a post about pockets

So! About pockets! A bit of backstory for those of you who don't know:

In the 18th century, pockets weren't sewn into petticoats, they were more like bags that tied about the waist and went under the layers of petticoats. These pockets were often quite elaborately decorated, even though they were unseen.

I used leftover muslin from my stays to make my pockets (again, no linen for two reasons, low on cash and laziness, two of the primary characteristics of students). For the embroidery pattern, I did some research on different patterns and kind of picked a general idea of what I wanted based on what I saw on some of the websites. From that I sketched out a pattern and went for it! Again, I used old embroidery thread I had lying about... not exactly crewlwork, but I'm relatively satisfied with how it turned out. I needed a sort of brainless project to work on anyways, what with most of the brainpower going towards chemistry midterms... ugh. Anyway, I'm going out sometime this week to buy some linen tape to bind the edges up and finish everything!

Oh, started on the green petticoat this weekend... measure twice, maybe even three times, cut once. I always get kind of nervous when I'm cutting material. :/ So I put most of that together yesterday and got the front part pleated. I thought I'd finished pleating the back too, but in retrospect I am entirely dissatisfied with the results, so I'll probably end up taking it apart tomorrow after classes and fixing it the way I like it. If I feel energetic I'll hem the slits for the pockets and work on stitching on the tapes... Then comes the daunting process of hemming... ugh.... life would be easier with a dress dummy.

Mmmmk, bye!

-Sarah