Panniers - finished

I finally got around to the finishing touches on these and now they are done.  Functionally speaking they are great - sturdy and supportive but aesthetically they are a bit of an ugly duckling.  I think they could be a lot prettier if I made them out of some nicer fabric and maybe even trimmed it with ruffles.

Panniers from the front.

Panniers from the back.

The hem is finished with bias binding and the waistband fastens with a hook and eye on the inside and ribbons for extra security on the outside.

Here you can see the inside tapes used for controlling the springyness of the panniers.  There a two sets positioned either side to sit against the body whilst they are worn thus creating tension against the wearers legs.  There is also another set in each of the domes to keep them stable.

Moderately sized panniers in progress.........

I came to realise that the panniers I made previously were ultimately just too big to work with and require gargantuan amounts of fabric - although I do still love them and hope to do something with them in the future.  These panniers are based on the idea of pocket hoops but with fabric connecting them across the front and back for extra stability.  I'm not too keen on the instability of pocket hoops that just sit on the hips with nothing to control them.

Each hip has three horizontal channels of boning plus one vertical channel which goes almost right up to the waist edge creating an arch strong enough to support a gown.  My boning of choice is a plastic called 'Triple-flex', it's so lightweight which is perfect for crinolines and bustles etc, although not if you're looking to be historically accurate.




















All that remains is to tidy up the insides, apply a waistband and finish the hem!

Panniers 1755

I have started to make a set of panniers. I cut my pattern for this with guidance from 'The Evolution of Fashion' by Margot Hamilton Hill and Peter Bucknell. They are quite hard to take a photo of because they are so huge, this is just the front! The curved dip at the top in the middle will be gathered to the waist with ties. It's hemmed and all the raw edges are finished. I am currently at the stage of sewing the tapes in place which will form the channels for the boning.