Make a hoop skirt to wear under your Civil War costume.
Hoop skirts, also known as caged crinoline or paniers, revolutionized women's fashion in the 1700s and 1800s. The skirts enabled women to wear fewer undergarments making the skirts a much cooler clothing option, especially in the hot summer months. When worn under a dress the hoop skirt provided a full, rounded shape and caused the dress to flow more freely as the woman walked. Originally made out of metal hoops, a less costly version can be sewn using boning on your home sewing machine.
Instructions
1. Measure the circumference of your waist and from your waist to the floor with your shoes on. Subtract 4 inches from the height measurement.
2. Draft a pattern based on how wide you want the skirt to be. If you use graph paper to draw the skirt, each square can represent 1 sq. inch. The skirt can be evenly tapered or can go out a distance from your body and fall straight down.
3. Use the measurements, or number of squares, to calculate the circumference of the skirt at the waist and floor. Also calculate the circumference of at least other intervals in the height of the dress. These should be calculated at places close to a full 1 square inch measurement. The hoops should be approximately 4 inches apart. Write all the measurements directly on the drafted pattern.
4. Add all the circumferences for each hoop and the bottom hoop together. There will not be a hoop at your waistline. The total of the circumference is how much hoop steel you will need.
5. Cut the hoop steel at the exact measurements for each hoop. Number the hoops and place the corresponding numbers onto the diagram to avoid any confusion or remeasuring later.
6. Calculate the length of the twill tape needed for each strip. Measure down the side of the dress from the waist to the end of the skirt. You will need to measure each square individually to determine how much curvature to allow for. Add 2 inches for overlap.
7. Multiply the measurement by two and cut the twill tape into strips that length. Divide the circumference of the wearer's waist by the width of the twill tape to determine how many strips to cut. Depending on the size of the waist, you will need approximately 17 or more strips.
8. Fold the strips in half and line up the folded edges in a straight line. Put a narrow strip of tape over the strips, approximately 2 inches from the top, to hold them in place until you have them all lined up.
9. Sew through the tape to connect the twill tape strips together. The looped edge becomes the waistband of the hoop skirt. Insert the drawstring.
10. Mark the twill tape strips with the spacing for the hoops. Mark all the pieces with all the lines for every hoop you will add.
11. Use two pins under each marked line to pin the two pieces of the strip together, being careful not to pin two different strips together. One pin should be pointing in from the left and one from the right. This forms a sort of pocket for the hoop steel.
12. Tie the hoop skirt around the waist of a mannequin.
13. Insert the hoops, in order from top to bottom, inside the pockets made by the pins. Be careful not to dislodge the pins or the hoops will not be properly supported. Use tape to secure the ends of the hoop steel together if it will not hold an adequate circular shape.
14. Maneuver the twill strips around on the hoops until they are evenly spaced. Leave the hoop skirt hanging on the mannequin in this state overnight to allow for settling. Make any noticeable adjustments needed when you come back to it the next day.
15. Mark the hoop steel on both sides of every piece of twill tape using a permanent marker. Then, remove the steel.
16. Sew the twill tape strips together where the pins are, one strip at a time. Remove the pins as you guide the fabric under the needle so that the machine does not sew over them.
17.Place the skirt back on the mannequin and reinsert the hoop steel. Line the tape casings back up with the marks you made on the steel earlier.
18. Secure the ends of the steel permanently with duct tape. The skirt is ready to wear.
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