Corsets First Fitting

My first fitting for the corsets went well. I felt like I was a little overwhelmed getting everything together and ready but the end result was positive. I've never had a corset fitting because I have been mostly making men's costumes since second year, so this was valuable new experience. This was also a well rounded experience because I had two very different styles of corsets, so I could see how to alter both and how they can be altered differently depending on the shape I wanted to maintain.

18th Century Corset
Worn by Camilla

Corset Front

Corset Back

This corset was made straight into top fabric after drafting my pattern, a first for me. Overall I was very pleased with the fit. It completely laced up in the back and it was a good length in both the front and back. The first obvious problem was that the straps were much too short. When I patterned my starp I looked on my altered basic block and measured from the altered back on the corset to where the shoulder was on the block, and measured the same on the front then added them together. In hindsight I should have just added more seam allowance just in case, because making it shorter would have been easier. The other major alteration was just to take it in a little right on the front side seam so it was really fitting her body a little closer. I also took in just a little on the side back seam as well to create the correct shape.

After Alterations

19th Century Corset
Worn by Rose

Corset Front

Corset Back First Lace Up

For this corset I decided to make a toile first because it was completely different from anything I had made before and it would have been difficult to make bigger alterations if it was already made with piping and all. I felt like this was a positive first fitting. I wasn't entirely sure if it was going to lace up completely in the back or if there as going to be a little gap, however the first thing my tutor did was to re-lace the back so it was tightest in the centre and looser at the top and bottom. This was more helpful in creating the nice S-shape that I was aiming for. Once the corset was re-laced there were some other changes to be made. All of the changes mostly dealt with altering the inserts on the front and back. Both of the bust inserts were taken in quite a bit and a little was taken out of the back insert. To accompany the back insert the side seam was taken out a little as well. It might seem counter productive to take one piece in and let the other out, but it assisted in creating the correct shape; seeing how this corset was altered will be really helpful I think for altering future corsets or bodices. Once it was pinned to fit correctly I could see that most of my design lines were correct which was something I was worried about before the fitting. Only minor adjustments were made to the hem to fit a more subtle curve like in my historical research. All in all I was pleased with this corset fitting.

Back after being correctly laced

Front Alterations

Corset after Alterations

Evaluation:

I am very pleased with my first fitting. It felt slightly overwhelming at the time but I feel like my patterning skills have improved because I didn't have too many major alterations on either corset. One thing I learned from this fitting that I will carry with me through the rest of the project is to not have simultaneous fittings for both girls. It was a bit confusing and I felt like while I was altering one corset my tutor was making changes on the second and I wasn't able to devote my attention to both evenly. I think it was good learning experience to make one corset in top fabric and one as a toile. I will assume different paths after this fitting to complete each corset and I am sure that will affect both time and technique.