Edwardian Ruffle Hip Pad

Edwardian Ruffle Hip Pad

To get fashionably wide hips and a big butt, Edwardian women often wore hip pads. After making an Edwardian padded bustle pad, I’ve now made another Edwardian hip pad: This time I made an Edwardian ruffle hip pad by following antique Edwardian sewing instructions! 😀

‘Many women have a slight hollow below the waistline in the back – an ugly defect, but one which can easily be overcome. […] A small light bustle that will not interfere with the wearer’s comfort adds much to the set of the skirt on such a figure.’ (The Dressmaker, 1916)

Edwardian Ruffle Hip Pad Pattern

‘A ruffle bustle […] can be made of the same material as the foundation skirt. Cut a piece of the lining material the size and shape desired for a foundation, and hem or pink the edges.

Make ruffles four inches wide, and treat their edges in the same way. Sew several rows of these ruffles across the foundation piece, and one all around the edge except at the top. (Fig. 276.) The completed bustle may be attached inside the skirt, or it may be hung around the waist under the corset by means of a narrow tape sewed at each side.’ (The Dressmaker, 1916)

For my Edwardian ruffle hip pad I used the same Edwardian hip pad pattern that I also used for my Edwardian quilted hip pad that I stuffed with cotton batting. The 1900s ruffle hip pad is shaped with 8 gores before I attached the ruffles.

Related: How To Sew An Edwardian Hip Pad

Edwardian Ruffle Hip Pad Bustle
Edwardian unboned sports corset with shoulder straps

Ruffles

930cm (366″) ruffles went into my Edwardian ruffle pad! After tearing the fabric into strips I finished the bottom of the strips with a double folded hem. Then I used my new ruffle attachment for my old treadle sewing machine to gather the top of the fabric strips.

Related: Edwardian Pink Ruffle Petticoat

Seams

All seams that I used for my Edwardian ruffle bustle pad are typical Edwardian seams. The seams I used are: a lapped seam to attach the bottom ruffle to the hip pad and finish the raw edge of the hip pad, and French seams to join the strips together. After attaching all ruffles I bound all raw edges of the Edwardian ruffle hip pad with cotton twill tape.

Related: 34 Types of Seams For Historical Sewing

Fabric

I used unbleached cotton calico for my Edwardian ruffle hip pad because this is what I had in my stash. But I don’t like the cream color because most of my Edwardian underwear is either white or pale blue. So I’m thinking about dyeing my hip pad pale blue with blue fabric dye.

Related: Blue Dyed Edwardian Sports Corset

Get Edwardian Silhoutte Shape Ruffle Hip Pad

Edwardian Silhouette

In the pic above, I’m wearing my Edwardian ruffle hip pad under one of my Edwardian petticoats.

Related: Dressing The 1900s Woman – Edwardian Lingerie

The Edwardian hip pad helps achieve a fashionable Edwardian shape but the silhouette is less exaggerated than with my Edwardian quilted hip pad.

2 thoughts on “Edwardian Ruffle Hip Pad

  1. Hello,

    I love your unboned corset and would like to make one, but I can’t find a pattern online. Did you design this yourself?

    Best regards
    Marie-Jeann Ribbink
    IRELAND
    m

    1. Thank you! 😀 Yes, the pattern for my unboned corset is self-drafted based on different antique Edwardian patterns. But on this website I found a free Edwardian sewing pattern that’s very similar to mine even though my corset isn’t based on this corset: it’s the 1901 “Reform Corset with Adjustable Stomach”. Maybe you can adapt this pattern. 🙂

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