New Sketch

The biggest pitfall with constructing my own designs is that I always end up second-guessing myself.  After doing quite a bit more research and watching the fabulous "Elizabeth R" mini-series from the seventies, I've changed my mind about the bodice decoration.  There is so, so much documentation for "T" and "V" shaped trim on bodice fronts, but not really anything to support my previous stomacher-style design, which I fully admit was inspired by Sandy Powell's designs for "Shakespeare in Love", which are absolutely gorgeous but not exactly accurate.  Sandy has stated frankly in interviews that her designs match the tongue-in-cheek, romantic comedy feel of the movie and weren't meant to be exactly representative of the era.  I agree design choices, and the final product is gorgeous, but I think for this project I'll be erring on the side of historical accuracy (with provisions for the needs of modern outdoor theatre, of course) and move away a little from that inspiration.

Here is a doodle of my new idea for trim placement on the bodice.  I may or may not have done this during a staff meeting at my day job, please pardon / ignore the notes and type.

I know that is wasn't customary to have loose hair during this period, but I want to be a pretty princess damnit and ain't no one can stop me!  At least until my directors tell me otherwise. 

Corset Progress!

I've been working on and off for the past week on a "rehearsal corset"- a simple pair of stays made of inexpensive calico-print cotton and boned with jute twine and zip-ties from Home Depo.  I wanted to make an informal corset that could stand up to washing and hard wear, made of inexpensive materials so that I won't feel guilty submitting it to a lot of hard wear at the Renaissance Faire this summer.

Since this is my fist time drafting a corset, I've been proceeding pretty carefully and learning a lot along the way.  After making a muslin mock-up, I was satisfied with the basic shape of my pieces and ready to start.  The trickiest part of the cutting process was pattern-matching the front pieces-- the front opening is cut off-grain to allow for the difference between bust and waist measurements without having to resort to darts or princess seams, neither of which were used in the 16th century.

Front pieces, matched as accurately as I could manage

Once I had all my layers (fashion fabric, muslin interlining and corset coutil lining) I flat-lined them together and then sewed in the boning channels, using my machine foot as a guide.  Here are all the pieces with the channels sewn in,

Next, I basted the side-back seams together.  

Time for hand-bound eyelets!  I made 58 of these puppies, using a tailor's awl and button-hole thread.  It took my about three days, for a total of maybe 12 hours.   I was watching the 1971 "Elizabeth R" mini-series with Glenda Jackson as I sewed, so I wasn't being very efficient.  

Hand-bound eyelets, seen from the wrong side of the fabric.  These were actually pretty fun to do, although my fingers got sore from tugging the needle through the coutil.  I'll need to add a few more later, to attach the shoulder straps in the front and add points where my petticoats can attach to the stays. 

I drafted a simple set of shoulder straps once the eyelets were finished and I could lace the bodies onto to my dress form.  Now it was time to add the boning.  I used a double strand of jute twine, inserted with a bodkin, to bone the back and side-backs so that the bodice would provide support without being uncomfortable stiff.   I have very good posture (partially resulting form a spine surgery several years ago) and didn't want too much support.  The front is boned with 14inch plastic cable ties, the ends of which I smoothed out with a file meant for acrylic nails. 

With my boning in place but the corset still unbound and unfinished, I wore it around to an afternoon to make sure that I was happy with the level of stiffness, the front length, and so on.  Although the fit was generally pretty  good, I needed to scoop out each armscye (no one likes getting poked in the delicate under-arm area!) and adjust the front dip a little to be truer to my actual waistline.  At the first fitting, I liked the length but the tabs needed to be cut about 3/4 of an inch higher. 

Looking good!  Here are the stays this morning, after my pattern alterations.  

Now that I am satisfied with the shape, I'm going to do final trims on the boning, trim out the seam allowance, and bind this sucker up with bias tape.