Sewing: 19th Century Corset

The first thing I'd like to say is: my goodness I'm glad I'm finished this!  This is the first corset I've ever made and I hand sewed all of it, my poor fingers were nearly dead by the end!  I've sewed a few things where I felt I wanted a sewing machine, but this is the only piece that made up my mind to get one (soon, my darlings).  Unfortunately I did sew it all by hand.  The reason I don't own one is because I have so far made clothes in a time period that didn't have them, and because sewing is the solution to many bad habits of mine, most specifically boredom binging.  But in a few months I'm getting one, mostly because of a summer project I've been thinking about since Christmas: more about this nearer the time.

Back to topic.  The corset I wanted was meant to be late 19th Century, and when I began this it was actualy meant to be 1900, and if you look back at my previous posts about corsets you'll realise why I used a 19th century pattern and not the horrible Edwardian corset pattern.  I used Laughing Moon LM100, which covers the years 1837-1900.
I didn't know the difference really in corsets in the 19th century.  In this packet there are two, one with bust gores and longer, one without.  After I cut out the one I thought I wanted and cut out the fabric I realised I may have chosen the wrong one for my timing.

The way I understand it now is that bust gores are very first half of 19th century, and the other pattern was more the one I was looking for.  The only reason I chose the bust gore one was because it was slightly longer (despite my having to shorten it at the fitting stage), and since the 1900 skirt pattern I bought was fitted over my massive hips I wanted a little more coverage for my disproportionate shape.

I am still terrible at reading paper pattern pieces, but I'm getting much better reading instructions.  The bust gores were the first problem I was faced with.  I only cut out 2 instead of 4, and for longer than I'd care to admit I was wandering why you needed 4.  But I'm getting ahead of myself a little.

I cut out the right size for my measurements, according to the back, but before actually cutting out anything I reviewed this pattern online, a first for me.  A few I saw mentioned the bust gores, and how the bust was always bigger than their chests were.  For my size I have quite a small chest and so I cut out the smaller size.  The corset remained my measurements.  After this project I've definitely learned that either I'm not reading the numbers on my tape measure correctly or pattern sizes are wrong.  Reviews also said that the corset they made closed up at the back, adn I know from pictures, etc., that they don't.  To solve this minor problem I decided to increase the seam allowances and made them 2cm, so not that big an increase.

Now to the rant about fabric.  Corsets are made of stiff material, I just didn't appreciate how stiff.  I ordered white cotton coutil; I must admit here I've always wandered what blinds were made of....now I know.  This stuff was absolutely solid, and for those of you with experience of it, you can imagine what a problem I had getting a hand sewing needle through it.  For the lining I just used white cotton.  For the bias binding I wasn't sure, but I knew I wouldn't decorate this one.  I was scrolling through the bias binding of my regular suppliers and I found an amazingly cool tartan bias binding.  I bought the whole reel that's how much I loved it, and it didn't fail to disappoint.

So for weeks after I managed to cut it out I hand sewed all of the pieces together, drawing on it with pencil, measuring each and every seam to 2 cm.  The number of times I put the needle into my skin; I had to put a plaster on my middle finger because every time I pushed the needle through with it the skin scratched off.  This has to be the most painful project ever.

There were seven pieces to this corset, all panels, and then the bust gores, of which there were supposed to be four, but were two instead.  I'm glad I stuck with two because this corset at the fitting was so so big at the top, gaping at my chest, and that was with the smaller cup size.  The alteration would have been a nightmare if I'd had four bust gores in place; at least it would have given me a place to keep valuables, or socks.

A steel busk was inserted at the front, and as you can see from the pictures there is a little gap at the front; I tried my best and thanks to the white shift underneath I don't think it's that bad.  Next time I make a corset I'm using a machine.  The two back panels had the grommets inserted for the lacing.  Unfortunately the suppliers were out of silver, so I got black instead, but it doesn't look as stark as I'd pictured it.  I bought too much lacing as well so there's a lot of excess.  I laced it properly, which took a while because I got confused from the drawings at one point, but got it sorted.  I tied it at the front simply for ease, when I wear it under garments it will be tied properly at the back.  The last thing is the waist stay, meant to reinforce the seams since the waist is where most strain is felt.  I hated this thing, and I hated "stitch in the ditch", it was really tedious.

I had to shorten this corset because it was just too long, especially sitting down in it.  There are spiral steel bones on every seam, and there's four just off the front, which aren't symmetrical as I found out after it was finished.  It doesn't give me a shape, and it flattens my chest, unfortunately I don't really know what went wrong with those two things.  As you can see from the picture that's as far as it gets tightened, even with me changing the seam allowances.  I also had to alter the top as it was gaping out the back and at my chest, as mentioned before.
There are also a few creases and wrinkles that I just couldn't get rid of.  Taking all of that into consideration I think it's not bad for a first attempt.

As for the shift underneath, I'm actually proud of how this turned out.  My last experience pattern-less was a disaster, but this one was much better.  I was too cheap to buy a pattern for an all-in-one drawers-shift from late 19th century, but I wanted a shift rather than the bloomers.  The Laughing Moon pattern came with a shift pattern but it was gathered at the chest and I didn't really want that.  Instead I got an old t-shirt with the neckline I wanted and I just around it, as pictured below.  It looks as though there is a lot of difference between the t-shirt and the end of the cut line, my seam allowance was generous but I wasn't taking any chances with the fabric or the fit.  It's made of cotton lawn and is quite sheer, hence why there's no picture of my in just that.  It has white bias binding on the neckline and armholes.

My next item is a corset cover, which I bought a pattern for, and a petticoat.  I did run into a problem early on in the cover construction in that I didn't have enough cotton lawn left to cut out the two pieces.  By my estimation I was only a few inches out, but I wasn't buying a metre just for this when there must be a solution.  There was.  I placed the pattern on my body and saw where it came down to, my torso is apparently quite short as I had to alter the corset as well.  So I adjusted the pattern and they both just fit onto the length I had.  I also like the embellishment I have for the corset cover, peephole lace with a lovely mint green ribbon going through; I had to thread it through myself which was, again, tedious.

Rather than making a 1900 skirt I really want a bustle skirt first, so that'll be soon after I finish the petticoat.  I also want to make a blouse, but not a loose fitting one like the pattern I have, so that needs a little bit more thought since I can't find a pattern I like that matches what I imagine in my head.  I will put the pics when I finish the corset cover.  I'm not making a bustle, I'm buying a bustle pillow rather than a cage because I'm not that big a fan of huge bustles, but I'll have to see what my skirt needs because a cushion may not give it the right support.  Still not making a cage though, there are nice people who sell them and I assure you they'll be getting my patronage.