How to Make a Historic French Bustle
A French bustle -- or underbustle -- scoops excess gown train from the floor to create a bustle from the inside of the dress and protect the hem from getting dirty by dragging on the ground. To do this, you take three to seven (or more) points of the gown from the underside of the fabric and lift it up, creating a fold -- or bustle -- on the underside of the dress. Ribbons or hook-and-eye closures on the underside of the fabric pin together the fold, creating a billowy, marshmallow-like effect of fabric folding over itself on the back of the dress. That is the French bustle.
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Instructions
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1
Measure from the end of the hem of the back of your dress (the end of the train) to the point it hits the floor at your ankle. Essentially, you want to measure the length you want to raise up from the ground to keep it from dragging on the ground. This measurement will be part of the same length that will be lifted up off the ground after the French bustle is installed.
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2
Pick a point on the back of the dress where you want the top of the bustle to be. Historic French bustles were very high and positioned over the buttocks, so you may want to choose a point well above the back of your thighs. Mark this point on the inside of the fabric using a pencil mark so you can find it again. Measure from that point down the same length as the measurement taken in Step 1.
This step differs from Step 1 in that you are measuring the top part of the gown, rather than the bottom part, but you will be measuring the same length as the measurement taken in Step 1 to ensure that exact length of gown fabric is lifted up into a bustle, meaning that the bottom part will no longer trail on the ground.
From the first pencil mark on the inside of the fabric, measure that length taken in Step 1 and at that point again mark the inside of the fabric using a pencil mark so you will be able to locate the mark again.
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3
Thread a needle and cut a three-inch length of ribbon. Reach underneath the gown to the point that was just made in Step 2, and sew a ribbon to the underneath of the dress fabric. Do this while the dress is on a mannequin, or worn by a friend so you can easily see how the bustle will look by pinning the two points (looping the fabric up until the two pencil marks meet) using your hands. If no model is available, turn the gown inside out for ease of working on it.
The ribbons are attached at these points on the inside of the fabric so they are not visible from the outside. This is traditional in French bustles. All that will be visible are very small thread stitches made through the fabric when attaching the ribbons.
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4
Lift the ribbon, pulling the dress fabric into a fold underneath the dress. Lift it to the pencil point above that was previously measured and determined to be the very top of the beginning of the bustle fold. Sew a corresponding length of ribbon to that point. Tie the two points together with the two ribbons to create a one-point French bustle.
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5
Make additional bustle points and gather up more width of fabric by sewing additional ribbons spaced a few inches apart on a horizontal plane matching the ribbons just sewn. This means there will be a row of ribbons on the inside of the dress at the top point where the top bustle ribbon was sewn, as well as corresponding ribbons in a row with the lower point ribbon just sewn.
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6
Tie all corresponding ribbons together to do-up the bustle and lift the hem off the ground.
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Tips & Warnings
Other types of bustles show more from the outside, like American bustles, which rely on small loops of thread on the outside of the gown that hook up over buttons hidden in folds of the dress around the waist or buttocks. Those bustles' buttons and threads are visible to the eye when looking at the dress, whereas when you look at the outside train of a French bustle no buttons or loops are necessary.
A French bustle will necessitate a helper who can reach underneath your gown's hem to tie the ribbons together and do up the bustle for you.
