Foundations Revealed

Stripes create an unusual visual interest in your corsetry, but you cannot match stripes perfectly along every portion of every curved seam without performing a considerable amount of piecing work - or can you?

Laurie shows you how she comes close to doing so (without creating her own fabric) by a simple technique of visualizing pattern matching choices before stitching up the project.

While the original corset was made in drab coutil,  I couldn't resist the temptation of bright pink for Valentine's Day. Coutil dyes really well; add a sexy black lace trim and you have a corset far too good for a mere housemaid!

Yes, this corset is a labour of love. Yes, doing all that cording takes ages. Was it worth it? YES!

This is a lovely corset, comfortable and fun and easy to wear and it looks so unusual and smart.

Follow along as Jema takes her antique Charles Bayer corset, and the pattern she made from it in last month's instalment, and recreates it for herself.

Jema shows us the complete details on how one professional corsetmaker would make this one layer corset, step by step. Furthermore, she includes some techniques you may not have tried before, such as a lapped seam for one layer corsets that neatly encases all raw edges on both sides.

Last month we covered drafting the pattern for this unusual corset design. This month I take you, step by step, through the construction, including how to sew some very tricky seams! (Suitable for beginners.)

I used the drab coutil that I wrote about last month for the corset fabric, so if you were curious about how it would work made into a corset, read on.

In the last two months I talked about the different decorative techniques used to trim Belle Époque petticoats (here and here); now I will discuss the different factors that combine to create the shape of the skirt, and the petticoats that support it. Patterns of the six petticoats are included this month.

There are many factors that affect the shape of the skirt, and I will be discussing all of these in this article, particularly as they relate to the six 1890-1910 petticoats described here. Next month I will be talking about the basic sewing techniques (plackets, seam finishes, etc.) that were used in these six petticoats.

To continue from last month’s article, I will be talking about the decorative techniques in the six 1890-1910 petticoats described here.

Last month I talked about tucks and lace insertion.

This month I’ll be talking about embroidered insertion, lace edging and embroidery. Next month I’ll talk about the construction of the six petticoats.

If you're familiar with our sister site, you'll know all about Sunny's extraordinary articles in which she studies antique garments in minute detail with hundreds of detailed photographs. Here she looks at six late Victorian and Edwardian petticoats, studying the methods used to produce the beautiful embellishments so that we can either recreate our own historically accurate underthings to accompany our corsets - or take them somewhere more avant garde...