Making *starchy* petticoats...cording, pleats, and starch, oh my! #1830s

How'd they get full skirts in the 1830s? It's all thanks to starched corded and pleated petticoats!

——— Tools & Supplies Used ———

——— References ———
Number of Petticoats Quote “The History of Underclothes” by Willet and Cunnington

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♡ Bella Mae

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[cindylee]

My grandmother, born in 1889, starched a lot of clothes and sheets. She ironed items while the starch was still damp, and hung them to finish drying (if needed). When starching cotton dollies, she pinned the starched and wet dollies to stretched towels so the dollies dried in the flat, perfect shape. Try letting the petticoats or other garments only partially dry before ironing or pressing. It will probably be easier than softening stiff fabric to than iron dry. I still have a half dozen dollies that Grandma starched and pinned over 40 years ago and they still keep their shape perfectly.

[historical.isolde]

Lee-am's Youtube has a great video on how they starch their 1830's petticoats!

I make my own with starch powder, so that I can make it as thin and runny, or as thick and gloopy as my project needs. It will also last quite well in the fridge when I make it up in a spray bottle. The spray bottle will often last for 3-4 months, but I always run out of it before that amount of time, so it may well last longer than that!

Also, spraying a slippery silk with a thin starch and later washing it gently once the bulk of they structural sewing is done is some of the best advice I have ever been given. It can't stay on the silk as starch will yellow over time, but giving a slippery silk satin a bit of crispness makes marking, cutting, pinning and sewing your seam SO MUCH EASIER!

[Ane_Rikke]

Grandmama used to iron the pieces she starched while still moist - said that made ironing easier (but do not ask ME if that’s true - i have never ever starched an item of clothing in my life :P )

[robintheparttimesewer]

I love the look of cording and pleats. They all look lovely!

[penultimateh]

Our skilled and hardworking craftsperson can make basically anything!

[ElizabethJones-pvsj]

If you have access to a large round garbage can they are usually close to the right diameter for a petticoat. Ironing does help to create a smooth slightly glossy layer that helps protect against dirt so it wouldn't be ideal to skip ironing altogether (but drying it in the right shape to start will help). You may also want to iron it while slightly damp instead of drying out all of the water and then wetting it again to iron it.

[SamDias]

Tough work.... Long process.... But as always the result is simply fabulous. Good work❤

[kathyjin]

Bella posted! Yayy :) I always love love love seeing your work! I look up to you a lot haha

[shirleyjhaney]

I kinda like how the Ariel dress has a shape reminiscent of a woman’s shape but also playful and amusing and not like a woman’s shape- it’s funny both genders had their starch going on. I never thought I could love a dress the way I love Ariel’s dress ❤ I mean this version of Ariel’s dress ❤

[pwhite]

for the starched / drying petticoats, is there a conical form they can be draped on rather than a flat drying rack and maybe save time?

[ushere]

they're beautiful, bella!! way too pretty to hide underneath another "outer" skirt!

[HeatherLewis]

In 1840s dress like to petticoats from Ariel's dress ever from the sea!!!! ❤❤❤

[lesleyharris]

And watching this in ignoring the ignoring pile. 😂. ❤

[suecottle]

Thank you. What an interesting and informative video. What is the red button-holding tool at 07:20 called? Where did you source it from? You are so lucky being able to buy liquid starch in bottles. Not something that's available in New Zealand.

[sjonik]

Thanks for the video. I have to sew these skirts. please tell me what is the width of the skirts? ❤

[tiamatmichellehart]

When I was a teen in the 90s, they didn't have much in school about women's fashion pre-1920s except to say how horrible it supposedly was for women's freedom. Here's what the books said about the *1830s:*

*The skirts were buoyed out with many petticoats. There were so many that women found it difficult to move their legs under all those petticoats.*

I wonder if "4 to 6" of your lovely creations here would be so immobilizing....?

[kirstenpaff]

The poor maids in charge of all of that starching and ironing must have hated the fashions in the 1830s.

[UnPassant-zsoc]

So, where do you sell all the costumes you make? What are they used for?