Corded Petticoat (Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenge #15: White)

As I mentioned back in May, I'm tackling my first reproduction challenge. I am going to make an Ada Lovelace costume.

This portrait is dated circa 1838, so I needed the proper undergarments to get the right look.

I chickened out and did not attempt a late 1830's corset. I wanted to, but I also want to wear this costume in August so... I'm going to tell myself that the line achieved with a mid-Victorian corset and the line achieved with a late 1830's corset are close enough.

I decided that I really did need to make a proper petticoat to create the right shape under the skirt.

I purchased Jennifer Rosburgh's tutorial and went to town. This tutorial was well worth the purchase. The pattern is not difficult, but her input and advice on technique was very valuable.

I chose to make a two-layer petticoat and sandwich the cords into between the two layers. This allowed me to create the corded sections in one long spiral. I used cotton organdy, which I've never worked with before, and it's now my new favorite thing.

The hardest part was getting the first through third rows of cording because I had to work with the two outer layers and the seam allowance. After that it was smooth, if tedious, sailing. I used cotton yarn that was slightly less bulky than 1/8". This meant that I needed a lot of yard. I probably used about 100 yards of yarn all told.

I cannot say this enough: do not expect to finish your corded petticoat in one sitting. You will go mad.

After the organdy layer was finished, I decided that I would need an under lay to keep the organdy away from my legs. I made a (relatively) quick tucked petticoat out of some muslin and gathered them both into the same waist band. I have no idea how historically accurate this is, but I wanted to reduce bulk at the waist.

Then I starched the two layered petticoat and let it dry. Three hours of ironing later (no joke!) and the skirt would stand up by itself.

Here's some photos of the project:

I've added a little bum pad to help create the line of the skirts in the portrait. 

The second under-petticoat. 

Two petticoats in one waistline. 

It seriously stands up on it's own. For hours. Days possibly. The cat knocked this over in a cat fit of mystery fright. 

I am submitting this project for Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenge #15: White.

The Challenge: White has carried many connotations as a colour, from defining culture and social boundaries in Ancient Egypt (only foreigners and those connected to the afterlife wore colour), to denoting status (white was often an expensive colour to produce and maintain), to implying purity, or simply cleanliness.

For this challenge ‘white’ is defined as anything in the white family – from brightest white, through to ivory and cream and all the shades between.

Fabric: Cotton Organdy (corded overskirt), Cotton Muslin (tucked underskirt), Cotton yard

Pattern: Jennifer Rosburgh's Tutorial (available for purchase here)

Year: 1820 - 1860

Notions:  Polyester thread, approximately 150 yards of cotton yarn

How historically accurate is it? Except for the machine sewing, this it pretty dead on technique. I joined the two skirts together in one waistband, which is probably less accurate (it would cut down the reusability of both skirts in other outfits -- not very frugal). Overall: 9/10

Hours to complete: 40 hours (most of that spent sewing the yarn into casings)

First worn: Scheduled for early August

Total cost: 3 yards cotton organdy ($24), yarn ($15 - two different kinds used for no good reason), 3 yards muslin from stash ($6), thread ($1) total: $47

Finally! Corset success! (Historical Sew Fortnightly #13: Lace & Lacing)

So, I have long been in search of a corset pattern that would work for my short waisted proportions. I long ago gave up on buying something off the rack. Being short waisted means that nothing fits vertically. In addition, my hips are proportionally narrow; that is, they are not as wide as one would expect given my bust and waist measurements.

I've tried the Laughing Moon Silverado corset pattern, twice. I also made a corset from an Ageless Pattern recreation of an original 1869 pattern. While the fit of each attempt got better, I've consistently had problems getting the laces parallel, which speaks to a problem getting the horizontal proportions right. I've also had problems giving myself room where I needed it. By this I mean that even though my hips are narrow, they need space in the right places to accommodate their changed shape when corseted. Failure to get the fit right has lead to low back pain and cramping after a few hours of wear.

I decided to try this FREE corset drafting tutorial from FoundationsRevealed.com. I cannot say enough good things about this approach. If you have non-standard proportions, this is the right approach for you.

I have to apologize in advance, I didn't take any photos of the process. If I have an excuse, it's that I was too excited by how well things were going to slow down and document the process.

The process starts by carefully taking several measurements. There are vertical as well as horizontal measurements. This means that if you have an unusually long or short torso, that will be reflected automatically in the pattern.

From these measurements, the tutorial walks through the process of drafting the pattern for the right half of the corset. It is important to note a few key things that the instructions didn't make 100% obvious

1. The pattern drafted does NOT include seam allowances, so it will look waaaaaaay too small. This works to your advantage in the end, as you are free to add whatever width you are comfortable work with for seam allowances.
2. The pattern is designed to have a 2" gap in the back. This gap is included in the pattern, so one needs to remove 1" from the center back once the pattern in complete. If a larger gap is desired, remove more width from this piece. 

When I completed the first muslin, the fit was great from the waist up, but the pattern was far too small from the waist down.

This. Never. Happens.

I think this occurred because the pattern was drafted off my uncorseted measurements. When the corset goes on and cinches in, some of that flesh simply compresses, but some of it moves downward to the hips.

This presented the opportunity to add a hip gore to allow more room for my hips. This also meant that I could put the extra room exactly where I needed it. I opened up the side seam all the way up to the waist. I then pinned in a piece of fabric to drape the gore pattern and fiddled with it until it felt right and the laces were parallel in the back.

I created the final version with a single layer of corset coutil and a outer layer of blue cotton. I bound it with while bias tape and flossed it with white cotton. I had an 11" busk on hand, which turned out to be a little too short, but I compensated with 3 hooks & eyes at the top.

This will be my go-to corset for 1840's - 1900 for now. I chose the blue fabric so pair with my Steampunk Alice in Wonderland costume, which I hope to wear again in August.

The extra hooks & eyes at the top of the bust line help make up for my slightly too short busk. 

Very few patterns put a gore of this shape where this one ended up, but it was right where the extra "squish" wanted to go, and it helped widen my hips from the front view. Widening the hips make my waist look smaller. 

There's some extra room at the bottom of the hip. This helps create the illusion of more proportional hips (making my waist look smaller) and it provides ease when I sit. It will also allow me to wear a chemise more comfortably, should I choose to do so. 

This laces so comfortably down to my standard corseted measurement that I had to recheck my measuring tape three times to make sure I was reading it right. I could easily take another 2" off my waist. It's amazing what happens when the pattern cinched in where one is squishy and leaves room for all the bones. Go in where you go in and go out where you go out = happy corset. 

This is also my first submission to the Historical Sew Fortnightly project. I hope to have more to contribute to this very fun endeavor.

The Challenge: HSF Challenge #13: Lace and lacings

Fabric: Cotton Coutil & Cotton broadcloth

Pattern: Self-drafted from this FREE corset drafting tutorial

Year: 1860's-ish. The drafting tutorial is for a Victorian-inspired, but modern corset pattern

Notions: 1/4" spring steel bones, 1/4" spiral steel bones, 11" steel busk, metal grommets, lacing, bias binding

How historically accurate is it? Fairly accurate. While I can't pin down the pattern to a specific year, the cotton coutil and cotton broadcloth would have been available in the Victorian era. The bias binding is the standard polyester stuff, the thread is polyester, and I assume that the lacing is polyester. I'm also unclear when exactly metal grommets came into use. Let's say... 8/10

Hours to complete: I didn't track this too carefully, but here's my best guess: 4 hours drafting the pattern, 8 hours for muslin, 16 hours for the final version (including flossing). 

First worn: The first public appearance is scheduled for early August. 

Total cost: approximately $60 of supplies went into this corset, but much of that came out of my existing stash. 

Laughing Moon Silverado Corset #8 FINISHED!

So here it is, all flossed and looking pretty. 

Here are some close ups of the flossing details. This was my first attempt, and I have to admit that I was inspired by these images from demeasuringtape's livejournal page.

bottom edge flossing design

close up of the front, where several bones meet close together. 

top of the half length bones that run up the hip

obsessive woven flossing for the bones around the laces
These areas will see extra wear, so I'm hoping that weaving the flossing will reinforce it. 

top edge flossing. I tried very hard to keep these consistent, but is was a struggle, as not all the bones went down at the same angle. 

Overall, I am incredibly pleased with this project. Fitting a corset is a challenge because you not only need to fit your shape, but you need to fit a garment that is intended to change your shape. All of those challenges need to be addressed in the fitting process. Even with that being the case, this pattern went together very smoothly for me. I chose to spend a lot of time on picky hand sewing details, but they were not necessary to build a functional, finished corset.

Just for fun, here is an estimate of the time spent on this project:

one Craft Day in 2009 for initial pattern adjustments	4 hours
7/14/12 unboned fitting & pattern adjustments	6 hours
7/15/12 cut new muslin partially boned fitting	6 hours
7/16/12 pattern adjustments cut & construct new muslin fully boned fitting final pattern adjustments cut and sew seams for 2 layers of coutil	14 hours
7/17/12 constructing final corset	5 hours
7/19/12 setting grommets sewing boning channels cutting & inserting boning	6 hours
7/20/12 binding edges hand sewing edge trim	4 hours
7/21/12 complete trimming & start flossing experiments	4 hours
7/22/12 experiment with flossing	2 hours
7/23/12 flossing	3 hours
7/24/12 flossing	3 hours
7/26/12 flossing	5 hours
7/27/12 setting last two grommets	30 minutes
total time	62.5 hours

The estimated time from Farthingales Corsets was 8 hours for construction time only. I came pretty close to that estimate if you look at the time spent to sew the final version, set the grommets, cut and place the bones, and machine sew the edge binding, but it's the rest of the process that is so time consuming. However, that's really why I sew... it's cheap entertainment, if you consider the hours I spend on it. 

Would I recommend this pattern?
Absolutely. The Silverado is a great pattern if you need extra bust support. As someone with a large different between the underbust and full bust measurements, this pattern makes it easy to accomodate with out fussing endlessly with princess seams. However, it's a tedious and complicated project. Do this one when you need a truly tailored corset, you have the time, and there's no off-the-rack version that will do. Bring your sewing skills to this project, go slow, make lots of muslins, and the pattern really does reward you. 

Finished Projects from Stempunk World's Faire (AP 1016 & TV 216, TV 428 & TV 221 & TV 326)

I had a wonderful time at the Steampunk World's Faire. The two new costumes went over well, as did the bat costume that I wore to Trundle Manor back in November. Here are some shots of the finished outfits.

AP 1016 & TV 216

My train did get stepped on many times, but it seems to have held up. 

Pictured here with fellow seamstresses & partners in costuming crime Tracy V. (left) and Eugenia M. (right)

Does this bustle make my butt look big? Yes? Oh good, what  a relief!

TV 428 #4 (finished!)

Last weekend was craft day, and I made a lot of progress. First, I got the sleeves pin fitted. It was a good thing that I added a lot of height to the sleeve cap, because you can see below that I ended up taking off 2.5" inches. 

On craft day, I got the sleeves on and all the finished done except the buttons. Tonight, I finished the buttons.






The only minor outstanding issue is across the front of the bust. You can see the source of the problem in this photo:

Right in front of the armpit, see? When I put the  sleeves on, the seam allowance ate up all the extra room in the bust, even though I sewed only a 3/8" seam allowance. 

So, it's pretty tight across the bust, which means I'm going to have to use a lace insert for modesty. Lesson learned? It's worth fitting the sleeves on the muslin before cutting the final fabric.

also...
My mom bought me a new sewing machine. It's so excellent! I used it this afternoon to change in boning in my corset and make the buttonholes on this bodice. I'm still getting used to it, but it is undoubtedly lovely.

TV 216 #2

So I am pleased to say that this skirt is now in a completed and wearable state. Very exciting. There are still a few more things that I would like to do, but nothing else that must be done in order to wear it in public.

As you can imagine, any skirt that is supposed to come out looking like this:

is going to get to a point where there are almost unmanageable amounts of fabric. There were a few casualties of this process:

gathering the top piece of the bustle got a few "bubble" I decided they were not serious enough to unstitch the whole thing. 

After carefully pleating, pinning, and stitching the lower train to the upper train, I still managed to miss several layers of pleats. This did have to be redone. 

 After I attached the back pieces to the side pieces, the bottom apron was still drooping pretty low, so I rigged some ribbons underneath the apron to help hold the bottom hem at an appropriate height.

droopy apron

Ribbon rigging

There was a long hassle getting the skirt hemmed, but that was just tedium. Here's the finished version: bustled & hemmed.

Possible Changes / Additions

1) Undo the bustling

As cool as this is, I may undo the bustling once I make the jacket to go with this skirt. It may be better to have a smoother back. Here are some shots of the skirt before I bustled the flounces. 

2) remove the vertical trim

It looked really cool when I didn't use the same trim on the back bustle, but now I feel it's kind of distracting. 

3) add more trim made of the black and purple silk. 

I plan to incorporate these fabrics into the jacket, so I may have to wait until the jacket is completed to know if I really have enough to add more to the skirt. 

4) Add a removable dust ruffle. 

This is the piece that will get done first, if I have more time. I bought some snap tape and I plan to attach the tape either to the skirt or to the bustle/hoop. The dust ruffle should extend beyond the edge of the train and protect the skirt from dragging directly on the ground. Also, people are no longer trained to avoid stepping on women's skirts. It's my hope that if the ruffles extend 2 - 3" beyond the train, then they will be the most likely thing to get stepped on. Since they will be attached with snap tape, they should just break away, rather than ripping the train off or throwing me dangerously off balance. 

A final thought

It should be noted that I have yet to try this get up on. I hope that I can maneuver and sit down in it. Yes, that would be nice.