Truly Victorian Round Cage Crinoline

No 1860s outfit without a crinoline...
and after all the Petticoat in the last post was obviously supported by this 'contraption'

Once again I use a pattern by Truly Victorian, apart from being available from UK supplier they also give the fabric and notion requirements on their page so I can order everything together.

 I followed the pattern for the most part however I wanted the crinoline a little longer as given in the pattern. While the possibilities for shortening or lengthening the pattern were mentioned in the directions, no instructions on 'how to' were given.

After some deliberation I decided to sew the bag at the bottom as normal, using a old bedsheet for the fabric. I then cut a new template for the straps made out of grosgrain ribbon, adding 1cm between each hoop and 1cm to the loop at the top. This resulted in an extra 8cm total, a length I felt was sufficient.

Don't forget to take into consideration the shoes you intend to wear with your outfit and whether they have heals to detriment he correct length for you. I'm 1.74m (5'8'') and wear shoes with small 5cm / 2'' heals and have to lengthen most dress / skirt patterns.


The construction...

Cutting the wire was a little challenge and if you have a second person at hand I would advise you get them to help ... the wire does tend to spring and snap in every direction.

Finishing of the bag with the 4 hoops was no problem and I used a combination of extra strong glue and metal clamps to connect the wire.

After inserting the wire into the bone casing it was a little difficult to clamp/glue the wire together, cover the connection with the bone casing and then sew the bone casing together. It just looked a bit messy so I decided to add a 'cover' of grosgrain ribbon over the connections.

I furthermore decided against the woven band used as belting and rather used an actual belt I had lying around at home. It has the added advantage the if I use the same belt hole I have an immediate measure of my waist and know that all my upper garments will fit as they are cut to that waist measurement.

All in all the construction was easy and any difficulties were more due to the unwieldiness of steel boning than the instructions / construction plan.

 
Last but not least I have to say that I love the swinging motion the crinoline creates when walking or dancing and even sitting down is no problem in it.