Jumping through hoops

Adelaide's wardrobe will feature styles from the early to mid 18th Century. Popular gowns, such as the Sacque, or French gown, required serious support to show them off properly. 

Using research from Norah Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines and Jean Hunnisett's Period Costume for Stage and Screen, the shop got down to work. The decision was made to create pocket hoops. These are smaller than the huge Court panniers, and easier to move in and store. 

The hoops can actually be used as pockets. They are also referred to as bucket hoops for obvious reasons. 

The designer chose a nice cotton stripe from her stash. The stripes do help when placing the bone casings. One of the two hoops was constructed from start to finish, to help the stitchers work out the sewing steps. This first attempt proved unsatisfactory. So the second was built using more efficient and less irritating methods. See if you can spot any differences.

A plastic boning, enclosed in a casing, was used for the hoops. The plastic can be removed from the casings, allowing the pocket bag edges to be finished and easily turned out. The casings were stitched in place first and then the facings were completed. Take care not to close off the top casing when finishing those facings. Our stitcher threaded a bone in to be sure.

The picture below shows the stitched casings and finished facings. One end of the casings will be closed off by the seam. The other is turned under and left open. 

The bottom is then stitched to the bag and the one side seam completed. Once the plastic bones are inserted in the casings the open ends are tacked shut.

The hoop is pleated to fit at the waist and stitched permanently to a twill tape. It's easy to flip the hoops and twist the tape, so keep an eye on that step. 

The hoops should be balanced back and front. Tapes can be added and tied across the bottom on both front and back to keep the pocket hoops from moving around. Adelaide won't be active enough to warrant this. But it would add to the period look. Hmmmmmm . . .

Other versions of the pocket hoop include a waist band on each hoop to act as casings for the twill tape. The hoops can then be adjusted easily. This would have been too bulky for Adelaide's trim figure though. The twill tape is tied with a gentle knot, off to one side, to prevent bulk in the front as well.

Here is a pic of the pattern created for Addy. Feel free to use it as a guide for your own ladies' pocket hoops. Adelaide is a large doll at 30 inches tall. The pattern is set on graph paper and the scale is 1/4 inch equals 1/4 inch. Size it up or down from there. Seam allowance is not included.  Make sure you have enough fabric and boning to do the job. For such a small item, it took more than expected.

I am happy to answer any questions or receive suggestions about my process. Your comments are always appreciated.

Happy hooping.