1830's undergarments

[madamemodiste]

I will soon begin an 1830's gown, and it occurs to me I need to make undergarments first!

1) Corded petticoat
I love to cheat! Could I use lipcord (but I know I can find it cheaper) or home decorating piping?

2)Corset or stays
In Wives and Daughters, the girls seem to be wearing Regency-esque stays under their gowns. I saw koshka_the_cat's free pattern, but I need one that comes in multiple sizes 'cause I can't draft, so I'm looking to buy a pattern. I see the Past Patterns 1820's-1840's Corded Stay pattern has been well reviewed. I wonder if I could actually finish it in time for SalonCon, though? So much cording...yikes! I have 4 hat commissions to do as well as my own stuff, not to mention laundry and spending time with husband and friends! LOL! Is it as bad as it looks?

Comments

[quincy134.livejournal.com]

Yay, 1830s!!! I've still got my 1828 project on the back burner. I really loved the Past Patterns stays. Regency-esque stays continued to be used into the 1830s, with small stylistic changes. The basic construction of the PP ones are simple--that shouldn't take too long. You can start will a less-heavily corded version, and they should still be wearable. here is my webpage on those stays. I've since fixed them up a bit more, so the gap is more even in the back. They are pretty comfortable, and you could use them for regency too.

[madamemodiste.livejournal.com]

Wow! You really did a beautiful job! Is View A less-heavily corded?

Now, what do you think of my anti-historically accurate cheat idea for the "corded" petticoat?

[quincy134.livejournal.com]

View A has more embroidery instead of cording, but it's constructed with these back facings that would tend to flip out, I bet. I would make View B and start with just the basic cording, as shown in the first to photos in this post. That's just cording at the back edges, at the waist, and along the edges of the busk. Then you can add more over time. One thing though, the cording does take up some room, so it can slightly change the fit.

As for the corded petti, if you're going to bother to sew on piping, it might not be a huge stretch to just sew in cording. Both just involve sewing lots of lines over and over. And in both cases, you would have to measure out lines to space things and pin down the piping or cording. Now, if you somehow found pre-corded fabric, that would be the ticket!!

[madamemodiste.livejournal.com]

OK! I can do that!

Hrm...pre-corded fabric!! I know it's not out there, but you make me want to look!

How many panels of fabric would one use for the petticoat (45", say)? I figure, I probably don't need a pattern for something so simple, but I don't want it too full or too narrow. Since you've done one, you can tell me!

[quincy134.livejournal.com]

I used two panels of 44", I think. I think that's about what Jenni was using too, here.

[madamemodiste.livejournal.com]

Rock! Thank you again!

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh - I have so much to do before I can even consider 1830s! I still have 2 DragonCon costumes to start/finish.

I really need one of those stays that would work for both regency or early Victorian so I can get the most use out of it. I don't know when that will happen though. If I do 1830s, I may just be wearing the wrong undies. I have the laughing moon corset, but it's not great since it was my first one. Oh well.

Let me know what pattern you end up going with, and how it goes!

[madamemodiste.livejournal.com]

No one's going to know if you are wearing the wrong undies. Just as long as you have some on!

I'm going to go with the Past Patterns. I'll post as usual, kicking and screaming as I make it.

At the moment, I have white cotton in the wash for my corded petticoat.

[jennylafleur.livejournal.com]

The Past Pattern you are looking at is excellent. I made it up as a prep for making my Hunnisett stays. The instructions are wonderful and it's full of historical notes, not to mention good instructions for the cording. That is how i learned to do it.

The cording is easy but time consuming. You could use the pattern with minimal cording if it's a timing issue though, some have barely any (like Katherine's) and some lots (like PP001). I needed lots of support so I went all out on the cording and used spiral steel on the sides and back, you are nice and thin so you can probably get away with minimal if you wanted to.

The 20s-40s are transitional corsets from the Regency to the Victorian so the shape isn't that different. The main difference is the Regency are more column-like while the 20s, 30s, and 40s are more hour glass in shape. It's interesting to watch them morph from one style to the next... :>

[madamemodiste.livejournal.com]

Very cool! I love it when a pattern is unanimously liked! And I have little in the bust area to worry about supporting, too.

Yeah, it is cool to see the styles gradually change from one to the next. I love historical clothing time lines that go about every 5-10 years.