1911 corset

I'm working on a new project! (not like the bots that hit up my blog care, but I do have two whole followers and no one else to talk to about these things)

Facts:

1. It's August, so it's boiling hot.
2. I live in sundresses. I have lots of them. I have sundresses for the dog park, I have sundresses for slumming around the house, I have sundresses for weekends, I have sundresses for work.
3. I am so sick of half of them that I wouldn't even wear them to the DOG PARK, so I'm thinning out my collection. 
4. I have yards and yards of super cute fabric from thrift stores, that I bought to make myself more sundresses to replace the ones that are going to Goodwill.
5. I have a super cute dress pattern that would also make me confront my fear of setting zippers, enabling me to add a key skill to my repertoire. 

So can you guess what I'm making?

An Edwardian corset, of course! (practicality is not one of my strong points)

This is actually a continuation of Project... 2? I think? The one for the corset sew-along that Jo from Bridges on the Body did a while back. I want to up my sewing game and for that I need to start sewing more complicated things. My sewing friend (who I admire and adore) from the Internet gave me this advice:

"You need the Patterns of Fashion books. Google them and then look at images. Museum garments. Pick one and do it from scratch, from drafting the pattern to fitting a muslin to embroidery and you will be an expert. The books are worth the price."

And THEN she sent me a gift card so I could buy one! Those books have been on my wish list for years but I've always been too intimidated to try anything from them. But no one ever accomplished anything by avoiding challenges so I'm going to try my very best to make my friend (and me) proud.

Since I already have everything I need for the corset, I decided to get Patterns of Fashion 2 so I can make an Edwardian outfit to go along with it.

I finished sewing the corset panels together last night. Here they are, beautifully displayed on the top of my dog's crate:

Left and right side laid flat...

This would be the front...

And this would be the back...

For the dress, I think I'm going to make this one. It's kind of boring, but looks pretty straightforward. Maybe I can jazz it up.

It was originally made of linen, and I have about 5 yds of tan linen that I got at Savers. The weave might be too coarse compared to the original, but I wouldn't know. Not like I have anywhere to wear it anyway, unless I throw a Halloween party. And if I do ever find an event where I can wear a 1908 summer day dress, well, real historical costumers love having farbs like me to laugh at, so it would have some entertainment value at least.

EDIT: While choosing labels for this post, it came to my attention that the 1911 corset is a POST-Edwardian corset. But it would still work for this dress, right? Right??

1911 Corset - On hold(ish)

I finally got all the grommets set in my second lacing strip. Except that I didn't have enough grommets and couldn't find any at the local craft or hardware stores that were 1/4" diameter. So I had to use eyelets, which suck because they snag the lacing ribbon.

Then I fitted the corset and had a meltdown because I looked so... plump. Not flattering. I am not a plump person so I should have just gotten a grip, but I didn't. So that set me back a few days until I could face it again. Then I fitted it the best I could--had to take it in a bit at the underbust and hips. I think I did it okay.

But I haven't gotten around to altering the pattern pieces and making the second mockup. The reason is because I need to make my costume for my sister's pirate wedding at the end of April. I know there should be plenty of time to see the corset project through and still do my costume because it will just be skirts and a chemise, and I've proven that I can make a skirt without a pattern and that it's easy, and a chemise SHOULD be easy but I haven't ever made one, and I'll get someone else to make the bodice...

BUT...

I am getting married on April 7 so I want to make sure I have plenty of time to make my costume as well as prep for my own wedding.

So I'm going to work on my costume, and fit the corset stuff in a bit at a time instead of on-schedule. I hope I don't regret it!

1911 Corset - Lacing strips

I made the lacing strips today. The instructions were to cut an 18" x 5" piece of fabric.

I discovered that the bottom of a 12-pack of soda makes the perfect template for the lacing strips. It's exactly 5" wide and 16" long. After I traced and cut out the lacing strip fabric, I remembered that it was supposed to be 18" long and decided that 16" would have to be good enough.

Setting the grommets... Setting the grommets was a bitch and I'm only halfway through. I got one lacing strip done. It is really, really hard to cut through 3 layers of denim. The punch that came with my grommet kit was not up to the task. So I had to poke a hole with an awl (after making a trip to the hardware store to buy one), then force a phillips-head screwdriver through it to enlarge it, then cut the hole bigger with a pair of small scissors and trim the ragged edges so they wouldn't completely cover the grommet post.

My grommets were not lined up evenly at all, even though I marked the holes evenly. I spent the entire time vehemently swearing. My hands are incredibly sore and I know they will feel worse tomorrow, when I have to finish the other strip. I tried using a drill to drill the grommet holes, but after one hole realized that was a big mistake, because the drill bit just twisted the fabric fibers and distorted the seam.

Here's a picture of the shittiest grommet setting I could have possibly achieved. I don't think it could be worse if I tried. Whatever, I don't care as long as they will work for fitting the mockup. I hope I can do better on the final product.

1911 Corset - Mockup resized

I followed Jo's instructions to correct the size of my mockup with a couple of exceptions:

A) She pointed out that I had added seam allowance to the edge of the lacing strips in the center back, which I didn't think I had done, so I took that out and that saved me 2 inches right there. The mockup now had a 30-inch waist.

B) I did the 1/4-inch seam in the middle of each panel except for the center front panels. So four panels per side, 1/4" off each one, gave me two inches on each side. So, I took a total of 4" off the rest of the mockup. Total of 6" eliminated.

I hope that it won't mess things up since I left the center front panels the same size as before. It probably will mess things up.

Here's the re-sized mockup:

Tomorrow I'll work on the lacing strips. 

1911 Corset: Mockup

I made my mockup. I decided not to document the steps between resizing the corset pattern pieces (slashing & spreading) and making the mockup because it's just a matter of tracing the pieces onto your mockup fabric and cutting the fabric out.

So... The mockup. I was originally going for a 26" waist, which is two inches smaller than my actual waist measurement. Somehow, I ended up with a 32" waist. I'm really bad at math. Basic arithmetic I'm fine with, but fractions, percentages, etc., I'm lost. I really do think I'm math disabled.

 I also think my mock-up doesn't look quite right. I sent a picture of it to Jo and she said it looked fine.

Next mock-up I'm definitely using a patterned fabric. I got confused on how to sew the pieces together, even though they were notched, and I think if I had a fabric that had a clear "right" side and "wrong" side, it would be easier to figure out.

Here's what Jo suggested to fix the mock-up so I don't have to start over:

So it's 32 and you need 26 inches, that's 6 inches that needs to be removed. This is what I'd do, I'd take 1/2 inch out of each panel by folding each panel piece in half on the grain line and sewing a seam 1/4 inch from the fold. Boom, 5 inches gone. Then I'd fold the corset at the center front seam and sew another seam 1/4 from the original. There's another 1/2 inch gone. And finally, I'd bump the center back edge in 1/4. That should take care of the last 1/2 inch. Remove those those 1/2 inches in each panel, and the 1/4 on the center front and back. You can reconnect the top and bottom edges after fitting because you may need to add or subtract at the underbust or hips anyway and will have to check those edges anyway.

You're right, once you take a section out of the center of each panel top and bottom edges will no longer match perfectly, but this mock-up is about getting the fit right and uneven edges won't really affect that. You will still be able to adjust the fit by either pinning or letting out the seam allowances, and you'll still be able to gauge if the length works for you.

I'm going to use a colored thread to take in the panel pieces so I don't get confused and think the seam allowances are the trimmed pieces and vice versa.

1911 Corset - Transferring your measurements to the pattern pieces

First step in the process: Transfer your measurements to the pattern pieces using the "slash & spread" technique.

I am using Jo's pattern, which she adapted from a pattern in Norah Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines. My friend Jana, who is a graphic designer, enlarged it for me so it was true to scale.

The background came out dark, so I decided to retrace it using our glass door as a light table. Because I didn't read the step one instructions clearly, and thought I needed to add the extra measurements around the pattern pieces. It was only after I was done laboriously retracing the pattern onto white paper that I realized we are adding the extra measurements into the middle of each pattern piece. Oh well.

Step 1: Subtract 2-3 inches from your waist measurement. I took away 3 inches. I had to enlarge the pattern to accomodate my waist, so I then subtracted the pattern's waist measurement from mine. Divide the difference by five because you will have to enlarge the five pattern pieces. In my case I have to add 5/8" to each piece.

Step 2: Number each pattern piece from left to right.

Now to add the extra inches to the pattern pieces... Draw a line up the center of each pattern piece using a ruler. Cut (the "slash" part of the process) along the line.

Step 3: Tape a piece of paper underneath the left half of the pattern piece. Measure and mark 5/8" from the cut edge in several spots from the bottom to the top of the pattern piece.

Step 4: Attach the right half of the pattern piece along the marks you've made. I found it easiest to tape it at the top mark, then align it at the bottom mark, double-check that the space measured 5/8" at both top and bottom, and then tape it in a few places along the pattern piece to secure it.

Make sure the lines on the waist match between both pieces!

Step 5: Do Steps 2-4 for each pattern piece. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be! Maybe partly because I retraced each piece, which ended up being a really good study of how each piece is constructed (with boning channels drawn in, etc.).

Each piece has been slashed, spread, and reassembled with 5/8" added to each piece.

My second project

I've just started my next project: the 1911 corset featured in the sew-along on the amazing blog, Bridges on the Body. The list of supplies and the schedule are in the December 2011 posts.

http://bridgesonthebody.blogspot.com/2011/12/its-official-1911-corset-sew-along.html

The inspiration for the sew-along is Jo's Titanic Corset, pictured here:

Since I've never made a corset, or sewn a garment before until my 18th-century style petticoat, I didn't want to buy the expensive coutil fabric that corsets are supposed to be made from. I found a yard of sturdy cotton canvas outdoor fabric at Jo-Ann which came to about $3.60 and found seam binding and satin ribbon (for the lacing) to match.

Now I'm worried about it. I'm afraid that even if the corset turns out good, it will look like a mess because I know nothing about pattern matching on printed fabrics and I'm not sure how easily I can learn.

Next post will be documenting, step by step, the first task in the sew-along schedule: transferring my measurements to the pattern.