Crinoline slips and pettiskirts on a budget

Sometime in October, I had an epiphany--the girls needed crinolines and pettiskirts to give their full dresses the necessary poof.  So I started looking.... and found lots of them for around $30.  Which, naturally, made thrifty me puke!  $30 for some organza?  No way, José!  So I poked around ebay and found some poly mirror organza for around $2.75/yard.  And then I went into my pattern collection for a tiered dress pattern. I used Simplicity 5956 for the infant version, because it has buttoned shoulders and didn't need much in the way of adjustment to work as a slip.  I think it's either a 70s or an 80s pattern, but really almost any tiered dress pattern works for this.  I decided the bodice should be lined for ease of sewing (I'm lazy and hate bias binding!) and that it desperately needed interfacing for the buttonholes.  I made two skirts instead of one for added fluff, but otherwise pretty much followed instructions.

I put a bow in the front, and hand sewed a jingle bell on it so that we'd know where Boo is!  The lace on the bottom is just for pretties.  :) I buy things like lace and ribbon in bulk off ebay and etsy because it's usually cheaper that way.  (You can get the lace pretty much direct from mills.  Best deal I've gotten was 47 yards for $10)  The buttons are Joanns budget buttons that are about $1.04 for a card.  I *might* have about $10 invested in this slip, but that's probably an over estimate.  :) There's a yard and a half of fabric, maybe a yard of lace... it's probably closer to $5 than $10!  And it's an easy project.  The worst part is cutting that shifty, slidey fabric!  I'm making one in Bit's size, too, but it's from the same pattern I used for her pumpkin dress. 

For the pettiskirt, I used a modern pattern that I bought at a dollar sale.  I made the view D skirt, again doubled, and cut the ruffle out of the organza rather than lace as the pattern suggested.  To cover the seam, I sewed on some lingerie lace beading I picked up on ebay.  (Eeekbay is a great place for that sort of thing!)  I think I paid $5 for 15 yards of it.  Again, I hand sewed a bow on it for which side is front, and then sewed a jingle bell at the hem.  Everything in these is serged because poly organza frays if you look at it cross-eyed!  I serged the bottom and sewed more lace over the top that coordinated with the wide lace.

Another jingle bell, and we have a pettiskirt!  For a fluffier skirt, just add more layers--the same with the crinoline slip.  But since I'm meaning for them to be worn together (or separately--I wanted them to be able to be versatile!)  I only did two layers, because four is more than enough! 

I also made a regular slip so that the 1/4 inch entredeux would just show white through it, and ruffle-butt panties, but more about those after the girls go home.