Making the Underskirts

For the first fitting I wanted to make just the under-skirts for both dresses. It had been suggested at my toile fittings that I make a yoke for each skirt and then attach the base skirt; that way the layers could be just sewn onto the yoke eliminating a lot of bulk in the connecting seam to the bodice. To make the yokes I draped them over the hoop skirts and made a pattern from that. I made sure to use the bias so they could easily fit the waist seam and the width of the hoop.

Once the front and back yoke were draped I made a pattern and cut out of my top fabric. For Princess Colour I am using a silvery silky lining fabric and for Princess Silhouette I am using a shiny satin fabric. I had originally backed the silver fabric in vilene to make it stronger but later discarded it because it didn't fuse very successfully and wasn't really needed. I then cut out the base skirts. For this I just used the width of the fabric and the length I had cut the base skirt on the toile. The silver fabric was really wide, about 60" so I only cut two pieces. The black fabric was bit narrower so I cut three pieces so there were two for the back however I cut these down a little so they wouldn't be the full width of the fabric.
I french-seamed the skirt because I wanted it to be fully finished in every aspect. Theoretically if this character was dancing around and the skirt flew up even the underside would look neat and clean. It also neatly prevented fraying and such. When I had draped my underskirt on the toile I looked at some historical patterns and gathered the back and pleated the front. I think if everything had been sitting in the waist seam I would have done this same thing, however since it will be covering I felt it would be neater to just gather the entire skirt to keep it uniform. I did some top-stitching to make it strong at the seam and that was the base skirt finished! 

Princess Colour Base Skirt Front

Princess Colour Base Skirt Front

Princess Silhouette Base Skirt Front

 (I would just like to note that these skirts are attached to the bodices which is why some bunching has occurred but these will be smoothed out in the fittings! Also this black fabric does not read well in photos, I promise it looks better in real life!)

Princess Silhouette Base Skirt Back