1901 Corset

December 2002

Materials were ordered from:

www.schoolofsewing.co.uk   -The lady who runs the school of sewing, Alison, was extremely helpful, and the materials arrived very promptly.

www.venacavadesign.co.uk  -The package arrived later than the School of Sewing, but still quite quickly.  Both of these addresses are useful for "underpinnings work" for those of us who prefer not to wait for the stuff to be posted from America.


The idea was to make a really complicated design, for some reason unknown to myself.  I think it was the thrill of  going from one of the earliest extant examples, Queen Elizabeth's effigy corset, to one from the later years of corsets, when the designs had become so complicated to fit that it became a highly specialised activity.  The design I chose came from Norah Loft's book Corsets and Crinolines.  I chose to use jean for the inner layer, and black satin for the outside (you have to do the kind of sewing project that can't be mentioned in polite company once in your life).  

While researching this project I discovered that there are a lot of people out there interested in corsetry, and while I hesitate to label this a "purient interest", I wandered into too many leather/rubber/etc. sites to be completely sure. I have my doubts.  I am also having my doubts about posting pictures on this site, as well.

You can see in the picture to the left just how over confident I was, to choose such a complicated design.




22nd February 2003

Well, after getting on with the rest of my life for a while, back to the corset.  I mocked out the pattern on muslin to see if I had warped the pattern when I enlarged it and fitted it onto my "brown paper" dummy (insert link).  It looked like it would fit without any ajustment, with about a 7-inch gap when loose.  Later I discovered that there was a 3-4 inch gap when tightened, which was as it should be.  I added an extra gusset at the front bust to make sure there would be no obvious line where the top of the corset would cut in when tightened.

There were no problems with the cutting out, and then the lining and satin pieces were sewn together, using a "back and forth" stitch for extra strength.  On the waistline of the lining, I attached an 1-inch tape from busk to lacing holes so that there was an extra layer where the pressure would be the greatest, and where the laces would be when it was tied around to the front.     

Attaching the lining and satin

The outer and inner layers were sewn together at the lacing holes, and then lines of stitching were spaced so that two metal bones would lie on either side of the lacing holes, which were "grommeted" (great fun that; involving hammers, pliers and little bits of metal.  Bang! Hurrah!)  Then channels for the bones were sewn as per the pattern, from the back to the front, leaving a gap for the busk, which I was still waiting for.  After that arrived, it was sewn in, and bones were put in at the front to keep the flat-front line.  I used a combination of spring and straight steel.  I found that the straight steel was stronger, but some of the lines of the corset required the spring steel.  

Problems

Before finishing the top and bottom and finally sealing in the bones (I was planning some decorative "arrows" to secure them firmly, but the main binding at the top and bottom would do the job until then) I tried it on.  I knew that the style was rather odd to modern eyes, flat fronted and mono-busted, but it sat differently than what I expected.  Where I had expected the waist to be sat very high, and when it was ajusted to sit at the proper place, the top of the corst was very, very low.  Too low to be wearable.  I knew that there were some problems at the time with corsets riding up, which is why some of the earler models were attached to stockings, to hold them down.  Nope.  Didn't work either way.

At the moment, I am trying to add two half-circles of fabric to the top, to cover the chest better.  This is, of course, ruining the line of the corset, and the way the corset molds the chest.  If successful, there will be a distinct line across mid-bust, and if unsuccessful, there will be an obvious line, wrinkles in the add-on gusset, and the new top line across the top won't be very attractive.  The bones would stop short, and although I could contine the pattern of contract stitching, there wouldn't be anything to go into the channels.

At the moment, completely demoralized, the temptation to chuck the whole project in and write it off as a mistake, even with the muslin that worked and the formal one that didn't, is overwhelming.    Or, better yet, put it in the "if-I-miraculously-lose-4-stone", along with all my other nice clothes.

Problems  Part II  7th March

The latest brainwave is to leave the untrimmed edge along the top front, and baste it closely to the jean lining.  The upper layer of heavyweight satin, along with another layer of jean, would be attached over this, so that the top inserts will have an additional layer, hopefully taking the place of the bones, and giving a smoother line, apart from the horizontal line at the join.

Brainwave no. 2 is to rubbish the satin and the jean, and recyle the bones into a slightly earlier corset, one that provides the lines for a fashion that I like (bustle, crinoline, etc.) rather than the "pouter pigeon" look of the Edwardian corset.

The End  16th March

Well, I put the plan above into action.  I basted a inner layer, folded over, onto the satin and jean of the main body of the corset, with an outer layer of satin over it.  (I had a picture of it at this stage, but the camera ate it.) Then tried it on.  

Disaster.

The idea seemed to work, but not on me.  The line of the corset was changed by the addition of the attachment, so that the front was flatter, pushing most of the "oomph" of the design to the sides.  This was probably due to the shape of the attachment, but by this point I didn't have enough of the satin to play around any more, unless I wanted to add a patchwork aspect to the design.  So I decided to go with the most extreme option, and chopped it up.  This is the end of the corset, and I am going to recycle the bones into one that I can wear.  Later, after the embarassment has faded.