ISO patterns for children's garments Victorian era Thank you

Start here! :)

Sue

Yes indeed. These are the good old days.

Dear Sue,

My Mom was put into stays (corsets) when she was six. And that was the 20th century! (By the way, it didn't help; she still got thick around the middle--it's a genetic trait in our family.)

Teri

A woman who spent some time as a docent at Sutter's Mill in California explained to us that corsets were not for enhancing one's figure - at least, that was not the original purpose. A corset supports your back and enables you to pick up and carry heavier loads, such as a laundry tub and buckets of water.

Dear Joanne,

I wore merry widows in the '60s, and I can tell you that they didn't help my back. I decided to go with the "new look" of chemises and no waistline dresses, rather than truss myself up. Later, I had to dress for my profession, and opted for tailored pantsuits, rather than short skirts. Even though I taught fashion design I eschewed "the latest fad", and encouraged my students to design tastefull, well fitting clothes that didn't need elaborate underwear. It might be fun for a day at a Ren Faire, but everyday? Forget it!!

Teri

I hear ya! Fortunately, we don't have to tote that barge, lift that bale like our grandmothers and great-grandmothers did. My mother grew up in a house with no electricity and no indoor plumbing - the wash was done over a fire outside, and the agitation was supplied by muscle and a scrubbing board. I guess in those circumstances, you used whatever your mother said would help.

The only time I ever wore a merry widow was on stage in "Chicken Every Sunday". (which is set in 1915) No way would I have tortured myself with that for any other reason.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote: It might be fun

Well, I've performed at RenFaires for more than 25 years, so I often DO dress like that every day (2-3 days a week for 7-9 weeks in a row). You've hit on one of my pet peeves - "a corset is a corset, and they are uncomfy and they hurt". NO WAY!

Corsets worn during the Tudor and Elizabethan periods are NOT hourglass-shaped like Victorian ones. They are more cone-shaped, compressing the bosom. Even the extremely fashionable ones worn by noble ladies were straight up the front, and had a stiffener up the front. Queen Elizabeth was skinny as a rail and flat as a board, and EVERYONE wanted to look like her. In-period, a large bosom was seen as maternal, not attractive or sexy.

People who had to actually work for a living wore what we would call 'corsets' (pairs of bodies) stiffened with broomstraws or even rope. More like a snug-fitting vest than a "Merry Widow". Bodies "boned" with hemp cord are surprisingly comfortable and give a gentle rounded shape to the bosom. Many working-class women wore a combination of a kirtle or underdress that suppressed the bosom and an open-fronted gown that laced up the front with a single spiral-lace. This provides quite a bit of support and is very comfortable - and I'm a 36DD! I dress like a Breugel painting (leaving off the over-partlet because I'm an improper tavern musician) and I can move furniture and swordfight with no trouble.

I do have two "noblewoman's" corsets that go with my court-style gowns. They are more restrictive than the workingwoman's outfits, but by no means uncomfortable or painful. If it hurts, it doesn't fit you properly! True, there are things I can't do in those gowns (like tie my own shoes!) but there are things you can't do in a miniskirt or strapless ball gown either. You learn to adjust.

I have made bodices for quite a few larger women, and they often say that they are more comfortable than a modern bra. No poky underwires, chafing, sags, pinched shoulders, or anything else. Your boobs stay where they are, don't move, and you have back support.

Wendy Z Chicago, IL

A great-niece has a 3YO DD who is in love with antique garments. There is a website on E-Bay advertising them and she begs her Mom to buy some for her everytime they look online. She turns 4 in September and her DM wants to find some free or low-price patterns to make some for her. I saw one site yesterday on this group, with a similar dress she likes, but must have deleted it before she sent her request. I told DGN to check Sew Beautiful magazine at the library. Any help will be greatly appreciated. BTW, Daddy is in Iraq. Emily

Hi there Wendy! How's it going?

I have to agree about the corsets. The black velvet Wench Bodice on my web site is based on a pattern drafted from the Effigy Corset that Elizabeth wore, and I can do all sorts in it, from climbing ladders and dancing a jig to touching my toes (mind you, I have short legs and the corset doesn't have tabs over the hips! ;)). Very comfy for this 32DD figure.

Even a Victorian corset will gently mould the figure and support the bust rather than squishing you into a fainting fit if properly made and fitted.

The only time I tried a more modern elasticated 'corset' (this sort of thing:

You should have known I'd pop in here!

Things pretty slow - working the day-job and rehearsing a lot. Bookings for the new band are going pretty well. Looks like I have one weekend free between mid-August and mid-October, PLUS the weekday job, so I'm trying to cram a summer's worth of goofing off into a month :) That and playing with my house-bunny is enough activity for me!

Need to get off my butt and do some sewing soon - I scored some lovely linen at a warehouse sale a while back and need a couple of new chemises and I plan some kirtles and overgowns, based on both the Tudor Tailor references and some of Drea Leed's Flemish workingwomens work. I've put on some weight between the lack of activity enforced by my worsening asthma and the steroids used to treat it, so I need some new outfits. Yep - that's my story and I'm sticking to it....(though I have a new inhaled med and I have dropped 4 lbs in a month without even trying).

Wendy Z Sig-less in Chicago (replaced my computer 2 wks ago)

Actually the corsets for young girls (and in some cases boys), weren't the whalebone "Mammy you just gotta make my waist 19 inches again" sorts, but very soft affairs. The stiffening, if any was usually padding, think of it as a training bra.

Such corsets were usually worn to get a young girl used to her lot in life, and or provide some back support, as even young girls did heavy work around the house. Only the most cruel of nannies, governesses, or school headmistresses put young girls into stiff corsets (and tied them in such away the child couldn't loosen the knots).

As for patterns, try Past Patterns. Have mint Victorian corset pattern from them sitting in my stash for ages now, but haven't looked at what sizes it covers.

Candide

Better a "merry widow" than a Playtex rubber girdle any day.

Candide

Not to mention that in RTW, stretch is always used as an excuse to avoid the trouble of making something reasonably near the right size and shape.

Joy Beeson

Now I do like my soft knit stuff to have elastic waistbands. I end up climbing ladders, crawling on the floor, bent double in a heap and otherwise contorting myself so often that a bit of give at the front of the waist is a must! That and my waist STILL goes up and down a fair amount every month (though not the five to seven inches of yore!), and if I did fixed waistbands, half my wardrobe would be unwearable for much of the time - either too big or too small!

To hold up an ankle length circular cotton skirt (think patchwork weight cotton), I use 1.5" wide firm elastic in a separate casing. It doesn't need to be tight. But I do need to hack a few more inches out of the elastic in the one I wore yesterday as it's starting to droop again... No, the elastic isn't shot: my waist has gone down since last summer!

Oh I don't know Candide I quite like rubber myself.

Dr Shaft

I close my waistbands with four hooks and twenty eyes, two hooks and ten eyes at each side seam. The hooks are in tandem, not side-by-side, so each hook gets a set of five eyes that are spaced half an inch apart. This makes five inches of adjustment. I frequently change them as much two inches while I am wearing them. (Well, *that* much only at a pitch-in picnic :-)

I do use elastic to hold up light garments that won't have anything significant in their pockets -- I'm about to make three casings in my new cycling knickers -- just in time, as I came back from my last ride with a hole the size of a silver dollar in the seat of my pants.

Small-cord elastic is strong enough for many waistbands, but I've decided to use only quarter-inch elastic from now on, as it seems to wear through the casing more slowly. I've also found that stitching a little way from the edge of the casing to make a narrow ruffle helps; pushing the elastic back from the edge seems to make it wear on the fabric less.

I was planning to deploy both these ideas on the three casings at hand, but while typing the post that vanished , I realized that the old, simple casings are in excellent condition despite having cord elastic at the knees. Cord elastic is easier to install and blocks a tad less sweat than quarter-inch elastic, so I'll make the new knickers just like the old ones.

Except, of course, for the broadcloth-underlined saddle area!

I also added a pair of patch pockets to give me a place to hang my Halt in case I ever wear the knickers without a jersey. A pair, because I always install single pockets on the wrong side.

A short piece of stout tape would have done for a Halt hanger, but pockets are about as easy, and I might want to put keys in the other one, if there are no pockets at all in my shirt. I *do* have an RTW shirt that hasn't been modified yet, and my T-shirt pockets are near the front hem, which doesn't work on a road bike.

Joy Beeson