I was initially a bit nervous taking on this project as I hadn’t had any previous experience with this era of corsetry before. But, due to the popular show Downton Abbey, I’ve fallen in love with the Edwardian clothing style and have been itching to try my hand at making a dress. So, before one can dabble in evening wear of the early 20th century, one must first get the foundations right! I’m so glad I decided to take up this experiment and am grateful to Foundations Revealed for the opportunity, as I had a lot of fun. I’m sure if you decide to give this a go you’ll have a wonderful experience too. In this article I'm going to take you through the process I went through, talk about the obstacles and what I did to overcome them. Let's get started!

I first did some background research by carefully reading through the articles already published on this pattern: 1911 Corset Pattern Draft, part 1 and part 2 by Jeremy Erwin and the 1911 Cupped Corset article by Jennifer Thoreson. It was really beneficial reading through so I highly recommend that you do the same before continuing on.

 

The Pattern

The purpose of this experiment was to test a 1911 cupped corset pattern as drafted by CAD software (that's still in testing stage). I got a friend to help take my measurements (I wanted to be completely accurate with the measurements I provided) and sent them off to Marion to then await the pattern. I had decided to use myself as the fit model for convenience as well, as I wanted to make the most of this opportunity and start my Edwardian ensemble. The pattern was created using my measurements in image 1.

 

I received the pattern in a ready-to-print PDF file that had the pattern spread across several A4 pages (I would need to tape them together after printing). This was where I encountered my first little hiccup. The pattern was overlaid on a 10x10cm grid. I printed out a test page to check that the grid was the size it should be but it printed at 10.2x10.1cm. At first I thought it was something wrong with my printer or the settings I’d printed it at, but after trying every possibility I could think of I concluded that the grid was not accurate. I ended up resizing it (to scale) slightly and printed the pattern at 9.9cm x 9.85cm (image 3). I decided that I’d rather it be slightly too small rather than slightly too big. Image 2 shows a screen cap of the printing settings. Being a bit of a perfectionist, not having square ‘squares’ did throw me for a bit, but the whole point of this is testing the pattern and troubleshooting along the way!

 

The next step was sticking all the pieces of A4 paper together. This was actually rather fun as I’d never worked with a print-at-home pattern before so it was something like putting a puzzle together figuring out which piece of paper went where as the pages weren't numbered! After laying out all the pattern pieces (image 4), I trimmed the excess paper down to the grid and taped the pieces together. It was at this stage that I realized some of the grid lines didn’t quite match up, but I did the best I could (see images 5 and 6). I found it helpful to use a ruler to ensure the horizontal lines were lining up evenly. Being objective, perhaps I’m a little bit too particular, but I am millimetre-accurate when drafting my own patterns from scratch so I guess that attention to detail sort of carries over.

 

After the pattern pieces were all joined together (image7) it was time to check the pattern’s measurements against the measurements I’d provided. The pattern had been generated with a cupped front as well as a non-cupped front. I had taped the pieces together out of curiosity to see how different the two versions of the front compared but making up a second corset is an experiment for another day! You can see the two front versions of the pattern in image 7.

I measured the pattern at the bust, waist, upper hips and lower hips to see how the measurements compared to the ones that I’d provided for the drafting of the pattern. I thought it best to check before diving into making the toile because then any obvious fit issues could be countered on paper.

Pattern before changes	Pattern Measures	My Measurements	Pattern Difference
Bust	97cm	101cm	-4cm
Waist	72cm	79cm	-7cm
Hips (12cm down)	96cm	101cm	-5cm
Hips (20cm down)	103cm	106cm	-3cm

 

Looking at the ‘hard figures’ of the pattern, I decided that I needed to make a few adjustments to the pattern before continuing with a toile. Here’s what I did and the reasoning behind each change:

Bust - I was a little sceptical as to how well the bust would fit as the shaping of the cups seemed very mild and quite flat. I am quite busty (a G cup) and am familiar with how patterns look on paper for my measurements. The cups seemed nearly flat and I suspected that they would either flatten me, or require some pinning above the apex. Wanting to see how it would come together in reality, I decided to leave the bust ‘as is’ and didn't change this section of the pattern.

Waist - Having worn corsets for years and also having a bit of a squidgy tummy means I can get a lovely amount of reduction comfortably. I was happy to experiment with a milder shape than I usually draft for myself (a 5cm/2” reduction) but needed to take a further 3cm off the waist to give myself to give myself that amount of reduction and allow for a 5cm/2” lacing gap. I took a little off the waist at panels 3, 4 and 5 (panel 1 is centre front).

Hips (12cm below waist) - I left this ‘as is’ because it measured 5cm smaller than my measurements so would allow for a (hopefully) perfect lacing gap.

Hips (20cm below waist) - Decreased the lower hips by a total of 2cm (between panels 3 and 4) so that there would be a total pattern difference of -5cm allowing for an even lacing gap. I used a French curve to keep the lovely rounded hip shape.

Pattern before changes	Pattern Measures	My Measurements	Pattern Difference
Bust	97cm	101cm	-4cm
Waist	69cm	79cm	-10cm
Hips (12cm down)	96cm	101cm	-5cm
Hips (20cm down)	101cm	106cm	-5cm

 

When making a toile, I always prefer to lace the toile closed so I can see where changes need to happen, without fussing about with a measuring tape trying to get it laced perfectly straight. It’s just a little thing but I’ve found it really beneficial for fittings, so it’s something I now do as a matter of course. Because of this, I added 1” at centre back (panel 6) so that I could lace the toile closed on myself (also makes it easier if you’re doing a fitting on yourself and have no one to check the lacing gap). I also checked the seam lengths and had to shorten the hip-line on panel 3 (front side) as it was 4cm longer than the side seam on panel 4! I’ve drawn all changes in green pen so hopefully you can see them in image 8.

 

I traced the pattern off and added a 1cm seam allowance everywhere except the top and bottom edges. I don't add any extra fabric at the top and lower edges as they will be bound with bias. The pattern had a horizontal waist line sketched in, that had then been deliberately ‘dropped’ in a sloping angle towards the front during the drafting process. I decided to mark the grain line square with the ‘straight’ waistline (image 9). The pattern was now ready to begin work on the toile, exciting! (image 10)

 

The Toile

Whenever possible I always prefer to sew a mock-up using the same coutil that I’ll be using to make the final corset in. Depending on what I have in stock this isn’t always possible, but I had a lovely amount of a black Cotton Sateen Coutil that I’d been wanting to try out, so for this project the toile and the final piece are made using the same coutil.

The coutil was easy to pin, cut and sew which made working with it really enjoyable. I did notice that the weave isn’t as tight as a herringbone coutil and seemed to have a tiny bit of give to it, so that was another benefit to sewing the toile in the same fabric – it would give me a really accurate indication of how the final piece would fit and come together. I stitched the cups and the front Underbust panels together separately. The seams didn’t quite match up but I trimmed them down and made a note to adjust the pattern (image 11).

 

I inserted a 25cm busk to the lower section of the front (image 12) and then set to figuring out what to do with the button flaps (image 13). I had taken note of how Jennifer had attached the buttons in her previous article on this corset, but decided to push myself a little further and try something untested. Two facings wasn’t going to work - it looked a bit silly. That left one facing, with the buttons stitched to it and button holes or loops on the other side. Jennifer had used little loops of elastic but I wanted to see how it would turn out if I sewed button holes instead. Perhaps it would help prevent the bust pulling open at the top? I had no idea if it would or not but dived in and gave it a go. I had hopes that being a non-stretch hole it should hold together. I had some sweet little black buttons on a shank to use for the experiment and my machine has a handy attachment to get the button holes a perfect size for any button you may be using. I sewed the button holes (image 14) and stitched on the buttons before attaching the cups to the Underbust section, which seemed less fiddly overall.

 

After joining the cups to the Underbust section it was obvious that the seams did not quite match up. I made a slight adjustment to the pattern with the necessary changes and also marked it out on the toile to show you (image 15).

 

I pressed the seams open, stitched boning channels (using tape) down the full length and centre of each panel, and then inserted some boning to aid with the fitting. I kept away from the seams at this stage because it would make any subsequent pinning easier.

 

Fitting the toile

Initial findings of the toile were that it was way too big everywhere (see images 16 - 18)! I thought perhaps the coutil had stretched a little with pressing but I had pre-steamed it before cutting out the panels so it shouldn’t have stretched that much. I triple checked the measurements of the pattern, the traced copy, my measurements (I’d actually put on a little weight) and my toile but it all matched up. (It’s still a mystery to me so if you have any thoughts please leave a comment below.) I’d like to thank my friend Alex Welch for helping with these photos of me in the toile.

 

The overall shape had promise, so I made a quick alteration to the toile by cutting off 3” from the centre back and re-attached my eyelet strips (seriously the best time-saving tip for toiles – make some for yourself if you haven’t already – these have been used countless times and are still going strong!).

The findings of toile 1.2 were much more promising. I was able to lace the corset closed (even after having taken off 3”) and I was really thrilled with the shape at the hips and the small of my back. The bust was too tight, especially at the apex (you can see it warping the line of the seam) and the top edge didn’t follow the curve of my bust. It was too tight at the upper back and created a bit of overhang, but overall nothing that isn’t manageable and definitely possible to fix! You can see in the set of images (19 - 21) that the corset gives me quite a lot of lift in the bust.

 

In fact, the bust lift seemed a little too much for the desired silhouette, so I adjusted myself and sort of squished them down into a more ‘natural’ position. You can see in the following images (22 - 24) that the bust fits a bit better and also gives a nicer profile.

 

It was time to mark out the alterations needed to perfect the fit. I loosened the lacing into a V (a 3.8mm gap) to give myself a bit more room at the top (image 25). I made a rough chalk mark between panels 4 and 5 where I needed to work in some ease to prevent the spill-over. It was easy to get a nice fit to the top of the bust – I only needed to bring in the seam between panels 1 and 2 (images 26-27). I also marked on the cups where it was too tight and created a dint so I could work in some more room on the pattern. Although I didn’t pin it, I also intended to take off a little of the ‘tummy’ at the front (images 28-30). Something about the way the pattern was drafted seemed to push all my fat to the front so I’d like to counter that in the final corset (at least a little). The fabric also puckers a little at the underbust point. I think with some more boning (the toile is just minimally boned) and the added room to the bust, it should hopefully make a difference.

 

Thoughts on the feel of the corset toile

It’s really comfortable and I love the shaping. Even though there are a few things to modify to get the fit accurate, I still felt comfortable in it. The way the front lower section has been patterned sort of makes me want to stick my bum out as it pushes quite firmly against my abdomen. I feel like it will make excellent foundation wear for an Edwardian gown, but also be wearable as outer wear.
Button verdict: I also want to mention that the buttons made it incredibly difficult to get in and out of the corset. The button holes were quite generous in size but it was pretty difficult to do them up whilst wearing it (actually it was impossible). I ended up doing up the busk and buttons and then lacing the corset onto me while in it. As pretty as they are I don’t feel like they’re particularly functional. Using elastic loops would definitely make it easier but with my bust size I know that the loops would just be stretched to the point of breaking and not offer enough support. For the final corset I decided to use a busk the full length of the front and forgo the buttons.

 

Altering the pattern

Altering the pattern didn’t take long, and I’ve marked the changes in red pen (image 31) so you can compare to the first toile (green pen). I worked in the extra 3.8cm in the back on panels 4-6 (to account for the V lacing) and then added a bit of extra ease at the top seam between panels 4 and 5 (to hopefully counter the overhang). I split panels 4 and 5 right down the middle and made them both half an inch smaller so that there will be a 2” (total) lacing gap once the corset is done. I couldn’t cut away any more from the centre back (panel 6) or there wouldn’t be room for the eyelets and flat steels. The cups were easy enough to fix: I worked in an extra inch of room (2” total) across the apex and curved the seam between cup pieces 1 and 2 to follow my body better. For the tummy area I shaved off a little below the waist on panels 1 and 2 but didn’t go overboard. I kept the grain lines exactly as they were on the toile, since they worked really well (image 32).

 

Next time...

Lowana constructs her final corset, and the result is sleek and graceful!

 

 

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