Front Channels completed!


Here is a picture of the front of Marguarite's 17th c pair of bodies. I have finished stitching the front section of boning channels~ woo hoo! It was not the most exciting thing to stitch, rather boring actually.

Her is a view of the inside. I buried all my ends within the 2 lining layers, so nothing is up against the outer silk. Left the tails long on the bottom edge, as these will be covered over by the binding. I would really like to find a nice kid leather, but may use silk, haven't decided on that yet. Next comes stitching the channels at either side of the back opening, there are 4 each side, after a larger channel for the eyelet holes.

I will leave you with this awesome picture I took yesterday evening~ just LOOK at how huge the moon looks! (above the stack of hay in the center) I just love this time of the year.

THANKYOU Trevette For the AWESOME TIP!!!!

Today I got an email from Trevette~ she writes

"Rachael, dear, I think you'll find it a lot easier to pull the needle through all those fabric layers if you grip the needle with a (deflated) balloon. Mine is gold, a DMC giveaway years ago, which I keep in my sewing basket, always handy for frequent use. I also keep one in my purse, car, kitchen junk drawer, etc, good for grabbing and opening all kinds of things "

What a fabulous idea~ THANKYOU SO MUCH Trevette! I didn't have any balloons, but I do have a box of latex gloves I keep for doctoring the animals and such, and it worked so well, I just cant hardly believe such a simple thing can make such a difference. My fingers don't hurt at all, and I no longer had to really grip my needle hard to pull it thru. I really like this idea of wearing the glove, as I don't have to pause my stitching to pick up the balloon if I needed it. I can feel the needle thru the latex just like I didn't even have a glove on. We dug the last of the potatoes and such today, and I was going to share pictures of that, but this was TOO GOOD to wait to tell you about! Stitched around 5 hours today, and could do another 5!

Now I REALLY know why stay~makers were mostly men.....

Uggg. My hands are so tired. I stitched 10 channels on Marguarite's pair of bodies today, and the 3 layers are just so thick....terrifically hard to needle thru and still get the tiny stitches I want. I wear a leather on my middle finger to push my needle(broke two today), but what are really sore, are my right thumb and forefinger, from having to grab the needle so tightly to pull it thru the layers. It actually feels quite good to pound the heck out of these keys. I first stitched the center busk pocket. I am using a masking tape of mark my place, instead of using a pen, or chalk. too messy. I stitched thru all layers, burying my knots in between the inner cotton and fustian lining.

You can see my stitches are not at all even as they should be, but I am managing to keep them small enough, and I actually like them uneven a little, it adds much character when looking at them up close, you can easily tell they are made by hand!

Next I drew out my line with a temporary pen....well, it is actually a water solulable quilt marking pen, thats really dry, and around 5+ years old...so you can barely see the lines it makes, and they don't last long! he

I stitched this top line that defines the bust and the front area of the boning next. These two sets of stitching, are my baselines that everything else will flow off of. When stitching channels for any corset or stays or bodies....in any era, always start in the middle and work outwards. You will avoid any wrinkles in doing so, and all will be nice and even and flat. One could be tempted to stitch the diagonal line going up the sides at this point too, but DONT!! This line of stitching will be last, and the most difficult, as it is stitched after the boning is fed into the channels. So for now, I'm going to relax and not stitch any more this evening....I think Ill go oogle over that staircase some more...I see the V&A has chairs right in front of the display, I am sure I'm not the only one who could sit and stare and daydream about them all day. Don't know what I'm talking about??? Well scroll down and follow the link in my last post!!

'maisons à pondalez'



I want to live in a Maison a Pondalez in Morlaix.....and gaze down upon my happy children from a staircase like this.....what a dream that would be

You can read about the one at the V&A here
www.vam.ac.uk/collections/periods_styles/medieval/object_stories/staircase_morlaix/index.html

HELP!!

Have you seen this jacket?? The above jacket is an old black and white of a c16teens embroidered jacket in the Burrell Collection in Glasgow, Scotland. It is unique to me, for the pattern of the bluebells in its embroidery.... I have been researching colors for Marguarite's embroidered jacket, and would like to study them closer....now I know this jacket is included in the Burrell Collection book I have on order, so the Burrell jacket is not the one I am looking for.....this next one is!

See how absolutely similar they are???? Not in construction, but in embroidery pattern? This one is labeled as "The Suffolk Jacket"....and later, I found a far view color photo of it, but is now referred to as the "Bath Jacket". Must have been sold in the 1960s....anyway, I have gone to the Museum of Costume in Bath's website www.museumofcostume.co.uk and cannot find it listed. I would very much like to compare the two embroidery patterns. So I am asking any of my readers if they know its accession number, and whereabouts? Leave me a comment or email me please if you have any clues!

17th c Bodies....

I am finding 17th c bodies to be deceptively simple in construction. The pattern on Drea Leed's Online Corset generator is a single piece...how cool is that? The original ones were made of 3 pieces tho, each made separate and then whip stitched together to assemble. This was so that if a person's weight or proportion changed, they could simply unpick the sides, and add a different back piece, as alot of them were front closing. This front closing type leaves NO ROOM for adjustment, they must fit perfectly, and come tightly together in the front, with no space. I wonder if they laced them over a busk???? hmmmmmm.....that is an interesting thought isn't it?? In any case, Marguarite is a dollye, and hers need not be 100% accurate, which, on her smaller scale, is why I am not cutting this pattern into three pieces, I am leaving it one. Another interesting thing about 17th c corsets you all may not know, or realize, is that they are meant to give a rigid FRONT to the body, and so they are normally only boned in the front. They are supposed to be extremely comfortable to wear, if they are not, then you are not wearing the bodies correctly. They do not 'suck in' anything, no matter how tight you lace them, the small waste you see in paintings and the like, is merely an illusion created by the long extended front point.

I cut each of my 3 fabrics with no seam allowance, as they will be bound around all edges. If you are going to make one along with me, cut your pieces out on the straight of grain!

At first, I was going to use the stitching channels recommended on Drea's pattern generator, but after I got this far, decided I really didn't like the look of it. It has channels on the sides, that I have not observed at all on the Effigy or Dorthea bodies. Those both are boned in the front and very back only, so I decided to pattern my channels after the Dorthea bodies. I also realized, that 1/4 inch channels are just too large for the scale I am working at, they take up too much space, and just don't look right.

My daughter's school ruler is just the right size for my busk, so used it for reference, and as you can see, the 1/4 whalebones on the left in the picture are just way too large. No matter WHO tells you they can be easily cut, has no idea what so ever what they are talking about. You can cut them with scissors, but baleen is a brittle substance, and they crack along their 'own' grain....no matter how sharp your knife or scissors are. Trust me, I thought I would be able to cut them in half lengthwise, to use in 1/8 channels, but nope~ no can do Kimo~ Sabe! So now picture me ransacking the house, trying to think of something I could use....all my reed I have in various shapes, is all 1/4" and larger. Then I found a drawer of bamboo skewers.......mmmmmmm. I think they will work perfectly! They are tough as nails, absolutely rigid, and most importantly, small enough to give me the correct period look I am after~ note the pic of the Dorthea bodies I am modeling them after. If you enlarge it, you can see that using the larger whalebone, while being exactly period correct in substance, will not give me the correct form or ratio of boning channels per inch. And who knows, since there are only 2 surviving corsets of this era, I suppose someone could have used bamboo in one....perhaps!

This is my first draft of the placement of the boning channels, modeled after the Dorthea above. There will be 4 channels on each side of the back opening, just like the original, and 26 channels each side of the center busk. They will be shaped down below the bust cup, just like the original. Marguarite has a very flat chest, but likes very much the idea these will give, of her indeed having a little something there :)

Ink Tests & Final Fabrics for Bodies....

I will be inking my design for Marguarite's jacket by hand, with a metal nib. I'm not going to use an actual quill, cause honestly, I cant cut them at a consistent angle to get the same width of a line. They work well on a smooth paper, and in an up to down motion, but nothing else! HA! I have drawn on fabrics for years, so it doesn't bother me or make me nervous about messing up...but my normal India ink I always use, has recently been """"improved""", and is total crap as a result of said improvements. No more shellac used, and they have gone to a .....(gag) plastic base. blek I ordered a couple of bottles to try, actually the only two India inks that I could find that were being sold as WATERPROOF & PERMANENT. Well, as is normal these days, things are not what they are advertised as.....

I did both samples at the same time, on the same day, with the same pen, on the same fabric, a cotton muslin. Used the same nib. Everything was the same, except what I drew on the doodle, and the ink of coarse. After I finished and let both dry for 5 minutes, I ironed the heck out of them with a dry iron on highest setting to 'set' the ink. Let them cool and sit for half hour, then dunked them in the water. While they were below the surface, I massaged the piece in between my thumb and fingers, to see if any ink would run......well, as you can see~ it did! The one above is "Calli Jet Black India 010" by Daler Rowney. It is supposed to be both permanent and waterproof. This stuff smeared instantly , NO rubbing needed. As soon as it hit the water the ink lifted~ absolutely unacceptable. Cost for this 1 oz bottle, 5.00

Next was an ink from just up the way from me here in Golden Colorado~ Dr. Ph Martin's Black Star Waterproof India HICARB. Now when I dunked this one in the water, nothing happened....so I scrubbed the heck out of the sample, and still, nothing lifted, as you can see. So this is the ink I will be using, and its got a higher carbon content than most India inks, so is a bit blacker, much to my liking. 17th c inks had a very high carbon content as well. Cost of this 1 oz bottle, 9.00 ....and worth every penny

I have also made my final decisions on the fabrics I am going to use for Marguarite's bodies...and I am SO excited about them! Ya I'm a bit nerdy about it, I even made a little 3 min video for you to see. This is them below~ a goldenrod yellow silk shot with lavender for the outside, late 19th c 100% cotton sheeting for the backing of the silk on the front, and a FABULOUS mid-late 19th c handwoven fustian for the inner lining~ this stuff is so thick and heavy, its really awesome. I am going to stitch in the blue 100% cotton thread, and am pondering using the antique whalebone stays I have amassed over the years as a stiffener....I may use bents or reeds, haven't decided on those yet. Ill will be stitching up a sample soon.