Skirt stuff

[gem]

So my purple kirtle bodice is completely finished (!!), and now I need to attach the skirt. For some reason, skirts always mystify me. They *sound* so simple: just sew panels of fabric to the bottom of the bodice. But somehow it's never quite that straightforward!

Here's a perfectly dreadful picture of the kirtle, with the skirt pinned on over it. I was debating what kind of pleats to use (I did mockups with both knife and cartridge)--until I put it on the form and pulled up the cartridge pleats and it was IMMEDIATELY obvious that the cartridge pleats were too adorable:



(I know the detail there is not clear. Bad lighting conditions. Sorry!)

Anyway,  here are the various issues I'm dealing with at the moment:

1. The bodice is pointed in front. It's four layers: two of boned, canvas interlining + the purple fashion fabric + the grey cotton lining. The interlining has NO seam allowance; the purple and the lining each have 1" for attaching the skirt.



Does anybody have pointers for attaching the skirt? My studio instructor tells me it's going to be difficult, and now I am confused. I was intending to sew the skirt panels to the hem of the bodice, so I haven't finished the bodice bottom edges, but am I missing something obvious that makes this more difficult than I think it should be? (This is my first pointed waistline dress, so I might be; my others have had straight waistlines, so it was really easy to attach the skirts.) Like, do I need to cut the V out of the front skirt panel first? Or something?

2. The skirt openings/plackets. I practiced the Margo Anderson skirt placket and have that more or less down, and we marked the location of the openings with the skirt fitted to the form (bright yellow chalkline):



But what do I do about the cartridge pleats?  Do I need to re-do them on either side of the placket?

***
Once I have the skirt attached, I can move onto the intimidating business of hemming! But for now I think that pretty much covers my current potential pitfalls.

Any advice is appreciated!

Gramercy!!

[Lady Rebecca]

I can't answer all of your questions, but I can give one suggestion: When I made my 17th c gown (which has a front opening, so it might be different), I split the skirt (which was knife-pleated) up the sides like an 18th c petticoat. I then attached the back half of the skirt to bottom of the bodice. The front half, however, I knife pleated all but the center 6 or so inches, and attached it to twill tape, which then gets tied underneath the back skirt. That way, the deep point of the bodice hangs down over the skirt in the front, but I don't have to worry about gapping anywhere since there's always some sort of overlap.

I forsee this being more difficult with cartridge pleats because of the thickness, but I imagine there must be some way to still work it out... Of course, if you want it cartridge pleated even in the very front, then please ignore this entire post... If not, you could probably even just attach the cartridge pleated skirt to the front of the bodice until it dips down into the v, which could still just slip inside the bodice and be whipstitched to the lining.

No suggestions as to your side plackets, though...

[operafantomet]

For the pointed front you could use the Eleonora di Toledo funeral dress as a pointer (pun intended):




The skirt is cut down in front to follow the pointed shape of the bodice. Ignore the zig-zags in the sides, they're a result of fabric being cut off after the skirt was pleated, to get it as smooth as possible in the waist. If you're using cartridge pleats, this is not a solution for you.

Another solution is to attach the skirt to a waistband, preferably one for the back and one for the front, to allow the side splits. You then sew these waistbands to the inside of the bodice. You can make the front slightly curved/V shaped and attach it along the lower edge of the bodice, or make it straight and attach it high up.

The waistband(s) makes it easier to do alternations to the dress, as you don't have to pleat the skirt anew. This is almost always used in theatre costumes, but it's also perfectly period. The crimson Pisa dress has a waistband - but that one was added to attach the skirt to the new taffeta bodice inside to avoid straining on the original outer bodice:

[gem]

Thanks, you guys!  The only issue I'm seeing with both your suggestions is that they would require the bottom edge of the bodice to be finished, which mine is not. Am I reading this right?

[Lady Rebecca]

You would definitely have to finish the bottom of the front where the point is for my second idea, or the entire front for my first idea. But you could probably do that pretty easily with some bias tape, right?

[Cilean]

Yep I finished my skirt that was cartridge pleated however I am not finishing the one I am working on now. I hope to have these done for War this weekend and I will send you pictures.

Cilean

[Sorcha]

Okay...  I think I'm a little late to the game on this one.  But better late than never!
I think I ran into this same issue gem.  And my skirt had a print to it so I really didn't want the design to get all wonky as it went around and down in the front with the point. 
I tried to document the process on my LJ. 
See here:
http://coamrey.livejournal.com/1364.html#cutid1