I finished the last repeat on the bottom border of the quilted petticoat tonight.
Now I have to decide what to do with the rest of it. Considering that the bottom border took me a year to complete, I'm not sure if time or design should win out.
I'm willing to put it to a vote!
The options are:
A: Lattice work (diamonds) for the whole top.... you know... "XXXXX": fast.
B: A central motif of flowers, etc with lattice work on either side: moderately fast.
C: cockle shells: "(((((((": moderately fast.
D: Central motif of flowers, etc with cockle shells on either side: time investment.
E: continue the floral motif for a really long way & finish the top with "(((" or "XXX": serious time investment.
(this almost resembles the NY governor's election!)
I have every intention of wearing this thing on the first muddy day at camp. OK, not really, but it'll turn out that way...
The 3 options here are basically the same: "E"
Yeah, I'm crazy.
This motif would continue almost to the top, maybe hip level before the XXX or CCC would take over. I think I'm going for the XXX because it was a little more common judging from the examples I've seen... and I can be lazy & just draw it in with a T-square.
The vines are following a basic circular pattern so they can match up fairly easily. The final petticoat has 8 central flowers and 8 garland repeats. In this design it would have a front & back medallion higher than the 2 sides. I like the symmetry enclosing the flowing vines.
I'm still up for input & suggestions.
(BTW, the darker bottom design isn't quite what's on the petticoat now... the real quilting is a little more open, spaced just slightly wider & is rather even from one end to the other).
Here are the petticoats I used as inspiration:
Mid-18th century silk-satin lined with linen, this was the original inspiration petticoat.
I don't recall where the petticoat is, but judging by the lovely gray background, it might be the MET.
I liked the 3 crown design that serves as the border & background between the lattice work & the actual design, but preferred the puffiness of the petticoat below.
18th century quilted petticoat that was for auction or sale a while ago on some site... I did not save the information. This is also silk, the waistband was linen if I recall correctly. I don't remember what it was lined with. The quilter used trapunto and stippling to create that wonderful raised design.
I especially like the outlining stitches used to give the vines & border some puffiness, rather than just defining them with the stippling like in the petticoat above.
You can also see that the quilting ends just before the waistband and the petticoat has been folded over rather than cut off. This would ensure that a 2nd owner could lengthen or shorten it without damaging the work the quilter had done.
The third petticoat is from the Williamsburg collection. It is also silk with a linen backing. The top has been extended with brown linen to reduce bulk at the waist & perhaps to lengthen it for a taller owner.
I'm not as crazy about this design as the others, but I do like the spacing of the lattice work on top. It's just a little larger & provides a bit more texture than the smaller diamonds.
