Legs O’ My Drawers
December 31st, 2010
I found I was unable to abstain from sewing for an entire day, so this afternoon, while my conscience was taking a nap, I finished the edging on my drawers.
Now all that remains is to cut and attach the waistband, complete with button. I’m going to stick to the basics as laid out in the Workwoman’s Guide and make a straight waistband. I think I may try a yoke on my next pair though, a la Godey’s 1850s.
In other news, I have despaired of finding time to visit Steinlauf & Stoller in person (ridiculous, as I live less than 2 miles from the store, but their hours are weekday only) and decided to order the steel for my busk and other findings needed to complete my stays from Lacis. I also ordered three different sizes of coton a broder, which seems to be the preferred thread for Broderie Anglaise embroidery.
Now back to my New Year’s resolutions and all the elegant entertainments we have planned for this evening. Should old acquaintance be forgot? I should say not!
Drawers Won
December 27th, 2010
I am now officially halfway done with my embroidered petticoat frill, and felt I deserved a little time off. So I opted to cut out a new pair of drawers. Even though it’s from 1838, I used the Workwoman’s Guide pattern.
The measurements given in the text are for a “moderate” size, which just happens to have a 25″ waistband! Of course that doesn’t include room for overlapping to button or tie, so they’re probably more like a 24″ waist, but that’s an easy enough adjustment. Even though I am rather tall by mid-19th century standards (average height was about 5 feet 2 inches while I measure in at slightly more than 5 feet 7 inches), I didn’t add any length in the crotch, yet they are still sufficiently roomy. I did include an extra inch in the leg — had I been aiming for a true 1838 pair of drawers, I might have added more to the leg, but my understanding of drawers is that they gradually got shorter and puffier as the century wore on (and as cage crinolines introduced the possibility that your skirt might fly up and reveal a peek of stockinged leg — or, heaven forbid, the edge of your drawers). Read on…
They Fit!
December 26th, 2010
I finished setting the grommets in my stays yesterday afternoon (do you know a better way to spend Christmas?). And I am delighted to report that THEY FIT! Take no notice of the wrinkling — aside from the zip ties surrounding the lacing holes, the stays are still completely un-boned.
Here you can see the spiral lacing up the back, with just the right amount of spring. Since the front was only pinned together, I didn’t even try to tighten them. I may change one or two things on the final pattern — the front stomach gussets are a little wider than strictly necessary (and kick out just a bit, though most of it is filled in by the skirt of my chemise), and I don’t think the bottom shape in the front is very graceful. You can’t see it in this picture, but it just cuts straight across, rather than sloping to a point in the middle as the back does.
Neither is worth changing on this particular pair of stays however, as they won’t affect the fit, which is what I am trying to determine. I shall simply note the changes for the next go round.
Since it is unlikely that I will be able to shop for a metal busk or twill tape (for bone channels) anytime in the next few days, I must reluctantly postpone any further work on my stays. Back to my embroidered petticoat frill I guess. Or maybe I will cut out some new — and greatly needed — drawers.
Spiraling
December 22nd, 2010
Tonight I set the grommets* on the left half of my new stays. I would have done both halves, but somehow I feel funny about pounding grommets with a hammer on my apartment floor after 10 pm. My neighbors feel funny about it too.
I suppose I could have quietly worked the holes round in buttonhole stitch, an option suggested in the Workwoman’s Guide, published in 1838. But the Workwoman’s Guide also mentions “patent lace-holes,” noting that some people prefer them despite how hard they are on your laces. By 1857, Godey’s doesn’t even mention working the holes, but presumes you are going to use “a box of French holes; and a punch for putting them in.”
I made another exciting discovery about the stay pattern though. Read on…
Who Will Lace My Corset?
December 20th, 2010
As I continue to work on my new stays (which will be without benefit of front opening busk), the question of how I will lace myself into them continues to arise. I’m an old hand at tightening my own corsets, but I’ve never slid into one already laced closed before.
I decided to do a little research on Google books, and while I have yet to come up with 1850s directions for lacing one’s own stays, I did find a very humorous account in The commissioner: or, De lunatico inquirendo, published in Dublin, 1843, that is somewhat related. It concerns a young criminal named Joey who hides himself under the nose of the law by dressing up as a French mademoiselle. Read on…
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