Corset Making Class

My girls, Jennifer and Lala and I have had a great weekend learning to make Victorian corsets from Marti McCartney. Each of us has a different reason for wanting a corset. Jen has always got a sore back. I am doing more and more re-enacting and need the right foundation for my garb. Lala is a beginning seamstress. Each new technique she learns adds to her skill.

I started with the hand crank Singer 99K. I thought it would be a hoot to say I made my Victorian corset on a Victorian machine (1919 or so, but hey, that was very late Victorian, right?)  I didn't use it very long before granddaughter Lala took it away from me. She didn't like the speed the electric machine had. She wanted the control she could get with the hand crank.  It wasn't nearly as intimidating to a beginning seamstress. Who am I to complain? She sat quietly in her corner, cranking away and like the turtle and the hare, she plodded along and got more done manually than her Mom did with an electric machine.

 In Jen's defense, she is making the most complex corset. We started this class knowing that Jen was about to have gastric bypass surgery. How could she create a corset that would shrink with her?  Marti pondered and decided that Jen needed a maternity corset that she could tighten as she got smaller. Inventing this has been a challenge for Marti. She says teaching the three of us has been the longest class, the most fun class, and the most challenging class she has ever taught. (We are taking more time to get it done because we chatter, laugh, sing, and tell stories, but we are always sewing, too.)

 I got a head start on my corset because Marti had a partially finished one that someone had commissioned but was not able to finish. It fit me, so I picked up in the middle and went from there. Here I am at a fitting. Look at that. I am getting a waist!
 I really like the embroidery embellishment that was put on at the end. Some of it is functional. There must be stitching over each stay to keep it flat. Now that stitching can be plain and white, or a lady can get fancy with her needle. Marti showed me some decorations in one of her books. I copied some onto my corset and then started playing. The "ribbons" on the cups are actually satin stitching.
Now all I have to do is adapt my Victorian garb to work with the new foundation wear. Who knows, I might corset under the Renaissance Faire garb, too.