1911 Corset Sew Along - The Mock Up

So or those of you who hadn't seen this yet, I am doing this fun sew along project that goes along in bite sized pieces through January and February, and I should end up with a 1911 corset for the Titanic centennial. So far, I have drafted the pattern in my size and have made a mock up which is called a "muslin" which is what one does to ensure proper fit of a garment made in some sort of cheaper fabric to practice on so one doesn't ruin expensive fabric.

As I said before in a previous post, I am only posting a couple of photos of my progress on the mock-up process. You can see the entire how and why on the original blog: http://bridgesonthebody.blogspot.com/

Here is the muslin cut out. I drafted the pattern in my size, but had to add 2" to the bottom to ensure that it was long enough for my long waist. The original was designed for a quite smaller frame. I like to use striped herringbone ticking for my corset mock-ups so that you can see the grain lines, and it holds up to fitting with boning and lacing. The mock-up muslin is being sewn with a 1" seam allowance so that there is room for letting out if needed.

The front all put together.

And the back. I like the look of the stripes.

I had to post a photo of one of the hip gores, because I got all of seams at the point on all of the hip gores to match perfectly. I kind of wonder if I jinxed myself here, and will have to pick out the seams a zillion times on the actual piece.

Here is the fabric I chose. It is an Italian cotton shirting that this photo doesn't do justice. It is a beautiful woven stripe that looks like necktie silk. Not period fabric, but definitely in the spirit of 1911. Let's see if I lose my mind trying to match stripes..

and on to the next thing

If you have been following my Twitter feed lately or have visited me at Crafty Wonderland or talked to me in person recently, it is no secret that I am working on an exciting new project: CORSETS. And you may say to me, but Kirsten, you have already been making corsets for years. True, true, but these are different. These are steel boned traditional waist reducing corsets. Each has three layers of fabric, spring and spiral steel boning, and tons of handwork. My great-grandmother Bachan taught me how to sew when I was three. She hand basted everything with a needle and thread, and I thought that was totally crazy and unnecessary. But these are all hand basted; they have to be for the pieces to match up perfectly.

The lovely absinthe green and black lace corset pictured above is my first of hopefully many. I am learning about how they fit, and techniques that will save me from tearing up my fingers like I did on this first one. I used an altered commercial pattern on this first one, and I have already designed a new on from scratch (in muslin form below). I hand sewed the lace on and hand flossed the boning in the traditional manner. I am not sure that I am interested in historically accurate in looks, but I do use all the traditional techniques (as I always have with everything else I make). I have been thoroughly obsessed, and researched this topic way too much in the last six months. There is something really satisfying about hand finishing a garment.



Why this, why now? When I started my business 13 years ago, I was making really crazy labour intensive pieces couture style. All cut to fit and hand finished with excruciating detail. I need to be challenged. I need to make my own designs that dance around my brain whether I have time to attempt them or not. This what makes me happiest. In the last several years, I have been relegated to accessories and taking on whatever project that offered me enough money to survive. I had so many ideas that never got to be made, or are sitting half finished in boxes or languishing in sketch books or invading my dreams. The dreams haunted me with the designs I longed to make instead of wiling away the hours avoiding the things that I had to make on deadlines that had me pushed up until the last minute..

So here I am. There will be a trunk show in the fall, date(s) and place(s) TBA. In the mean time, I am looking to try this lovely muslin on as many bodies as possible. If you are in Portland and have a waist 27-32 i would love to try this lovely muslin on you. I will be grading the pattern to fit other sizes, but I have to start somewhere, so if you are outside this range, I may need to try a later muslin when I get to that point. I am slow. Slow because all the things that I feel are worth doing take time. Slow because I still have to fill orders and take the occasional odd project to keep going. Interested? Send me a message.