RE: [h-cost] Cotton gloves?
May not be able to find them now, but the party/costume shops sell cheap thin ones at Christmas time to go with Santa costumes. Kate 609-570-3584 -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Audrey Bergeron-Morin Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2006 12:00 PM To: Historical Costume Subject: Re: [h-cost] Cotton gloves? > You can buy finger cots in most pharmacies (in the US). They are stretchy > cotton tubes for your fingers. Yes, but I think that won't work because most of the dirt comes from the sides of your hands brushing against the fabric as you work, not so much your fingers. I really need something to wrap the whole hand. I'll be working on white fabric, see... ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] straight front corset
I learned through lots and lots of trial and error, and staring at extant corsets and ads, magazines, etc until my eyes bled. For years. I don't think you can really come up with a formula for drafting them, and that's not how I do it, anyway. You get to know the shape the pattern pieces should be, and how that shape changes when the hips are larger or smaller, when the waist is high or low, and so on. I look at the measurements, build a mental picture of the person's figure, and then just ... adjust. Kinda but not exactly like those scary tailors who can take 2 measurements and then make you a suit that fits like a glove. (If only I could do it with other garments.) It's been a long time since I glanced through the waisted efforts book, so I won't really give a critique of it, but I'll say this: you do not fit a corset to the wearer's skin. A corset reshapes, rather than matching, the figure; therefore, you should instead fit the corset to the parts of the wearer that are NOT reshapeable. In other words, you fit the muscle and the bone, and let the fat fall where it may. I won't categorically reject the possibility of drafting a well-fitting corset from a pattern block, but I will dogmatically state that it's impossible unless you stop looking at it as being like any other garment. The results I see from those who use the pattern block approach are often beautifully designed and constructed, but the fit is that of a skin-tight bodice with the shoulders cut off, which misses the point entirely! One look at the sides of the waist gives the show away, and my goodness, those things must be uncomfortable. That sounded really, really, rude, so I'd like to apologize now and avoid the rush. =} I'm passionate about the fit of corsets, and when I see people wearing ill-fitting corsets and then going on and on about how uncomfortable and torturous corsets are, it makes my teeth itch. As to the Waugh corset, again, I'm not saying it's inaccurate; I'm saying it's not representative. The straight front was technically invented in 1900, but there are corsets that provided a straight front from before then, and corsets that didn't after then. In those first couple of years, there was a LOT of experimentation with the general idea; the Waugh corset is clearly from this era, and is one of the dead-end lines of experimentation. It's really just not that well-designed a corset, since a horizontal seam all the way across the side of the waist is a Bad Idea when it comes to this sort of thing. The early straight fronts were different in a lot of ways from what came about after the experimental period, and while they would have been considered real straight fronts in 1900 and 1901, by the latter half of 1902 they would have been completely out of step with the fashion and incapable of producing the fashionable silhouette. To go back to the original question, the silhouette desired was that of the middle of the decade, and the corset desired was one that would enforce that forward-leaning pose sometimes called an S-curve. The Waugh corset is not of the style used to create this silhouette. When I first saw it 15 years ago, I thought, "Wow, yep, that's a stereotypical Edwardian corset!" When I look at it now, I think, "Wow! What a weird example of an Edwardian corset! It must be from--yep, I knew it: 1901." These are typical example of the seaming used to get that mid-decade silhouette: http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/straightfrontcorsets/photos/view/3b35?b=7 http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/straightfrontcorsets/photos/view/3b35?b=17 http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/straightfrontcorsets/photos/view/3b35?b=15 (click large) And for fun, this is from bizzaro-world (thank you, Lib of Congress): http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/straightfrontcorsets/photos/view/3b35?b=5 -E House ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] straight front corset
A friend and I made me a corset from the Past Patterns straight front corset pattern. However, it was not a simple/easy project: 1) Following the initial sizing, did not give me the S-bend shape I was looking for -- we ended up making the top much more tight fitting then the bottom which causes me to relax into the S-bend shape. (This kind of fitting problem is endemic to corset patterns, though - they fit too close to easily be slotted into sizes). 2) The more problematic part of the pattern was insufficient instructions for where to place the boning. There is a picture one is supposed to use, but it's a drawing of the corset crumpled up... It's very hard to figure out exact bone placement. Eventually we simply ignored the picture and marked where we thought the bones should go while I was wearing the corset. The funny thing is we ended up with a boning pattern that looks (when crumpled up as in the picture) a lot like the picture. As a side note, my S shaped corset/straight front corset is not one of my most comfortable corsets - I think this is due to the S curve that it causes me to relax into. I'm used to corsets giving quite a lot of back support, but I find the S shaped corset gives me minor lower back aches - no worse then I get from sitting at my desk at work, but not the lovely support that I have from my hourglass (1890s) and regency corsets. As to _Waisted Efforts_ -- I own the book, but it's mostly mock-ups and comparisons of mock-ups of the corsets from Waugh's _Corsets and Crinolines_. It uses a "block" technique for drafting the corsets to the right size...but I couldn't make heads or tails of that method. But I think the real "trick" to corsets comes in the fitting stage, in which millimeter differences in seams are actually noticeable, both to the shape and to how the corset fits. Unfortunately fitting yourself that closely is nearly impossible. Hope that helps! -sunny ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] straight front corset
In a message dated 8/4/2006 8:56:41 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: A friend and I made me a corset from the Past Patterns straight front corset pattern. * I don't like this pattern For one, I don't think the actual pattern looks like the illustration on the envelope. The illustration is what I wanted but I had to make a pattern from a real corset of the period to get that. And that was very time consuming [needed resizing...with all those narrow curving pieces...ay yay yay!] and that's what I was trying to save...TIME...with getting the pattern in the 1st place. ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] straight front corset
In a message dated 8/4/2006 9:22:59 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I don't like this pattern In the interest of not being negative...I would like to add that Past Patterns makes a pattern for my favorite corset of all time... #708 1845-1860 corset I added a bone between each bone of this lightly boned corset and this has made it most useful. I think you get a good silhouette for 1830's to Bustle with it. It's a beautiful shape! ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] straight front corset
That sounded really, really, rude, so I'd like to apologize now and avoid
the rush. =} I'm passionate about the fit of corsets, and when I see
people wearing ill-fitting corsets and then going on and on about how
uncomfortable and torturous corsets are, it makes my teeth itch.
But my Waugh corset fits me well enough that I can wear it all living
history day and live to tell the tale. I'm not sure what your objection to
it is.
As to the Waugh corset, again, I'm not saying it's inaccurate; I'm saying
it's not representative. The straight front was technically invented in
1900, but there are corsets that provided a straight front from before
then, and corsets that didn't after then. In those first couple of years,
there was a LOT of experimentation with the general idea; the Waugh corset
is clearly from this era, and is one of the dead-end lines of
experimentation. It's really just not that well-designed a corset, since a
horizontal seam all the way across the side of the waist is a Bad Idea
when it comes to this sort of thing.
Mine is lined, and the seam at the waist doesn't cause a problem. But
then, I don't lace it super tightly, only tightly enough to produce the
right curves, and I wear something for a chemise under it.
The early straight fronts were different in a lot of ways from what came
about after the experimental period, and while they would have been
considered real straight fronts in 1900 and 1901, by the latter half of
1902 they would have been completely out of step with the fashion and
incapable of producing the fashionable silhouette. To go back to the
original question, the silhouette desired was that of the middle of the
decade, and the corset desired was one that would enforce that
forward-leaning pose sometimes called an S-curve. The Waugh corset is not
of the style used to create this silhouette.
We do 1901, and the Waugh one does fine for that. I think it would do fine
for 1904 or 1906 when that S-curve is much more pronounced.
When I first saw it 15 years ago, I thought, "Wow, yep, that's a
stereotypical Edwardian corset!" When I look at it now, I think,
"Wow! What a weird example of an Edwardian corset! It must be
from--yep, I knew it: 1901."
Wierd example it may be, but I've seen early examples, in like Sears
catalogs, of pretty much the same thing. Again, I'm not sure what your
objection to it is.
CarolynKayta Barrows
dollmaker, fibre artist, textillian
www.FunStuft.com
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