Edwardian French Drawers. They sound a little exotic, don’t they? All the pictures I’ve seen have featured very shapely, slender ladies sporting shaped flounces frothing at the hem with lace trim.
I worried that they’d hang wrong on me, or that they’d look ridiculous, but in the end, I’m very happy with my reproduction French drawers.
I used Truly Victorian pattern TVE02 – Edwardian Underwear to make the drawers. This is probably – so far- the most cottage core item of clothing in my wardrobe. I originally planned to make and talk about both the French drawers and a corset cover. Unfortunately, the drawers were more involved than I thought they would be! There was a lot of hand-sewing, particularly on the facings and hem. I also hand-sewed the lace trim into place, as well as the buttonhole.
I shot the reveal in my parents’ back garden. The weather was beautiful, but I chose the absolute wrong time of day. It was late afternoon by the time I was able to get my makeup on and my gear packed in the car for the trip. As a result, I was shooting directly into the sun – the nicest flowers in the garden are in the west. Whoops. That said, I still had a good time setting up cameras and posing. I hope the neighbours aren’t too confused!
My main worry was that I might accidentally show more of my body than intended. You usually make Edwardian French Drawers with an open crotch area. This is for practical reasons, Having to use the washroom in a hip-hugging corset in the early 1900’s could really cause some drama in the ladies’ restroom. The drawers are actually very modest. I wore them with my chemise tucked in. If anything, the tucked-in chemise gave the drawers a little bit more poof!
And we all know how important it is to wear well-ventilated clothing in the middle of a heat wave. Seriously, we’re sitting at 32 degrees Celsius right now. Hiding in my basement office is a wonderful way to spend the day.
In this week’s video, I also rant about the pattern industry and the way it still refuses to put serious acknowledgement into the plus-size community. Perhaps this is something that deserves a blog post of its own.
While smaller, independant designers are doing their best to cater to the growing demand for patterns of all sizes, the large pattern companies with actual budgets still seem to deliberately shoot themselves in the metaphorical foot when it comes to doing the simplest things to promote and sell patterns for larger bodies. It’s frustrating. Particularly at a time when sewing clothing is making a comeback due to the cottage core aesthetic and sustainable practices. How maddening.
That aside, I do hope you’ll check out my video. Please leave a like and a comment about my new (perhaps not-so-surprisingly modest) Edwardian underwear! I’m already working on the Corset Cover, and am progressing steadily toward the rest of my Edwardian outfit.
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