One down, two to go

[frualeydis]

The first piece of my hand sewn effigy corset is finished; except for lacing holes and binding, which will be done when the corset is finished.


It's made from hand woven linen, probably made by my paternal grandmother, or by her mother. The thread is linen and it is waxed before sewing to smoothen it so that it doesn't get worn.

I started sewing the boning channels yesterday and continued after dinner tonight. I would guess I've worked seven hours on it. If I continue like this it may be finished in time for the Winter Games. Tomorrow I'm going down town to get some chamois leather to bind it with.

Comments

[liadethornegge.livejournal.com]

That looks nice. Can't wait to see the shape of your back panel next :) How wide are your channels?

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

Well, they're not really exact, I'd say they vary between 8 and 10 mm. There's going to be two flat reeds/split cane pieces in each. Since I'm a rather big woman you can understand that there are quite a few channels to sew.

/Eva

[liadethornegge.livejournal.com]

I know, they seemed endless when I made my corset. And I did that on the machine!

I'd be interested to see what the reeds look like too. I've not seen any ever, I think.

[crup-en-cami.livejournal.com]

I can't believe you have such a wonderful piece of heirloom fabric! That must be so nice, to have a connection to your grandmother that way. :D

[merastra.livejournal.com]

I second that. Hand woven by your very own relatives. Too cool.

[mirazandar.livejournal.com]

kudos, - you do everything so thoroughly! I also handsew stays, but they are only half boned, made from ikea linen and the stitching is pretty rough.

And wow. Handwoven linen too. That's pretty awsome. You'll beat everyone on the periodness thing. What kind of boning will you use. This just doesn't seem like a project for unperiod materials.

[tayloropolis.livejournal.com]

That's really amazing that you have that wonderful linen with such an interesting provenance. I'm glad you are using it for something and not just letting it sit around a rot.

[merastra.livejournal.com]

My goodness, you have *way* more patience than I. Lookin' good so far. ;-)

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

Either good sewing company, a good costume film or both; that's the way to do it :)

/Eva

[peronel.livejournal.com]

Wow. What wonderful linen, and how good that you're doing what it deserves and doing it 'properly'

[sneprinsesse.livejournal.com]

I would like to follow your example one day, but so far I will just learn from you in theory :)
It is two layers of linen with channels between, right? I am not so practiced in hand sewing yet, may I ask what kind of stitches you use?

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

Two layers because the linen is thick and sturdy, and I use backstitches (etterstygn).

/Eva

[sneprinsesse.livejournal.com]

Attersting på norsk :) Takk skal du ha!

[amorluxveritas.livejournal.com]

Adding to the chorus of questions:
Where do you buy your reeds from? I figure I'll want to order some eventually once it's time for me to make a corset. :)

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

I ordered mine from Grannd (http://www.grannd.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=GS), but I had a world of trouble getting them to send me an invoice for overseas shipping. But if you're in the US that shouldn't be a problem.

/Eva

[silverstah.livejournal.com]

Actually, even in the US they have shipping issues. I stopped using them about 4-5 years ago due to poor communication and slow shipping times. I tried them again recently, and had shipping issues *again*.

I've had very good luck with Farthingales for corsetry supplies - although it dosen't look like they carry reeds:

http://www.farthingales.on.ca/indexpage.htm

Corsetmaking.com carries Reed boning (http://store.corsetmaking.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=NA-RREED1&Category_Code=NA) at what looks to be a fairly reasonable price, and I've had good luck with them, too. :)

Your new corset looks AMAZING, and it's wonderful that you are able to use a piece of fabric that has such great history. You're braver than I am - I don't think I'd have the guts to cut into it! :)