So, while in the middle of something completely unrelated (schoolwork) - I suddenly had a brainwave: I have three or four more old ('80s) bridal hoops just sitting in my closet that can't be worn unless some wear and tears are fixed, and that no longer have that perfect conical circumfrance (from being shoved into garbage bags and stored - squashed - in any which place/box/hanger over the years): why not take one of them and mold it somehow into full panniers using ribbons underneath and creative gathering/sewing at the waistband.
And, as sometimes my crazy ideas do: it worked, and in less than two hours I had historical-looking (when worn under something) panniers of the trapezoid variety (with another hour or two to sew everything in place).
(Sidenote: I tried the saque on over it - and wouldn't you know - it looks great now, PHEW! Major shout-out there to Katherine's tutorial skills - proof that one can make an accurate saque sans panniers to drape it over. Only problem is that before I can take pictures wearing the saque over panniers, I need to make the petticoat, since the other I was using has a significantly narrower hemline and won't fit over the panniers, and the gown with only the panniers looks very bizarre. Always one more thing to complete...)
Mind you, it was a completely spur-of-the-moment thing (well, procrastination played a little hand in it - there's only so much reading about budgeting and budgeting systems that one can take at a time; six hours is enough to send anyone loopy). Only after it was done did I think, "wait, wasn't there an HSF related to re-making something? I hope it covers making something newer into something older - going the reverse of what is usually done in history." And, sure enough: HSF #18: Re-make, Re-use, Re-fashion - and, even better, it's only due in less than a week! Very timely.
So, without further ado, the finished panniers (collapsed top / collapsed bottom / front / side):
Before (collapsed / front / side):
Just the facts!
The Challenge: HSF #18: Re-make, Re-use, Re-fashion... modern hoops into 18th century panniers
Fabric: the hoops are a polyester/nylon blend base fabric with plastic boning in channels (3); also used scraps of a quilted cotton for part of the waistband and to secure some of the "molding" (you'll see in the photos below)
Pattern: None. Silhouette based on images of gowns in museums from 1760s-1770s, and from browsing of others' pannier projects (theirs are significantly more authentically made than mine).
Year: time machine'd from 1980s to 1760s-1770s
Notions: all-purpose thread; 56" of 5/8" black satin ribbon (leftover from another project); safety pins (to close it, for now - eventually I'll sew on a ribbon tie)
How historically accurate is it? Shape-wise, when you can't see the panniers themselves, it'll pass for accurate since it mirrors the more trapezoidal/gradual/flared panniers rather than the "block" ones. Materials-wise, not remotely. Construction, passable.
Hours to complete: 2 hours for pinning/shaping for finished 'product'; another 1-2 hours to sew in place.
First worn: Only once with the saque gown, but no pictures of it (except on its own) have been taken.
Total cost: It's FREEEEE! The hoops were from my costume stash (hand-me-downs I played with as a kid, so must have been from at least the '80s or early '90s); random pieces of fabric leftovers in my stash (as were the ribbons); and thread was just generic white polyester all-purpose from the thread stash.
And the making of... trial and error style... :-)
