silk pajama pants.  So pantaloons with my petticoats!  It worked to get me to and from work, which was a mile and a half walk.  That couple of winters it was also dipping into -30 degrees F during the day sometimes.  We haven't had winters like that for about 15 years!   With a good wool pea coat, sufficient hats, mittens and scarfs, I always made it to work without harm.  I did get a lot of incredulous looks from co-workers...

I caught a sale on some up cycled silk saris wrap skirts to wear as layers this year. I can definitely say they are a help! And bonus light enough on their own to wear alone in the warmer months too!

Thanks to this thread, I dug out a muslin petticoat I'd bought a few years ago, for a Halloween costume(I try, on the rare occasions I buy anything like that, to get stuff worth wearing, later), and wore it under my long skirt, to keep warm walking up the hill, to the car to go to Christmas mass, yesterday. I stayed warm and cozy, despite the 19°F/0°F wind chill, with just that one change to my outfit! W0000t!! Thank you!

I've been sewing most of my life and though I wear mostly trousers now, I used to wear long heavy skirts with a flannel petticoat during Chicago winters and found that combination to be very warm, practical in most cases and fun to boot! I have never come across the hemming foot technique you describe for finishing seams and will definitely give it a try on my next project. Cooool beans!

The idea of using the hemming foot to make flat felled seams is brilliant, and your machine is lovely!
I for one would love to see a pdf instruction sheet, please!  

I really like the idea of petticoats plus, they give a gal that extra shapliness that some men appreciate. Haha!

Thank you for this posting and video. Your way of sewing the seams with the hemming foot is another way of making French seams. I will do this in the future. I learned to sew on a treadle Singer sewing machine, I don't know what happened to it but I wished I had that sewing machine today.

I was inspired by this thread to make a flannel petticoat too! By the time it was done, it turned into pretty much a tutorial, so rather than derail this thread, I put it HERE:   Flannel Petticoat from old sheet



Thank you for the idea r ranson!!  :D