mala_14 | Entries tagged with 1908 corset

jenthompson's talk of 1908 corsets reminds me that I never posted pictures of my own 1908 corset that I made. It was for an article for Foundations Revealed back in August 2012. It's this corset and the original pattern can be found on La Couture Parisienne and an incomplete version of the pattern is on Wikimedia Commons.

I made it from a single layer of plain-weave cotton that I dyed using onion peels, curry powder, and tea bags (just as an experiment). It has a waist stay of twill tape and is also bound with twill tape. The boning is skinny cable ties in channels applied on the inside. Let me know if you want a scaled version of the pattern on graph paper and I can email it to you. I'm all technology inept and don't know how to put the pattern pdf in this post. The measurements of the original are approximately: Bust = 36", Waist = 26", Hips = 44"

Because if there aren't any pictures, it didn't happen, right?

Just finished my 1908 corset and am sitting here with it on. Hurrah!

In other creative news, I cast on the pink blanket for Cadence, the big sister of the new baby. The blanket is going to have a garter stitch border and a moss stitch centre. I'm not going to work on this one so intensely because I have lots of time to get it done. It's more of an in-between projects type of project. Now that I'm done the corset, it's back to the corded petticoat. Oh, and taking in the side seams of a shirt that I bought a while ago but don't really like the fit of. Considering it only cost me $5, and it has a cute retro vibe to it, I'm happy to make minor adjustments on it to make it wearable.

List of my July projects planned: corded petticoat, plaid pants (Smooth Sailing pattern), corset cover (using Jenni's pattern), top petticoat, and sweater (from A Stitch in Time Vol. 2). I don't really expect to get the sweater done, and I may only get the top petticoat started, but the other three things are totally doable. I was planning on making the plaid pants with straight legs, but after trying on a really old pair of my dad's pants (like pants that were probably older than me), I've decided that I need a wide-leg pair of pants. They looked really cool, very Annie Hall. So there's all my plans for the coming month!

I went out with two people from my book club. We headed out to a nearby small town on Thursday to visit with the third person who lives there. There's an awesome museum there: a Mennonite village. Some of the buildings and things are original, while others have been moved there to preserve them. It's so neat! You get to walk through these old buildings dating from the 1870s to the 19-teens. There are houses and schools and barns and stores. One of them was even the school that my friend's grandmother had attended. We had a delicious lunch too. It was so good I returned on Saturday with my family.

I finished the baby blanket on Saturday and was so glad to have it done. (Don't tell anyone, but one side is slightly wider than the other by about 2 inches. As I went on my tension got tighter.) I got some nice compliments on it from my aunt and uncle. A picture will be forthcoming. The baby shower/one-month party was pretty big. It took up several big tables at a restaurant and there was tons of food. It was a very food-filled day for me since my dad and I went to the local farmer's market that morning and bought pie, local honey (farmed by a former professor of mine), carrots, and tomatoes. Then we went to that small town for lunch with my mom to eat some fabulous borsht, doenaers, and cake, all made in-house. I somehow managed to have a dessert with every meal that day. Yay!

A couple days ago I started my new sweater. The stitches are definitely far from perfect at the beginning, but they are slowly improving, although they are still a bit squidgy. Maybe it's my tension, or maybe it's just the nature of the yarn, or maybe it just needs blocking, but my Vs (knit stitches) don't look like nice Vs. Instead, there's a definite separation where the next stitch loops through. It's not terrible and it may fix itself, so I'm not going to let it bother me too much. Ravelry link here.

The 1908 corset is still being worked on. I skipped several days of my schedule last week and am making up for it now. I'm at the point where I have the boning channels sewn in. Up next is cutting the boning and then setting grommets. Not too much to go now!

Current Mood: busy

I'm still working on the 1908 corset for my article. I should have it done early next week, which gives me well over a week to write the article. It also keeps me on schedule for getting my June projects done, because once I finish sewing this, I can get cracking on my corded petticoat again. This week I have dyed my corset fabric using onion skins, curry powder, and tea bags to get a golden yellow. Unfortunately it dyed a little unevenly, but as it's not too bad and it was an experiment anyways, I don't really mind. It's all cut out and I've started sewing. I had to stop because my camera battery died, so now I'm taking the time to post here while it charges. The baby blanket is about 90% done, which is good because I need to give it on Saturday. These three projects: corset, blanket, and corded petticoat, are what I decided I would get done this month. Next month I have a whole whack of new projects that I want to work on, so I'm really aiming to get these finished.

I marked all my cording lines today with a fast-fade, erasable marker. Unfortunately, it fades way too fast. After about an hour or two, many of the lines were scarcely visible. Not very fun. But I made sure to mark the line placement on a metre/yard-stick with painter's tape, which not only made it easier to mark the lines on the petticoat, but also keeps a temporary record for when I have to refresh those markings after they fade. Every row of cording is 1/8" farther apart as they move upwards. On the plus side, I got three rows of cording in today. They're not perfect (there's the occasional spot where the cording is not sitting nicely in it's tuck, but has escaped for a little instead), but it's not noticeable from the outside and it doesn't affect how the petticoat functions. Only 17 more rows to go. And however many rows are going to get sandwiched into the hem.

My corset supplies for my 1908 corset also arrived today. Well, the postman came and tried to deliver them, but I was still in bed, so I don't actually have them. But I'm stopping by the post office tomorrow and then it will be back to the corset and the corded petticoat will be on hold again.

Current Mood: busy

A little late to the party, but I joined Ravelry today. I wanted to see some sweaters actually made up from A Stitch in Time Vol. 2 to help me narrow down which sweater to start with. It'll be my very first time knitting a sweater. I haven't made anything that wasn't a rectangle yet, except for an experiment with lace edging. Should be interesting. Anyways, as I was browsing around on Ravelry looking at vintage sweaters, I saw

koshka_the_cat on there (for her sontag). Then I realized that a bunch of people on LJ are also on Ravelry! So I tracked you guys down and added you to my friends. I'm on there as mala-14 if you feel like adding me.

In sewing news, I've finished my 1908 mock-up and ordered the busk and some boning. I also ripped out the hem of my tucked petticoat to shorten it about two inches. I'm planning on re-sewing the hem tomorrow. I think my next project will be the corded petticoat. I've already got the panels ripped for it and I have some hemp cording that should work. I've been procrastinating on it because it seemed like so much work, but productivity seems to be at an all-time high this year, so I figured there's no time like the present. Plus, after seeing pictures of

jennil's new 1840s dress, it really makes me want to get cracking on my own late 1830s dress. Maybe I can get the corset and the corded petticoat both done this month. Then I'd feel really good about myself. ;)

I've been plugging away at my 1908 corset for my Foundations Revealed article. I got the first mock-up done and tried on yesterday. It looks like the picture, but is all-around too big because it laces closed, so adjustments are in order.

Nothing else is really going on with me. The baby blanket continues to increase with only a few minor mistakes. I'm always amazed at how quickly knitting goes. You start out with some yarn and then suddenly it's a big piece of something. After seeing a lot of people raving about A Stitch in Time Vol. 2, I looked it up. Geez, there are some gorgeous patterns in there! The library has Vol. 1 and I'm probably going to check that out soon, but I like the styles in Vol. 2 better. I'm being good and not buying anything right now though. I'm still looking for a job and refuse to spend money on me until I get one. So tempting though!

Current Mood: busy

I know I've been kind of AWOL lately in terms of posting. I don't have much to post about because right now I'm pretty much just job searching. In terms of sewing I've been working on a 1908 corset for my next Foundations Revealed article. I'm about to embark on the mock-up stage, but I woke up today not feeling so great so I didn't really feel like cutting it out. I'm afraid that I am coming down with a cold. I watched The Young Victoria instead, for about the third time. :)

I went to an antiques mall with my dad last weekend. It was fun. There's a big, three storey building just jam-packed. I didn't get anything, but I wanted to buy about half the store. Unfortunately, I don't have a house to furnish. After that we headed over to a vintage/antique clothing store. I saw a couple teens dresses, one was a lingerie dress c.1912 and the other was an evening gown c.1914. There was also a gorgeous 1930s wine velvet gown that was labelled as 1915. Silly store! Then we headed down to the local market and bought some random foods for supper. This weekend my dad wants to take me to the art gallery. There is a Norman Rockwell exhibit going on. Should be fun.

In other news, my cousin and his girlfriend just had a new baby girl! She was born yesterday. I'm scheming about knitting her a baby blanket for her 1 month birthday. In Chinese culture, the first month is celebrated as the first year so there's a big party for that. I'm going to try an knit up a sample today and hope that it's not out of my skill range.