Making skirt mockups?

[gem]

Do you?  What do you use?

I know Sempstress has a whole page on skirt draping*, but I normally don't make mockups for skirts, because I can't usually find mockup fabric wide enough, or I've made the same skirt before, etc.  I've spent so much bloody time on getting the bodice right for Promenade, though, that I ought to at least spend a minute considering the skirt, too.  Particularly because I haven't exactly decided on the pleats yet.


*Ok, technically the page is not for draping the skirt, but still.

Thoughts?

[mollymishap]

If I'm making a new style or there's something different about what I'm doing with the skirt, I will make a mock-up, which typically ends up as the lining unless I've totally goofed something up. 

I have a number of looooong yardage pieces in my stash (yard sale specials and the like) that were bought specifically for linings/skirt mock-ups, etc.  I usually have enough that even if I've had to piece something together to make it work, I don't worry about it because it won't show in the finished product anyway. 

So, to answer your question: I do do skirt mock-ups.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Of all the garb  I have done these past several years, I have never made a mockup of one.

Bodices, YES! That's the part of garb I have to get right most of the time.

[Lady L]

A suggestion... you could use an old sheet, that should be wide enough for a skirt mock up.

[flidais]

I have used a scrap piece of similar fabric weight, to test out which type of pleating I might want to use.  That way I can see what it will look like, or if I should pad the pleats and so on.  But have never done a full mock up of a skirt before. 

[Kate XXXXXX]

For some things, particularly wedding stuff, I do a toile of the whole things.  For some I do experimental toiles of part garments.  Sometimes you need to toile the skirt to get the bodice to fit right...  If I can get away with it, I use the skirt lining as the toile for the skirt, to save on doing EVERYTHING twice!

And sometimes the skirt is such a funny shape that you HAVE to toile it to work it out at all...  Like this totally non-period skirt:



Mad, but fun.  The sleeves went through several toile versions before we got them exactly right.

So yes, sometimes I do skirt toiles...

[operafantomet]

For historical garbs I never really make a mock-up of the skirt. It demands so much fabric, and it's not too hard to save/alter eventual flaws later on.

But - and this is a big but - I sometimes cut the lining fabric first and piece it together to see how the finished skirt will behave. And I HAVE adjusted a project or two after seeing the "lining mock-up". But never enough to scrap the whole thing, and in the end I think it saves me quite a bit ow work of money.

[gem]

Ok, so next/related question:

Lining skirts?  Always?  I've never done this, and wasn't planning on lining the skirt to the red kirtle of Promenade.

I actually have used the time-honored lining-turned-mockup method many, many times, just never on a skirt.

[Kate XXXXXX]

I line skirts if:

It's fitted.  They slide on and off more easily.  It also helps to prevent bagging at the seat.  And the skirt won't crease across the front so much...
It's wool.  Wool is ITCHY!
The fabric is a bit too see-through for the purpose.  Lining adds opacity without the waistband build-up you get with a separate petticoat.
The back of the fabric has loops of thread across it: brocades and saris with lots of metal threads can be very loopy and this needs protection.
It's tailored.  It helps to protect the fabric and make it last longer.
It's a wedding dress.
I'm going to wear it with tights.  It stops the fabric catching on the tights and clinging like a wet shroud.
I think it would hang better lined.

Lining can also have a structural purpose, acting as a stay for things like those revolting 'pick-up' bridal things, puff-ball skirts, and skirts with horizontal or vertical rouching.