1860's Under garments

So, for my historical project this year i have to make a replica of an 1860's crinoline dress in the portrait  Empress Eugenie and her lady's in waiting. The image below depicts the dress I shall make but before creating the outer shell and all its finery i must start bay making the under garments; the foundations of the dress.  

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The Corset 

I started the corset by first drafting the pattern on a stand: this method is much quicker and simpler than using the metric system. Them pattern I used was that of a mid 1800's corset taken from the corsets and crinolines book. Once the right shape had been achieved the corset pattern was than flat drafted and altered on paper, in order to fit the model. 

for the base of the corset courtil is used. this is a strong woven fabric that has no stretch and molds to the body fantastically. I chose white however it does come in various other shades and patterns: also as it is of a natural fiber it is easily dyed if necessary. An 18" steel busk i used for the front opening of the corset, however, may be cut down depending on the length of the corset. The steel adds stability and works as boning, pulling the stomach in. Spiral Steel boning and surgical tape to seal the ends is used to bone the seams - boning cases are made of corset tape ( this looks like flat shoe lace). The back fastening in made up of several metal eyelets, to be laced up with corset lace. 

To lace up a corset you thread the lace by crossing over the eyelets ( just like a shoe lace) until the middle where you thread one below, leave some slack and then cross over again. This makes tightening the corset easier as the waist is then pulled in most, creating the desired shape. 

Chemise and Bloomers

These are the articles that are worn under the corset - the early days equivalent to a vest and pants. for these I used a poly cotton blend (for price and the synthetic element means less creases) - 100% cotton would have been used any time before the last century.  

The chemise is a huge shapeless garment that gathers at the top to create the off the shoulder neckline with the corset. The neck line gather is achieved by bias casing and elastic - in the 1860's when elastic was not around it would have been achieved by a simple draw string or ribbon.    

The bloomers a basically a pair of baggy shorts, elasticated at the calves and waist. Again, as with the chemise, bias binding is used to case the elastic. 

The hems of the bloomers, the neckline of the chemise and the the sleeves are all trimmed with 1" wide lace: Note, this is applied before the elastic is inserted. 

 

The Crinoline

This is by far the most complex but impressive item of the undergarment. Took from the pattern in the Corsets and Crinolines book it is authentic to the mid 1800's. The crinoline is also made of polycotton to match the chemise and bloomers. 

The base of the crinoline is made up of 10 panels - 2 x center front , side front, side, side back and center back. These are all large and gathered at the waist band once the crinoline steel casing is applied. The center front seam is left open 10" at the top creating a placket opening for the waist band. All the seams are sewn using a double feld seam for extra security as the crinoline shall be under much stress once the steel is in. 

Once the base of the crinoline is made meter's upon meter's of bias binding is needed to case the crinoline steel. 3 rows of the bias strips are applied close together at the hem, the others are evenly spaced out until about 4" off of the waist seam allowance.

For the waist band the top of the crinoline is gathered - this is most easily done using piping chord rather than a double row of tack stitching due to the extreme length. Interfacing must be used to stiffen the waistband, further more if the waist band is made to fit the natural waist measurement of the model it should fit well with the corset.

For decoration and volume a frill is added, this sits so it falls on the hem of the crinoline. To make a frill you need a 12" wide strip 3 x the the circumference of the hem. Then hem both edges so the strip become 10". This may then be pleated, pinned and applied to the crinoline. 

The final step is to insert the crinoline steel. I personally found it easier to work down from waist to hem. As more steels are added it becomes more shaped, the idea is to create a dome. 

    

And there you have it almost half way there after the first fitting