Period Corsetry

Period Corsetry

Guests: Daisy Victoria, Pam Cole, May Hammer

Viking & Middle Ages- 17th, 18th, 19th, 1920's to present

Roman women wore a sports bra & panties instead of corsets

Vikings used lots of leather strappings that pushed up the chest

The 1st corsets had whale bones.

Busks - Tudors & Elizabethan had wooden boning.

Proper corsets - a trust corset is considered from the Tudor/Elizabethan - The English Renaissance

The English had steel corset covers.

Spanish inquisition had ridged covers.

You need stability in a corset. Steel bones - there are two types: spring steel & spiral. Spiral was used in late victorian & Edwardian times.

Power mesh - is strong and has stretch. You can get some material like this from tutu.com

1st step in creating a corset is measure. Have someone else do it. Take a deep breath and get the measurement from the bust & waist.

Measure also from muscle from the side of the neck to bust point and to the under bust to get the size of the chest.

** People with Scoliosis spend extra & find steel boning and go shorter. It helps with ribs and hips *** Burnadette Banner is a good person to listen to with Scoliosis- she has tutorials

Older people and corsets- suggesting wear a bandeau or sports bra without straps.

The basics of corset making * BOOK*

has drawings, shows how to cut per body type, and male corsets.

Different types of corsets:

Underbust

Overbust

Tudor- Anne Boleyn wore under her gowns

Revolutionary War- corsets were for push up and show off.

The corset became public from " Ladies of the night"

Oils off your body can rust/rot your corset.

** Hack, put a tank top with a corset for an extra layer if you don't have anything else to put under. This helps preserve the corset.***

Pattern options

McCall - has Tudor patterns

Butterick has 18th & 19th century

Martha McCain has patterns

Simplicity Regency 1795 - 1895 French Revolution type corset

Fold up or cut below.

tutu.com ( lacing stays just for markups) sells stays that already have grommets in them.

For people that are just getting into corset making- start off with an underbust.

You can also purchase synthetic whalebone.

Base fabric - drill cloth, cotton coutil, strong fabrics like cotton duck cloth or 2 layers of cotton twill.

* Purchase a Grommet presser- you can purchase from amazon. It helps save your hands as compared to a hand grommet presser.

Tool Dip @ home depot for the tip of boning.

You want your boning to be 1/8 inch at the top and bottom for when inserting the boning into the chamber.

Twill tape, Waist Tape, and Bootlaces can be used in the creation of a corset.

Do not use Bias tape.