1880s Working Class Corset Pattern Drafting

Before I can do aught else I must make me my underpinnings, for without them to measure over I cannot hope to make the overgarments fit. 

Making corsets kinda sucks. But is also amazing. Because a properly fitting corset is so comfortable, and flattering, and delightful. But making them is fiddly and needly breaky and hard work.

As previously mentioned I am starting with the Symington Pretty Housemaid corset (https://imageleicestershire.org.uk/view-item?i=7559) which has patterns available online. 

It looks like this:

It is largely corded, with a steel busk and two bones on each side. The Leicestershire museum states "The corset is made from a green/brown twill which has been lined with a beige coutil and interlined with hessian." I will make mine from cotton, lined with cotton, because I like cotton. I am thinking about the options for interlining and may actually use hessian, it is a good, strong and relatively cheap fabric.

The original pattern looks like this:

I however do not. I have a very short body and a large bust as well as being fat. My measurements are only 11 inches from the mid-bust line where the top of a Victorian corset should sit, to the bottom of where it can sit without cutting into my thighs or riding up, I am debating whether to go for a 10" or 11" busk. I am 50 inches round the unconfined bust, 40 inches round the waist and 45 inches round the hip. On the upside, to get the 10 inch variance that would be truly fashionable for the era I could simply pad out my hips and look like a tall Victorian lady someone dropped a heavy weight on. 

Initially I measured my body, the height between each line is also measured and accurate. The black line is the full circumference and the green is the front. I separated these measurements as simply getting something that goes round me and cutting it in half does not put the seams at my sides, they sit much further forward. 

Overlaying the two is a crude measure but demostrates the scale of the pattern changes needed:

So firstly I simply squashed the pattern to the correct height for me:

Then I started to reshape it for me. If you want a strictly historical silhouette you may be more cautious about this, but I have decided, at least for the first mock up, I am going to design it to fit exactly me in a sports bra. So a bit of uplift on the boobs but no compression of the waist. Once I have tested that, I will decide just how much tighter I want it to be and where to take the space out of. 

A major concern when changing the pattern is that the exact layout of the pieces is very important. It is what enables the corset to be cut appropriately across the straight grain and the bias in order to achieve the right give and take. I have done my best to maintain the shape with tips from the lovely Bernadette Banner here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhc05WtISV4.

The result is this:

I have left the original lines in lighter colours and my new ones are in green. 

As you can see it no longer fits quite as nicely on the page in a jigsaw fashion but it should hopefully maintain the grain angles relatively well. Most of the pieces are a similar shape excxept for D, and the back edge of F which are very different. I am not sure about that. I think many mock ups and re-works will be required. 

The next step will be to draft out the pattern on wrapping paper, which will be a challenge, then make a mock up and see what happens...

1880s Working Class American Woman's Outfit

The first project I am going to be showing y'all is for a LARP set in the Black Hills of the United Sates in the 1880s. I have some white muslin for the chemise and drawers, some white cotton for the corset and some beige and cream striped soft cotton for the dress. The character is a very pious and modest, working class woman. For this reason, and because I am super clumsy and need to be able to wear this all day without flattening small children or knocking over tables every time I turn around, I am not intending to go madly off into the second bustle era. 

The silhouette will be understated and a little old-fashioned for the era. The dress was her sisters 7 years ago and has been reworked for her after her sister married well and left it to her. There will be some gathering at the back of the skirt, and perhaps a little bum roll, but no more than that. I also tend to overheat badly so I am going to be making two options for the top, a very staid and sensible bodice with sleeves, but also a waistcoat with thin muslin shirt which I am still researching the possible (in)authenticity of. 

I have started with with the Symington Pretty Housemaid (https://imageleicestershire.org.uk/view-item?i=7559) - an extant example of a cheap, working woman's stays from 1890. So it is a tiny bit late for my costume, but the principle outline of the corset itself doesn't change that much 1880-1890 and it is designed to be cheap (important for me and my character). It was also designed to be a working woman's support, rather than a fashionista's tightlacing. 

I will then be going onto the Chemise and Split Drawers, which I am using simple outlines for based on these from Princeton University https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ee/6b/93/ee6b936d7824b577911531efb8961d35.jpg I will be going for the simplest versions with minimal lace for reasons of actual and character poverty, and to try to keep things simple overall. 

I've yet to decide if I'm going to make or buy stockings... I think buy is probably more likely. 

The skirt is going to be based off this pattern https://i.pinimg.com/originals/61/47/8b/61478b65c8e8d1072608d1f5ce22cfe9.jpg and I will watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za40PYeJU6c.

And the bodice likely this one https://i.pinimg.com/736x/82/ed/3e/82ed3e432414bef90be453b70e258944--bodice-strand.jpg

 The waistcoat will be use this for reference https://duckduckgo.com/?q=womens+wastcoat+pattern+1880&t=ffab&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.fieldsfabrics.com%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Ffolkwear222a.jpg though not the double buttoned one. Also this video will be watched again, and again, and again.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THzNFKwrIOM, again a bit later but very useful. 

The shirt I am still working on a source for, I am thinking a round, stand up collar with fairly loose and simple shaping on the body and flared shoulders on the sleeves coming into a tight cuff.

There will be much pattern drafting to do and much measuring. I am hoping the undergarments will be reusable for a long distant project for a more fashionable bustle skirt and jacket. 

Aaaannnnd I almost forgot there will be at least one ruffled petticoat to make the gathered skirts sit correctly, and possibly a bum roll as well, though I will decide that later on. More references for underwear https://i.pinimg.com/736x/42/f3/28/42f3283b599b3bc169593949b87b8189.jpg.

This will also be watched many times for inspiration - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovWsXgUMEGc a bit fancy but the silhouettes and layers are correct.

Introductions

 Hello. 

I am going to add in pictures of my pets along the way, because pets are awesome. But largely this blog is going to be about my journey in historical costume making. I'd like to introduce myself and my approach. 

I am a larger lady. I mention this because I know there are plenty of people like me out there, some of whom might want to get into historical costuming, but might be put off by the photos and paintings they see. 

So! Firstly look at the paintings by Rubens in the early 1600s, larger ladies were definately around then. Secondly look at the front cover of vogue today. The average drawing or painting of the Victorian era would have resembled the model as much as the front cover of a fashion magazine does tody. The average model for a photo would have resembled the rest of the population as much as the model on the front of a fashion magazine does today. 

Today we are not all 6ft, leggy, slender and 19 with impossibly perky bosoms. The Victorians and Edwardians were not all tiny waifs with improbably small waists, correspondingly suprisingly cushioned chests and frankly anatomically impossible buttocks. The secret was underwear, padding, angles, early photomanipulation and forgiving paintings. Whether you're bonyer than you'd like, fluffier than you'd prefer, tall or short, or perfectly happy with your shape but pretty sure it wouldn't make a historical silhouette there is underwear that will help. 

And it is not torturous! Yes the level of comfort in an Edwardian 'S' bend corset, or Victorian wasp waist, or even Tudor stays will not be the same feeling of comfort you get from pajamas. But for me any of the above, if fitted correctly, can be at least as comfortable as the binding and cutting modern sports bra required to prevent me from cracking a rib or breaking my jaw when I run. Tightlacing in the Victorian and Edwardian eras definately happened, but it was mostly practiced by the fashionistas, the Kardashians of their day, just as extreme plastic surgery today is available, but not everyone does it. 

Next I wanted to go over my approach to historical costuming. The seeking of the elusive beast Historical Authenticity. 

Now, I'm a LARPer so my current costume is mostly what you might call LARPthentic - looks remenicent from 10 paces but you can see the edges of the curtains when you get up close. I am working on making my costume more authentic but there may be some flexibility in my approach. 

Also - what is authentic? Accuracy is not possible. We weren't alive then, we don't know what has been lost, like the gaudily painted Greek statues or the sea water the Romans didn't bother noting on their cement recipe - cos everyone knew that. We can only go on the best remaining evidence. And the further back you go the less evidence there is. 

So I will simply try to make it clear when I am working from directly evidence based patterns, fabrics, stitches etc and reference the evidence wherever I can. When I am using probable best guesses based on the tools and materials available at the time. And when I am simply making it up to solve an intractable problem in an otherwise relatively authentic garment. 

References - straight off the bat I will say: 

• Go watch Bernadette Banner. She is wonderful, engaging, interesting and academic. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSHtaUm-FjUps090S7crO4Q
• Abby Cox does hilarious unboxing and reviews of genuine historical garments and has some great experiences from actually wearing historical dress long term. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiXol9ugjOxHHrpkdD0fZZg
  
• The Symington Collection in Leicestershire is a fantastic set of Victorian stays and corsets, with patterns, all available to see. https://imageleicestershire.org.uk/view-item?i=11963
•  Facebook groups - there are some lovely communities of like minded and helpful costume makers and sewists out there. Two of my favourites are Plus-Sized Historical Costuming https://www.facebook.com/groups/334134957630518/ and Historybounding https://www.facebook.com/groups/516027862514564/
  

I will also note that I HATE modern fashion, largely because nothing that looks ok feels comfortable, nothing that feels comfortable looks good, nothing has pockets, and rarely does anything feel comfortable whilst looking terrible or look ok whilst feeling horrible - mostly it just looks terrible and feels terrible. However - by making my own clothes, getting better at stitching and taking inspiration from an era where I feel the shapes suit me a little more flatteringly I am hoping I can start to build a wardrobe for real life as well as costumes.

That post is plenty long enough so I will sign off now, but I'll likely come back and add to the list of useful links as I find them.