A distinctive feature of a wedding dress is the fullness of the skirt. Every girl since childhood dreams of a flowing wedding dress. This effect is achieved by placing a special petticoat under the dress. Choosing this wardrobe item is not as important as finding the desired wedding attire. But the look of the whole image, its completeness, depends on the correct petticoat or, as it is also called, crinoline. This wardrobe detail, hidden from prying eyes, is needed not only for ballroom-style dresses, but also for dresses with an A-line or empire style.
The main types of petticoats for a wedding dress
The main function of a wedding petticoat is to emphasize the style of the dress; it makes the skirt decorated and complete, which sets the tone for the entire outfit. Without this inconspicuous wardrobe detail, the dress will not seem so elegant and festive. Some brides prefer not to buy crinoline, believing that it restricts movement, does not allow you to feel comfortable on the holiday, and interferes with dancing.
If you choose the right style of accessory, it will not only prevent you from enjoying every minute of the special day, but will also make your image gentle and romantic, like that of a fairy-tale princess. Lush crinolines make the bride's gait smooth and elegant. But to decide which petticoat will suit yours wedding dress, you need to understand the types of this accessory.
With flexible rings
Petticoats with flexible rings are the most popular among modern brides. This type of crinoline is considered a lightweight option compared to an accessory with rigid rings. When sewing this element of a wedding wardrobe, fabric is used instead of rigid mesh, as in other models. The advantage of flexible plastic rings is that they do not stand out when walking. 
The bride will have no difficulty moving around in a dress with a petticoat that has flexible rings. She can easily get into a car, sit at a banquet table, and even participate in outdoor competitions and dance. The only disadvantage of such models is the fragility of the plastic. Rings may break if pressed hard or folded incorrectly, which will ruin appearance outfit. The cost of petticoats with flexible rings is slightly more expensive than models with rigid inserts.
With hard 1 to 7 rings
A petticoat with rigid rings is a classic version of a real crinoline. When such an accessory first came into fashion, it was sewn from a special fabric containing horsehair and linen threads. Due to the rigidity of this fabric, crinolines held their shape and volume well. Modern tailors, when making crinoline skirts, use a mesh with inserts of hard rings, and their number in the petticoat depends on the desired style and varies from one to seven.
The accessory model with rigid rings creates space under the skirt of the wedding dress, thanks to which the bride can move with ease without getting her feet tangled in a multi-layered dress while dancing. But the disadvantages this species are also inherent. So, when walking, hard rings stand out under the skirt of the dress, and if the wedding dress is made of thin fabric, then the tin frame will be visible through. It may also be difficult to get into a car because the rigid petticoat lifts up a lot.
Multilayer without rings
Sometimes brides are looking for options for petticoats that do not have rings at the base, spoiling the appearance of the outfit, standing out from under the skirt. They opt for multi-layer crinolines, the volume of which is achieved due to large quantity layers of fabric sewn on top of each other, rather than thanks to a strong ring frame. But the multilayer structure also has its drawbacks. 
Experts recommend choosing such accessory models only for short dresses or slightly below the knee length. If a multi-layer crinoline is sewn for a floor-length dress, then this means using a large yardage of fabric, which will significantly affect the price. As a result, due to the abundance of material, the product will be heavy and will cause discomfort when walking. Since synthetic fabrics are traditionally used in the manufacture of multi-layer petticoats, such products are hot and unpleasant.
For dresses with trains
Wedding petticoats for dresses with trains are difficult to find. Such products are much more expensive than other models. These crinolines are made on the principle of petticoats with plastic or tin rings, on top of which mesh or fabric frills are sewn. The only difference is that its dimensions increase depending on the length of the train. Such crinolines are mainly made to order. 
The obvious disadvantage of a petticoat with a train is its inconvenience. It will be uncomfortable for the bride to sit down in an outfit that has such an accessory, since when sitting on a chair or in a car, the train will only lie in one direction, and the mesh frills will lie in the other. This will make the outfit look strange and unattractive, make beautiful photo or a video with a sitting bride will not work.
With mesh or fabric frills
Lush petticoats with frills are sewn from tulle or mesh. Many fabric ruffles are sewn to the base until the desired length and volume are achieved. You can wear such petticoats either on their own or over a crinoline with rings. Due to the multi-layer nature of the accessory, the frame will not be visible and will not stand out. The dress gets extra volume, and the rings remain hidden from prying eyes. 
If a tulle petticoat is worn without a frame, then you should not expect good volume. Therefore, some wedding salons offer brides crinolines with hard or plastic rings, on top of which many rows of frills are sewn. This petticoat holds its shape well, and the outfit as a whole looks neater and more sophisticated than with an accessory without fabric frills.
How to sew a petticoat with your own hands?
For self-tailoring wedding petticoat at home you will need:
- tulle;
- calico;
- white synthetic threads;
- braid;
- button;
- sewing machine.
Sewing instructions:
- Choose a tulle that matches the type of fabric of your dress. For a petticoat for a satin dress, you will need a hard tulle, and for a silk dress, a soft type of fabric.
- Measure the length of the wedding dress; the petticoat should be 2-3 cm shorter than the dress.
- Determine the width of the crinoline petticoat. Based on this indicator, calculate the width and number of fabric frills.
- Measure your waist.
- Create a pattern for the base of the petticoat like a six-piece or half-sun. Make a small cut in the waist area - the place where the fastener will be attached. Fasteners are made in the form of buttons or hooks.
- Cut out the required number of ruffles from tulle. Please note that the width of the bottom frill should be approximately three times wider than the base of the petticoat. To create a crinoline, three to eight frills are made.
- Sew each frill along the narrow side, giving it the appearance of a ring. When sewing the edges of the frill on the machine, pull the thread so as to create even folds.
- Sew all the prepared and finished frills to the base of the skirt, making sure that the edge of the first top frill is located 3-4 cm below the fastening seam. The wedding petticoat is ready!
Crinoline is a capricious thing. But today we will learn how to sew a crinoline with our own hands and look at the pattern for it.
1. We draw ourselves schematically on a sheet of paper. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the height of the heel, then the exact height, as well as the maximum length side seam
("length from waist to floor, without heels") In the drawing this is AC. Then we measure DC - these are those 5 centimeters, thanks to which the dress does not move along the ground.
2. Then we draw a skirt of the shape we want. Then we carry out direct FD.
This is the full length of the underskirt. If you want the underskirt to be shorter than the upper, then you need to take this into account and make the total length of this underskirt shorter. This drawing shows the full length of the BD petticoat. Now we mark the segment ED. Here it is 5 cm. This is done so that in the future the hoop will not be visible through the skirt.
3. Now mark the segment BG. The G spot is the beginning of the expansion of our skirt.
The size of the BG segment depends on the dress model. Now we divide the segment GE into 4 equal parts (since our skirt has 4 hoops) Draw horizontal straight lines from these points. This is the radius of our hoops.
For example one of them is HI. We measure them very accurately.
4. Now we substitute the data into the formula. L=2*3.14*R
L is the length of the hoop
* is to multiply
R is our radius
And this is how we get the length of the hoops.
The store cut my hoops directly according to these data.
Now let's make the skirt itself.
1. Measure the length of the skirt between the hoops (in the drawing it is 20 cm). And we cut out 4 strips from the lining fabric with a width of 20 cm + seam allowances, and a length corresponding to the length of the hoops + seam allowances.
2. We measure the segment KG. We substitute it into our formula and cut out a rectangle from the material with width BG and length obtained from the formula + allowances for seams and for inserting elastic.
3. Now we sew the parts together, gathering the top of the strips to the length of the bottom of the next top strip. We insert an elastic band on the belt, and also sew two ties for “confidence”.
4. At the bottom of the 4 strips we sew strips of fabric for inserting hoops or sew allowances and then you can insert a hoop into them.
5. Cut the rigid mesh into strips + 5 cm wide. The drawing shows 25cm. This is done so that the mesh covers the hoop. Sew mesh at the top of each strip. Embroider the length of the mesh so that it is 3 times longer than the strip, i.e. if the strip is 1 meter, then the length of the grid is 3 meters.
And then we assemble the mesh up to 1 meter and sew it to the strip.
Fluffy crinoline dresses give girls a very sophisticated and romantic look. Most girls choose dresses with puffy hemlines for special occasions: but sometimes there is simply not enough money for such clothes and the question arises of how to make a crinoline with your own hands. Girls in such dresses will definitely become the brightest people at the holiday - at the same time, creating a voluminous outfit is actually not so difficult.
You will need:
II. Frame
IV. Needle
VII. Rubber
Today, retro dresses with wide hemlines are very popular, so huge rustling skirts can often be seen not only at social evenings, but also at small special events. Such outfits have already filled store shelves, but you can also sew them yourself at home.
How to make a wide skirt with hoops
For a full skirt with hoops you will need mesh, needles, threads, a frame and a blank for the skirt itself.
The grid can be absolutely anything: with or without a pattern. This attribute has the properties necessary for a skirt - it will become the basis for giving the skirt a certain shape. You can sew the mesh in the waist area on the edge of the bend of the dress and then give it a length that suits your height.
The crinoline skirt is made on the basis of a six-piece pattern. In order to get all 6 parts, you need to make a pattern of just one element. The upper side of the wedge should be 1/6 the size of the hips, and the length of the wedge should be about 1 m. As for the width, its size is at your discretion.
Hoop frame
This element is made of wire or crinoline. The last element is ideal for giving shape to a skirt. The frame is made based on your own needs and desires and depends on the future size of the dress.
In order to make a crinoline, you need plastic or metal hoops different diameters. How large quantity hoops are used, the fuller the skirt will be. Also required white fabric, which is also used in wedding dresses, wide ribbons and elastic.
Attaching a wide skirt to hoops
A skirt is made from white fabric at least 5 m long. To do this, the starting material is folded in half and 2 wedges are placed on it. The seam allowances are then marked, the marked wedges are cut, basted and sewn. A loose belt is made from elastic.
After the completed stages, the skirt is turned inside out and attached to a hoop of the smallest diameter at a distance of a third below the waist. A decorative ribbon is sewn on top. The middle hoop and the largest one in the hem area are also secured. They, by analogy with the first element, are sheathed satin ribbon. Afterwards, the skirt is turned back to its original position. To complete the design, you need to smooth out all the elements.
Fluffy skirts in style new bow were very popular in the 50s and 60s. Mostly they were worn with petticoats, which made these skirts so fluffy.
This petticoat is also perfect for long, fluffy wedding and wedding dresses. ballroom skirts, both gathered at the waist, and sun and half-sun types. In addition, the petticoat adds fullness to the overskirt and replaces the lining.
There are petticoats different types: hard and soft, fluffy and smooth, with tiers and frills. Which to choose? It all depends on the purpose (for example, if you need a wedding petticoat), the style (for example, a petticoat for a dress with a train), and the fabric of the overskirt.
The simplest full petticoat is a rectangle of fabric, gathered at the waist, with the top gathered with an elastic band.
A more complicated option, but the most often used, is a fuller petticoat for a dress, expanding towards the bottom. It is made in tiers. For it, you can take a pattern of any multi-tiered skirt from a magazine. For example, model 123 from Burda 3/2013.
The only downside to a frilly petticoat is that it requires a lot of fabric.
- for a long petticoat made of hard tulle: approximately 4.5 m with a width of 3 m;
- for a long petticoat made of soft tulle: approximately 7.5 m with a width of 3 m.
Petticoat cut
Cutting pattern
Step 1
The basis of a full petticoat is a half-sun skirt. Rows of frills are sewn onto it. The top of the skirt is gathered with elastic.To build a skirt, we need to calculate two radii:
Radius 1 (R1) is for the waist with an elastic band, so the girth of the skirt at the top should be such that the skirt can be easily put on.
Let's take the Hip Circumference (H) + 10 cm, from here
R1 = (OB + 10): 3.14
Radius 2 (R2) is the bottom of the skirt, so it is equal to the length of the skirt plus R1
R2= R1 + Skirt length (see diagram)
We fold the fabric in half and draw two radii from the top edge of the fold; at the waist and side we give an allowance of 1-1.5 cm. There is no allowance needed at the bottom; the bottom of the tulle is not processed.
Step 2. Cut out the skirt
We unfold the skirt in one layer and mark the places where the frills will be sewn. To do this, step back 10-15 cm from the waist and draw a line. The top, longest frill will be sewn along it.Divide the remaining length of the skirt into three parts if the skirt is to the floor and into two parts if the skirt is over the knee.
I got 27 cm. Draw lines at equal intervals (see diagram).
The bottom frill is the shortest, in my case it is 27 cm, then goes average a frill that completely covers the bottom one; it is twice as long (54 cm).
Frill cutting pattern
Next, these frills are covered by the upper, longest frill; it is three times longer than the lower frill (81 cm).
Step 3. Calculate the length of each frill
To do this, you need to measure the length of the line along which the frill is sewn. The frill should be three times as long as this line. Therefore, for the lower frill we cut out three strips of 3 m each. The total length of the lower frill = 9 m.For the middle one - two stripes of 3 m each. The total length of the middle frill = 6 m.
For the top frill you need one strip = 3m long.
Ruffle skirt
If the tulle is hard or semi-rigid, then we make single frills.
To make the full petticoat opaque, the base (half-sun skirt) can be cut out of lining fabric, and tulle frills can be sewn onto it. In this case, tulle consumption will be reduced to 3 m.
But since I have soft tulle, I need thicker frills, so I make them double, with a fold in the middle. To do this, I double the width of each frill. This increases the consumption of fabric, but the petticoat becomes twice as full. Since tulle weighs little, the skirt remains light, but very fluffy (see ruffle cutting diagram).
Sewing a petticoat
Step 1
On the half-sun skirt, mark the places where the frills will be sewn. Lay out the skirt in one layer. Do not sew the skirt until the frills are sewn on! It is more convenient to sew frills onto a flat part of the skirt.
Step 2
Sew the parts of each frill into one long one. To do this, the short ends of the frills are overlapped by 5 mm and adjusted to each other with an overlay seam. Do not sew frills into a ring!
Step 3
Fold each frill in half lengthwise and iron along the fold.
Then unfold it in one layer and sew a landing stitch along the fold using the widest stitch on the machine.
Step 4
Place the frill on the skirt unfolded like this. So that the edge of the frill coincides with the edge of the skirt, and the middle of the frill with the stitching coincides with the marking line on the skirt.
Pin the frill to the skirt with pins across the stitching, stepping back on the side of the skirt 1-1.5 cm from the edge. This is necessary in order to later sew the skirt along the seam without catching the frill.
It is convenient to divide the skirt into 4 parts and the frill into 4 parts (in half and in half again), pin the frill along the edges and along these four equal parts, and then pull the thread and evenly distribute the gathering in these areas. This way the frill will be collected evenly throughout the skirt. You need to pin the frill often so that it does not move.
Step 5
Sew the frill to the skirt using a running stitch, remove the pins and landing stitch.
Step 6
Fold the frill down and iron the fold. If it is single-layer, then it is gathered along the upper edge and adjusted to the skirt along the marking line. In this case, you need to give 1 cm allowance along the long edge of the frill!
This is what it will look like on a sewn skirt
If you want only the edge or half-sun to be fluffy, you can sew such a petticoat with only one frill. For example, a petticoat for a dress for the summer, light skirt or for a children's dress. The edges of the frills peek flirtatiously from under the skirt and hold the edge of the overskirt.
Step 7
Sew on the middle frill in exactly the same way, turn it down and iron it.
This petticoat can be used for fuller skirts, for example, tatyanka, sun or half-sun. In this case, a conical effect is achieved - at the waist the skirt fits the figure, and gradually widens towards the bottom.
Step 8
Unfortunately, for some reason the Season website stopped working for me. Especially for katrin_morgan
This instruction is from the Season, downloaded by me a long time ago from the section of all sorts of useful materials available for download. Unfortunately, I don’t know who the author of this manual is, so I can’t provide a link to it. If anyone reading this knows, I would be very grateful if you tell me, I will definitely write it here and give you a link.
So, the description itself (I quote verbatim):
"How I made a skirt with hoops. It's very simple and the skirt can be made in any shape.
1. We draw ourselves schematically on a sheet of paper. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the height of the heel, then the exact height, as well as the maximum length of the side seam
("waist to floor length, without heels") In the drawing this is AC. Then we measure DC - these are those 5 centimeters, thanks to which the dress does not move along the ground.
2. Then we draw a skirt of the shape we want. Then we carry out direct FD.
This is the full length of the underskirt. If you want the underskirt to be shorter than the upper, then you need to take this into account and make the total length of this underskirt shorter. This drawing shows the full length of the BD petticoat. Now we mark the segment ED. Here it is 5 cm. This is done so that in the future the hoop will not be visible through the skirt.
3. Now mark the segment BG. The G spot is the beginning of the expansion of our skirt.
The size of the BG segment depends on the dress model. Now we divide the segment GE into 4 equal parts (since our skirt has 4 hoops) Draw horizontal straight lines from these points. This is the radius of our hoops.
For example one of them is HI. We measure them very accurately.
4. Now we substitute the data into the formula. L=2*3.14*R
L is the length of the hoop
*this is multiply
R is our radius
And this is how we get the length of the hoops.
The store cut my hoops directly according to these data.
Now let's make the skirt itself.
1. Measure the length of the skirt between the hoops (in the drawing it is 20 cm). And we cut out 4 strips from the lining fabric with a width of 20 cm + seam allowances, and a length corresponding to the length of the hoops + seam allowances.
2. We measure the segment KG. We substitute it into our formula and cut out a rectangle from the material with width BG and length obtained from the formula + allowances for seams and for inserting elastic.
3. Now we sew the parts together, gathering the top of the strips to the length of the bottom of the next top strip. We insert an elastic band on the belt, and also sew two ties for “confidence”.
4. At the bottom of the 4 strips we sew strips of fabric for inserting hoops or sew allowances and then you can insert a hoop into them.
5. Cut the rigid mesh into strips + 5 cm wide. The drawing shows 25cm. This is done so that the mesh covers the hoop. Sew the mesh at the top of each strip. Embroider the length of the mesh so that it is 3 times longer than the strip, i.e. if the strip is 1 meter, then the length of the grid is 3 meters.
