Mending a Corset

New Year.  New HSF.  And I'm most pleased that I was able to act on Resolve #1 so soon!  My early teens corset, needed some help: a couple of grommets had come loose and it was hideous plain.  So for Challenge #1, I repaired the grommets and added some lace across the top.

The Challenge: #1: Make do & Mend

Fabric: 100% cotton twill and cotton lace

Pattern: Post Edwardian Long Line Corset from Bridges on the Body.  

Year: 1911-1915

Notions: Thread, lacing, grommets, lace

How historically accurate is it? Still a bit plain for this period, but much better with the addition of the lace.

Hours to complete: The mending: 1.5, the original construction: 4

First worn: Last year's Costume College

Total cost: The lace was in a bag full of trims at the Bargain Basement at CC, so probably around 9 cents for the mending!

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.

Old Costume: 1880's corset

I made this corset last summer to replace a boring white one.  It's from the Truly Victorian 1880's corset pattern and is one layer of satin and two layers of cotton batiste.  If you ever want to make a corset out of satin, DON'T - SPARE YOURSELF.  I was terrified the whole time of making a mistake because picking out the stitches was practically impossible without ruining the fabric.  I ended up sewing the channels by hand so that they were the exact fit for the steel spirals.

Also, I swear I made a set of combination underwear, but I cannot find them anywhere.  They probably ended up on some closet floor during the many costume shifts.  Hopefully this will force me to make a new set without hideous sweat stains.  So, here I am with an 18th century shift and an 1880's corset.

Note: Do not try to adjust your shift after you're completely laced.  It will make you lopsided.

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.

A Corset Rant

I feel like corsets are given a really bad rap by a lot of people today. They are portrayed as painful devices inspired by sexism that crushed women's organs and caused them to faint. I'm getting really sick of this.

This drawing - which is really more of a caricature - is not helping.

Dangerous tight-lacing definitely did occur, especially after corset-makers started using steel grommets for the eyelets in the 1820's, but I cannot believe that half of society would put themselves through daily pain for centuries.

Think about it: nowadays, some people are very fashion conscious and body conscious; they make their thighs and belly smaller through plastic surgery; they buy expensive designer bras to push their breasts into unnatural positions - but this is not the norm. Most people just want to look nice and feel comfortable.

 

Scarlett O'Hara may have been upset that she couldn't get her waist back down to 18 1/2 inches, but I don't think Melanie would have been bothered by that!



It seems that in all this anti-corsetism, people have forgotten that the bra has only been around for about 100 years.  Before the bra, the corset was pretty much the only support garment available (unless you go all the way back to the Gothic Fitted Dress).  For women with larger cup sizes it can be uncomfortable to go with any support, especially during menstruation, pregnancy, and nursing, and wearing a corset is preferable to wearing no support garment at all.

Of course a corset is uncomfortable at first, so is wearing a bra for the first time or walking around in a new pair of shoes.  I wore my 1880's corset all day at Costume College and felt fine, and the historical interpreters in Colonial Williamsburg that I have talked to - who lace themselves up everyday - are able to work a loom and sheer sheep without a hitch (in fact, the sheep-shearing lady said that she needed a corset to protect her torso from errant ovine kicks!)

Women have fought for their right to vote and run countries, without constantly fainting and calling for their smelling salts, all while wearing corsets.