The Elizabethan Corset, done

I have an Elizabethan "pair of bodies"; well, a modern interpretation of them, but if I'm looking for flat-fronted, angled torso, these will certainly do the trick!  I had done some more reading (Sarah Lorraine's article is particularly inspiring) and hand bound eyelets would have been historically accurate, but I loved the idea of  using the metal eyelets that I had originally bought; in the end, the look of the corset won over accuracy. As I've mentioned before, I have been thinking a great deal about the idea of accuracy in relation to making this costume.  Just the span of time between then and now makes it complicated: it is a juggling act between what is accurate vs what is achievable, and, ultimately, what I want to make for myself.  As the corset is already inaccurate in terms of it's constituent parts, no plastic covered stainless steel bones in the 1500s, I decided that I would extend it to the eyelets too.  I started off by marking their positions, starting an inch down from the top edge and placing them 1.5 inches apart.  

From then on, the boyf took over and I took photos, as many as I was allowed at least! He had brought home a hole-punch from work and proceeded to do his thing... holes punched;

trimmed;

and eyelets hammered in.  On our chopping board on the dining room floor; the only surface in the house strong enough to take some sustained thumping without ending up dented or damaged!

A proper toolkit, so different to my usual stuff.  I used Prym's new Antique Steel finished eyelets.

And there they are, a row of finished eyelets.  I also decided to place two eyelets at the front of the corset, at the edge of the central front curve and sitting, happily under the bone that runs at the edge of the front panel of the corset.  They will be used to  secure the farthingale to the corset.

The lacings that I bought are not what I thought I'd bought; more like extremely long shoe laces than the lovely corded ones I used on the Victorian Corset.  I will change them in time, but these are useful enough as test laces.  Elizabethan corsets are not laced in X forms, rather in spiral forms as this excellent article at Festive Attyre explains.  For the purposes of this first test try I did a quick X lacing, easier for me to put on myself, but when I change the laces I will use a different pattern.  The boyf tightened them for me a bit, though they could go another inch narrower, and I spent a happy half hour taking photographs and admiring my new corset/pyjamas outfit!

I love the gentle curve of the tabs over my hips.

A detail of the farthingale eyelet at the front.

It is far tighter than the Victorian corset, I am a size 8 and was spilling out in all sorts of places: those extraordinary Elizabethan busts, I think I may actually be able to achieve one!  The corset is also a great deal more comfortable too, I walked round happily for nearly an hour, with no problems breathing and could sit comfortably.  It was an entirely different experience to when I first put on the Victorian one. This is entirely down to the shape, it is not as long as the Victorian corset and the tabbed hips allow for greater ease of movement.  I am going to compare the widths of the two corsets, because I think that this one is narrower, it certainly felt tighter when the boyf was pulling it in, but again, because it is not as long, the areas being reduced width-wise are more malleable and adjust more easily.  Overall I am delighted with my first Elizabethan piece.  I am itching to get on with the bum roll and farthingale.  

Finishing the corset, part two

I really should start calling it by it's proper name, "bodies"...  but that aside, the finishing is done.  It took two separate evenings, with a 24 hour break in between to rest my fingers, to bind the bottom and another two to do the sides and top. 

The main issue was that I left the bones in their channels and so, on the coutil side in particular, the needle met a great deal of resistence but I would rather that than a misstitch into the lining and then a lot of unpicking when the bone wouldn't fit back in again!  In the end I ran two lengths of thread simultaneously, one for the front and one for the back and alternated sewing sides every 6 inches or so, this made it go much quicker. 

There are suggestions that you leave the main wooden bone panel open at the top and then lace it in place with holes drilled through it and the front of the corset, but I like the severe look of this corset, I didn't want a bow on the front softening it.

I took a couple of quick photos on my phone this morning, it still needs to be pressed and I will take some other photos later with my camera, but it gives you an idea.

Now the boyf and I (I am enlisting help on this one!) need to tackle the eyelets... please let there be no mistakes or accidents, I have gone way too far to have to rebuild this bodies from scratch!

Finishing the corset, part one

I won't be typing much, my fingers are too sore! I started on the binding for the corset mid-afternoon yesterday, with the first row of tabs; thinking, rightly, that it would be best to work on them whilst fresh and not too tired. Goodness! The first took over an hour and to bind those four and the front panel took 4-5. At 10pm, more in my stride but facing the next row of tabs, I took myself to bed. I'm not entirely sure that I'm even happy with the results, but that could be a tired, grumpy, ruined fingers opinion. I've learnt to sit back and look again later. We'll see how it goes tonight...

The Elizabethan Corset, part one

I deliberately saved the corset make till the weekend.  I don't think it will take too long to make and I wanted to be able to properly focus and savour the experience, with lots of tea and good music etc.  I was also hoping that the bones would have arrived, which would mean that I could complete it in one go... there is impatience in my patience!

As with all good plans, the bones and busk arrived in time and I have had a clear Saturday in which I can knuckle down and get sewing (once I'd done the shopping, painted more of the dog kennel and supervised Megs with the chooks for an hour or so!)... here's how it went:

I pinned the pattern to the coutil and cut around it.  Then I paired the cotton twill top layer and the cotton drill lining, before pinning and cutting out the pattern again.  I matched all three together, making sure that the more flexible top fabrics matched the coutil and pinned them together.  The busk that arrived in the post was slightly wider than the measurements given at elizabethancostume.net so I laid it on the coutil side of the fabrics and marked the new measurements.  From there I marked each bone width individually (I had allowed for some excess on my original pattern, so could still fit them all in as planned), sewed the line, checked the bone for fit and continued from there.

All set and ready to go..

Cutting out the coutil 

Cutting out the top and middle fabrics

Pinning the three layers together

Checking the bones for fit

It's a lot of bones! and it looks a little like a skeleton..

Sewing the channels in place

Half done, now to finish it...

Once I had sewn in all the bones, I tried a quick fit and panicked, I was certain that it was far too small!  Before I went any further, I cut some gosgrain ribbon into 15" strips, tacked them onto the corset, dragged the boyf upstairs and mock laced it for a more proper fitting.  It does fit, and is surprisingly comfortable but if these measurements are correct, then I underestimated the Elizabethans, this is one tough cookie of a corset!

I thought that I had enough gosgrain ribbon to bind it, but I don't - quick shopping trip tomorrow - and I need the boyf's help to trim the busk to size and hammer in the eyelets.  Today was sewing, tomorrow we're back to corset building.

Corset Fabrics and IT heaven

It pays, when you are a secret IT geek, to have friends in IT.  Especially when you have a new laptop and they have the software and space licences!  So this evening I am installing a couple of my favourite bits of IT kit, which is generally pretty boring and laptop battery destroying, but ultimately worth it and gives you time to think.

I had rooted round my fabric stash for a pale aqua-green shot silk which I was determined to use as my top corset fabric.  As clearly as I remembered the gorgeous colour, I had forgotten about the cream and beige bands of stripes, not too terrible, and the raised bands of darker green velour, yuck!  Back to the stash it went and, in making space, out came the cotton twill that I used for the skirt of my Victorian outfit.  It is a pretty simple fabric, cream and black stripes, but it has the most beautiful feel, to both work with and wear, and is a firm favourite.  I have more than enough left over to make a corset and a matching bum roll and I have to say I like the idea.  It will be lovely to use it in such a different manner, I need three layers of fabric for this corset and it will go very well with the remaining black cotton drill (left over from the box covers commission) and also with the leftover black coutil that I have.  The cotton drill would make a great choice for the farthingale too.  It would be a nice combination of dark and light; quite the opposite to it's pairing with the pale blue of the Victorian outfit.

I worried for a bit about using black as my intention for the rest of the outfit is soft creams, golds, greens (I think) but as I understand it from my initial look at the pattern, the farthingale will be under a full length kirtle and a full length gown on top of that (I'll certainly be warm!), I won't need to worry that it's black as you'll never see it!  I am also thinking that, if I have time, I would like to incorporate some blackwork embroidery (one of my favourite things to stitch) into the outfit, the black certainly wouldn't be out of place then.

So, in the tradition of using what I have and what's in front of me, buying only when necessary, I could have all the fabric for my Elizabethan underpinnings ready to hand, and more excitingly, to sew... hurry up IT kit!

An Elizabethan Corset: drafting the pattern

And so it starts.  I decided that, in order to decide whether or not to buy a pattern for the Elizabethan corset  (farthingale and bum roll), I needed to make greater sense of the instructions on elizabethancostume.net.  The site has a generator which gives you the measurements and instructions to draw your own pattern and three pattern adaptations from it.  I input my measurements, drew out the pattern and got the bug... there will be no need to buy a commercial pattern!

As with most instructions, when the author knows a subject inside out and back to front, there is an implied level of knowledge that sometimes needs further explanation/clarification.  My basic template drawn, I have had a lovely couple of days researching the various elements: bones, busk, fabrics, and looking at finished corset pictures to work out the missing elements.  Having a level of corset building knowledge has been useful, but Victorian and Elizabethan corsets are quite different, both in design and construction.  Unlike a Victorian corset, an Elizabethan corset is less about narrowing and curving of the shape; rather it is built to shape an entirely flat, straight front and provide support to hold up the weight of the farthingale, bum roll and outer skirts.  It has only a back closure and none of the boning should be flexible, as it would in a Victorian corset; the front panel is solid side-to-side bones.  Moreover, and most interestingly, the centre front busk should be made of wood.  As an Elizabethan corset ends in a point at the front, mid pelvis no less, this measurement needs to be carefully considered if it is to be held firm by a carved wooden busk!  There are modern alternatives, mainly wider steel bones, but none would have the solidity of wood; I found a supplier of wooden busks, and one is ordered and on it's way.

I chose the most "complicated but comfortable" corset pattern, with eight tabs at the waist.  The bones in the corset continue into the tabs and it is recommended that half inch and quarter inch bones are used.  A sample pattern of the layout of the bones is provided and it was good fun translating this into a final layout for my corset; juggling width vs strength vs pattern.  28 bones and a busk in total.  I thought the Victorian corset was firm, but it had flexibility built in and far less boning; it will be very interesting to see what this feels like.

Here is a scan of the final pattern, with the boning channels and individual bone lengths marked in red.

It's certianly far simpler than the Victorian corset was, at this stage on that I was eyeing up a dozen or more pieces!  The instructions regarding the fabric layers and the placement of the eyelets are not the clearest; again having some previous knowledge is proving useful.  I am still not entirely certain about the back seam; I didn't want to use eyelet tape again (the sign of a small progression in skill, I hope!) and I know that for stabiility the eyelets should sit inside of one width of bone and potentially there should be another line of bone sat to the right of them.  I don't have space for that, so have gone for a single, stronger bone (13mm); however, I will take a look when the bones arrive and may switch it for two narrower ones.