The Undies

Since this is my very first Victorian period costume, I wanted to take my time and make some really nice underwear that I could wear with a variety of outfits in the future. First on the list was a pair of combinations - a new invention from 1877 that combined the chemise and drawers into one garment to reduce bulk. They even talk about them in my '77 issue of Peterson's:

"The unprecedently narrow skirts, now worn by extremely fashionable ladies, has led to the introduction of a combination of chemise and drawers in one, with a high petticoat bodice added to the chemise."

For the pattern, I used a diagram from Period Costumes for Stage and Screen: 1800-1909. It has one big piece combining the leg and front of the bodice, and one small piece for the back of the bodice (for each half). All of the fullness on the drawers is gathered into the back waist seam. This was a really easy pattern to work from, and I simplified the neckline into a plain scoop to match the look of a chemise in my Peterson's. The original pattern had several darts on the front to take it in even more at the waist, but I didn't really think this was necessary on mine. Like a proper pair of 19th c. drawers, the crotch is completely open, but I overlapped the back edges a little, and I haven't noticed any problems with gaping so far.

I made these things out of an old cotton sateen sheet, and they are so soft and cozy! I originally bought some batiste for my undies, but it was really stiff and uncomfortably see-though, so I decided to use the sheets instead. The legs are edged with a double row of cluney lace that has a celadon green thread running through it. This is headed by a strip of beading, which I also used on the neck and arms. The beading is made of narrow cluney lace threaded with silk ribbon that I dyed to match the wider lace. The buttons are mother-of-pearl with tiny flowers engraved on them. And I even forced myself to hand-sew the buttonholes.

See, I haven't been completely slacking off for the past two months! ;-)

12/24/04
Corset schemings:

I decided to search for a bustle-period corset pattern with hip gores after seeing the lovely nipped-in waist created by Katherine's Edwardian corset with that type of construction. Then a few months ago, I found this wonderful website archiving corset patents from the 19th century. I was thrilled to find the Lavinia H. Foy corset from 1868, which fit the bill perfectly. Although the patent was from 7 years prior to my dress design, you can still see a similar basic shapes (including hip gores) from several other patents from the late 70's, such as this one. But I really liked the Foy version better because it looked so simple to make... and since this is my first Victorian corset, that's definitely a plus for me. I also found a gorgeous scarlet corset from the 1860's that looks almost the same as my chosen pattern - the bust gores are the only major deviation that I can see. And I really love the look of that corset, so that made my decision even easier.

So I started by enlarging the original patent pattern with an overhead projector at work and tracing the pieces onto butcher paper. A made a mock-up to check the fit, and I was surprised to find that I barely had to modify it at all. I tried on the first mockup with some feather-boning basted onto the seams and temporary lacing strips on the back. I then decided to make the hip gores a little wider and longer (I'm very pear-shaped), and I also had to add about an inch and a half to the length of the torso, but that was all. Now I just need to work up the courage to cut my silk and coutil and make the real thing. It's all going together a bit too easily though, and that makes me really nervous! It's never this simple...

1/1/05
Progress:

I've been working on my corset off and on all week. I really wanted to get it completely finished before my vacation was over, but since I made a slight miscalculation with the binding strips, I'm going to have to wait until next weekend when I can buy some more fabric. But everything is done now except for the edge binding, so I thought I'd give ya'll the run-down on it so far.

The outer fabric is dark teal silk that looks and feels like satin, but is actually a fine twill weave. I backed it with some muslin to give it a little more strength. I originally bought some cotton twill for the lining (thinking it was coutil), but it ended up having more stretch than I wanted, so I ran out to buy some canvas instead. Unfortunately, I think I bought duck instead of true canvas though, which was probably a big mistake since the weave isn't as tight. I'm pretty sure the bones would eventually poke through this stuff if I wore it very often... but we'll just toss this one up as a learning experience if that happens.

The corset is boned with 1/4 inch spiral boning that I cut myself to fit the channels. The U-tips had an annoying habit of coming off in the channels, but super-glue solved that problem quite nicely. I also ran out of U-tips at the end, so I had to resort to using little strips of aluminum tape to cover the ends. That seemed to work pretty well for the moment, but again, who knows how it'll hold up over time. But anyway, I bought my boning, busk, and some really great 00 grommets from http://www.corsetmaking.com/, and I was very happy with their prices and service.

To figure out how to put everything together, I used the directions on www.waisted.com (which is sadly no longer online, but you can still access it through the super handy Internet Archive). The only big beef that I had with their instructions was the part about using fusible interfacing to mount several layers of fabric together. I tried this, and promptly ruined my first batch of silk. I ended up using a bit of spray adhesive to keep my silk and interlining together for the assembly, and this was so much easier to work with. But other than that, I definitely recommend that site.

After the pieces were put together, I topstitched the boning channels with cream-colored silk thread, similar to several examples of colored corsets from the 19th c. with white stitching. The Foy patent calls for cording on one side of each bone to keep it from wearing through the fabric as quickly. Even though I didn't bother to cord mine, I really liked the decorative effect of that extra stitching, so I added an extra row on the outside of each channel. Once the boning was inserted, I added the traditional flossing stitches to the ends, which helps to hold the bones in place and keep the ends from wearing through as quickly. For this, I used pearl silk embroidery thread and a simple herringbone stitch. I'm not sure if that was the exact way it was done at the time, but the effect looks just like the style of flossing seen on corsets like this one.

And finally, I made two small changes to the boning layout after trying my corset on for the first time. I added an additional row next to the front and back edges to make it less likely to buckle in those spots. I also decided to extend the boning on the side back seam all the way to the bottom of the gores to smooth the fabric out over the hips. That's one thing that I noticed in most of the hip-gore style corsets from the 1870's - they usually had at least one long bone going all the way to the bottom on the sides. This really improved the way it looked, and it seemed to be a little more comfortable as well.

1/31/05
Corset:

I finally found the time and energy to finish my corset. I really hate doing the little piddly jobs like binding edges sometimes. But anyhoo, here's the finished product. The hip gores look a little smoother on me than they do on my home-made pillow dress-form, but you can get the general idea. Other than the inch and a half that I added to the length of the torso, the rest of the proportions stayed the same as the original. I had mentioned in a previous entry that I was going to add some extra room to the hips, but I found that this wasn't really necessary in the end. I am very pleased with the shape of this corset. It's much more hour-glassy than most commercial corset patterns.

So now I'm going back to work on my bustle. I took the day off work today, and I should have the bustle done by tonight.

2/1/05
Bustle:

After much indecision, I finally decided to make the 8-bone bustle from Period Costumes from Stage and Screen. The thing went together like a dream, but it was obviously drafted for a person with much narrower hips. If I lace the insides tightly, it gives me a more appropriate "poof", but then it doesn't even cover half of the width of my bum and looks retarded under a skirt. It fits my body better if I open it up a good bit, but then the silhouette is much more like a natural form bustle than the early bustle style that I was aiming for with this project.

So anyway... I'll probably make another version eventually, but I can't decide whether I should push on through and do that now, or come back to it later. Well see what I'm in the mood for next weekend...

2/6/05
Version 2.0:

Okay, so the first bustle only took a few hours of work to assemble, so I decided that it wouldn't kill me to whip up a better one before doing anything else. For this version, I added 6" to the width and a few more bones (made of plastic-covered wire rope from the hardware store), and this time, I decided to be decadent and make it from black and light grey striped silk in the hopes that it would look similar to this bustle. Well, my stripes are a lot smaller so they don't show up as well as the original, but it still looks pretty groovy. I also split the internal lacing panel to be more like this version, which makes it easier to adjust the amount of poof. Here's a full back view as well.

So that was easy enough, and I am MUCH happier with the way this one fits.

2/27/05
Petticoat:

So I made a petticoat yesterday. I had originally planned to make a colored silk petticoat, but I went to an antique show specializing in Victorian clothes and accessories last weekend, and I fell in love with the frilly white 19th c. petticoats that I saw everywhere. So I dug out the little bit of batiste that I had in my stash, bought some fairly wide eyelet, and whipped this thing up. I really wanted to add a lot more tucks and embellishments to it, but I didn't have enough fabric. I'd like to add a second petticoat at some point in the future - but I think I'll keep my eyes open for a good deal on an antique one. You just can't beat the real thing. The fabrics and craftsmanship are amazing.

Oh, and if anybody is curious about the pattern, I just used a basic 4 panel skirt with a straight back panel and 3 gored ones (like the 1874 skirt pattern in figure 13 of Patterns of Fashion 2, just minus one gore). The back is gathered with a drawstring.