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Making the Victorian Symington Pretty Housemaid corset (1890s) – phase 3

One of the biggest things I wanted to do on the second half of this corset was to leave myself even more seam allowance than I’d initially left.

Unfortunately, I forgot that I cut the burlap & canvas for the second half.
for both halves at the same time.
So though I made sure that the top two panels on the
second half had more seam allowance, I was restricted
by the underlayers and still couldn’t treat the seams
as I had hoped.

Continue reading “Making the Victorian Symington Pretty Housemaid corset (1890s) – phase 3”

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A Talk on Shirt Waists (cutting and fitting suggestions from 1914)

When working on the mockup for my 1890s Cutaway Jacket, I found different areas that seemed to have less than clear instructions. In some cases, I had to altogether guess (using the diagram provided as guidance, though it was disconcerting when the clearly described points on my draft seemed to be completely off from the diagram!).

The areas causing difficulty were primarily the neck, shoulder, and armscye.
The complication was that with each adjustment, there seemed to be a knock-on effect elsewhere!
Taking the shoulder up would cause the neck to be smaller and the armscye to be larger.
Taking the underarm seam in caused a fold of fabric to form along the outer bust.

Finally, after weeks of manipulating, basting, fitting, un-basting, re-basting … etc., I came across an article written by Minnie Berry, titled ‘A Talk on Shirt Waists’ from the April 15, 1914 issue of “Farm, Stock and Home”.
It confirmed my observations, but offered some pretty clear troubleshooting advice.
The guidelines are appropriate, I am sure, for any type of upper garment that you need to fit – be it a bodice, shirtwaist, or jacket – and are the most comprehensive instructions I’ve read on the subject.

Do you have any bust/shoulder/arm/neck fitting tips?
See below the excerpt for a couple of additional resources that I found helpful. Continue reading “A Talk on Shirt Waists (cutting and fitting suggestions from 1914)”

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Planning an “every day” Victorian style blazer jacket

This has been a tricky one to navigate!
On one hand, I’ve wanted to have a more historically-inspired wardrobe – but on the other hand, I’m acutely aware of just how full my wardrobe is at the moment.

I’m not a person taken by the fast-fashion of today.
My clothes (aside from underwear, t-shirts, and perhaps a small handful of other items) have been purchased or received second-hand … and most of my clothes are worn until they cannot be worn anymore.

The funny twist here, is that I’ve also received lots of “second-hand” fabric over the years! My stash is HUGE and most of it is stuff I’ve not had to pay for!
So you could say that I’m in a double-predicament!

Continue reading “Planning an “every day” Victorian style blazer jacket”

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My Grandmother’s Antique 1939 Wedding Dress

Phyllis Marie RipepiWhen does something that was “vintage” become “antique”?
Is there a rule for this? Let me know in the comments!!

My grandmother, born Phyllis Marie Ripepi in 1921, got married in August of 1939.

She was born in a small mining town, to an ordinary immigrant family.
After she passed away in 2011, I ended up with her wedding dress and shoes. Continue reading “My Grandmother’s Antique 1939 Wedding Dress”

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Making the Victorian Symington Pretty Housemaid corset (1890s) – phase 1

Quite a few years ago, I made a corset.
I made it out of a heavy-weight burlap-style material. I had no intent on wearing it close to my skin. It was foundation. It was support.
I used coat hangers (because this was prior to the recent popularity of corsets, and busks were hard to find (and cost-prohibitive at that time), approximately 30 hooks and eyes, and some commercial 1/4-inch ribbon for lacing.
It worked!
But I wanted more. Continue reading “Making the Victorian Symington Pretty Housemaid corset (1890s) – phase 1”

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A “pieced-together” chemise

I created my mock-up for a Symington “Pretty Housemaid” interpretation last year. The idea was that the corset (being stiffened more with hemp cording rather than steel bone) would be something to replace my normal supportive undergarments – something that I would wear on a day-to-day basis.
Still not designed to be washed, however, ensuring that I could prevent it from direct contact with my skin became imperative. Continue reading “A “pieced-together” chemise”

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Historical garment-making for gentlemen

After starting a group for locals who might be similarly interested in historical and vintage clothing, I realised that most of the resources I’d seen were for women.
I guess it makes sense – I wasn’t really exploring the creation of a 1890s Gentleman’s ensemble for myself!

But when I started trying to find resources for the gents in my group, I realised that it wasn’t something easily found!
Granted – in the age of algorithm-populated search results, the chances of finding something that deviates from my normal profile is greatly decreased – so perhaps there are loads of resources, but for someone like me, they just don’t show up. Who’s to say.
It is possible, however, that given the status quo of the day, more resources were provided through magazines and catalogues for women of the home to sew for themselves and their children. {Though again, why no patterns for them to sew for their husbands?}
Men worked. Those who were tailors would have apprenticed under other tailors. They were taught their trade hands-on, without the use of printed manuals or guides.  But these are just my musings.

In any case, for any men who are looking for historical Victorian (or thereabouts) tailoring guides or patterns, hopefully this list of digitized freebies will get you started. Continue reading “Historical garment-making for gentlemen”