Petticoat Slips For Freedom Of Movement

 

I made these petticoat slips for my daughter recently.

Most dresses that are her size are too short to keep her little underpants covered during normal two year old play. They fit her in the shoulder area, but it would be helpful if they were a few inches longer at the hem side.

These petticoats give her coverage and allow her to move freely while doing so.

I used very light weight cotton fabric for this project. It will be breathable and comfortable.

I finished the edges on the tank top portion with a bias tape. I have very little practice at applying bias tape. You can see that it didn't turn out perfectly, but that is okay.

I am happy that I chose to use a fun hot pink colored bias tape. 

I cut long strips of fabric on the bias to use for hem tape. I had to lay my cutting operation out on the living room floor because I don't have any tables or counters big enough for the job.

I had planned on using a wide hem lining, but I ran into a problem of gapping.

 I should have known better. The skirt is tapered making the hem a greater distance around than the skirt is a few inches higher than the hem. The piece of fabric that I had cut on the bias to make my hem tape was just a straight piece of fabric. It was not possible for it to make that curve without having excess fabric on the top edge. 

I had to trim the hem tape down significantly.

The main reason that I had wanted a wide hem lining was to add stability to the area where I planned to sew lace onto the skirt.

 

The lace turned out fine without out the lining. 

You can see that I ran out of identical lace for the top row of lace on the cream colored petticoat. I did have some lace that was the same color, although, the pattern didn't match. It totally works. It seems pretty easy to blend different types of lace together. Most people won't notice and, if they happen to, it's not an eye sore.

The skirts are complete full circles. 

A full circle skirt gives a girl an incredible amount of freedom! She can stretch her legs to the fullest degree; high kicks, splits, tree climbing, playground activities, horseback riding, cartwheels, and more are all possible in a full circle skirt. Pretty much the only thing that can't be done modestly is a headstand. 

The petticoat drapes nicely and looks pretty sticking out underneath a dress that is too short.

My daughter couldn't wait for me to help her with trying it on, so she put it on all by herself......over her dress. :) Hey, it's cute that way, too!

You can see the petticoat at work
in this picture I quickly snapped
 while she was digging toys out of the box.