The original petticoat took about two and a half hours to complete, using some
directions given by Fannie & Vera, who are Civil War reinactors. It was amazingly simple the first time around, although I did make some changes to their directions. Rather than using a drawstring or elastic, I pleated the petticoat waist and added a waist band.
When we decided that we were going to be doing SASS rather than Civil War re-enacting, I thought
Hm. I bet I can re-use that petticoat and just change it up some. So, I took the waistband off, cut off several inches from the top, and then re-pleated all the fabric to the back.
Look! I'm in my underwear:
And from behind....
Voila! Natural form petticoat!