or, I like moderate butts and I cannot lie.

I never liked the bumroll I originally made for my Ada Lovelace gown, as it gave too much of a shelf-appearance instead of gently enhanced backside (apparently I never took any photos of it, so just imagine your typical Elizabethan Renn Fair shelf-butt).

Luckily, a lot of other people got into 1830s recently, and Abby from American Duchess made a great Youtube tutorial for making a bustle (pattern included!) from the Workwoman’s Guide. This is basically as historically accurate as you can get, since the pattern and instructions are from 1838.

This isn’t a giant Victorian bustle; just some gathered fabric with cording in the hem to add a bit of oomph.

I used some (non accurate) canvas from the stash that I had bought from Fabmo for $2 (I like having canvas on hand for corset mockups). It might be cotton, but who knows, I didn’t bother burn testing it. When unfolding the yardage it had an Ikea label in the middle, so I guess this is an Ikea bustle! (Anyone know how to say bustle in Swedish?)

And here you can see the difference it makes under the 3 petticoats (corded, plain, and tucked).

Before, a sad limp backside:

After, take your backside from sad to fab! (And if you order in the next 10 minutes, we’ll also throw in a set of steak knives!)

No, I don’t tie my petticoats in the same place every time. This is actually the only one of the three with a real closure, the others still use a straight pin.

And that was all for undergarments! It is so fast and easy to make a dress when you’ve got all the base layers done. I can’t wait until I’ve got that for every era!