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Edwardian Unders: what went under the Persis Corset samples

What do you need if you have a photoshoot with corset samples? Pretty unders to wear with the corset – and which also have enough coverage to make the models feel comfortable!

I used the Persis Corset pattern shoot as an opportunity to play with different underthings patterns, and with the lace insertion techniques given in the Ettie Petticoat Pattern. Because who doesn’t love lacy drawers?

I made three items to go with the Persis Corset samples: a chemise, drawers, and combinations. My primary source for all three patterns was Cutting Out for Student Teachers (1906). I also took inspiration from a number of other pattern books in my collection for trim ideas, and to refine the patterns for the best fit.

The Chemise & Drawers Unders Set worn with View B

For View B I decided on a separate chemise and drawers, to give the person who this set would eventually belong to (I don’t believe in making pattern samples that aren’t going to get used again!) the most flexibility.

For the shoot we tucked the chemise into the drawers. This provided the model with a further layer of modesty, and allowed me to show off the pretty drawers.

Both chemise and drawers are made from very soft, lightweight striped cotton sateen, with matching lace on both.

The drawers are circular cut (which the book calls ‘American cut’, which I think is just delightful!), and have a lace trimmed ruffle attached to the hem with insertion lace

Attaching a ruffle with insertion work was a fun challenge, but it paid off. I also love the way the stripes work with the circle cut of the drawers:

The drawers fasten at the front with a button, and have a clever drawstring at the back, to make them adjustable. The drawstring technique is borrowed from a couple of extant petticoats in my collection, but I’ve also seen it on at least 1 pair of drawers.

The drawers are split drawers, but I machine basted them closed for the photoshoot for the comfort of the model.

The chemise features a square neckline, and a pointed yoke that echoes the neckline of View B.

I’d have to have a play with this, but I think it would be possible to leave out the inset and straight neckline of the yoke, to create a chemise with a lower sweetheart neckline.

The Combination Unders Worn with View A:

My inspiration for the combinations was this pair in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (just with slightly less insertion work!). I liked the front fastening, brief bodice, and the angled outside legs with their bow trim. This pair has similar elements, just without the side bows.

I used this beautiful broderie anglaise for the ruffle, and attached it with broderie anglaise beading trim. A ribbon went through the beading with a bodkin to create the side bows:

I had exactly enough of the broderie anglaise trim left to create a decorative central panel for the bodice:

The middle is a placket which will have buttons. The join of the lace to the bodice fabric is hidden with a tuck:

With all these pretty details this should rightly be a chemise to wear over a corset to smooth out the lines, rather than one worn under it. With very narrow seams and finishing, and nice flat buttons, it was comfortable under a corset.

Conclusions, and a question…

I was very happy with how both of these turned out. The models were comfortable, they look good, and the owner of the chemise and drawers is delighted with her new under set.* What more could you ask for?

*Obviously it was well laundered and she knew it was used for this!

So, the question. Would you be interested in patterns for these items?

And the question is a hint about something that will be happening this week…

Can you wear the Cassandra Stays for decades before or after 1760-1780?

Published by The Dreamstress

We get it. Some people love making stays, and some people don’t. Even if you are someone who loves making stays, they are time intensive, and relatively expensive to make. So it’s very tempting to make one pair of stays that can work for a wide date range. Not surprisingly, lots of people have asked us…

Can you wear the Cassandra Stays for dates other than 1760-1780?

We’ve dated the Cassandra Stays pattern to 1760-1780 because that was the date range of the extant stays we based the pattern on where we were absolutely confident in the dating of the stays. However, we have been very cautious in our dating, so the Cassandra Stays are definitely plausible for decades before 1760, and about 15 years after 1780, for those who preferred a more old-fashioned fit and silhouette for their clothes.

Wearing the Cassandra Stays under 1730-50s outfits:

There are numerous examples of stays that are dated to earlier than 1760 which have similar pattern pieces and boning layouts to the Cassandra Stays, such as these examples:

Woman’s Corset (stays), France, circa 1730-1740, Silk plain weave with supplementary weft-float patterning

Corset (Stays), 1740–60, American, linen, leather, whalebone, Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Jason and Peggy Westerfield Collection, 1969, 2009.300.3330a–d

Corset (stays) with green thread trimming, ca. 1755

Spanish Stays, ca 1750

Stays of violet taffeta dated 1750-60, featured on page 110 of Stays or a Corset, Narodni Muzeum, Czechia

However, we’re not entirely confident that the dating on all of these stays is accurate. We were not able to examine them in person or see patterns taken from most of them, and some of them have very limited information available. Because of this, we chose not to rely on them as absolute evidence this style of stays was worn in earlier decades.

Of the stays I showed above, the final pair, of violet taffeta is very well researched and the date range is probably accurate. Stays, or a Corset? includes a pattern for the stays, and it is very similar to the Cassandra Pattern. The primary difference is that the seam lines in the violet taffeta stays are straighter than those for the Cassandra.

If you do want to use the Cassandra Stays patterns for 1730s-50s costuming, you can make it shape your body so it more closely resembles earlier stays by:

Wearing it without the bust rail. The bust rail is a very late 1760s-onward feature.
Wear it with a front busk to create a flatter, straighter front line, typical of earlier decades.
If you could plausible go with either the Curvy Fit or the Straight Fit, choose the Straight Fit: the silhouette of earlier stay patterns is straighter, with less curvature to the seams, and less waist compression.
Wear View B with the optional stomacher. The stomacher will flatten the front silhouette.

Wearing the Cassandra Stays under 1780s & 90s outfits:

The date range given for the Cassandra Stays is when this style of stays was most fashionable. Stays like the Cassandras continued to be worn throughout the 1780s and 1790s by less fashionable women. This includes those who preferred a more old-fashion silhouette (often older women) and by poorer wearers who could not afford to update their stays. So wearing them for 1780s and 90s is totally accurate, as long as you’re not aiming for high-fashion!

However, as Jenni amply demonstrates below, it is entirely possible to achieve a very high-fashion, 1780s prow-front silhouette with the Cassandra Stays:

How did we do it? First, we fitted her Cassandra Stays so that they were a little snug in the bust. This means they can be worn laced over a stomacher with the lacing in an V shape, to achieve a very 1770s and earlier silhouette. For a 1780s silhouette they are worn without a stomacher, with the lacing fully closed except at the very top, forcing the front into the typical ‘prow-front’ curve. Boom! Two totally different fits in one pair of stays.

View B Stomacher, Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

The Cassandra Stays Sew-Along: Making the View B Stomacher with historical materials

Published by The Dreamstress

Previously on The Cassandra Stays Sew Along:

Today’s Cassandra Stays sew-along post is a quick, easy one.

If, like me, you’re making View B, but with historical materials, you need to think about how you’re going to finish the back of your stomacher. You don’t want it to just be buckram. that wouldn’t be very nice!

Lining the Stomacher: Option A

One way to finish the stomacher would be to sew and assemble the stomacher just like the stays, and then add a floating lining at the end.

You can absolutely do that, and it’s the best method if you are hand-sewing your boning channels. However, I prefer a different method.

Lining the Stomacher: Option B

I like to line my stomachers before I sew in the boning channels, and sew the boning channels through all layers of the stomacher, including the lining.

If you are smart you will cut out your lining with all the other stomacher pieces:

And baste all your layers together as one:

If, like me, you had a little bit of brain fog and forgot to do that, don’t worry, you can just pin your lining on:

Mark a guide boning channel with chalk (the yellow line), and sew your first boning channel line from the wrong side, just as you did with the rest of the stays.

Then use that as a guide for all your other channels. Don’t forget that the stomacher takes wider boning, so your channels will not be the same size as the stay body channels!

And there you go! Pretty channels from front and back, all ready to insert the boning and then bind!

Perfect timing too, because I completely used up a spool of thread…