What is the best method? Any and all advice is welcome. Grammercy.:)
Hi Lady Gregory,
I think we will better be able to answer your question if we understand a little more about your project.
I have a corded petticoat that I made up to help a skirt stand out a little, but I've never starched it, and don't yet understand why you would want to - can you please elaborate? Personally, I would try to figure a way to do something without adding starch.... but I'm interested to hear more about your project!
My petticoat is for the same purpose as yours, to fill out and shape my skirt. However, it seems to fold in certain areas. I would like to stiffen it a bit to give it more shape. The folds are especially noticeable when I wear my split overskirt. The folds push the underskirt out through the split area. I would prefer a smoother silouette, if that makes sense. It is not too pronounced, but I am always looking to perfect my garb.
I have also heard that starch helps to repel dirt and dust, which will come in handy when I am away for the weekend and will be wearing the petticoat multiple times before being able to wash it.:)
Eta: I am obviously not going to get the results of a farthingale, not do I want to, but would just like to stiffen it up a bit for shape.
Ok, that helps!
Again, I'm going to suggest a starchless solution - not because I think that starching is not the answer, but simply because I have an alternate idea - again, this stems from the fact that I've never starched anything, so I am going to let someone with more starching experience suggest that solution!
I would think that the outcome that you desire could be accomplished in another way. If the waist of your petticoat is a drawstring, I would suggest pulling more fullness to the back. If it is a waist band, I would try including a vertical tuck in the skirt at around where each of your pelvic bones sit, pulling the front of the skirt flatter - you can do this with a pin, or a few stitches with a needle and thread.
Another solution I can think of would be to add extra stiffness into your skirt - perhaps another channel with cord - perhaps a stiffer cord (I used a poly rope - bright yellow, completely not historical, but who is to know?), or even, as an act of desparation, a very long cable tie that slips into place across the front - I would say above your knees to keep the skirt flatter, and less likely to bell out of the split.
I would guess that starch might be more trouble than it is worth - but I'm interested to hear what others may say!
Good luck!
Oddly enough, I actually stumbled across a blog post on this exact topic not too long ago:
http://frolickingfrocks.blogspot.com/2013/03/1830s-1840s-underpinnings.html (http://frolickingfrocks.blogspot.com/2013/03/1830s-1840s-underpinnings.html)
Scroll down and you'll see the instructions.
I, too, have absolutely ZERO experience with this, but I'm working on a project where I need to add a little more crispness to a skirt, so I'm trying to learn what I can. Unfortunately, most of the starch + sewing discussions I've seen are about making the fabric behave while you sew it--after which you promptly wash the starch out before wearing the garment. I've not found a great deal of information on starching THEN wearing, like when dry cleaners starch a man's dress shirt.
You might also take a look at CenturiesSewing's video ruff tutorial, where she talks a lot about starch: http://www.renaissancefestival.com/forums/index.php/topic,19133.0.html (http://www.renaissancefestival.com/forums/index.php/topic,19133.0.html)