Fabric for the Underwear

To really begin making the undergarments I've been collecting the fabric I want to use. I've tried to use a lot of the resources in the area so I could get the materials fast. I want to do a big trip to London for the dress fabric but wanted to keep it simple for the undergarments.

Corset Fabric:
The first fabric I found was some from Laura Ashley it is a looser weave cream fabric with a gold print. The print is more 18th century style so I plan on using it for Princess Silhouette's corset.

Princess Silhouette Corset

Throughout my other searching I've been looking for a fabric that is a similar colour to the back-ground of the above fabric. That way it is similar but different and keeps both corsets in the same colour story. Unfortunately I haven't been able to source that fabric easily and then I realized I could just use the underside of the Laura Ashley fabric. That way there is no issue with matching the colours. The only thing I was worried about was that the pattern would show through but I discovered that backed in black drill this wouldn't be a problem and it wouldn't show through. 

Princess Colour Corset

I think it's a very good idea to have a print for one and no print for the other. Having Princess Silhouette have a print adds much to her character because it feels more decadent, which I consider her character to be, and it is also a nice contrast to have a little colour when her main dress will be more plain.

Bloomers and Chemise:

I had a difficult time sourcing the fabric for the chemise and bloomers. I knew I wanted it to be the same fabric for both however I had a specific colour in mind and I just couldn't seem to find it anywhere. In terms of types of fabric my tutor suggested a fine cotton lawn type fabric. We also looked in the University's haberdashery fabrics to see if there were any good options. We found a kind of yellow cream without a label on it and I was able to get a small sample. I found out later that it is actually a Wool Delaine and very far out of my budget at £12.50 a meter. I eventually discovered a lovely white cotton voile in the John Lewis Fabric Section. Although it wasn't the right colour and it was pure cotton so I knew it would dye well, and at £5 it was a good deal.

On the left is the Wool Delaine and on the Right is the Cotton Voile

I really like the way the cotton voile drapes and it's lightness. I think that if I can get it to dye properly it will be the perfect fabric.

Hoop/Cage:
I was lucky not to have to do a lot of searching for the fabrics for my cage and hoop skirt. The open cage doesn't take very much fabric at all and I knew I wanted something sturdy so I just used the same black cotton drill that I was backing my corsets in. And for the hoop my tutor suggested a cotton organza which had the lightness I was looking for and was sold at University so it was easy to acquire.

Organza

Black Cotton Drill

Evaluation:

I feel confident in all of my fabric decisions. However it took a lot of time decided exactly what I wanted. One of the reasons I felt this project would be good was that I would improve my fabric sourcing skills since it is an area I don't feel particularly strong in. It was very different to be the designer and the maker on the project because sometimes I couldn't decide if it was more important to get the right colour (which might be what a designer would say) or to get the right type of fabric (which is what the maker in me said). Luckily I was given some guidance by my tutor and choosing a colour palette for all the underwear really helped me focus on exactly what I needed or what I would need to change the fabric to. I feel like I can take away from this the understanding that both colour and type are very important and that both should be considered when buying fabric. I feel like now I could be in a meeting with a designer and maybe ask more specific questions about fabric and how it relates to the design after this sourcing experience.