By Has anyone else discovered how hard it is to buy simple, pretty, but above all breathable underthings? I’m particularly thinking slips and petticoats here, but it applies to most things in the underwear category. Lycra shapewear (or whatever the latest miracle fibre is), polyester type lacy things and stat-icky, plastic-y slips. It’s really depressing and does not suit me or my summer wardrobe.
So I’m starting to make a few underthings to go with the 30s style clothing that I’m planning to make. I was going to choose cotton as the logical choice, but I discovered that by the 30s, rayon was featuring big. It has the silky drape of a fine silk without the price tag, and while it’s a man-made material, it’s made out of plant cellulose, so in theory it breathes like a natural fibre. I thought this worth experimenting with.
For my first project I came across this image of a rather lovely vintage pattern on the Vintage Sewing Patterns website. This website is a great resource for pattern images through much of the 20th century, but it doesn’t have the patterns themselves. Well, no matter – this McCall’s 8809 looks like a great start for me on my pattern drafting journey. The flat drawing especially should help give me an idea of the pattern pieces needed.
I didn’t get much video footage or any photos as I drafted the slip, so I’ll show you in photos on a smaller scale:
I started with the basic blocks from my Vogue 1004 fitting shell that I had adapted to my figure. I doubled the back as it is an asymmetrical design.
After sticking the darts together, I drew the basic shape that I wanted for front and back (if I was making a dress out of this I would have raised the back to hide my bra strap).
Cutting out reveals the main bodice pieces…make sure to mark the grain before cutting out! (I wanted to do this on the bias, but worried I wouldn’t have enough fabric, so marked both grains).
For the bodice, I removed some ease from the centre front and centre back neckline. I then slashed the front bodice in about five places from the gathered edge to the bust point and then added barely a cm to that edge for a bit of “puff”. For the skirt, I simply guessed the flare I wanted, checking that I had enough fullness at the hips. I folded the back in half to make the skirt symmetrical.
I cut the slip out of a plain black rayon that I found at Spotlight. I’d picked up 2.5m, but at only 112cm wide, it was nowhere near enough to cut on the bias. Fortunately being lovely and drapey, the straight grain wasn’t a problem. I decided not to cut the edging and straps from the rayon, so I was able to cut those on the bias using some satin that I found in my stash.
Sewing it together was pretty easy – you can follow along on the video if you’re interested:
And here’s the finished wrap slip! Very comfortable to wear, and well worth adapting to a strappy dress with a pretty patterned rayon.
Yesterday-Today 
Awesome! I’m working on a 1910’s dress at the moment. Went to the store to see about a slip and the shopkeeper looked at me in total confusion. Said she hadn’t seen one in decades. My dress is white…and it will NEED a slip, so I’ll be trying to make one that hides behind dress. Thanks for the inspiration.
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