Victorian underwear- corset, cage and petticoat.

This last week and a half has been focussed on ladies' unmentionables - none of which should be seen in polite society. We are going to be making an 1880s style bustle dress soon so need the underpinnings to give it the right form. The patterns used were Norah Waugh's from Corsets and Crinolines - or at least they were when we started. 
The corset was first, they are back lacing, steel bones - both spiral and flat steel, with a front fastening busk-  this is to define the torso's shape but has the added fun of moving the squidgy bits in all directions.



Norah Waugh- Corsets and Crinolines

First step - measurements of everything and then padding out a tailor's dummy to fit. We draped the corset - basing it on one from the 1870s/80s with 5 panels each side ( mine had to have 6 (depressing - have another cake?)).   Once the toile was workable we transferred to coutil ( densely woven and sturdy) and construction began. The seams were done to the outside of the corset and  the seam allowance was meant to be trimmed and folded to make a fell seam which doubled as the boning channel.

Far too simple - I ended up making each channel out of bias binding made from the coutil. The eyelet punch was fun but not as satisfying as getting out the hammer and beating them into submission, but at least the busk went in sweetly. When we tried this on  the corset all but folded in half - so more bones were added in each panel and the back spiral bones were swapped for straight steels.  It does now double as armour and weighs a minimum of half a ton. After the  basic fitting came the binding of the top edge and cutting the bones to length- sore fingers- and sealing the whole thing off with the bottom line of binding.

I'm not entirely comfortable in it - it pinches under the arm on one side so am still making minor adjustments there which explains the  unfinished lace trim- ( doesn't explain why one side has lace the top and the other at the bottom - ummm).

Bustle cage - this is the boned structure  intended to give extra volume to the skirt.

dog agility or tent?  It does look better the right way up!

This is straightforward to construct though it has an awkward moment or two and some muscle is required.  There are side front flaps that wrap around the waist, a narrow inner back that gives the tension to make the  wider outer back  steel bones bow. We started by sewing the outer back together and adding the boning channels with 1" tape as in the middle photo. The gaps in the centre are to make adding and removing the bones easier. The top two cross over  and are put in before sewing the side seams. The side seams are a sandwich of the inner back,  the front flaps, and the outer back. Sewing the second of the seams is the fun bit - the bones have to be bent so that the stitching lines match up- tack them into the channels, sew from the

inside the cage- the floor is the inner back.

bottom upwards and use a zipper foot and it was relatively easy- The muscle is needed to turn the whole thing rightside  out.  The top edges of the backs are joined and the whole is assembled onto a petersham waistband- measured to fit over the corset.  To finish the bottom a length of box pleating  is added to the hem - unfortunately I have mislaid the completed image - will add later.

  As if this isn't enough - or heavy enough - on top of this goes a totally frilled petticoat.  Again a simple garment with embellishments. It covers the whole cage, softening the outline while giving extra, extra bulk.

Step 1 was joining the front panel to the 2 side panels and hemming everything.

complete frilliness and the placket opening.

  Next was adding the frills to the back panel. We went for 4 tiers of frill plus one at the waist, so made them 12" deep. The back piece is 40" wide  so the 3 bottom frills were 120" wide and the 4th was 100" .  Making the frills was  repetitive labour rather than difficult, - 4 lots of overlocking, 4 lots of hem pressing and sewing, but the gathering was simple - we zigzagged over a length of buttonhole thread and pulled the fabric up along that. They were sewn to the back at 10" intervals to give 2" overlap.  Once all was done the front assembly and the back were attached leaving a 10" opening at the left top.  Then the mild concussion of trying to remember how to do a  placket to finish the opening. 

 It was put on the stand and pinned to a

petersham band, matching the back/side seams to the seams of the bustle cage underneath.  The back piece has  two lines of gather stitching at the top and these are pulled to fit. The petersham is sewn in place and the whole goes back on the stand for the final frill. This is shorter, only twice as long and narrows at the ends. This  was prepped as before and pinned from the centre back to the side seam  covering the top of the last frill - mine went from 10" to 5" deep and only 80" long. This was sewn on - the industrial machine was a godsend to this,

pinning to the waistband and adding the last frill.

the bulk reduced and the whole length of the waistband covered in white cotton tape to enclose the raw edges. Add on hook and bar fastenings and giant press studs down the placket opening and it is done!

 

The completed ensemble-  I still have visions of  looking like this in Victorian underwear - 

  think I'd be a good foot above the cushions in this bustle and the proportions are somewhat different. Need to find good opportunities for languishing. Answers on a post card?

Distractions list - Far too many  sweets (Minstrels!) museums, rain, Pauline's birthday-( nearly party-popped a bemused delivery man)  tea and scones at Grays Court (dead posh, right behind the Minster, optimistic wasp)  sewing moles - embryonic corset-o-saurus.  Will fill in the details next time.

man's shirt c 1830s

Northern  College  of Costume, York.  Summer Course- wk 1 -shirt

Actually started! This is a costume course - not a 'lets make a historically accurate garment down to the very last detail' course. Modern machines and techniques are used so don't expect a purist's outcome. In other words - overlocked and machine sewn.

From V&A, earlier but similar

project one -  gentleman's ensemble c 1830s



Waugh, Norah. The Cut of Men's Clothes, 1600-1900

First the shirt - this was based on the Norah Waugh pattern for the 1700s/early 18th C. The cuffs are changed to  fitted ones and a stock at the neck rather than cravat. It is fitted at the neck and cuff, quite tight at the armhole - but  most of the rest is just gathered in almost all directions- and with gusset mania .  There is a huge amount of fabric in the body and sleeve- it is hard to imagine it 'fitting' anyone except the Michelin man.

Also, being a forward thinking and highly organised person I did take a camera everyday to record the process - then forgot to use it. The construction images are from a mini version done yesterday as a 'revision' exercise.

Task one -
First scaling up and drafting. This was simple enough - it is all right angled blocks - although my fabric pieces tended to change shape somewhat after their experience of the industrial overlocker. Must remember not to giggle.

 The construction  should have been straight forward enough as well but there were one or two tricks and ideas (and gussets) to play with-

frill and placket on my small version

A small  dart into the centre front at base of the neck opening was new idea 1 for me. This gives a small allowance for the placket and it worked well. Having the placket behind the top fabric was different- the buttons on the chest are hidden.





New idea 2  was to  put in a  gusset into the shoulder seam at the neck.  This  gusset is folded into a triangle and  opens out the seam to give some shaping at the base of the collar to allow for the slope of the shoulder line. On the photo, to the left of the frill, the folded gusset is quite clear, sticking up above  the flat line of the shoulder seam.

underarm gussets, raw edged and partly felled

On to gussets 2. This was not a thing I was looking forward to but it went well - just had to be careful about leaving seam allowances at the first and third corners  and lining up the seams at right angles. Locating the second part of the underarm to complete the  gusset (corner 3 &4) did get a little confusing - first find the back of the sleeve in all of those billows of fabric!
Another folded gusset  (number 3s) opens the  bottom of the  side seam.


The rest was familiar territory, which means it was more frustrating to make errors.
I had a proper Wednesday which  was frustrating - it was collar day. The process is simple enough but there was plenty of fight left in the shirt. There is gathering all round the neck, with tucks at the shoulder on the gussets. Problem one gathering evenly, problem 2 stopping the fine fabric of the collar from rucking and pleating as I was machining, and problem 3, of course remembering to fold the top placket back underneath the shirt front before attaching the collar. Once all of this was sorted out ( unpicking skills to the fore) the iron decided to strike and mark the fabric as it was pressed. It will come out in the wash, it will.....

After this it was sleeve plackets and then cuffs. These we cut with a slight flare to go down onto the hand and to be buttoned at the wrist. Guess who got the buttonholes muddled?  My model - the Phantom Man of Mystery -will use cufflinks now. I shall cite one of the V&A examples if challenged.










Now that the shirt is done the rest of the ensemble was begun - Cossack trousers (pleat fronts) waist coat and frock coat, had to be drawn out and pattern pieces made. Ron Davis' patterns were the guiding light for these, they are not hard but do require some maths, precision and care - all of which were in short supply on a Friday.  A minor concern is the elusive nature of my male model - only 3 confirmed measurements ( or is that sightings?) - I am beginning to visualise him as somewhere between the Cheshire Cat, fading in and out of existence leaving only traces, and the Scarlet Pimpernel, - we seek him here, we seek him there....  We have done best guess patterns based on a similar guy and will run up the toiles next week  for a fitting. It is going to be an interesting time!
Photos and reports on these next week.......

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chemise a la Reine - Gwen style.

This week's effort was meant to be light relief – I think you can guess what happened.

I picked an iconic garment from the 1780s; the chemise a la Reine. You probably know the dress even if the name is unfamiliar – think English country house portraits with white fluffy dresses, frothy at the neck with big coloured sashes and ribbons. The setting may be countryside, the lighting dramatic. Big picture hats, and occasional dogs or children.

This had begun life as a  'gaulle'  (robe a la gaule), a loosely fitted  dress of layers of muslin usually worn with fichu and apron. It was picked up as an informal relaxed style by Marie Antoinette and popularised by her, she even sent examples to the Duchess of Devonshire and Mary Robinson in England. It became known as a chemise a la Reine,  an insult - the Queen's underwear. This did not stop the dress becoming popular wear at  Petit Trianon and amongst the fashionable classes. The queen was criticised for  this - it was not suitable or appropriate for one of her status. Even the fabric was seen as unpatriotic,  the expensive cotton muslin had to be imported at a time when the home grown silk industry was in decline.

The basic idea of the dress is very simple- think sundress with sleeves. It is a large tube gathered at waist, neck and sometimes inbetween, to fit.  It has shoulder straps  and sleeves which are gathered at various places. Some have flouncy necklines, some lace, while others are left plain. Lots of ribbons and large sash complete the look. For 'simple' garments some examples are extravagant and flamboyant  expressions of wealth

There were many examples to select from,  Vigee LeBrun painted many of the grand ladies in the dress, remember the infamous one of  Marie Antoinette?, but this is the one  that appealed the most. –   a rather detached looking French lady and I liked the sleeve details. 

This portrait is of  the Countess of Provence, Maria Giuseppina of Savoy (known as Marie Joséphine in France)  dated 1782. ( Wikipedia is not flattering but in outline - she married  Louis Stanislas- younger brother to Louis XVI. They  escaped the violence in France and established a court in exile,  and following the death of the Dauphin her husband was declared King Louis the XVIII, she died in Buckinghamshire in 1810!).

There are many blog sites describing the making of the chemise but the only pattern guide I have found is a diagram from Norah Waugh. Unable to print it out, I measured off the screen, (umm) and drew up a rough outline of the main parts with 'hopeful' if not aspirational measurements.
 Norah Waugh's has 3 rows of gathering, the top neck edge and the 2 channels marked, Marie Josephine  only has 2 rows on the body, the top of the sleeve has a tighter band (can not make out how this is done), and a lace collar. Could not see the bottom of the sleeves so  prepared to make this up - as if the rest was incredibly accurate!

This an approximation of Waugh's outlines - I was able to cut the whole body out a single piece so the only seam is centre front. The circumference  of the tube is 1.26m to fit a bust size of 43cm! The sleeve looks huge -  45cm wide and the top of the sleeve is flat, the cuff is curved, which feels odd. So far it looks easy, and quick. Time to get real - fell seams ( I did French) = 2 rows of stitching, rolled hems on every raw edge, each gather needs a casing = 2 rows of stitching, and it all adds up.

The muslin I had is a gentle yellow tone rather than white, quite nice quality, evenly woven without slubs or snags. Meant it looked nice as it unravelled.

Making up -
The back neck edge is gathered onto a fixed band of cotton

tape to give some stability. The front neck edge is folded to give the dip to the centre front and used as a channel for the first drawstrings- these run from the armhole forward, I made eyelets so that the ribbon 'strings' could come out to the front to be tied. The waist channel (5 mm cotton tape) was marked and  stitched to the inside and the front seam closed upto Gwen's waist level. The remainder of the front opening was hemmed and folded under.

This was the body of the dress done.  Next was the shoulder pieces, These were adapted to fit Gwen but the rounded 'serifs' top and bottom were kept - these gave a rounded transition from shoulder to front and back neck.

 In the first image the sleeve is pinned in situ to get an idea of the space the strap has to fill, In the second the strap is drawn onto fabric and problem one is found - should the front be gathered right to the armhole or just to the edge of the shoulder piece? Opted for the second in the interests of reducing bulk. The bottom photo shows the sleeve coming up from below and attached to the strap lining piece. to the right is the front - seam done and the allowance folded upwards. The top part of the strap is already attached ( along blue line) and waiting to be flipped over to be edge stitched down onto  the same seam line as the lining. This encloses all the nasty raw edges. Sounds like a headache? Not really, just takes some planning, fiddling and patience. The result works well, no raw edges inside or out to worry about.
  Have you noticed problem 2? Forgot to reduce the top of the sleeve. Lesson - big, BIG stitches preferably in neon colours if ever you want to unpick on muslin. Having done some damage attempting to unpick the sleeve  an executive decision was made - live with it, reduce the top sleeve width by other methods.
Sulking gently it was neck line time - and no lace to suit! The modern stuff was toothpaste white or just not long enough so.....
Introducing extant example from Manchester -take a look at this site for fantastic firsthand details and images, This had a flouncy double frill at the neck,  so cut on a curve rather than a straight  gathered strip. This gobbles up huge amounts of fabric and is a pig and a half to hem. Nevermind. Bit of grit and a packet of biscuits ( plain and not greasy) and it was done. Done and then some - it is too much. And it is a nightdress. Hum. Not quite so bad with the waist drawn in but still..... problem 3.

Solution time.
Problem one sorted en route - only gathered the front neck edge on strings.
Problem 2 - needing to draw in the fullness at the top of the sleeve - smocking to the rescue. Did 2 rows of simple square smocking at the top of the arm ( mark a square and pull the opposite corners into the centre and secure. You get a four petalled flower on the stitch side and a square puff on the other. Just repeat.)  Probably should have done 3 or 4 rows for a denser effect but they can be added at will.

Problem 3 - uber frilliness. The fault lay in fully opening the neck gather and stitching the frill along its length - 25cm worth.  Solution was logical, less gathering . So unpicked the front,then gathered half of the neck edge and secured it.  Re attached the frill taking  11cm  off its length each side, neaten, and rejoice. The reduction in the amount of fabric in the frill  has helped a lot.

All it needs is sleeve gathering channels - surface mounted  muslin strips this time. I did experiment with more gathering rows but it became too congested - There is also the option of adding lace frills if it feels unfinished.
Washing time to get rid of the blue marker and then photoshoot!   Done. (not done - see the following posts!)

Odd thoughts - in the photos it looks Edwardian.But so did the Manchester one. I think the proportions may be out - more hip and less bust required?  The frill is too wide  -compare to the portrait- volunteering to re-hem all of that on the bias? - next lifetime may be. Meantime out with the bum rolls. Could possibly just roll the hem again? NO.
 Time for tea.
 But maybe the length of lace I just found could do the neck line better........ These are just details  the dress itself has worked well. There maybe an occasion to try the third row of gathering on the bust line in the future -  but it is huge - the volume is immense - 3 or 4 lengths of fabric for full size! No wonder they were considered as frivolous expensive things.....

Stray thought -Just trawling through images with no idea of the stories and history behind the people shown, so do tend to see them just as pictures – more likely to assess painting style and dress than anything else. By finding out more about the sitters, these are now dresses worn by people- not sterile museum exhibits. I started feeling uncomfortable about seeing them entirely as artefacts particularly as so many came to violent ends- what they wore only a few years before became less important. It is a little relief that this lady survived the Terror- imagine if I'd picked the next portrait along - Princesse de Lamballe - Marie Josephine's sister.