a beauty from warsaw

I've wanted to share images of this corset since I first saw it in storage at the Kent State University Museum.

KSUM 1983.1.1500 Three quarter front detail

I recently photographed it as part of the preparations for the upcoming Undress exhibit so I have a few nice pictures to post. Yea. The corset was made in Poland in the 1880s from two layers of silk. The exterior is black brocade and the interior is pale blue moire. If you look closely at the picture below you can see black thread is used for the warp and brown thread for the weft resulting in rich background that helps bring the solid black motifs into focus.

KSUM 1983.1.1500 Busk detail

The M Grochovska engraved on the busk loops is the maker's name, it's also woven on the label inside the corset. There is an image of the label and a bit more information about this corset on the museum's blog. But before you click over there let's take a closer look at the flossing.

KSUM 1983.1.1500 Three quarter detail

Wow. And the bow at the center front.

KSUM 1983.1.1500 Bow detail

Now that's a bow. There are two blue elastic suspenders to support stockings placed at the center front. They were my reference for attaching the garters on the 1911 corset I made. This corset is very shapely, but it isn't small. Laced closed on a form it measures bust 40 inches, waist 29 1/2, and hips 44.

KSUM 1983.1.1500 Three quarter front

So pretty! Don't you agree?

the official summer corset photograph

Finally, a really nice image of the late 188o's summer corset.

The details come through really well in this shot. If you know where to look you can just make out where the major cleaning was needed. But don't look that hard.

corset cleaning weather

72º and sunny. A perfect day for cleaning the summer corset. I started by sudsing some liquid Tide up in a bowl with lukewarm water, then putting the foam on the dirty spots. Here's a shot after the bubbles broke down.

I tapped what I could out with a soft toothbrush, added more foam, then gently scrubbed what remained with the toothbrush. Then I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed.

I patted the corset halves with towels to soak up as much water as possible, sprayed starch on the inside, then put the soggy corset on. Once it was laced I sprayed starch on the outside too. I figured I'd give the softened cane boning some time to take shape so I walked around in the sunshine for 45 minutes. The adia cloth dried completely and the bone casings were just damp.  Here it is after I took it off.

Look at it holding that shape! Home made steam molding! I never would have thought of adding starch, so thank you Jenny for the tip. Here it is laid out in the sun to finish drying.

Clean and crisp. It actually looks better than when it was just made. The corset looked unfinished in the original shot compared to now. Should I thank my cat for mussing it up? 

to be cleaned

I can not blame the cat. It's my own fault for not storing the summer corset properly. After the last wearing I aired it out and laid it in a box. I did not put the cover on the box and nothing makes a better bed for a cat than a low sided box. As I was pulling out the 1925 corselet mock-up (which was in a see through plastic container with a lid) I stumbled across this.

In the picture it looks like just a loose layer of dust that can be brushed off, but there is ground in grime across the entire front of the corset. So, cleaning. The section about cleaning in my 1921 copy of Corsets and Close Fitting Patterns published by the Women's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences says to lay the corset on a clean table or in a wash tub and scrub with a brush and hot soap suds. After scrubbing it should be rinsed several times then pulled and stretched lengthwise to remove wrinkles. It should then be hung in the sun and when almost dry it should be worn for a few minutes to to stretch it to the correct shape. Then rehung to dry completely. 

I like the technique of putting the corset on when damp to give it the correct shape. But scrubbing? I'm nervous about scrubbing the corset. Maybe sponging would be better. I'd given this corset a light wash before, but now it needs a real cleaning. If anyone has any tips that can help I would love to hear them, otherwise I'll just wait until there is a sunny day and get to work. 

summer corset in summer conditions

I gave the summer corset a test under maximum summer conditions.

When this picture was taken at 6 AM it was only 77˚. When it hit 113˚ everyone was equally uncomfortable, corseted or not. 

late 1880's summer corset on

It's on! And thanks for all the encouraging words and suggestions while I was working on this. 

I don't think a summer corset would ever be worn over black, but I wanted the see-throughness to show. This corset does create a long silhouette. I ended up with a very straight front, it doesn't scoop in at the waist and cup over the belly like I had expected. Maybe it would have had I used a 13" busk instead of a 12"? Or maybe that will happen if I lace all the way closed? I am impressed with the cane. This corset is very lightweight but gets the job done.

I took 3/4 inch off the bottom center front of the original pattern and blended it into the side at the hip resulting in a softer curve along the bottom front. I could have taken that 3/4 inch off all the way around and kept the nicer curve. The drop at the center front on top could have been a tad less, and the straight edge I patterned appears scooped when worn. I am so glad I raised the bust and added an extra 3/4 inch at the top edge. If I hadn't I'd be overflowing, and that's not pretty. But that wrinkling above the cording bugs me. I like the more angled look of the cording, and it does add support. I imagine if I had made it more horizontal as originally patterned I would have a slightly wider bustline. 

As it's laced here the corseted waist measures the same as my natural waist, no reduction, just reshaping. I love the back top edge, and think the flossing looks nice. There are a few bones that go right to the binding and I could floss right through the cane. Neat. All thread used for the flossing on the bone casings was waxed and ironed. Ironing made it even smoother than before and it looked like high-end dental floss. Learn a lesson from me though, do not experiment with leftover thread to see if it works like dental floss. It does, until you hit molars, then it breaks and you will have to find a pair of tweezers to pull the thread from between those back teeth.

All in all I'm pretty happy with the way this corset turned out. I like the colors and the contrasting thread and I'm pleased with the quality of construction. If I sew this pattern again the big change I'd make would be to take another inch off the waist. Lots of things learned, lots of things to apply to future corsets. 

Next up: 1780 stays

1880's done

Yea! 

And with the laces.

I'm hoping once on the body some of those wrinkles will disappear. Keep your fingers crossed. In the meantime, here are the stats.

approximately 1 square yard cotton adia cloth

3/4 yard - cotton coutil

6 yards - 1cm double faced satin ribbon

1/3 yard - 6mm double faced satin ribbon

2/3 yard - 3/4" petersham ribbon

3 yards - cotton string

1 1/2 skeins - cotton embroidery floss

3 - spools thread

1 - 12" spoon busk

34 - double zero grommets

2 - eyelets

8 yards - 8mm chair cane

54 inches - 6mm flat steel boning

number of seams picked out - 52

still flossing

Flossing is making this corset look surprisingly fancy.

I stitched several samples an decided this literal Eiffel Tower interpretation was too much.

Over the top, right? But I felt I needed something just a little over the top for a Gilded Age corset. I had a limited amount of embroidery floss so I worked out the design I used so I could get the most effect from the the minimum amount of thread. Here's the diagram.

Now all I need to do is add the ribbon for the laces!!!

flossing begins

Embroidering through multiple layers of coutil is more like repeated stabbing than stitching. It doesn't look too bad from about 4 or 5 feet away. Not perfect, but not terrible either. But it's moving along.

The tailor's shuriken has been vital in keeping the triangles a consistent width.

I ran the thread through beeswax and I haven't had a tangle up yet. Look at the difference between the two threads on the right, just separated from 6 strand embroidery floss, and the two on the left, which have pulled through beeswax.

I was concerned the wax would make the thread all gunky and it would dirty the fabric, but nope, it just smoothes it. Neat.

summer corset on clothesline

This corset was looking a bit dingy after all the handling so I gave it a quick wash in Woolite and cold water. Now it sparkles.

Still not done yet, but almost.

finishing the cane boning

Inserting the cane boning was a bit more difficult than anticipated. But it's all in.

The channels were so tight the bones had to be slimmed down so they could slide in. Why the cane slipped in when I did the tests but not on the real corset is beyond me. I cut a millimeter off each side of each bone with Henckels kitchen shears. 

The finished pieces measure 6-7 mm across. The bottom reed is before trimming, the top after.

Still, it was slow going. Aside from being snug, the gessoed cane did not slide easily against the coutil casings. And there were a spots where the folded under seam allowance of the casing would catch under the cane and ride up over it. Brother. I bent two pieces of cane while pushing them in, fortunately I prepared extra pieces for just such a situation. I can not imagine how difficult it would have been if I had tried working with damp, soaked cane. No matter. The rounded cane fills out the fills out the casing nicely and is very light. Next steps, press, finish bottom edge, and lace it up.

flossing ideas

While giving my hands a break from inserting the cane bones in I've been kicking around flossing designs.

I want the Eiffel Tower inspired Xs to vary a bit, maybe be jazzier at the top of the corset than the bottom, and I have to get the right weight and length to the Xs. Catherine Hay, editor of Your Wardrobe Unlock'd, visited the Symington Collection archives and was able to snap some photos of a giant flossing sampler, a great reference. Those designs make my flossing scribbles look pretty boring, but I should probably stick to something simple. I've also sketched out a few ideas for embroidery on the cording. The triangles at the spot where the cording meets the bone casing look nice, but a light row of Xs in the lower space between cords might be more in keeping with the theme. Thoughts? Suggestions?

finishing the top edge with bias trim

The top edge was finished with bias tape dyed to match the warm grey thread. I pressed it first so the front edge of the bias tape was 1/8 shorter than the back edge, that way when I sewed I was sure the back would be stitched down. Then I just folded the trim over the top edge of the corset and sewed it from the front. I went with exposed stitching because I felt it looked right with the stitching on the bone casings.

The trickiest thing was tucking the corners in at the low center "V" point. I was struggling with folding the end in until I thought, "What would Robert Lang do?" I decided he would not try to stretch or jam the bias tape into any position, he would gracefully fold it in on itself until it was flat. So that's what I did. So that I may do it again I drew a diagram.

The views are all from the interior of the garment, so wrong side up.

cane prep

Sand, soak, flatten, paint, trim. Those were the steps I used to make the cane ready for the corset.

The first piece of cane on the left is straight from the roll. The second has been sanded, soaked in a bucket of water, then laid between two towels with pots and pans on top serving as weights to flatten it. The third has two light coats of Liquitex gesso, and the tip of last one has been clipped and sanded to round the end. The cane started like this,

and ended up like this.

stupid perfectionism

The last  bone casings needed to be added next to the busk (I'm skipping the ones next to the lacing.) I knew they'd be tight, but I could squeeze them in if I laid a casing either just over the one next to it (left side of picture), or just over the busk panel (right side).

Or, I could rip out the casing that was already sewn, ease it over 1/8 inch below the waist, re-baste, baste and sew the new casing in next to the busk with no overlap, then re-sew the other, most-difficult-of-them-all-because-it-runs-over-the-bust, casing.

I made my choice.

lacing strips

Separate coutil strips are needed for the lacing on this corset since it's made with mesh instead of a heartier fabric. This same technique can be used if the fabric under the grommets is a contrasting fabric, and also when the center back doesn't run straight up and down but has a curve because of alterations to the pattern.

I've added along the center back below the waist to compensate for a hollow in the small of my back (This sounds more genteel than sway back, or the even yuckier sounding, lordosis.) so I started by tracing the center back pattern piece. I measured the width for boning and grommets, then added 1/2 inch seam allowance to each side (top of picture). I sewed the pieces together along the center back line and trimmed the seam allowance (middle), folded it over, and pressed (bottom).

After lining the sewn edge of the lacing strip-to-be along the center back I marked where the strip would be sewn to the mesh, flipped the fabric over so it was face-to-face, and pinned it in place along the seam line, measuring all the way to make sure it was exact.

The lacing strip was sewn to the corset, the seam allowance trimmed, and it was folded and pressed. I folded the raw edge in 3/8 inch and pressed. This will be on the interior of the corset and assures there is enough fabric to catch when the sewn from the exterior.

Everything was pressed in place, then from the front I stitched 1/16 away from seam, catching the folded edge on the inside of the corset.

I stitched 1/16 from the center back edge, then stitched channels for the boning. 

Once those grommets are set I can lace up and do another try on!

spoon busk - stud side

After the loop side of the spoon busk was finished I did the stud side. The pieces were laid together the way they would be when sewn, the center front seam was sewn, the facing folded back, and everything was pressed. Then, just like the stud side of any normal busk, I stitched 1/16 inch next to the center front seam.

Here's the graded seam allowance underneath the busk.

Draping the corset halves over the tailor's ham helped accommodate the curve of the busk when marking where the studs went.

The busk was inserted one stud at a time after each hole was made with an awl.

Then I grooved along the busk and folded the seam allowance under 1/8 from the groove.

The seam allowance on the back facing was tucked under, and after basting everything in place the busk panel was stitched 1/16 from the edge of the fold.

I stitched along the top and bottom edges of the busk to finish, and hooked both sides of the busk together.

Nice and clean. Hooray. 

spoon busk - loop side

Inserting the spoon busk was not as difficult as I expected it to be. Dealing with the curve was not a problem. The fiddly-ness of the whole thing was brought on by my making it a separate panel because of the mesh.

The busk needed to lay on top of the cording, so to make certain I had everything set up correctly I laid the pieces out the way they would be when finished.

Then I marked the spaces for the loops.

The pieces where sewn together.

The seam allowance was graded and pressed, then the busk was slid in place. I pinned it so it was snug, and made a groove along the edge of the busk.

I rolled the fabric out 1/8 inch from the groove, folded it under, and pressed it. Then I folded the raw edge of the busk facing under 1/4 inched and pressed it flat.

With the seam allowances tucked under, the busk was slipped back in and basted in place.

And finally, sewn.

 

I sewed around the top and bottom curves with white thread to finish it off. Next up, the stud side.