Phase Two begins with preparing the panels for cording. Continue reading “Making the Victorian Symington Pretty Housemaid corset (1890s) – phase 2”
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)”
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”
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”