Savoye is one of my favorite innovative corset pattern makers. As explained by Joanne Arnett, the Savoye approach of corset patterning is really unique. This version of the Savoye corset is my personal favorite, because it is so comfortable, and quite easy to make, and it can give you a great shape.

As Mr. Savoye described in his patent, the reason for making a corset like this was comfort, easy manufacturing and making the finished product suitable for a nice continuous embroidery across the top. When a corset is made of all vertical panels it is difficult to embroider before assembling the corset, but when a corset is made like this, with a large panel that makes up the entire top and front, a large quanitity of decoration can be designed and made before assembling the corset, making selling your work even easier.

Analyzing the Patent

When seeing a historical corset pattern like this one, you can easily become overwhelmed. How can you make an actual corset from nothing more than a diagram? It can be quite a challenge, especially for those who generally sew from a ready-made pattern. But do not let that stop you, because it is not as hard as it looks (and besides, that is what mock-ups are for!)

Now here is an explanation of how I tackle patents. It might be very different from how you do it, and it might also raise a lot of questions, but I will try to answer them as best I can if you comment at the bottom of the page.

When I start out making a corset pattern from a patent, the first thing I do is just look at it (below left). Then I try to decide on what goes where: where is the bust-line, where are the hips, where does the waist go? (below right) It might help to cut out the pattern pieces from the drawing and tape them together to get a better feel for the pattern.

As you can see in the below right diagram, in which I've drawn in the bust, waist and hips, the waist is not a straight line, it is curved. The bust is made out of a single piece with only a lacing strip at the back, and the hips are made out of two triangular gussets, three legs sticking out from the large bust panel, a small back hip panel and a lacing panel. The hips have a lot of different components.

The next thing I think about is what shape the corset is supposed to give. This is an Edwardian corset, so typically this kind of corset has a flat front, really cinched sides and a strong curve at the back. In Edwardian corset advertisements (below left) people generally stand tilted to the front. Also the bust is not a lifting sweetheart, but more flat. The bosom falls into the corset and as Jennifer Thompson has shown us, at some point a form of bra was worn with it. 

I have already made an underbust version of this corset once (below, right, photo by Jaap Woets mua Bianca Hekking), and I was surprised how easy it was to fit; I had fewer problems than I did fitting the 1904 corset from Savoye. The hip gussets make it a lot easier.

Drafting the Corset

Time to start drafting! First, I measure myself and divide the horizontal measurements in half.  The back lacing panel I make 4cm (about 1½") wide. This is for the boning on either side of the grommets. This I deduct from the half body measurements. What is left will be divided over the rest of the pattern. We start at the center front. It is almost a straight line, curving ever so slightly outwards at the top. This is your starting point. From here it is time to put in the curved waist line. Take your waist measurement, take off 4cm (about 1½") for the back lacing panel and about 4cm (about 1½") for the back hip gusset (you could make it less than this if you are smaller.) The waistline starts a little above the center of the of the vertical front and then curves down. For me the end of the waistline is about 8cm (3 1/8") lower then the starting point if you measure it from the center front (see diagram, right). This is not a measurement that is set in stone. If you are shorter than I am, this number could be less. The center front of my corset is 40cm (15¾"), because I am tall and want to cover the entire tummy.
Now it is time to draft the bust line. The bust measurement is, for most people, larger than the waist measurement. If you look at the patent you can see that it almost looks like quarter of a circle. Now, if you draft a circle within a circle, the circumference (distance around the edge) of each circle would be different, and it is the same here.
If you drafted the pattern exactly the same as the patent, the waist reduction would be extreme (or the bust way too big). Here (right) is how my pattern differs from the patent. The hips and the bust are smaller, but I do maintain the waistline. By changing the pattern in this way I am taking a bit of S out of the S curve, but I simply cannot cinch this much!
Make sure that the measurement from bust to waist at the side, and bust to waist at the back, are drafted onto the pattern. Unlike the 1904 patent, the back is quite long. That's good: most women like to keep the flesh on their back from spilling over the top of the corset, and a high back helps with that.

Now onto the bottom half of the pattern, from the waist down. The bottom is divided into three "legs", into which three gussets are placed. The second leg is almost at the side of the corset. Notice how the first leg is shorter than the second and third leg. This is because the length from waist to hip at the front is generally smaller that the waist to hip at the side. Since the waist has a downward curve, the second and third leg start lower on the pattern too.

You need to divide the hip measurement over the bottom of the corset. Mathematically this means that the front leg, front gusset and part of the second leg is half of the half hip measurement (ie a quarter of the whole hip measurement). Another quarter of the whole hip measurement (from side to centre back), minus 4 cm (the lacing panel), is put into part of the second leg, large back gusset, third leg and small back gusset.

For the center front gusset (b) is it important to keep the front as flat as possible. This will keep the tummy flat.

The three hip gussets are quite slim at the top. This is to make sure that you do not get those "air pockets" underneath the hips. If a corset flares out too quickly from the waist to the hips it is possible that one does not fill out the corset enough right under the waist. This can cause air pockets and wrinkles on your corset.

The large side back gusset (c) has a nice curve down the back and is quite large. Although I made the gussets a little smaller for my own pattern than the original pattern, the hip gussets do give a great shape.  The gussets also make it easy to size the pattern up and down. Where the legs are all straight horizontal pieces at the bottom, the gussets can give you as much or as little curve at the hips as you like.

For the placement of the boning I tried to follow the Savoye drawing as much as possible. The drawing does not show that much boning, but I remember seeing an original Edwardian corset on the Foundations Revealed visit to the Bath Fashion Museum that also had very little boning, while still being a lovely corset, so I'm happy to follow suit.

The boning on the drawing was quite a bit shorter then the corset at the bottom, but to avoid wrinkles I made them a little longer. I also made sure the boning extended to the top of the corset at the bust. Unlike Mr. Savoye mentions in his patent,  I prefer to have the boning run over almost the entire length of the corset, especially at the top. I do not want my heavy bosom pushing the fabric of the corset down. At the bottom one could choose to make the boning a bit shorter, making sitting a bit more comfortable.

This red corset was made with a single layer construction of red satin coutil with lapped seams, and the boning channels are made with a herringbone weave tape called "Keperband".

I did end up with a few little wrinkles at the front. My guess is that the corset is still a bit too big there I and I not fill it out properly. It is so important to not let the hip gussets flare out too much there. It could also be the lack of a proper grain line: it is cut straight at the center front, but as the corset curves you lose the grain line. Satin coutil is a great fabric to try out corsets in, because it will show every little unwanted wrinkle, and it shows where I still need to fine tune my pattern.

Tip: Make sure that the left and right side of the corset are cut exactly the same on the grain line because a corset like this can go lopsided pretty fast.

It might take a few mock-ups to get the curve of this corset right. But when you have a finished pattern this corset is great fun to make. Easy to put together and comfortable to wear. You could add garters, lace, flossing, large embroidery patterns. The options with handmade corsetry are endless.

Do comment below with any questions, feedback, tips, advice, or links to your own corsets made from this pattern!