Early Teens Underthings

Huzzah!  There's another HSF challenge that I can do!  Here's my submission for #23: Gratitude.  It's an early 1910's chemise.  Who am I grateful to?  Lauren from Wearing History for her totally fab tutorial on lace insertion!

For the pictures, I decided to wear a black tank top under the chemise (a) so that my grandmother can read this blog, and (b) to make the insertion and tucks easier to see.

The Challenge: #23: Gratitude

Fabric: 100% cotton

Pattern: Past Patterns 9206: Ladies' and Misses' Dart-Fitted Princess Slip: Circa 1910-1912.  I made the knee-length version, and didn't sew the darts to make it a chemise, rather than a slip.

Year: 1910-1913

Notions: Thread, lace, self bias-tape to attach the ruffle

How historically accurate is it? I think it's pretty gosh darn accurate except for my not-so-straight tucks.  It's also a bit light on silly frills; I'll just be a middle-class Edwardian

Hours to complete: 4

First worn: This photoshoot, not sure when I'll get around to wearing it in front of actual humans

Total cost: Fabric: $9.00, lace: $12.00

I made the corset back in the summer, so it doesn't qualify for the HSF, but I wanted to give credit to Jo at Bridges on the Body, for hosting the 1911 corset sew-a-long, which is where I got the pattern.

The tank's built-in bra was fighting with the corset, so I couldn't lace it up properly.  Hence the wrinkly top.

Finished Project: 1790's undergarments

Hooray!  I'm finally finished with the shift, stays, and petticoat for the 1790's morning outfit - this was my first entirely hand-sewn project, so I'm trying to bask in the glow of accomplishment and not think about how many more things I could have done if I had used the machine.  And I'm not completely done: the bottom edge of the stays need to be finished and I need to short the straps a bit, but that straightforward work can be done when I get back to college.

The chemise and petticoat are a cotton/linen blend and the stays are cotton sateen with the cotton/linen for the waist stay and binding.

It's hard to see, but there is a small bustle pad attached to the petticoat

Yeah, those straps need to be shorter

I used Past Patterns 038 for the stays and I have some advice for anyone interested in making it.  First, the "busk area" (there isn't actually a busk, just four boning channels in the center) was too wide.  This made it stick out away from me - this can probably be concealed by a sturdy bodiced petticoat, but it's a bit of a pain.  The extant stays I've seen have this wide busk:

So if you make this pattern, I would suggest that you only use the two center-most boning channels and ignore the outer ones.

This is probably just my high waist, but the side bones dig into my hips the tiniest bit.  Otherwise these stays are very comfortable.