My First Corset

Upper left: channels sewn in. Center: the layers sewn together with the following items-scissors, one zip tie to illustrate, the busk(sanded but without holes drilled), a package of zip ties. The dark line on the brown fabric is part of the serged seam I took apart to reconnect the material into a flat piece big enough for my purposes. It used to be a giant sleeve on a MM dress. Photo on top right: the three layers-white>inner lining, blue> canvas for stiffness, brown>cotton. I sewed the three together and slid the cable 'zip' ties in between the blue and brown fabric.





I am following the instructions on the Elizabethan Costumers page, using the corset pattern generator.

http://www.elizabethancostume.net/index.html

I am making the version with tabs. For fabric:
I am using a white cotton twin sheet for inner lining,
a piece of the canvas material out of which, Paul had us make windows for his deer camp tent,
a cobbled piece of brown something that was sleeves in my first MM gown. It is a lightweight cotton to be sure. I'm sewing these together for boning channels. My boning material is 3/8 inch cable ties, 10 for 5$ at Home Depot. Each is 24" long.
The cover of the corset with be some quilting fat quarters in white on white, that I have sewn together to get a big enough piece. I will sandwich a piece of very heavy interfacing between it and a muslin ?. So all together there will be 6 layers, 3 with boning channels and 3 without. This is not according to anything I have read, but is what I have in the house to work with and I have decided it will be this way. I have a small bust, I'm probably going way overkill, BUT, i will get a very firm round tube shaped bodice when the gown is put over the corset. This is the Venetian gown which is going to use UNPERIOD fabric. I bought a crimson and gold FLORAL knowing it's not acceptable. The gown I wanted to make VERY PERIOD. Venetian 1560's, partlet, front ladder lacing. The WORKS. It's always something with me. I'm never satisfied. Well , my ego isn't anyway.
In the picture, you see a dark seam at an odd angle on brown fabric. That is a seam I made from a serged edged former sleeve.

I have drawn boning channels. It all looks okay, but the the three pieces are not EXACTLY the same shape. I know it's going to be okay, I'm talking about scan inches. I'm losing my nerve as I took a few pictures. The thing looks lumpy now. I know the thing will lie flat after the pins are taken out. Breathe deep. feel my inner body. be present. go sew boning channels.
There seems to be a difference between the left and right front. I've marked the one side two times and it still seems to list to the left. I'm taking a break. The back/side channels are done and the cable ties fit nicely. I followed the instruction to start from the bottom up. I am sewing three different pieces together.
I folded the corset in half, laid the pattern on it again to make sure both points of the first tab in the front were equal. They were, so I removed pattern, put pins in to keep it folded evenly and marked (for the third time)the boning channels of the 'other' side. I sewed them without looking to see if I had marked them correctly. I hadn't. BUT, I'm leaving them. It just isn't that big of a deal. I'm getting hung up on a silly detail.
As instructed: I sewed 1/8" from the tab marking, from bottom to point and with needle still in fabric, spun it around and sewed down the other side. No backstitching. This is to anchor the tab when I cut it. I will apply Fray NO More to raw edges as well.
PATTERN IS CUT
CHANNELS ARE SEWN
Time to cut and insert boning. I'm using plastic cable ties. I'll measure one at at time, the longest looking ones by laying them on top of the corset channel. I'll mark with a sharpie and cut with scissors, snipping the tip edges to round them a bit.
Then , I'll cut the tabs.

The Gown for 2008

I'm doing much reading. Here are some of the links to sites that I will use. They have construction techniques for bodices, boning, corset making, pleating, design, lacing, etc. You have all used them, I'm sure. They reference each other.

http://www.elizabethancostume.net/index.html

http://realmofvenus.renaissanceitaly.net/

http://www.festiveattyre.com/research/index.html

http://freespace.virgin.net/f.lea/kirtle.html

http://www.sempstress.org/

http://www.modehistorique.com/elizabethan/diaries.html

http://www.geocities.com/oonaghsown/index2.html

These are just some of the talented ladies who helped me make my last gown. Their instructions have been priceless. Meaning I didn't pay for any of it, just my eternal gratitude.

Cindy

Todd's Fleece Jacket/new gown2008

The finished jacket on the left, center picture is the inside pocket.

Above and below: one sleeve attached, no zipper yet.

Above: close up of zipper. Pretty, isnt' it? Below: outside of jacket showing finished pocket.

Andrea said that Todd's jacket fits great and that he's been wearing it all week. yeah!
In other news: I read a little about making bodices for my new gown. I have to make some curtains for my mother first. They won't take long, kitchen cafe, 100% cotton, straight lines.
I'm going to try to use the corset pattern generator from? Elizabethan Costuming? Drea Leed?
I have to decide on which course of action to take. With the first gown, I boned the bodice, attached it to the shirt and that was all the support I had. This time, the bodice opens in front, I think I want something under my camicia for modesty. I dont' need boob support, but dont' want to feel like I'm wearing a Bob Mackie from the 1980's.

Todd's blue Fleece

I cut out Todd's Blue Fleece and it just occured to me, i'll see him this Saturday. I can get it made to fit or finish it and hand it to him.
This will be the diary of it's construction. I cut out the medium size and did not add any length.
i folded the fabric with both selvaged together on one side and a fold on the other.

Well here is a snafu: I transfered the markings to the wrong side of this piece called FRONT. There is a front and a side front. Well, i'm having trouble with 1. right/wrong sides 2. up/down 3. left/right. This piece is a rectangle. I'm confused about how it gets marked. I think I'll just mark it so it fits MY paradigm and forget the pattern.

Why I don't like fleece: Too thick, too hard to pick out mistakes, can't tell right/wrong sides, nap.
How I marked the sleeves: I put the same color pin on sleeve as it's matching spot on shirt. no pencil marks. for 1 notch=1 pin. for 2 notches=2 pins.
Just put second sleeve on. It didn't fit, which means i have the either reversed, wrong side up or ??I HATE FLEECE. I was looking forward to the sleeves. I've made things with sleeves before. I know there is a left and right. But this pattern doesn't work like that. What did I do wrong?
It stays

Second hand skirts

I was in Chelsea Michigan recently. There was a wonderful clothes store that had been in business since the 1950's. It smelled wonderfully like Bay City's Mill End. Creaky floors, dark wood shelves and display tables. The clothes they sold were very trendy and I liked them. Well made, but still foreign made, which of course, most likely means, sweatshop made. I did find a skirt/top made in Canada, but even made in the U.S. A. doesn't guarantee workers are well paid. The outfit was dark brown and looked like thin leather. The blouse had a ruffly low cut bodice and the skirt was tight at the top and flared out at the it's knee length. It was 120.$ marked down to 90.$ Too much for me on an impulse shopping trip. So I wandered down the street and found a second hand store on the second floor of the second to the last shop. I took off my 'big city wool reefer', hung it on a rack and got down to business. If it's second hand, I will buy it regardless of where it's made. I figure their money has been made and the product is as good as dead. So the money I spend on it, will all go to the shop keeper.
I went through a huge amount of shirts and took a rayon set of sleeveless shell with the matching sweater over it. It's knitted out of thin ribbons. Very loose. All the stuff I bought was beige.
Then I hit the skirt racks. It's my desire to wear more skirts and LESS pants. I just don't know what to do about shoes. I'm so self-conscious, I hardly wear accessories at all. I worry they won't match or be wrong is some way. There is less anxiety getting dressed if I just put two pieces on and go. I don't have very many clothes and seldom buy them for this reason. But I hate my clothes. I want to wear more exotic fabrics and styles. I want them to flatter my figure, not hide it. I don't want to dress like a grandma.
So I ended up with two tea length beige skirts. One straight cut linen and one polyester in two flowy layers.
Well, I just washed them. Everything looks great, except the top layer shrunk on the two layer skirt. Now I have yet ANOTHER sewing project. GREAT!!(she throws up her hands sarcastically).
But I also have some new clothes. Good for me.

9. SOME NOTES ABOUT MY FIRST DRESS DIARY.

I have moved it around so much that I'm not even sure what it says anymore. Next time, each items sewn will have its own post from start to finish. That is how the diaries I learned from were organized. Then I could refer to them for instruction.
There are more pictures, but I don't like the photo upload thing on Blogger. Until I learn how to operate it better, I'm keeping pictures to a minimum.
Here are some definitions/descriptions that may not be included already.

Camicia: I pronounce it KAM-EEZ'-AH. It's an Italian chemise. The arms are long so that I can pull fabric through holes in my sleeves and achieve that puffy look.

Bodice: The top part of my gown. This one is attached to the skirt. I used some metal bones that I had and some plastic zip ties. The dry cleaner told me they didn't think the plastic could endure more than 1 or 2 cleanings without melting. I washed the gown, after the season was over, in the washing machine. I let it spin, but didn't put it in the dryer. I hung it and it doesn't even need pressing. I hand washed the sleeves as they are separate. I may attach them in the future.

Skirt: I cartridge pleated the skirt. In the future if I do it again with the same weight fabric, I'll add a strip of wool to give it more stiffness and make it stand out more.

I think that everything else is probably mentioned in the other posts. I hope this is going to be useful to ME as well as any passerbys.

8. LAST MINUTE RE-BUILDING

It’s hours later. I have FINISHED THE EYELETS. All 24 of them. I put the Camicia on, then the rope petticote over it, and then the gown, on myself. Problems insued: camicia neckline too big.kept falling off shoulders, camicia sleeves to long and open, kept getting in way of hands. Dress: straps and lacing is behind me, I can’t reach it.

Solution: I put the gown on backwards. That’s right, backwards. My uneven shoulder heights are more of a concern than bosom/back ratio. It worked like a charm. I was able to lace myself up and postition the straps for permanent placement. I could bring the waist in 3″ total. 1 1/2″ on each side. I planned for that, but abandoned it when sewing the eyelets. I think the blue is too bulky and I didn’t want to cut it.

I will make the waist smaller somehow, permanently attach the straps, now that I see I can drop the dress over my head with one side laced up already and try it on frontways.

Later that same day. I can’t make the waist any smaller because of the eyelets being sewn right on top of the fold over part. The straps are driving me buggy! I finally put the dress on the dress form, which doesn’t fit it. i tightened the waist lacing on both sides so the bottom of bodice would rest on hips and hold the dress up so I can adjust the straps. NO!

it just isn’t comoing together. I’m going to work on something else.

How do you get the cartridge pleated camicia to stay put. it keeps loosening up. Twice I have sewn it and it’s still to big of a neck opening. What am I doing wrong? I had no trouble with the skirt cartridge pleats.Of course they were bigger and I sewed them down individually. I’m not doing that on the camicia. How did I anchor them? Oh, yes, I had to divide them between front and back of bodice. The camicia neck is a circle. But I am considering after looking at pictures just now, of sewing it down in 4 separate pieces. 2 sleeves, front and back. 3/2008: I added 1/2"elastic to shoulders. The front and back are still huge after yet another attempt to gather them tight. But the bodice/corset will keep it in place, that is why I only put elastic in the shoulders.

It is the next day, I have RE made the neck line for the 1000th time. I’m stillnot happy with it. If I get it low where I want it in the front, it falls off the shoulders, if I get tighten it up, the underarms are too tight. I can’t get a middle ground.

Right now, the camicia in on the dress form with the gown over it and laces tied. I have pinned the position for ME on the straps, so I don’t need the dress form to fit there, i think. It is easier to adjust them there than on a flat table. I want to adjust how the camicia sits under the gown, but the laces are too tight. When I stood back to look at, the front is crooked. the back is not centered. that has to be fixed before i do the straps. So I panicked and now I’m sitting here eating lunch and typing. The thought of me walking around in that dress is terrifying. What was I thinking? My belly hurts and my head is spinning.

It’s the night of the 12th. I have taken out all the stitching AGAIN on the camicia neckline. I tried the dress on me, and Paul helped postion the straps. I will go sew them down and hope that ends the strap catastrophe. PLAN THE ENTIRE BODICE BEFORE STARTING. What a horrid day.

I have the trim to sew down from when I re-did the bodice from the top edge. NEVER DO THAT AGAIN. Remember, DO NOT ATTACH THE SKIRT UNTILL YOU GET THE BODICE COMPLETELY FITTED AND FINISHED.