the underpinnings

August 2004
The finished corded bodice - isn't it cute? I was extremely comfortable all day at the Faire!

July 8 2004
I need a new corded bodice for my new Ren Dress. The original one was inspired by Jen Thompson. Her corded bodice was lovely and found her detailed information on using hemp cord so inspiring. I love my version but it's now is too big and did not provided enough lower back support. Very important at a Faire, that.

I'll be using the same pattern as before just fitting, lengthening and shaping the front a bit for some tummy support.

July 9 2004

I started work on the new corded bodice today. I didn't get too far with it as I wasn't feeling well most of the day. Lacing in and out of a toile multiple times didn't appeal.

I decided, for the first time in my sewing career, to not cut a separate toile but to use the actual lining fabric. In this case a blue-jean denim. The first toile I cut longer and a bit smaller than my original pattern. I also changed the sleeve so that it will tie at the front, not be a part of the actual bodice.

I tried that on, or attempted too. It was still too big. I marked where the bottom should be then I took it off and cut it down again. That is as far as I got.

July 10

I finished fitting the corded bodice toile today. I ended up taking 3" off the original pattern. Every time I tried it on it was too big or didn't provide a gap, so I kept cutting it down. Not that I have probably lost 3 whole inches since October 2002 (when the pattern was originally drafted) as I had to take the stretching of the fabric into account in those 3 inches. Still it's pretty cool!

I started sewing the channels this evening. I didn't actually cut out the second mustard twill layer. I borrowed a technique from Mara Riley's site of basting the cut lining pieces to an uncut section of fashion fabric. I was thinking of constructing my 18th century stays this way so I made the bodice a bit of a "guinea pig project". So far I'm happy with the technique.

I finished the front panel but made a mistake when I started on the side pieces. I forgot to change the setting on my machine and sewed several rows with a large basting stitch. I'll have to re-do those. It was a sure sign I needed to stop for the night so I have.

July 11

I finished sewing the channels today. I also sewed the seams on the bodice. I'm going to cord the channels and then trim everything at once. I still need to cut out the lining and binding…

The close-up is of the outside of the seam. After I sewed the seam I graded the ends down a bit, then ironed it towards the back and tacked it down about half way through the seam. It made it much flatter and less bulky.

July 12

I spent my morning at the dentist, and the rest of the day recovering. Luckily cording channels is very brainless and almost relaxing work. I kept to an uncomplicated pattern; no one-ended diagonal channels. I'm trying to keep things simple with my deadline fast approaching.

Once the bodice was full of hemp, I ran a basting stitch through the bottom (so nothing gets pulled out of place) and trimmed the edges. I left the sleeves as I didn't want to deal with them in my post-dentist loopy state.

July 15

I cut and attached the lining to the corded bodice today. I very scientifically laid the bodice on an old sheet and cut around it. Okay, so I did line up the grain first. Old sheets are wonderful things!

I attached the lining to the two back edges. I then decided to add steel boning to the side seams. I was really pleased with the results of doing this last time. I had to wrestle with the pieces a bit to sew a length of bone casing to the inside of the lining. I love out it's so tidy on both the out and inside now. Very much worth the effort. *giggle* I then ran a basting stitch all round the bodice edges to keep the lining in place before I get the binding on.

I thought I had some left-over purple binding from the last corded bodice but apparently not. I can't find it anyway. I think I'm going to wait to bind the bodice until after I work on the dress a bit. I want to make sure the bodice won't show at all and I want to see which fabric I end up using. I don't want a dark binding to show beneath that khaki. Very tacky.

July 16

I spent my sewing time today working the eyelets on the bodice. They are all done now and look pretty good. I didn't spend a lot of time on them but they are still better than those nasty grommets. I hate those things! Anyway, with the eyelets in it's all ready to be tried on and have a dress toile fitted over it...

July 18

I tried on my corded bodice for the first time today. Overall I'm pleased. The gap in the back is a good 3.5 inches but I'm cool with that. Maybe I'll get to wear this one more than once this time. :> Also I wasn't able to get it laced as tight as I wanted. I'll need assistance for that.

I've decided that I'm not hip on the sleeves after all so I'm going to cut them off entirely.

July 29

While I had the corded bodice on tonight for a bodice fitting I took some pics. Mom was available to lace me up nice and tight - yay!

Aug 4
To-do list for the Faire Garb:
pleat & attach skirt
apply trim to skirt
hem skirt
mark & sew eyelets on bodice side
mark & attach lacing rings to shoulder straps (don't want to do eyelets because of the ribbon)
mark & sew eyelets on sleeves
buy/find ribbon to lace sleeves & bodice sides
cut and apply binding to corded bodice

fix feather fan/ make new one
make new camica?
make partlet?
make headdress?
experiment with hair
trim straw hat?

Umm…. Looks like I still have a bit to do. Mostly handwork… oy!

Aug 15

So t he corded bodice is not terribly comfortable. Not sure what to do about it. It's fine standing up but when I sit down it digs into my waist and gapes most annoying at the midriff area. I want my midriff compressed not sticking out more than normal!

I wonder if the problem may be that it's too long, I think it's actually a little below my waist in places. I'm going to try trimming it down. I'm also thinking about maybe cutting off the front point (perhaps that is exacerbating the problem?) and/or adding a busk in the center front. I don't know. I didn't have any of these problems with the last one which makes it doubly annoying.

Good thing I haven't put the binding on huh?

Aug 23
Life really needs to stop getting in the way - I have costuming deadlines here!!! I have 4 days to finish up the Faire Garb. I'm trying not to panic. Really it's not that bad, it's just a bunch of last minute little stuff.

The bodice is what I'm most worried about at this point.

I decided to use some pre-made bias tape on it. I was originally going to use blue to contrast the yellow but all the pre-made blues were funky colors. So I picked up a dark Christmas red instead.

I need to make another trip to Jo-Anns. Now that I am cutting the bodice down, all my steel boning is too long. I was going to use cable ties but I could only find a huge package and frankly didn't want to spend that much. So I'll substitute with some Ridgeline. At least that is easy to sew and easy to remove, if I ever want to replace it with steel. I couldn't have thought of that while I was at the store yesterday of course...

Teddy e-mailed me last week with the suggestion of creating tabs, instead of just cutting the bottom off. I'm not sure it will work, as the bodice is only an inch or so too long but I'm going to try that first. No harm, as I can always cut them off if it doesn't work.

Aug 25
So today I'm off to Hancock's for lacing rings and Jo-Ann's for Regline. Then I'm planning to tackle the corded bodice. If I can't work out those issues there is no point in bothering with the dress tomorrow.

Aug 25 - later that day
Why is it that running errands always takes forever? You go out for 3 things and suddenly you have 7 errands to run. They multiply like rabbits! Anyway...

When I finally got home I measured the corded bodice, cut the little tabs and then tried it on. It was amazing the difference! It didn't "pooch" or buckle out anymore! Yay!

I found that my 1" tabs were still lower than my natural waistline so I took the bodice off again and slashed them up another ½". I tried the bodice on once more and found that did the trick. The pooch was practically gone and the bodice was very comfortable. The midriff area still looked a little large but I think that is because I am used to busks and flat fronted corsets. The round shape looked perfect once I tried the dress on – very period - so I am happy.

I decided in the end to not put Ridgeline in the center front. Everything was working so I didn't want to mess with it. I just replaced the side and back boning with it instead. To fit in the little back channels I just folded it in half and stuffed it down there. Sometimes you got to do what you got to do!

Unfortunately the one thing I forgot to get while I was running errands was the binding. I'd picked up single fold tape instead of double fold this weekend. I'll have to run out and get some double fold tomorrow.

Aug 27

Well I'm not going to be able to finish tonight like I wanted to.*sigh* It's almost 1:30am already and I'm getting very sleepy. My hands are also starting to cramp. So close!

The corded bodice binding has taken MUCH longer than I thought/hoped it would. Those wretched tabs. I'm about ¾ of the way done with the bottom (tab) end. So I have just a bit of the bottom left and all the top. I also need to make a new eyelet hole in the corded bodice (so they are even again) and trim my hat.

Aug 27 - later that day

I finished up the hand sewing on the binding in good time today. While I worked on trimming my hat Nefret decided she loved the bodice. I think she likes the smell of hemp. Too much cute kitty-ness going on so I snapped a pic.

Aug 30
Pics from the Faire are now in the gallery!