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m_of_disguiseA fortuitous Joann's email flyer let me know that their cotton flannels were 50% off, and would you look at that, the color I want has the exact yardage in stock that I need! And it's out of stock everywhere except the store by my house! So, I put in the online order immediately and picked it up after work. Hooray! Now I just need a couple of yards of black velvet for the trim, and I'll be able to start on the wrapper!
I found the 1893 edition of La Mode Ilustree that has the French printing of the De Gracieuse pattern that I'm planning to use for the maternity corset, which meant that I could actually read the instructions! I am so happy about that, because on the illustration for the corset there is very clearly an elasticated panel on the side, but there's no pattern piece for it included. The instructions tell you how to make it, and they tell you how to assemble the belly band and the nursing cups. Whew! Glad I was able to clear up a few mysteries. There is a new mystery though, a mention of "steel legs" along with the busk and baleens. I'm not entirely sure what it's referring to, and my google-fu is failing me. I think it's referring to steel bones that go around the center-back lacing to reinforce it, since almost all the extant corsets I've seen that use whalebone for the body of the corset do use steel around the eyelets.
I also found a bunch of extants online with really good interior photos so I could study the construction, so I'm feeling pretty confident that I can tackle this project now. I already have some coutil at home, now I just need to get the elastic, and I think I'll be ready to dive in.
Amazingly, I found this extant in a Dutch museum that is a dead ringer for the 1893 pattern I'm using from a Dutch magazine, which is kind of awesome.
I found the 1893 edition of La Mode Ilustree that has the French printing of the De Gracieuse pattern that I'm planning to use for the maternity corset, which meant that I could actually read the instructions! I am so happy about that, because on the illustration for the corset there is very clearly an elasticated panel on the side, but there's no pattern piece for it included. The instructions tell you how to make it, and they tell you how to assemble the belly band and the nursing cups. Whew! Glad I was able to clear up a few mysteries. There is a new mystery though, a mention of "steel legs" along with the busk and baleens. I'm not entirely sure what it's referring to, and my google-fu is failing me. I think it's referring to steel bones that go around the center-back lacing to reinforce it, since almost all the extant corsets I've seen that use whalebone for the body of the corset do use steel around the eyelets.
I also found a bunch of extants online with really good interior photos so I could study the construction, so I'm feeling pretty confident that I can tackle this project now. I already have some coutil at home, now I just need to get the elastic, and I think I'll be ready to dive in.
Amazingly, I found this extant in a Dutch museum that is a dead ringer for the 1893 pattern I'm using from a Dutch magazine, which is kind of awesome.