Foundations Revealed

My corset to share with you this month is a drab coutil corset. (The word "drab" refers to its colour, rather than inferring that it’s a boring corset!)

It uses machine corded fabric instead of bones to stiffen the panels into an impressively curvaceous shape. It also has a sturdy spoon shaped busk.

There is no maker's mark inside it, but it has clearly been created by a professional corsetiere.

After the October issue, in which the article Pattern Challenge- Thomson Glove-fitting Corset about Patent 611,116 issued to T.S. Gilbert was published, David in the UK wrote to me asking:

"Are you certain that this patent is for a Thomson Glove-fitting Corset?

This led me to look more closely at the patent and realize that he was right! So I did a little (ok, a lot) more research into T.S Gilbert, the owner of patent 611,116.

I'll share what I found about him, along with my method of patterning this corset, and next month I'll show you the finished piece.

Naturally I noticed the vintage corset lying in the antique store, but since extant pieces are usually cut for Scarlett O’Hara, I passed it by. A few minutes later, my companion was brandishing it about. “I think this would fit you,” she exclaimed. It had to be late 1880s... she held it up to me, and she was right. Even over a t-shirt, it was clearly a perfect fit.

Danine looks in detail at this extraordinarily lucky find, and then makes us a pattern.

Naturally I noticed the vintage corset lying in the antique store, but since extant pieces are usually cut for Scarlett O’Hara, I passed it by. A few minutes later, my companion was brandishing it about. “I think this would fit you,” she exclaimed. It had to be late 1880s... she held it up to me, and she was right. Even over a t-shirt, it was clearly a perfect fit.

Danine looks in detail at this extraordinarily lucky find, and then makes us a pattern.

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.

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.