Ladies, if you would like your skirts to be authentically hung, then your options are either a drawstring (to accommodate the constant pregnancies of the day) or cartridge pleating.
Cartridge pleats which stick out, rather unflatteringly I must say, horizontally from the waist are a throwback to the days of huge Elizabethan farthingales and would certainly still have been worn in provincial districts like North Wales where fashions were several years, if not decades, behind London. Remember, childbearing hips were all the rage and yes, your bum will look big in it, but it will also be authentic.
Firstly, make up a waistband about 2" wide. Then take the top edge of your skirt and fold over twice, an inch wide and sew roughly into place with big tacking stitches. This extra thickness around the pleats will make them stand out from the waistband better.
Then, take strong thread (linen lace-making thread is ideal) and sew a line of running stitches an inch long and an inch apart all the way around the top of the skirt. When you get to the end of the fabric, leave the ends loose and pull them tight. This should gather the fabric and create a series of pleats round the top of the fabric. Arrange the pleats to fit your waistband, and tie of the loose ends of the gathering thread.
Then finally, using a couple of small stitches, tack the top of each pleat to your waistband, at even intervals around it.
© Copyright 1998-2007 Sir John Owens Regiment of Foote.
