A Day at the Races

March 10, 2005

GBACG is going to the races again, and I don't want to miss out this time! Unfortunately, it's yet another new era for me, which means an entirely new costume from the ground up. Not such a good thing when I am as pressed for time as Ian currently. At any rate, here is the plan.

Even though I need to put this together with as little time and effort as possible, I still want to do it right, which means starting with the proper foundation. I'm going to make the teens corset from Corsets & Crinolines with a slight modification to make it over rather than under bust. This will probably be the most time consuming part, but I think it will be worth it in the end.

I've decided to use Butterick patterns for the outfit itself. (Risky, I know, but I'm hoping to save some time by starting with patterns that I know will have at least halfway decent directions and a fit that, if not perfect, is at least known.) For the skirt, I'm using pattern 4092 view C. The good news is that I am actually going to use fabric out of my stash for this one! I have a brushed silk that is striped in shades of blue. The underskirt will have horizontal stripes while the overskirt will have vertical. (I'm not entirely sure I'll have enough of the fabric, but if I don't, I'll just put the fashion fabric on the part of the underskirt that will show.) I'll be using pattern 4091 for the blouse, view D with a few modifications. First off, I think the overall look would be much better if the blouse were tucked in, but that won't require any actual changes to the pattern. I really like the vest front in view D, but the collar concerns me a little bit--looks a bit too contrived or something, so I may go with one of the other blouses. Hmm...now that I think about it, the sailor collar might be really cute done in white and blue and paired with the blue striped skirt. I'll have to think about that one. If I decided to go with the collar for view D, it will need to be tweaked a bit to look a little less...well...fantasy/gothic. Not that that is a bad thing, just not the look that I'm going for.

*A little later...

Wow, now that I'm looking at period fashion plates, I'm a little disappointed with the Butterick patterns, but I still think I can work with them. The sleeves of the blouse are all wrong, but I think I'll just have to live with that until I can make something a little more authentic. I will, however, certainly shorten them and maybe put a little lace cuff on them. None of the collars are just right, and I don't know that I'll have time to tweak with them to get something I like, so I'm thinking I'll make the plain version and add ruffled lace to the front and neck edges.

I think I still need to mull over this one a bit longer. Good thing I have the corset to keep me busy until I make some final decisions.

4/4/05

I was able to finish the corset over my spring break, so here is a detailed description of what I did...(I've explained all the procedures in detail, just in case anyone is unfamiliar with some of this stuff. The experienced will be able to skip a lot of the details, but you were probably just here to look at the pictures anyway, weren't you?)

I started off with a transparency of the pattern from Corsets & Crinolines. After enlarging it to its original dimensions, I traced the pattern onto art paper. I then used this pattern as a jumping off point for my own. I took careful measurements and decided to add about an inch to the center back and an inch and a half to the center front. (There are no seam allowances on the original pattern, so all of these measurements are in addition to adding a 5/8" seam allowance.) I also wanted to extend the top of the corset so that it would be over- rather than under-bust. I did this by adding four inches to the top edge and angling each side seam out a bit. (I know "a bit" is not a technical term but I kind of guesstimated here. I added more to the side front seams and less to the back. Some people might be able to get away without adding any to the back pieces.) I also shortened the bottom length an inch in order to compensate for my height...or lack of it.

My first mock-up ended up fitting just about perfectly as far as I could tell. I had added a bit too much to the side front seams in the bust area, so after taking those in a bit, I was ready to begin on the actual corset. I made it two layers, one of coutil and the other of cotton brocade, but assembled it as one layer. After basting the lining to each piece, I sewed them together as one layer, using flat-felled seams. (Sew the seam like normal, right sides together. Trim all but one layer of the seam allowance. Press the seam open, then press the long layer over the shorter layers, and finally press the covered seam allowance to one side so that all unfinished edges are covered. Stitch again, about a quarter of an inch away from the seam, making sure you catch the seam allowance.) I particularly wanted to use the flat-felled seams for a few reasons: one, it adds support to a corset that I knew would only be lightly boned; two, it adds strength to the seam--it is stitched twice instead of once; three, later adjustments to the size should be slightly easier than just starting from scratch. NOTE: the center front and center back pieces are done a little differently. For the center front, I inserted the busk between the two layers before basting the two layers together. For the center back. I sewed the two layers at the center seam with right sides together, then with right sides out, stitched the boning channels for either side of the lacing eyelets. Once that was done, I treated it as a single layer.

Once all the pieces were sewn together, I sewed the boning channels to the inside of the corset. (I made my own boning casings with cotton sateen.) With all the casings in place, I inserted all the boning and was ready to move on to the binding. (I used spring steal for all but the side back pieces, which are too curved for spring steal and need spiral bones.) I again made my own binding out of cotton sateen, this time cutting on the bias. I usually get prepackaged seam binding for my corsets, and so was wonderfully surprised by how much easier it was to use and get good results out of my own homemade bias seam binding. Definitely worth the extra time and effort! (I started out with a two inch wide strip of material cut on the bias. I then folded the edges in toward each other, pressing as I went along the strip. Then folded the strip in half, ironing as I went. There are little metal doo-dads that are supposed to make this folding and pressing process easier, but I find that I can do all this just as easily without them--except that it does get a bit hot for the fingers!) Unfolding the ironed bias strip and matching the edges, I carefully machine stitched the bias to the right sides of the corset (top and bottom edges), stitching in the fold of the bias that is closest to the unfinished edge of the corset. Now the edges just needed to be trimmed, the bias flipped over to cover all of the raw edges, and the binding hand stitched to the inside of the corset. The cool thing about making my own bias is that it goes around the curves much better than that store bought stuff that I thought was supposed to do the same thing but never does.

The last thing was setting in the eyelets. I first marked the placement with my disappearing ink pen. (I didn't put in as many as the pattern shows, because I generally find that I don't need them that close together. Plus, if I decide I need more, it's easy to add them later, but if I get sick of having to lace all those eyelets, I can't really take any of them out.) I used my awl to carefully stretch a hole large enough for the eyelet to pass through and then used my pliers to cinch them down. (I used to use the pliers you can get a most retail stores and always had problems with inside edge of the eyelet catching the laces. This problem was virtually eliminated once I got a decent pair of pliers--they still produce a broken inside edge, but the curve in the metal is much more uniform, so the split does not extend to the center area where the lacing pulls through.

Remaining issues (or things I would do differently a second time):

1. It's still a bit long. I could have shortened the bottom edge another inch and a half. This probably also would fix the problem of the corset seriously riding up when I sit.

2. I think the bust would have worked a bit better if I had gone with my original concept to add gores, rather than simple widen each corset piece. I think if I extended each corset piece directly up four inches, then added the gore, I would end up with a more pleasing figure--a corset that supports the bustline rather than compresses.

3. I didn't check the fit in the hips well enough during the mock-up stage, so it ended up being too big there. As it is now, the back boning sticks out rather than following the curve of the hips.

For now, I'm just going to leave things pretty much as they are. I don't think these little issues will make too much of a difference with this particular costume as far as the look goes. I'm also a bit hesitant to make any major changes right now as I'm working on losing some weight, so I'd end up having to change it again later anyway. So, I'll wear it as is to the event next weekend and to CC23, then not worry about making adjustments until I need to wear it again.

4/12/05

Okay, this entry is going to be rather long since I wasn't able to update as I worked on the skirt and blouse. Let's start with the blouse.

For the fabric, I knew that I wanted something light and lacy, so I started rummaging through my stash for something to that effect. What I came across was an eight inch wide eyelet trim, with light blue embroidery on a cream background. This was exactly what I was looking for, so I cut it into six strips which I sewed together using french seams in order to create "fabric" from which I could cut the pieces for the blouse. Next, I needed lining, which, unfortunately, required a trip to the fabric store. Pretty much as soon as I walked into the store, I noticed a lightweight cotton/linen blend that was the absolute perfect shade of light blue. With my fabric choices out of the way, it was time to take a closer look at the pattern.

Once I actually pulled the pattern out of the envelope and looked at the directions, I realized that it was unusually period correct for a major pattern company. I knew that Simplicity had started coming out with very accurate historical patterns, but I'd always just kind of skimmed over the Butterick patterns. They certainly said they were historical, but I always figured it was in that "period looking" kind of way. Surprisingly, I was wrong on this one. While I still have some issues with a few things, they are very minor problems, and the basic blouse will provide a very excellent period garment. The main thing that I particularly liked about it was that, while the outer fabric was loose, the lining was fitted, just as it should be. The other thing that absolutely floored me was that the sizing was correct; I cut out the size recommended in the instructions for my measurements, but I assumed that the resulting garment would be too big and need to be fitted and taken in halfway through the construction process. When I finally got to the point where I needed to do a fitting, everything fit perfectly!

I did get a little confused with the facing that the pattern called for. I do now understand its purpose: to give support to the button area for thin fabrics, which mine were, so I knew that I needed to have it. However, I ended up completely ignoring the instructions, which said something weird about leaving the lining loose in the center front...I don't know...I just couldn't figure it out, so I did it my own way. First, I basted the facing to my lining on all sides. (This was recommended by aranel13, so that the facing won't wrinkle up in between the two layers of fabric and cause ironing issues. A very good point, I think!) I then stitched the lining to the fashion fabric around the neck, front, and bottom edges, flipped through the armscyes as the directions said.

The only other changes I made to the basic pattern was to shorten the sleeves, which really isn't that big a deal, and the shape of the bottom edge. While the sort of vest front may be aesthetically pleasing, I didn't see any examples of such in my research as pretty much every blouse I saw was tucked in. As that's the case, the bottom edge really doesn't matter, but since I was afraid I might run a bit short of fabric, I decided to straighten the front. Having done this, I have one word of warning: those who are tall or long waisted will need to lengthen this, or if you are planning on wearing it with a skirt that has a natural waistline. I'm 5'3" with a very short waist, and the length ended up being perfect--just enough blouse to tuck into the high waisted skirt.

Okay, now for the issues, those little knit-picky things. First off, those collars! They are all just slightly off except for the sailor collar, which I tried without success. Once the collar was attached, the neckline didn't lay right, so I nixed it. It was a cute idea, but I just didn't have the time to fiddle with it to make it work. The other thing I didn't quite like was how low the neckline is; not that it is even close to being too low by modern standards, but it just didn't look right for the time period to me. While I didn't have to worry about it, the little frilly cuff thing also didn't look right; if I ever make a long sleeve version, I definitely will eliminate this piece. I think that's it for my complaints. See, it really is a very good pattern.

Now, on to the skirt...

This was really where this outfit began. While looking at fashion plates, I realized that stripes were really in, and I remembered a blue striped silk that I picked up while I was in Chicago last summer that would be perfect. Then I saw a skirt that had the underskirt with the stripes going one way that the overskirt stripes going another and thought it was absolutely adorable. So that part was completely easy.

The skirt was so incredibly simple it's almost not worth writing about. I did make some changes to that pattern, but as it turns out, I shouldn't have and wouldn't have if I'd had enough time. For the view I was making, the pattern says to use a lining fabric for the top part of the underskirt and have the fashion fabric begin half way down. I ignored this since I had plenty of fashion fabric to spare and wasn't really looking forward to sewing extra seams. My way still worked out just fine, but as it is, the overskirt often gets a little caught up on the underskirt, especially when I just stand up. It's not too big a deal since I can just smooth it out, but it has the potential to be a bit annoying.

Overall, I'm extremely pleased with how this outfit turned out. Much better than I expected from the patterns I was working with. Plus, I has a wonderful time at the event.

9/21/06

I actually had to say goodbye to this costume and sold it to another lovely GBACG member. After losing over thirty pounds, I decided that it was better to pass it on to someone else rather than try to alter it.