Before I started this project I thought through a number of options for how to go about it. The patent, filed by T.S. Gilbert, states that the corset is designed to 'conform to the shape of the person more perfectly' than existing corsets of the time. The main feature which stands out to me is the curved seam running diagonally through the corset from the top back edge to the bottom front edge.

The corset initially looks like it will be a completely shapeless nightmare when made up, and potentially as though the patent was placed only because this seemed one of Gilbert's favourite pastimes. (Seriously, he placed a lot of patents for corsets, hoopskirts and so on, and it seems it was his passion. I have a mental image of him as some mad scientist in a lab full of half unpicked corsets!) But there are other historical examples that consist of a rectangle of fabric with gores at the bust and hips only.

The concept of more panels creating even pressure throughout for the wearer, reducing the pressure on each seam of the corset and giving a smoother silhouette, is one that many of you will be familiar with - this is why many corset makers will use a minimum of five panels per side in their patterns. The Foundations Revealed corset pattern drafting tutorial is a brilliant example of this, as it adds an extra panel for those who have a larger cup size to help distribute pressure at the bust and create a nicer shape.

Rather than looking at the pattern as I initially did, through modern eyes, I had a rethink while looking at it through the eyes of TS Gilbert. Why would he invent this? What was the problem that women were having with their corsets to which he thought this patent would be the solution? Who would find this patent useful? After thinking through these questions, I came to believe this pattern was adapted by Gilbert as a solution to a problem that home dress-makers, or those who could not afford to buy corsets, were having.

One rectangle of fabric with gores did not produce the smooth and curvy silhouette which was popular in the 1880s, but many home corset-makers would have been intimidated by looking at a vertically seamed pattern with no gores at all. Adding a seam to the pattern, which many were familiar and comfortable with, meant it still looked like what they were used to but brought the corset closer to a modern silhouette.

This conclusion was also influenced by the fact that the corsets that I have seen constructed as one rectangle with gores have all been rather crude and homemade; women who could not afford to buy a readymade corset still wanted to have a fashionable silhouette. This patent may have allowed them to produce their own corsets without them having a dated silhouette or being uncomfortable to wear.

I had this conclusion in mind when deciding which method I would use to test the pattern...

My first instinct was to create a standard vertically-seamed corset at half-scale and to draw the new seam lines onto this. After remaking the patent at half-scale I would be able to tell if it was going to work and if so, then move on to the full-sized piece. However, I decided against this because I was wary of misjudging any potential pitfalls at half-scale and not making it up full-size as a result. It would be very boring for you all to have to look at a half-sized corset with only stuffing to fill it out, and I don’t think I would have learned anything from it without seeing it on a real body.

So after deciding I would be doing this full-scale 'straight-off-the-bat', I decided that rather than testing the pattern on a modern wasp-waisted pattern, which is my default shaping, I would rather see if it works on something contemporary to the patent first. If it did, then I planned to push it to its limits on something with a more modern silhouette. (For those interested in learning more about this method of constructing corsets with unusually seamed patterns; it is the method covered at the Sparklewren/Sew Curvy patterning masterclass, it has been covered in both the 'Hearts' series and the 'Diagonally Seamed' series on Foundations Revealed already, and it is featured in Robert Doyle’s 'Waisted Efforts'.)

I decided I would use the 1860s short corset pattern from Jean Hunnisett’s 'Period Patterns for Stage and Screen'. Although this is twenty years too early for the patent, I chose to use it as I had adjusted it to fit and it was made slightly longer - meaning it is closer to an 1880s silhouette than an 1860s one, and I know it fits me. It is a very user-friendly pattern and easy to make up, which should mean that this project will not be beyond the realms of possibility for a beginner. The pattern is also fairly easy to get hold of (either through buying the book or through borrowing it from a library).

The picture above on the left shows the silhouette I usually draft for my corsets. While this is my favourite silhouette for corsets, I feel that I may be asking too much of the patent to give this silhouette with only one seam and three gores to help. The picture on the right shows the 1860s corset from Jean Hunisett’s book, which I am using for this tutorial, made-up to fit me. You can clearly see the shape is much smoother and it has a much more historical silhouette.

After deciding on this pattern I made up a mock-up from one layer of coutil. I know it is a good fit from the purple version I have made, so to save a little time I did not bone this mock-up.

I marked the waist all the way around, as I knew this would be important when assembling the next mock-up from the new pattern pieces and would form balance points. The next step was to pencil in the new seam lines. I used the image given on the patent to help me position them (see photo below right). My thoughts at this stage were that this method may achieve a nice historical silhouette.

There are two bust gores which allow for shaping at the bust, and the hip gore has a seam down the centre which should allow for fullness of hips. At this point I was tempted to add another seam to the hip gore because I have fairly full hips, and a corset I recently made had hip gores with two seams to ensure it was comfortable and had a nice shape. Having tried this piece on I knew I found it comfortable and that it produces a shape I like, but I decided against adding the extra seam as I want to make this pattern up faithfully to the patent before I decided on any future alterations.

The next step was to mark new balance points. I already had the waist marked and this will act as a major balance point, but I also marked the bottom of the bust gores and the seam of the hip gore so that these will definitely line up properly. Then I cut the new pattern pieces out by cutting along the pencilled lines.

The result was a pattern which which I need to add seam allowance to.

To make my pattern pieces more usable, I carefully traced around the pieces onto thick paper. I made sure I carefully marked all my balance points and grain lines and then added a 15mm (5/8") seam allowance.

At the centre front and back I like to cut my panels on the fold so these had no seam allowance added.

The next step was to construct another mock-up. I am planning to line my final piece, but for this stage I simply used one layer of coutil. I carefully marked the pattern out on the coutil using pencil and marked all the balance points to make sure everything would line up when I pinned and sewed it.

Again, I used no boning, as I felt I could get a better idea of how many bones to use and where to position them from seeing how this behaved with none. I chose to construct only half the corset from the new pattern – the half with the 'stud' side of the busk. I did this because I thought it would be interesting to try the corset on with half of the original pattern and half of the T S Gilbert pattern so that we can compare the two and easily see what difference the new pattern has made to the shape of the piece.

As this is unboned and a midbust, I had to hold it up at the bust for modesty’s sake.

The picture in the center shows that the new pattern creates a sharper silhouette at the waist than the vertically seamed original pattern. I don’t think this patent would have been able to cope if I had tried it out on something wasp-waisted, but it was never designed to give a wasp-waist shape, so this is not a criticism.

At this point, having made this mock-up, I am confident enough to move on to constructing the final piece. I feel positive that the wrinkles on the mock-up will be smoothed out when bones are added. I also think this may smooth out the shaping at the waist a little to look more like that of the original.

Things I learned from making this mock-up:

• The corset is capable of giving a nice historical silhouette.
• The TS Gilbert patent would probably not be capable of giving a wasp-waisted silhouette and would be inappropriate for a tightlaced corset. The mock up gives me 1.5” (38mm) of cinch with a 1” (25mm) gap running evenly down the back. I expect the final piece will close fully, but I still would not have tried to compress my waist any more using this pattern. Perhaps it will be something to try out for fun in the future.
• The corset will need more boning than the original pattern to give a smooth shape and avoid problems with wrinkles. The original Jean Hunnisett pattern has nine bones per side, but my version of the TS Gilbert patent will have between 11 and 13 per side.
• The TS Gilbert patent is quick and easy to make (or at least the mock up was!) This lends credence to my hypothesis that it was developed as a way for home dressmakers to continue making their own corsets after styles had progressed beyond their comfort zone.

Next time I will cover construction of this corset which will consist of a fashion layer of silk dupioni, a strength layer of coutil and a cotton lining, along with a little embellishment.