Ms. Frizzle Visits the Apothecary

Since this was my first ever garment, I wanted to keep things simple. So, of course, I chose not to follow a pattern. I used the top of the embordered petticoat from the FR article 1890-1910 Petticoats Part 3: Shapes as my basis. I shrunk the yoke to more of a waistband size and capped it at the body panel. Instead of gathering the top I used the idea of the back pleats from turn of the century walking skirts. The fashion fabric is a printed quilting cotton whose pattern was just perfect for the task. The skirt is flat lined with a blue cotton/silk originally bought for a project I never started. The skirt is entirely hand-sewn. I've watched a lot of costube videos over the last year and a half, and I learned a lot about various stitches from them. In the past I've only ever used a running stitch for a blanket. After I had pleated the back I realized just how heavy the back was. So, I chose to backstitch the waistband to the skirt body rather then felling it down, which helped to spread out the weight. Also, the waistband ended up a little big. Rather than adding buttons as planned, I used a ribbon as the closure to allow for some gathering, which worked. The shirt and shoes in the photos were from my wardrobe, but styled nicely with the finished skirt.