Post by Anna on Jan 28, 2009 4:55:02 GMT -5
No, it's not a pattern, it's a book... full of patterns. Only a few of them are relevant to the Regency, but I can't be the only person here who does several periods.
Corsets: Historical Patterns & Techniques, Jill Salen
Jill Salen's book is quite unlike Nora Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines. Ms Waugh's book is focused on research, not patterns. Ms Salen's book is focused almost completely on patterns taken from extant examples. Every entry is for a corset in a museum or private collection; each has a color photo of the stay flat or on a form, a short desctiption of the corset including fabric choice and stylistic influences or variations from the norm, a small line drawing of half the back and front, and a gridded and scaled hand-drawn pattern taken directly from the garment.
She has a very good range of patterns. Dates are a bit sparse during the very early 1800s, and there are no natural form corsets. The s-bend does not make an appearance, but there are a number of patterns from exactly the same period. Everything else is covered by at least one garment, frequently several. There is one corset dated 1840 that she says could easily be from as early as 1820 and modified to a later style. For those interested in ribbon corsets, she has several patterns. There are also two children's patterns and two doll's corsets (the latter I have not included in the list of dates below).
Many of her patterns are corded to one degree or another. Even at dates where we as costumers would by default be using only steel, the corsets are partially or fully corded. It opens up a whole different view of corsetry in the late 19th century, as regards stiffining methods.
There are two fully laid-out projects at the end - one for handsewn Regency stays and one for a machine-sewn girl's corset. The last few pages of the book are also devoted to techniques such as lacing (spiral and 'regular'), stitches, eyelets, flossing, and split busk insertion.
Things I would have changed were I her editor: Her patterns include balance marks (notches), but they aren't always especially well placed. I would prefer a full line drawing of the back and front, rather than the halves, especially on asymmetrical corsets. I would love to see another view of each corset. She mentions that she made up a duplicate of each corset and then found people who matched the measurements to wear them... but there are no pictures. However, these are my only quibbles. Her patterns are well-drafted, her sources well-chosen, and I regret buying this book not in the slightest.
Stay and corset dates are as follows: 1750, 1780, 1780-5, 3 x 1790, 1798, 1830-40, 1840, 1860, 1880-5, 1885, 3 x 1890, 2 x 1890-1900, 1890-1910, 1900-10, 1900-5, 1914, 1917.
Corsets: Historical Patterns & Techniques, Jill Salen
Jill Salen's book is quite unlike Nora Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines. Ms Waugh's book is focused on research, not patterns. Ms Salen's book is focused almost completely on patterns taken from extant examples. Every entry is for a corset in a museum or private collection; each has a color photo of the stay flat or on a form, a short desctiption of the corset including fabric choice and stylistic influences or variations from the norm, a small line drawing of half the back and front, and a gridded and scaled hand-drawn pattern taken directly from the garment.
She has a very good range of patterns. Dates are a bit sparse during the very early 1800s, and there are no natural form corsets. The s-bend does not make an appearance, but there are a number of patterns from exactly the same period. Everything else is covered by at least one garment, frequently several. There is one corset dated 1840 that she says could easily be from as early as 1820 and modified to a later style. For those interested in ribbon corsets, she has several patterns. There are also two children's patterns and two doll's corsets (the latter I have not included in the list of dates below).
Many of her patterns are corded to one degree or another. Even at dates where we as costumers would by default be using only steel, the corsets are partially or fully corded. It opens up a whole different view of corsetry in the late 19th century, as regards stiffining methods.
There are two fully laid-out projects at the end - one for handsewn Regency stays and one for a machine-sewn girl's corset. The last few pages of the book are also devoted to techniques such as lacing (spiral and 'regular'), stitches, eyelets, flossing, and split busk insertion.
Things I would have changed were I her editor: Her patterns include balance marks (notches), but they aren't always especially well placed. I would prefer a full line drawing of the back and front, rather than the halves, especially on asymmetrical corsets. I would love to see another view of each corset. She mentions that she made up a duplicate of each corset and then found people who matched the measurements to wear them... but there are no pictures. However, these are my only quibbles. Her patterns are well-drafted, her sources well-chosen, and I regret buying this book not in the slightest.
Stay and corset dates are as follows: 1750, 1780, 1780-5, 3 x 1790, 1798, 1830-40, 1840, 1860, 1880-5, 1885, 3 x 1890, 2 x 1890-1900, 1890-1910, 1900-10, 1900-5, 1914, 1917.