Remember these dresses?
A little bit of background on these dresess…..would you believe me if I told you that they were made in 48 hours? Yep. It was a whirlwind of tulle…..and crazy sewing. And at the last minute, I decided that Hannie’s dress needed a hoop skirt to make her dress super full with all that tulle on it. (It didn’t hold it out with just a crinoline slip.)
So, I drove to Joann’s, bought the supplies…and whipped up the hoop skirt in about a half an hour before we had to leave to do the photoshoot.
And it’s easy…..(were you waiting for that part?)
Here’s what you need:
* cotton broadcloth the correct length for your skirt
* 45 inches of boning
* 1 inch elastic for your waistband
Here is a picture of the boning I bought. They only had black when I was there…..but it does come in white. If you buy it in white I wouldn’t remove the casing material…but since it was black and showed through the skirt bottom, I pulled it out of the casing.
All you are going to do is to sew up a simple skirt…..with a larger hem than usual. Then, thread the boning into the hem and duct tape the ends together. (I tried to sew the boning with a denim needle…but it broke it. I then tried hot glue which was a no go either, it just peeled apart. So I ended up duct taping it. If you have any other solutions….I’d be happy to post them.)
Then finish your skirt–sew up the hem casing with the boning. And sew the top casing with elastic.
And you are done! Perfect for your holiday dresses–and MUCH cheaper and easier than making a crinoline or pettiskirt.
And tomorrow….the tutorial for the pink dress. {Except in holiday green..} See you then.
where do you find boning? is it at most fabric stores? sorry, never bought it before.
I bought it at Joann’s….they have white and black at my store. It is on the aisle with the cut- by-the-yard velcro and elastic on the bottom shelf.
I haven’t seen it at Hobby Lobby. Those are my closest fabric stores. (Although I wish I had more…)
love it!! and I already have some boming, but what about sitting down, riding in the car, etc. how does that work?
Ditto what Ava said. I’ve promised my niece a poofy dress with jingle bells sewn in the petticoats, but I think a hoop skirt would work very well, too. Just what we need for the Christmas pictures! (I’m going heirloom and without crinolines, it’s waay too limp. And frankly, with the amount of insertion I’m sticking into that dress, more layers will be welcome.)
That is awesome!! I’ve never used boning before but love the look. Can’t wait to see the holiday green version of the dress! PS I’m totally impressed you sewed the outfit in 48 hours!!
She rode in the car on the way home…and it was a bit mishapen, but I hung it up and it popped right back into shape.
The hoop skirt hasn’t had “rough use” so I don’t know how it will hold up over a long time….but for a photo shoot or holiday dress and under 8 bucks…..perfect.
She rode in the car on the way home…and it was a bit mishapen, but I hung it up and it popped right back into shape.
The hoop skirt hasn’t had “rough use” so I don’t know how it will hold up over a long time….but for a photo shoot or holiday dress and under 8 bucks…..perfect.
Hm. Looks like I’ll be carrying them with us to the photoshoot. Not sure how well it would work around car seats! My mom and I take care of my nieces during the day while their parents work. For the past three weeks, Bit has informed me that she doesn’t want ruffly panties for Sundays or a poofy dress. Then today, she spent 30 minutes singing her version of jingle bells and informing me just how she wanted her new dresses! (with ruffles on her bottom and poofy with jingle bells!)
This will be the perfect addition to my daughter’s colonial dress that she will be wearing for a special event at her school! Thank you for posting it!
Rather than duct tape it, sew your two panels together first, hem the bottom, but leave about a 1/2 inch opening, feed the boning through like you would elastic, then just finish sewing the hem shut (you shouldn’t have to sew the actual boning) then sew a straight seam in between the two ends of the boning to keep it in place. 🙂 Yay! No more duct tape. 😀 Thanks for the tute!
Great tutorial, thank you!!! I was going to suggest the same thing as Mrs. Haggie810 suggested.
I have a question. Did you use a crinoline slip WITH the hoop skirt, because the skirt looks so full near the top too. I tried something similar and my dress skirt got a sort of tent effect where it was full at the bottom and small at the top with not much excitement in between. What did I do wrong?
On this pink dress….I didn’t. The dress bottom is pretty full itself with the tulle so the hoop skirt really just made the bottom stick out (the top of the skirt had no problems on its own).
For other skirts (like The Vintagely Modern Skirt) I used a crinoline.
On this pink dress….I didn’t. The dress bottom is pretty full itself with the tulle so the hoop skirt really just made the bottom stick out (the top of the skirt had no problems on its own).
For other skirts (like The Vintagely Modern Skirt) I used a crinoline.
Cut the boning a couple of inches longer than you need and simply slide one end behind the other to finish off. It will stay in place.
BTW, what width of boning did you use?
Thank you for the tutorial.
My boning is curling and won’t keep a nice hoop shape, any suggestions?
we put in 3 rows in a petticoat and it won’t stay in a circle like this, it’s twists all up. Any suggestions?
Daughter is making a civil war period costume for her young daughter. Called for 3 rows of boning…it won’t maintain a cirle, it keeps twisting funny. WOuld you have any suggestions?
MArgo, There is something at the fabric store called “horsehair braid” (it’s not made of horsehair anymore;). My guess is that the skirt weighs a lot and the boning is not holding it out. Try sewing the horsehair braid to the back along with the boning….hope that helps!
Where can i buy hoops