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Call for Pattern Testers for a 1907-11 Corset – CLOSED

UPDATE: this call for testers is now closed, thank you to everyone who applied!

UPDATE #2: The pattern is now available for sale! Get the Persis Corset Here

It’s that time again! Scroop Patterns has an exciting new corset pattern ready to test. So, that means I need testers to help make sure it’s absolutely perfect.

1907-11 Corset Testers Wanted scrooppatterns.com

If you’d like to apply to be chosen to help test the corset, keep reading to learn more, and how to apply…

The Pattern:

This corset is based on the transitional corsets sold between 1907 and 1911, as the fashionable silhouette moved from the extreme curves of the early Edwardian era to the straighter silhouette of the 1910s.

It has longer lines, with less abrupt transitions between the waist and hips, than earlier straight-fronted corsets, but retains the curved panels that wrap around the body and triangular bust and hip pieces of Edwardian corsets, rather than the vertical panels typical of later 1910s corsets, like the Scroop Rilla Corset.

Like most 1900s and 1910s corsets, this corset is made from a single layer of strong fabric. Both views feature dramatic swooping front panel seaming which forms an inverted fan shape, bust and hip gussets, and four garter straps.

View A has a slightly dipped front neckline that sits just below the nipple, a slightly raised back neckline, and a bottom edge which curves up over the front of the legs before dipping slightly down at the hips.

View B has a sweetheart neckline that dips lower than View A at center front, and then curves up to finish just above the nipple, a higher back neckline, a squared off center front point, and a higher back hem.

Front and back neck and hem lines can be mixed and matched between the views.

The pattern will be available from a 24”/61cm waist to a 46”/117cm waist, with three bust sizes and two hip spring options.

Testers:

This is an high-intermediate/advanced corset pattern.

We’re looking for testers with previous corsetry experience (if you’ve made the Rilla this would be an excellent next step) OR a good range of non-corsetry modern or historical sewing experience.

To be a tester you will need to:

Be able to print patterns in A4, A0, US Letter or US full sized Copyshop paper sizes
Have the time to sew up the item. You’ll have four weeks to make a finished corset, and provide feedback, and a further week to provide photos.
Be able to photograph your make being worn, and be willing for us to share your photos on this blog and instagram.
Provide clear feedback
Agree to a confidentially agreement regarding the pattern

I would hugely appreciate it if testers would share their finished make once the pattern launches, but this is not mandatory. I’m asking for TESTERS, not marketers.

As always I’m looking for a range of testers. I need a spread of geographical location, body type, sewing experience, and personal style.

Based on previous calls for testers, there will be 30+ applicants in each of the most common size ranges (34-40 bust), so if you aren’t chosen, it’s not that you weren’t fabulous, it’s that there were many applicants.

Social Media

Having a social media presence helps your chances of being chosen as a tester, but isn’t necessarily a requirement. I’m significantly more likely to choose testers who have an online social media presence, as that means I can really see and analyse their sewing, and how they think about sewing, when I’m choosing testers. I do occasionally choose testers who don’t have social media, especially if they fill a less common demographic.

The Timeline:

Applications to test the corset are open from now until 10pm Monday 29 May, NZ Time (unless I receive so many applications I won’t be able to consider them all properly, in which case I’ll close applications early)

Materials:

If you’re selected to test I’ll let you know and send you the materials requirements, line drawings, and the full pattern description by 10pm NZ time on Friday the 2nd of June. This is Thur the 1st for most of the rest of the world.

Patterns:

I will send out a digital copy of the pattern to testers before 10pm NZ time on Friday the 16th of June.

Testing & Reviewing:

Testing will go for four weeks.

While it’s not required, it’s strongly recommended that testers make a toile of this pattern. I’ll provide guidance and tips on toiling corsets as part of the pattern testing.

Testers will have until 10pm NZ time on Friday the 14th of July to finish their corset and provide feedback.

They will have a further week, until Friday the 21st, to provide photos

What you get:

Pattern testers will get a digital copy of the final pattern, lots of thanks, and features on my blog and IG.

Testing also offers testers an opportunity to get group and 1-1 feedback, assistance, and sewing tutorials. I’m modelling our testing process after an online class, albeit one you don’t pay for, because you’re letting me beta test the pattern on you. There’s an online group that testers can join as they wish. I’ll also be running a couple of live zoom events. I’m committed to making testing as beneficial to testers as it is to me, and to improve my testing process with every pattern I do.

To Apply:

Applications are now closed.

Louis de Carmontelle, La Marquise de Montesson, La Marquise de Crest and la Comtesse de Damas drinking tea, 1780

Horizontal or vertical? Striped sleeves on 1770s-1790s gowns & jackets

Published by The Dreamstress

The sleeve patterns for the Scroop + Virgils Fine Goods Amalia, Angelica and Aidah patterns all give the option to cut the sleeves on the vertical or horizontal grainline. This might not be obvious in most fabrics, but it makes a huge difference when you’re working with stripes.

Why do we include both options? Because the 1770s-90s are a time of experimentation and transition in cutting and patternmaking techniques. In the first 3/4 of the 18th century women’s sleeves are almost always cut so stripes run horizontally across the sleeves. However, in the last quarter of the 18th c both grainlines are used, so stripes can run either way.

Let’s take a look at striped sleeves in 1770s-1790s dresses and jackets, and see how they are used:

Note: for all of these I’ve relied on the museum’s dating. I’ve indicated where I think a more precise, or alternative, dating is more likely.

1770s:

For most of the 1770s, sleeves are cut so that the stripes run around the arm, and up and down the skirts and body:

A woman’s sack and petticoat, English, 1770-75; purple and white striped silk with flowers, Spitalfields or French, 1770-75, Victoria and Albert Museum, T.161&A-1961

Robe a la Francaise 1770-1780 The Philadelphia Museum of Art

Robe à la française, manteau de robe, jupe et pièce d’estomac France, vers 1775 Pékin rayé, lancé, broché soie et lame argent ; gaze façonnée et imprimée, mignardises Achat, 1994 Inv. 994.2.1.A-C MAD, Paris

Robe a l’anglaise, 1775-1780, silk, linen, United Kingdom; England; Spitalfields (possibly), HD F.252, Historic Deerfield

Alexander Roslin, Portrait of Sophia Magdalena of Denmark (1746—1813). Princess of Denmark 1746—1766, Crown Princess of Sweden 1766—1771, Queen of Sweden 1771—1792, NationalMuseum Sweden

Alexander Roslin, Portrait of Sophia Magdalena of Denmark (1746—1813), c. 1774. Princess of Denmark 1746—1766, Crown Princess of Sweden 1766—1771, Queen of Sweden 1771—1792, NationalMuseum Sweden

Woman’s Robe à la Polonaise (Close-bodied Gown), circa 1775 LACMA

Louis de Carmontelle, Madame la Comtesse de Belsunce, 1775

Portrait of a Woman Drawing c. 1770-1781 Attributed to Catherine Lusurier (French, c. 1753–1781)

Portrait of a Lady by French School, ca 1772-85 France, the Bowes Museum

Robe à la Française, 1778–85, French, linen, silk, Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Bequest, 1965, Metropolitan Museum of Art, C.I.65.13.2a–c

3/4 and elbow length sleeves are most common for most of the 1770s, but horizontal stripes are also used on full-length jacket sleeves (although I suspect this jacket is closer to the later end of its date range):

Rear view, pierrot ou caraco à l’anglaise, France, 1775-1785, Louis XVI. Striped silk mexicaine, rose satin stripes alternating with cream taffeta stripes brocaded with floral motifs and roses

Around 1778 another option emerges: sleeves cut with the stripes running vertically down the upper arm. This means that on dresses and jackets with long sleeves, the stripes run on the bias below the elbow:

Dress, unaltered, 1778–80, French, silk, Metropolitan Museum of Art, C.I.60.40.3

1780s:

In the 1780s you see both cuts. Horizontal:

Louis de Carmontelle, Mme la Marquise du Dreneux, 1780

And, in this wonderful 1780 image, two very similar gowns, one with horizontal sleeve stripes, and one with vertical:

Louis de Carmontelle, La Marquise de Montesson, La Marquise de Crest and la Comtesse de Damas drinking tea, 1780

The number of images of vertically striped sleeves that can be firmly dated to 1780 demonstrate that the cut was well established by that date:

La Jeune Dame en robe bleue, the cover image, is a portrait of an unknown sitter by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (1749–1803), pastel on paper, 622x510 mm, signed and dated 1780 private collection

La Jeune Dame en robe bleue, the cover image, is a portrait of an unknown sitter by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (1749–1803), pastel on paper, 622×510 mm, signed and dated 1780 private collection

It also appears in early 1780s garments:

Robe a l’anglaise, ca 1780, France, Museo de la Moda

Louis de Carmontelle, The Farm Girls (Madame de la Houze and Mademoiselle de Longueil), ca. 1782. Photo Réunion des Musées Nationaux : Art Resource

However, there are still images showing horizontal stripes, including in fashion plates which show the most a la mode trends:

Gallerie des Modes et Costumes Français, 1780

And garments with horizontally striped sleeves.

Although this sacque is given a fairly wide date range, the width of the back pleating, use of cotton fabric, and styling of the front of the dress all suggest a mid 1780s date:

Robe à la Française, late 18th century, French, cotton, Rogers Fund, 1937, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 37.126.2a, b

This française, with its unusual long sleeves, and compere front, is definitely a 1780s creation, but, like earlier française, continues to use horizontal stripes:

Robe à la française, France, vers 1780-1785 Taffetas changeant rayé, ombré Achat, 2009 MAD Paris Inv. 2009.2.1-2

As do these two fitted-bodice gowns:

Robe à l’anglaise retroussée, 1780-85 From the Museu del Disseny

Robe à l’anglaise ca. 1780 From the Musée des Tissus et des Arts Décoratifs de Lyon

And this very a la modé portrait

Hester Lynch Piozzi (later Mrs Thrale), Unknown Italian artist oil on canvas 1785-1786, National Portrait Gallery, London

Hester Lynch Piozzi (Mrs Thrale), Unknown Italian artist oil on canvas 1785-1786, National Portrait Gallery, London

And these gowns:

Robe a l’Anglaise, ca. 1780-90 via The Mint Museum

Like many 18th century dresses, both of these may have been re-styled from earlier gowns, and would thus have the sleeve cuts of the original 1760s or 70s garments.

Woman’s Dress (Robe à l’anglaise), Unknown, England, circa 1785, Costumes, Silk plain weave (taffeta) with silk supplementary-warp patterning LACMA

This Italian gown, which was one of the main inspirations for the Angelica gown, has vertically striped sleeves:

Robe à l’Anglaise (Italian Gown), 1780, Italy, Silk, silk thread embroidery, silk gauze, sequins Galleria del Costume di Palazzo Pitti

As does this frock, which was one of the main inspirations for the Aidah:

Robe à l’Anglaise, 1785–87, French, silk, Metropolitan Museum of Art, C.I.66.39a, b.jpg

This fanciful creation, on the other hand, sports horizontal sleeve stripes, and a bias back:

Galerie des Modes, 46e Cahier, 5e Figure 1785

As the 1780s progress vertical sleeve stripes become more and more common:

Redingote ca. 1786 From the Palazzo Mocenigo

Woman’s Dress (Robe à l’anglaise), Unknown, France, 1785-1790, Costumes, Silk twill and silk plain-weave stripes LACMA

18th Century Peach Silk Bodice (actually a dress with the skirts cut off), sold on etsy

18th Century Peach Silk Bodice (actually a dress with the skirts cut off, probably 1780s re-made from earlier silk), sold on etsy

Fashion plate, 1780s

ca 1785

1780s Caraco and Petticoat, Musee Galliera

Jacket, ca. 1785, French, silk, linen, Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Bequest, Isabel Shults Fund and Millia Davenport and Zipporah Fleisher Fund, 1998, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998.253.1

Pierrot jacket, 1780s, silk, Kyoto Costume Institute

Jacket, France, 1787-1795, silk, Les Arts Decoratifs 19856

1790s:

But there are examples of 1790s jackets with horizontal stripes:

Bodice, ca 1790, sold at auction

Jacket, cotton, ca 1790

Caraco, late 18th century. Cream and blue striped silk satin, sold by Drout

As well as vertical:

Jacket, late 18th century, French, silk, Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Bequest, 2010, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010.151

1790 Striped silk Pierrot jacket, embroidered ‘linon’ petticoat, early 19th century whitework muslin fichu Bust approx 75cm:30in, waist 60 cm:23.5 in, Kerry Taylor Auctions

Robe, 1790s, American, silk, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998.269

What can we conclude from this?

There’s very little evidence for sleeves cut with stripes running vertically down the sleeves before 1778.
By 1780 sleeves there are numerous examples of sleeves cut with both vertical and horizontal stripes.
Vertically striped sleeves become more common throughout the 1780s, but there are still enough examples of horizontal stripes to show they remained common.
Examples of 1780s garments with horizontally striped sleeves include garments that may have been re-made from earlier gowns (so the horizontal stripes were a necessity) and examples of fashion plates (indicating that horizontal stripes were still considered fashionable).
Examples of sacque gowns (Française) with vertically striped sleeves are extraordinarily rare (Daniel Milco has pointed out there is one early 1770s sacque with vertically striped sleeves. I know of no other examples).

So, if you want to do an accurate a pre-1778 impression, or are making a sacque gown, be sure to cut your sleeves so the stripes run around the arm. For anything after 1778, cut your stripes in either direction – whichever suits your fabric and makes your heart happy!

Whatever you do, remember to cut the mock ups of your 18th c sleeves in the same direction as you intend to cut the final sleeves, so you can check how the different grainlines affect fit.

Scroop Patterns on Sale!

Published by The Dreamstress

April was a notably awful month for me, where everything that could go wrong went wrong, up to and including a gas leak that required a multi-thousand dollar fix.

Sooooo…I need to raise some money…

And April showers bring May flowers! So, in order to turn this month around (and pay for the super glamorous gas pipe) in this case, the May flowers is the biggest Scroop Patterns sale ever!

Yep, that’s right! For the next week you can get a whopping 30% off all Modern patterns, and 20% off all historical patterns.

Use the Browse tab on the ‘SHOP PDF PATTERNS’ page to sort by by ‘HISTORICAL’ or ‘MODERN’ to see which patterns qualify for each discount.

Discounts are applied automatically at checkout.

Sale ends midnight Sunday 21 May, NZ time.

Enjoy!