Foundations Revealed

Those of you who know Your Wardrobe Unlock'd will already know about the "Letters, Questions and Advice" page, which we'll be doing here at Foundations Revealed too.

On this page you can ask questions about any aspect of corsetmaking or historical underwear, however basic, advanced, general or technical, and receive answers both from our contributors and from other readers.

Additionally, we'd also love to publish your own tips and techniques and stories.

Email the Editor with your questions, letters and advice for next month's coloumn.

This month we have two questions, supplied by those readers who subscribed early - one on copyright-free patterns for corsets made for retail and on proper length of bones. Plus, we share a 1910's silent corset commercial with you.

Brooke Au Buchon of Dragontown Corsets and Dragontown Corset Supply has over 10 years of experience in corsetry. She offers stunning Edwardian and Victorian corsets at her shop in Pennsylvania, as well as through her web site.

This case study, like all those we intend to publish at FR, is more than just a gushing tribute. You'll notice that our intrepid interviewer Eleine Sun asked a torrent of really cheeky, detailed questions about how Brooke's professional corsets are made. Brooke, meanwhile, being a consummate professional who believes in apprenticeship, was only too happy to spill the beans...

The Pattern Challenge feature on Foundations Revealed will inspire, challenge and encourage you to stretch your corset making skills. You're invited to participate and create your own corset pattern and, if you wish to complete the garment, send pictures of your finished corset for our Reader Showcase Gallery.

This month's Pattern Challenge is Thomson's Glove fitting corset. We'll look at the 1898 patent, advertisements, a few extant corsets in collections and work on putting the pieces together.

In November, Marion will share how she created a pattern from the evidence and show her finished corset.

Christina Claridge takes us through each step in creating simple to complex flossing designs.

She covers different threads to use, the right needles and the basic stitches as well how to design your own decorative, yet functional, flossing designs.

Jema Hewitt shares with us pictures and the pattern of a beautiful Victorian corset from her personal collection.

Made by the Charles Bayer (CB) corset company around 1899-1900, it has five main pattern pieces, with one bust shaped godet and two hip godets on each side. It is a very sophisticated and elegant piece of pattern cutting.

Jema shares the pattern, detail pictures and a little history, working out when the corset might have been made, and then takes us step-by-step through constructing a new corset from this pattern, including a new seam technique just for corsetry that negotiates curves perfectly and encases all the raw edges neatly.

Jill Salen, author of Corsets: Historical Patterns & Techniques, shares her technique for making corset patterns from the original antique corsets that you can find in museums.

With these tools, the whole of the history of corsets opens up to you, and you'll no longer be restricted to the commercially available patterns that everyone else is using. Jill gives you advice about getting an appointment, what to take with you and how to begin making a pattern, taking you right through to mocking it up and considering how to make it for real.

Come with us into the exciting world of antique corsets, where there are so many wonderful, unique patterns and ideas, you'll want another lifetime to make them all!