Puzzling Placket on 1912 Princess Slip

All of the pattern pieces fit together PERFECTLY.  But, how to handle the placket is a dilemma. The center back has extensions for fold-back placket facings on each side. This is necessary to give enough body to support the buttons and buttonholes called for. Interestingly, the marked fold lines are distinct curves.  Accurately folding along these curve lines took more careful basting. I had originally thought that one side would remain extended to form the underlap. However, this would not give the double layer support needed.  I realized that even if the extended side had a facing added, the result would cause buttons and button holes to be off center.  (Remember, the folded edge is the actual center back, so moving buttons and holes from that edge will make them off center) This arrangement would work for button loops, but button loops seem impossibly impractical for a utility garment. (granted, a moot point if a ladies maid is available)

However, the pattern instructions do specifically call for buttons and button holes, not loops.  Is this Janyce’s editing, or info from the original source? I don’t know, but my solution is to treat the placket like a “baby placket”, which is quite common on vintage children’s garments.  The right side is lapped over the left side, creating a pleat at the bottom of the placket. In order to overlap the folded back edges, I had to cut across the bottom of the left side of the placket. This cut was not mentioned in the instructions, but old patterns assumed knowledge of how to do basic things like how to make a placket.

this kind of placket has a pleat at the bottom



Because of the horizontal cut that allows the placket to be overlapped, this type of placket can leave raw edges on the inside, which can be objectionable to our modern eye--but it “is” what it “is”. (Raw edges can be avoided only if the fabric is the same on both front and back (ie, no obvious wrong side), by turning the left side of the placket extension to the outside, and the right side to the inside. Once overlapped, the raw edges are then hidden inside the layers.) My slip fabric has a definite wrong side, so I hand overcast the raw edges on the inside.

I still am not sure that I made the right decision on the placket, because this technique also reduces the back width by 1.5” because of the area taken up by the 3/4" lap. However, I noticed that several other people working on this garment mentioned needing to reduce their back width by about this same amount, so maybe my guess is a good one.

But even with the placket done, I am still in a quandry. I have been taught that the button should equal the size of the lap on a garment.  Following this rule, my slip needs ¾” buttons, which seem honking huge. I spent time surfing online looking for photos of actual vintage garments.  And I actually did find several examples of extant slips with large buttons on the back.  This is one example. It looks somewhat clunky to me, but on the other hand, it would be MUCH easier to button oneself up with larger buttons. After all, not everyone has a maid!

So ¾” buttons it is.  The final decision is should the buttonholes be vertical or horizontal?  Horizontal button holes would be best for the direction of the pull on the buttons, but horizontal button holes do not fit properly on the placket area.  So, I am considering the placket facing to be the equivalent of a button band, and going with vertical buttonholes. Hand-stitched buttonholes, may I add—I need the practice!

Now that the placket is finally done, I will be working on the finishing touches for the slip.