I wanted to make the pattern true to the original but with a modern twist, so after drafting the pattern in AutoCAD, amending and scaling the pattern pieces, and making a toile to check the fit, I made up the corset including a sort of ‘breast cage’ addition with synthetic whalebone.

There were some strange things going on with the original pattern – it didn’t look like they fitted together at all so I curved new bottom and top lines and extended or trimmed each panel as necessary. The waist line also looked off but I was able to mark the true waist at the toile stage. I also marked where the boning would extend to as obviously to allow the wearer to sit, the bones can only extend as far as a standard corset.

The toile was very low at the front on me, coming only as high as the middle of my ribcage, but I loved the long-line fit. I decided I would make up the corset to this shape but modernise the design somehow. I wanted to be able to see the original shape as Elizabeth Hume intended, but to modernise it to such an extent that I would be able to wear it as an outer garment without suspenders. Not strictly true to the original but I didn’t like the odd kink to the rear panels 7 & 8 so I amalgamated these and widened sufficiently to allow for the hardware. The beauty of using AutoCAD is that it is so quick, and easy to scale and amend – I got a bit carried away and ending up making a commercial pattern!

I made up the final garment using a coutil base layer and 100% wool fashion layer using the fabric-turned-over-fabric technique. The final garment was a good fit but I didn’t like the crease created when sitting down in it so I slipped in some plastic boning in front of the steel boning but made sure it extended all the way to the bottom of the corset. It really helped reduce the unsightly crease line. I also inserted some synthetic whalebone behind the busk and curved this around my breast area and into one of the boning channels at the side to give the garment a modern twist. I covered this with a tube of fabric to match and made up the bias binding to bind the corset. It was more tricky binding the corset as I had to circumvent the synthetic whalebone addition. A final bit of flossing at the bottom of the boning channels completed the corset.

I was concerned about the lack of waist definition but on doing some research it transpires that in Feb 1919 ‘’waists are a negligible quantity; there is rarely a suggestion of one, and most new models are cut on straight lines’’. Even when E. Hume initially drafted this patent in 1913, corsets were already elongated and had a ‘straightness of line’ – it’s a perfect shape for my non-curvy body and it was nice to be able to fit this type of corset well.

Dress Diary