I'm using Ageless Patterns #2217, 1894 Brown Godet Skirt. The original is made out of a brown wool and I can't wear wool, so I opted for a gorgeous teal cotton velveteen.
The pattern says the skirt is for a 25" waist. I measured out my pattern pieces to figure out where to add, and the measurements added up to 29.75"! After double checking, I decided to just cut as is. The original has the three back panels flat lined and a 6" horsehair braid facing on the front panels. I flat lined the back in silk organza.
Gratuitous cute kitten picture, "helping" me with the skirt panels.
I flat lined the back panels and sewed them together. There is an opening left on the left side of the skirt. I sewed together the front panels then had to do a lot of futzing and thinking to figure out how to attach the front to the back, with the burnous pleats ("godets" mean "gores" according to online searching, but these are burnous pleats). I decided to hem the tops of the back panels first, as you can see here. I use my serger for flat lining - totally not HA, but as a bonus you get nice finished seams. I also made a 3" hem facing and hemmed the back panels before attaching to the front.
I finally figured out that the side front to side back seam had to be sewn leaving the 5/8" seam allowance at the top for the waistband, so I pinned the back 5/8" down from the upper edge. The seams didn't match at all, the front was about 3" longer than the back. I checked the pattern pieces and they didn't line up either. I wanted a hem facing on the front anyhow, so I just let it be. This is also the reason I decided to hem the back at the lower edge before sewing the side seams.
The front has a 6" strip of horsehair braid in the hem, which I covered with a hem facing. Since it's so deep I had to do a lot of pleats in the facing and it's a very ugly hem job on the inside! Since it was so far up the skirt I just whip stitched it into place instead of slip stitching like I would usually do.
The burnous pleats aren't attached to the waistband at all. They are folded in half, and tacked together about 1" at the side seam of each piece. The extra seam allowance I left on the front is what is attached to the waistband. The slit that was left in the back is hidden in the pleats and how the skirt opens. The pleats seem to be standing out a lot more than in the drawing photo, but that might be the velvet, I'll play with them.
The final step is the soutache on the hem. I haven't drawn up the pattern I want to use yet.
Note Petunia is not wearing her petticoats in these photos and I imagine the skirt will look much better once she has them on!
