Introduction

This article is the second part of a series of articles dedicated to a corset patent dated from 1902 and invented by Daniel Kops. The first article described how the pattern was adapted to my body. The original pattern was modified on paper to match the desired measurements and the fit was then checked with a toile.

This second article will focus on the construction of the final corset based from the previously modified pattern. I’ll start with analyzing information given by the original patent itself about the construction of the corset. Then, I’ll move to explaining how I assembled the corset panels in my own version (and why!) And finally, I’ll reinforce the gores with flossing. Part Three will cover boning placement, boning construction and finishing.

In order to make things clear for the reader, I want to say right now that my corset will be constructed as a single layer of coutil (no fashion layer) with bone casing sewn on the inside. Previous FR articles will be used as reference for anything that is pretty straightforward for the average corsetiere. Construction steps that required special care for this corset will be discussed in greater detail within this article.

 

1. What the original patent says about the corset construction

The text provided by the patent mostly focuses on two topics: 1. how the corset pieces shapes create the fashionable silhouette and 2. boning. Unfortunately, the original patent doesn’t give explicit direction about constructing the corset, but there are a few hints here and there about the construction nonetheless.  Let’s have a look again at the illustration provided by the patent of the assembled corset:

• In the bust area: There are double dotted lines along the panels in the bust area, see figure 1 below. My best guess is that those are double topstitching lines, and that the inventor wanted to create a single layer corset with seam allowances pressed inwards and topstitched in place so that any fabric edge is concealed. This is similar to the construction method used by Sabrina Mark for her 1908 transitional corset. 
• In the hip area: The patent provides an additional illustration that is a cross section at xx (see figure 2 to locate those two x’s). This cross section shows that the seam allowances from the hip almond pieces are concealed by the bone casings, see figure 3 below.

The red arrows point at the double topstitching on panel “a”.

Other bust panels also have two topstitching lines.    

 

 The red circles show the two x’s and below is the corresponding cross section    

 

Close up of the cross section.

I, h and g are corset panels. The seam allowances of the corset pieces are concealed when the bone casing (in yellow on the illustration) is added.

The patent only shows the final corset; directions to get there are not included! I had to figure out myself how to execute the assembly. I did what made the most sense to me, as I will explain below.

 

2. Inserting gore « c » into panel « b »

“c” is a gore, it complies with the definition of a gore given by Laura Loft as “a piece that is inset into a slit or shaped cut into a solid pane”. “c” also has slightly opposing curves with “b”. I had to sew a gore with opposing curves (sounds like a nightmare, doesn’t it?).  At this point, we need to take a step back to talk about opposing curves.

 

2.1 What are opposing curves? Why do they require special care?

• Roughly speaking: while assembling Victorian corset panels, concave curves are sewn to concave curves and convex curves are sewn to convex curves - as easy as pie.
• To assemble gore c to panel b, I needed to sew together a concave curve to a convex curve this is called 'sewing opposing curves'. And things get… well, more complicated. Obviously we want that the sewing line match both curves in terms of length (this is called “truing the seams” and has been covered in Part 1). And while the sewing lines match, the edges of the seam allowance actually won’t have the same length. The edge of the seam allowance of the convex curve will be longer than the edge of the seam allowance of the concave curve. In consequence, we must not line up things using the seam allowance edges. When sewing regular things, we usually put things right sides together and line up the edges of the seam allowance; it won’t work well with opposing curves. So what are the options available?

2.2 Methods to sew opposing curves

Jenni Hampshire tested different strategies to sew opposing curves in her articles dedicated to the heart corset, also by Kops. Pieces are placed right sides together and carefully, manually lined up while stitching without pinning at all, and then the seam allowances are notched. It worked well for gentle curves but not for the crazy curves.

A variation of the previous method: pieces are placed right sides together but this time using a special presser foot called a “curve master” to help in manually lining up the two pieces.

Abutted/Strapped seams: the corset panels have no seam allowances, they are only butted together. Strapping joins the panels together.

Lapped seams: the seam allowance of the piece receiving the gore, is folded and pressed and then the two pieces are overlapped so that the stitching lines match and finally the pieces are just topstitched in place. Jenni Hampshire opted for this technique for her final corset. She provided step by step explanations in her article. The quilting enthusiast inside me sees this lapped seam method as something similar to reverse appliqué (because the seam allowance of the “top layer” is turned inwards). Reverse appliqué is different though as the end product is meant to be totally flat while corset panels create shaping. But if you are not a quilter yourself, it may not be the easiest way to process this!

2.3 My own way to sew opposing curves in this corset

I decided to do the lapped seam method. What makes sewing curves difficult is that we cannot use the edge of the seam allowance to line things up. In the lapped seam method, we line up stitching lines directly. So it made the most sense to me. I needed to see the stitching line when the right side of the fabric is facing me (which is pretty unusual!). I just marked the stitching line on the right side of the fabric using an erasable pen. We won’t be using the seam allowance as reference for… anything, so there is no need to carefully add constant and precise seam allowance all around the stitching line (how awesome is that?) I just cut the different pieces by adding an approximate seam allowance by eye.     

 

The “b” panel receives the gore. To be able to fold the seam allowance, I needed to slash open the seam allowance at the apex of the gore. In order to avoid any fraying, I stitched down to either side of the slash line with a very small stitch. 

 

The purple line is the panel stitching line. The orange line is the slash line.

I cut through the slash. The cut needs to stop right before panel “b” stitching line.

 

I folded the seam allowance of “b” inward. It had to stay in place; it can be done by pressing it or pinning it or tacking it down. I decided to tack it down by hand.

 

The yellow thread is my basting thread.

Please note that whenever the curve of the panel receiving the gore is concave (also called “inside curve”), the seam allowance needs to be notched in order to be able to fold it. The notches need to be deep enough so that folding the fabric can be done correctly but not too deep so that the fabric won’t fray on the outside (this is discussed further in the conclusion section of this article).

 

The right side of the fabric is facing us. The blue line is the piece stitching line.     

 

The wrong side of the fabric is facing us. The yellow thread is my basting thread.

Now let’s go back to our step by step gore insertion! I placed gore “c” under panel “b” and lined the stitching lines of both pieces.  I pinned it down so that it won’t shift.

 

- the purple line is the stitching line
- the yellow thread is the basting line

I then topstitched the gore in place. And finally, I removed the basting thread. This method worked very well: Absolutely no wrinkle!    

 

3. Inserting gore “b” into panel “a”

I used the same lapped seam technique to assemble (b+c) with panel a.

 

Here is the result on figure 14.    

 

4. Inserting gore “e” into “d”

The gore “e” is more a “regular gore” (i.e. Much less sharp angled and no crazy curve). Go to Laura Loft’s tutorial about gore [3] if you want to experiment with another method of construction. Alternatively, the same lapped seam method as before can also be used.

 

Here is the result on figure 16. The “e” gore doesn’t really create any 3D effect.  The front of the hip is pretty flat. Since it doesn’t help much with shaping, I thought that at least, the additional work of having an additional corset piece needed to be visible. That is why I decided to use some contrasting black fabric.

 

5. Assembling the hip pieces “f”, “g”, “h”, “i”, “k”, “l”, “m”, “n”

The hip pieces have also opposing curves. But the hip pieces are not gores, they could be considered as gussets (they are inserted between two pieces and not inside one piece that is only slashed). In addition, the curves are pretty gentle.  All in all, I didn’t need a special method to sew those pieces together.  I just pinned them right side together and stitched them into place.

The only difficult part is dealing with numerous small pieces. Make sure you label all the pieces carefully. “f”, “h”, “k”, and “m” are almost symmetrical lengthwise and widthwise. It is very easy to get confused. Have a look at Laura Loft’s Corsetmaker's Course for her great labeling advice.

 

Here is the result. The rounded back hip is taking shape already! Or as Kops would say: “[…] when the corset is in use upon the figure of the wearer these plait-pieces open out, so as to create in this part of the corset an outwardly-curved or convex form from the waist to the lower edge, so as to thereby cause an acceptable fullness over and back of the hips, causing the corset to conform closely to the figure of the wearer.”

(Note that something definitely went wrong when I trued the seams of panel “l” & “m”… “m” is much longer than “l” which is not okay).

 

6. Completing the assembly of the corset pieces

I then:

• Assembled together the two “hips under blocks”,
• Assembled together the bust block and the hip block,
• Added the waist band,
• Added the lacing strip at the back,
• Inserted the busk.

 

At this point, the panels are assembled but there is still work to be done such as the boning and the finishing, see figures 20 & 21.

  

 

Note: You may notice that the lacing gap does not create parallel lines. This is okay because the mannequin has a fuller bust than the wearer intended for this corset.

 

7. Adding flossing to the gores

The original patent does not mention anything about flossing. However sharp angled gores create a weak zone at the apex of the gore, see figure 22. The weak zone can be reinforced with flossing. This is what I did, see figure 23. It was my first time trying to do that kind of thing… and I could use a little more practice!

Examples of gore flossing from historical corsets are available from different sources such as the Symington collection, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art website which provides high quality pictures of  among other beauties, a 1880s corset with reinforced hip gores, and a 1876 corset with intricate bust gore flossing. You can also go to C. Claridge and Andrea Painter, articles to read more about flossing. Although those are articles are more focused on end bone flossing rather than gore flossing, valuable general advice is included such as what type of thread to choose and where to look for inspiration, etc. 

 

8. Afterthoughts about gore vs. gussets in Edwardian corsets

Even if this pattern is complex, I managed to find and use a method that worked well to assemble the panels. Even if the method was successful, I realized at this point that gores definitely require much more work than gussets. (Remember, a gore in inserted inside one panel while a gusset is inserted between two panels.) Inserting gussets does not involve fighting with fabric that much (compared to gores). Gussets also don’t require you to slash open the seam allowance, which creates a weak zone that needs to be reinforced (flossing does take time!)

Now when I look at similar patterns from the same era, I realize that corset pattern tend to stay away from gores as much as possible. Here are a few examples of corsets that use only gussets in the breast area.

 

Conclusion

The article is part of a series dedicated to a complex corset patent from 1902 that was created by Kops. The first article focused on adapting the pattern. The second article focuses on assembling the corset panels from the previously modified pattern. Part Three will cover boning placement, boning construction and finishing.

The construction of this corset is quite complex. The bust part features several sharp angled gores with opposing curves. This proved to be quite challenging to sew. Different sewing methods were explored. In the end, I opted for the lapped seam method. It worked fine with this project although it is quite time consuming (compared to “regular” sewing methods). In retrospect, I realized that in Edwardian corsets, bust gussets are much more frequent than bust gores. Gores are definitely trickier to work with, but they also make this corset very unique!

The construction of the hip was easier. The main thing was to be careful in labeling and managing the numerous small pieces. Once the whole corset was assembled, I reinforced the gore apex with some utilitarian flossing.

 

Things I would do differently
I didn’t love using dot broché fabric to build this corset. It frayed quite easily compared to other corsetry fabrics. The fraying made things more difficult than needed in the gore areas and when dealing with the small almond pieces of the hip area. In addition, the thickness of the fabric created unwanted bulk at difficult seams.   

 

Further reading
As I mentioned earlier, my corset is being constructed as a single layer. If you are interested in having an additional fashion layer, you may read the series of articles that Luthien Tyranea dedicated to the 1901 Norah Waugh corset. The 1901 Norah Waugh corset has diagonal seams and gussets but no gore. Her construction method is definitely interesting. Luthien explained and demonstrated how she mounted the fashion layer to a layer of coutil. However this corset pattern does not have any gores. This is why her construction method cannot be applied as-is with the “gore into a gore” Kops corset.

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