While torn with beautiful colors of silks, I purchased some in a stunning peacock blue from Renaissance Fabrics.
Fearing it might be too intense a color for me, I limited the intense color to a petticoat to make my Colonial Williamsburg chintz a bit more posh.
Since the construction is quite simple, no pattern was needed for the petticoat.
Quickly handstitching my silk petticoat in between cooking for our recent American Revolution Becoming History Presentation, I also sampled various styles of bum rolls to properly kick out the skirts.
Using a long narrow bum roll that curves about the hips left over from my Elizabethan costume, my kids gave that a thumbs down when I modeled it.
So, I tried again, this time by sewing one from a pattern while referencing pictures of some I’ve seen at the Costume Design Center and in historical clothing books.
Again, when I modeled it, the kids gave me a thumbs down.
Now I’m wondering if I have the back pleating of my gown correct?
Obviously I’m deeply challenged with the underpinnings department. I’m not giving up, but the show must go on, so I wore my petticoat without the bumroll for our history presentation.
Anyway, I did like the dressier effect for my gown, which I’ve previously worn with a chintz petticoat in the summer at Colonial Williamsburg, and with a plain petticoat, dressed down for Under the Redcoat.
Here are photos from our history presentation, where I really liked the black/blue changeable silk in the lighting.
The peacock blue was also a great compliment to my Colonial Williamsburg reproduction chintz gown.
