The Making of...
I wasn't happy with the first natural form era corset I made. Those winkles of the satin haunt me, and the shape just isn't right. I vowed to do it again, making the adjustments I knew it needed and just in general improving it. Then I got Jean Hunnisett's book for the 19th century. Inside was a basic corset pattern of 5 pieces, no gores, gussets, or any of that nonsense. Upon a closer read I found out that it was either based on, or actually from, an authentic 1878 corset pattern. Perfect, just the era I needed!
I had already scaled up and enlarged a pattern from a book (my 18th century stays from Waugh, to be blogged about in due course), and this would be no different. The first time had been so much fun, so much problem solving, so many lovely numbers. After some initial confusion, and miscalculations of my own measurements, I had a pattern that should fit me exactly.
I physically don't understand why they never do. Don't get me wrong, it was much closer than my first attempt of my stays, but still a wee bit off. That was the most frustrating. It wasn't massively off, the mock-up closed completely at the back, but fit everywhere otherwise quite comfortably. I wanted a 2" lacing gap at the back, which meant I had to take this ridiculously small amount from each seam (0.5mm) since that's how I understand enlarging patterns.
Second mock-up still laced completely closed at the back, but this time fit more snugly. Not wanting to faff about with another half a cm, just to be sure I took about 0.7mm from the waist and hips, and 0.8mm from the bust, since, yes you guessed it, that was too big. I don't get this. I swear I have a chest. Granted, it's not that big, but it's definitely there.
When I looked at my measurements/proportions, I found that there wasn't many cm between my waist and bust. Until the waist I am literally just straight up and down, none of this hourglass loveliness, and my boobs themselves aren't much. I've always had this problem with patterns. given my size, I should be well-endowed, but for some reason I'm not. It's not a complaint, in every other area of my life I'm glad I'm quite modest in that area, but when it comes to drafting patterns and scaling them up, it's weird to find that you may as well just draw a straight vertical line from your bust to your waist.
Finally, at the third mock-up, the current record for any garment I've made, we had a corset that fitted, and had a lacing gap at the back, albeit what looked like a small one. Eager, I cut into the cute spot brioche coutil I'd bought for the corset, and began constructing it in record time. I don't know if it was because I had technically constructed 3 of this corset before starting on the final one, or I'm just getting quicker at the sewing process, but it was cut out, busk inserted, and pieces stitched together in about 4 hours. Boning channels and boning itself took another 3 hours.....ok, not sounding super fast anymore considering the professionals make 4 and more in a day, but I'll take the small win.
What I should have done was a fitting when all pieces were constructed, except for the fact I started boning the seams before putting the centre back panel to the others. Instead my first fitting of the finished garment was after I had finished boning the whole thing. It did fit, although slightly snug, which I suppose is a stupid statement considering it's a corset, but I felt like it was digging in to my underarms, which I suppose is easily fixed.
Then came a small niggle. In my last corset, also a mid-bust, one of my friends asked me if it wasn't too short at the bust, and when I looked closer it kind of looked that way. After taking pics of this one at the first stage fitting, I began to be paranoid it was also too short at the top. I had been so busy concentrating on getting some curves to my hips that I've never addressed where corsets are supposed to stop. This pattern was described as a mid-bust, but does that mean stop at your bust line exactly, or a few more cm higher.
From what I can understand mid-busts are supposed to support the chest, probably pushing it up in the process, not squeezing them up like 18th century ones. At the end of the day this corset is wider at the chest, and I'm not spilling over the top of it. Looking more closely at other people's corsets I think I might have figured out the slight miss-design in mine. it's meant to curve upwards from centre front to the middle of the breast, if that makes sense, and then curve down under the arm-pits. Mine is slightly curved, but not by much, which is perhaps why this looked a little strange to me. Oh well, something to work out in the next corset, of which they'll inevitable be one.
They do start looking a lot better the more I do. And with the flossing complete, the corset was finally ready.
