- All Sections
- Costume making (1)
- Extras (3)
- Free Stuff (2)
- Historical periods (3)
- Research (3)
 The Winterthur Collection has many fantastic historical clothing and accessory catalogs. Here's the best from 1850-1919  This month: Trisha asks about creating a dress form for a French fashion doll and patterns for it. Shawn inquires about the historically correct way to piece an 1880 chemise Cathy explains about the DPP Corsets competition and FR
 This month Marion McNealy shares with you some of the vintage corset making and fitting books that are online. The books range from patterning and making an 1857 corset (perfect for the Single Pattern Project!) to 1920's and 30's corsets, corselettes, brassieres, bandeaux and girdles. We've even got an excellent book from the 1950's for corset saleswomen on fitting a customer and making her feel at ease during the fitting process, still applicable to customers today!  There is no right way to make a sixteenth century corset. In period, each garment was made for a specific woman with specific wants and needs. That means that those of us who want to recreate the clothing of the period have a bit of a mystery to unravel. Luckily, two pairs of bodies from the period have survived to help give us a clearer picture of what those corsets looked like and how they functioned. Lindsey Eastman has tested each of these period patterns, plus one modern interpretation and one “hybrid” style, in order to compare them and determine the advantages and disadvantages for herself - and for us!  Where would you start with an 1860s day dress, as in the 2009 YWU Single Pattern Project? With the underpinnings, of course! Sunny Buchler talks you through every single item that our Victorian lady might have worn under her gown, with references to appropriate patterns from all sources - the big pattern companies, the small historical pattern companies and from books. If you're into historical accuracy and you want to go the whole hog, here's your starting point!  This month we have the pleasure of having an exclusive interview with Jill Salen, author of the new book "Corsets", which we are reviewing this month. She shares with us what insprired her to write the book, how she got started and what her next book will be.  This month Cathy Hay reviews the new exciting new book: "Corsets: Historical Patterns and Techniques" by Jill Salen.   This month we interview Linda Sparks, owner of Farthingales LA and Farthingales (Canada). She talks about how she got started, why she started Farthingales and about her book on corsets coming out in December!  Here at YWU we understand first-hand how difficult it can be to bind corsets, stays and bodies neatly. After all those hours of careful work, fitting, boning and stitching, the £$!*?& binding lets you down! Even if you're otherwise a great costumer, the frustration of binding can inspire the most experienced needleperson to throw things. So in the interests of your inner calm, "Doctor" Cathy offers the cure… find out once and for all how to perfect your stays and corsets with Part One of our indispensible guide! Here at YWU we understand first-hand how difficult it can be to bind corsets, stays and bodies neatly. After all those hours of careful work, fitting, boning and stitching, the £$!*?& binding lets you down! Even if you're otherwise a great costumer, the frustration of binding can inspire the most experienced needleperson to throw things. So in the interests of your inner calm, "Doctor" Cathy offers the cure… find out once and for all how to perfect your stays and corsets with our indispensible guide!  How to make your own personalised custom Victorian corset pattern - a tutorial suitable for beginners! One of the most frustrating challenges in corsetmaking is to get the darn thing to fit properly. Corsets are such unforgiving, tightly fitted garments that a good one must have a perfect fit; there's no room for error. After getting frustrated with commerical patterns, you're probably starting to wonder how to draft (draw out) your own patterns from a list of measurements. Here's how, in a step-by-step format specially designed for complete beginners. I've devised these instructions for you based on corset designs of the late 1870s. You'll still need a mock-up to check before cutting the expensive fabric, but you will be very surprised how well it fits... |
