Sempstress

File this one under “possibly useful to some one, at some time, somehow”: this is a series of pictures of corsets I’ve made over the last several years. Each one shows me standing in profile, next to my dress dummy. This makes the changes in my shape imposed by each corset fairly obvious, and the pictures all together give you a pretty good idea what different types of boning and styles of corset can do for a girl. Read the rest of this entry »

…but only if you really like pink.

Mom and I were in Milwaukee a couple weeks ago, and we stopped in to a fab little yarn shop called Just 4 Ewe. The owner, Jan, enthusiastically shared enough fiber tips and tricks to send my brain into complete and happy overload (while her dog, just as enthusiastically, kept trying to lick my feet). If you’re in the area, I strongly recommend the shop – but think carefully about your choice of shoes. Anyway, one of the things Jan recommended was using Wilton’s Past Food Colors to dye fiber. She showed me roving in a series of joyful pinks.

Now, I have some sort of crafter’s disorder that causes me to believe in absolutely every trick I see, read, or hear. Read the rest of this entry »

In case there was any doubt in anyone’s mind, I love working
with leather. I think it can add a very sophisticated touch to a costume, and,
let’s face it, the number of people who do leather work is limited. I’ve been
wanting to try the reverse applique leatherwork technique shown in Patterns
of Fashion (in one of the men’s doublets – the one with the gillyflowers – I
forget whose that is) for several years now. Read the rest of this entry »

I noticed a while back that most of the bodices in Alcega’s
book and several other period tailor’s books show a slight backwards S curve
at the front edge. That seemed like it would accommodate the bust and belly
a little, and I was feeling like being comfortable, so I decided to give it
a shot. I included a picture of what was left of the fabric after I cut the
pieces, because it looked surprisingly like bodice cutting diagrams shown in
period resources. The last picture is a boning diagram, just in case anyone
was curious.

Results and Notes:The resulting corset was quite
comfortable, and gives a very nice line. I was pretty happy with it. I didn’t
get that terrible sinking feeling you can sometimes get from a heavily boned
corset with a straight front

Would I do it again?: Yes. In fact, I’m actually planning to repair the one I made (the boning wore through wool surprisingly quickly, much to my dismay). But, honestly, to do it right I’d have had to remake all of my bodices with a curved front, and that was like work. Not sure I’ll do that. Trimming things gets complicated.

This is a corded effigy style corset. The idea of using cording
instead of a more normal boning belongs to Jen, who did a lot of research in
that direction in the course of her
Italien dress. The pattern for this corset more closely follows the actual
effigy corset than the effigy style corsets I have made in the past. The corset
is made of two layers of cotton broadcloth, and stiffened with hemp cord. Some
parts of the side back, which do not provide support to anything crucial, are
stiffened with jute packing twine (I ran out of hemp at an inopportune time).
Where hemp is used, there are two strands per channel. Where jute is used, there
are 4.

Results and Notes:The corset provides more than adequate support,
as you can see above. It is also extremely easy to move and bend in (I can do
backbends in this), and does not seem to have any serious effects on my attempts to breathe. The effigy pattern is generally far less restrictive than the standard issue back lacing corsets that some people prefer, but the corded effigy seems even more so. The only problem that I have noticed so far is that the line of the corset deformed in the face of rather extreme heat and humidity, as seen
in the picture to the right. However, I should note that when I say, “rather extreme”, what I mean is that it was 97 or so at faire that day, and I was overheating in a big bad way, so I stuck a hose down the back of my dress and turned it on. Hemp seems to lose some of it’s rigidity when soaked through.

Would I do it again?: No. I don’t think I’m willing to
rely on just hemp for boning in the more rigid, later elizabethan styles like
the effigy. I will most likely make up another “working class” corset with the
boning running straight up and down, solely done up with hemp. I will probably
also try to do up an effigy boned with reed, which is significantly less floppy
than hemp cord.

This is a corded petticoat, meant to be worn in place of a farthingale under middle class costumes. The base of the skirt is cheap cotton broadcloth, and it is stiffened with 3.8″ cotton upholstery cord filling held in a channels created with 1″ wide ribbon. There are two channels – the first goes once round the bottom, and the second is a single spiral that goes up the rest of the petticoat. This is based on a picture from the Milanese Tailor’s Handbook which seems to show a spiral pattern of trim or possible benting on an underskirt.

Results and Notes: The petticoat has help up without deforming for 3 months on my dress dummy, and has held it’s shape under up to 4 moderate skirts. I’ve taken it to faire once now, and it is readily foldable and returns to it’s shape when unfolded. It did not seem to have any problems holding out my skirts when I was moving, while being worn under one medium weight cotton blend petticoat and one wool (lined with muslin) kirtle. The only problem I encountered was that the top row of cording is a little smaller than I would like, and I can’t easily swing my leg over a bench. Technically, I suppose shouldn’t be doing that anyway. ;) When I make another of these, I will not use plain cotton as the base of the petticoat. I will use something with more slip to it (at least polished cotton, possibly satin) so that it is easier to thread the cording through the channel.

Will I do it again?: Yes.

This was the official “test dress”. The design and patterning are based on a pattern for a german dress on page 252 of Karl Kohler’s History of Costume. The bodice and skirt front are cut as one, but the pleated skirt sides and back are cut separately and sewn in. The actual point of this dress was to test some theories on padded pleats and stiffened hems. I was hoping these two techniques would be able to make lighter weight or shifty fabrics behave like the heavy brodaces and stiff fabrics that we think we see in portraits. The dress is made out of a wool twill (decidedly shifty and slinky) and lined with plain muslin. The cartridge pleats are padded out with about a 1/4″ thick strip of cotton quilt batting. The strip is about 3″ wide, and runs the lengthof the pleats. The idea was to give the pleats enough body and stiffness of their own that support underneath them would not be necessary. The bottom of the skirt has a line of 3/8″ cotton upholstery cord embedded in the hem. This was to provide extra stiffness and stability to a fabric that is neither stiff nor stable.

Results and Notes:The padded pleats do keep their form nicely, and stay in very smooth rolls, even though there is only one line of stitching in them. I have found, however, that they only stand out like they are meant to when the fabric supporting them is pulled very taut. The dress mysteriously does not fit me the way it fits my dress dummy, and “pulled taut” is not an easy option. The upholstery cord in the hem works well to hold the dress out and make it look stiffer – too well, in fact, as it sticks out so well on it’s own that it looks mildly ridiculous over the corded petticoat. I have since added a line of stitch that goes straight through the coring around the bottom, and this makes it a little less unwieldy. I have started padding all of my cartridge pleats out with batting or felted wool now, as this worked so well. I’m not as satisfied with the dress pattern, which constantly wants to bunch at the waist. I think it would work better out of a heavy cotton, rather than a slinky wool.

Would I do it again?: Yes. Would and have actually.
My venetian courtesean dress incorporates wool felt in the skirt pleats as
pleat padding, as have several other skirts since. I’ve been working on documenting the historical accuracy of the padded pleats.