Robe a la Francaise: Grand Pannier

Since I wanted to make my Robe a la Francaise extra wide I needed to alter the patterns I had.

First I used J.P. Ryan's Pocket hoops. This is an excellent pattern, but not suitable for widening. At least not as much as I wanted to. The pocket hoops would be unstable and swing either in front of me or to the back of me. So after making 1 side I decided to not go with that plan.

What I did use was Simplicity's 3635 pattern. This consists of pockets, stays and the grand pannier. All I had to do was add an extra panel in the front and back.

I used unbleached cotton. This was sturdy enough. White double wide bias tape was used for the boning channels.

After putting in all the boning my pannier kept collapsing when I tried to tie the inner ties. I tried to redo the first boning channel, but still it collapsed. I found a blog where the girl had the same problem and asked what she did to solve it. It was so simple I could hit myself. The boning were too long. I shortened them and this was perfect!

Finished!

They are about 38" wide at the top and 60" at the bottom. 

With the petticoat from my previous Robe a la Francaise. I will use the pattern from the petticoat for the underskirt. But a petticoat will be added, since the boning will be visible otherwise as you can see.