My post today serves two purposes. I’m not ashamed to say the first reason for a quick update is that it allows me to press pause on the next step in slip making – which is fitting the sleeves.
Ugh.
But posting this photo is also a way of encouraging myself to keep going. Seeing the neckline appear inspired me to capture Lavinia as she is now, even with her ratty wig, because she’s dreaming right along with me of the beautiful clothes she’ll soon be modeling.
Can you see them?
The ballgowns? The summer walking dresses?
Moving on to more technical matters, you may have noticed the dropped waistline for the slip. I’ve done this purposely to keep her waist as small as possible. Hoops weren’t used to support skirts until after 1856. Prior to this, women relied on multiple petticoats to create fullness. Which means Lavinia will have three layers for her widest dresses: a corded slip, followed by a second summer or winter petticoat, and then a pretty outer layer to cover the functional petticoats below. I need to plan carefully for how all these waistbands will stack on top of one another or poor Lavinia will look like a sausage!
Meanwhile, let me give you a hint of what’s coming next before I head back to face those sleeves.
Something amazing is happening when I sit down in the evening with my TV-watching handwork.
One of those two seasonal petticoats is coming to life, and it makes me smile every time I picture her wearing it . . .
To follow along with the rest of Lavinia’s Underpinnings project, click right HERE.
And to see all of her costuming projects as I add things, pop over HERE.