Look at the Material! You Can Be the Judge of it.

 Welcome back! 

My hands are still recovering from cutting out seventy pieces of fabric for a mockup that did not work. Another fun development in this corset saga is that I have to completely start over with the pattern drafting process because the hip bands are actually killing me! That’s an entirely different story for a time when I’m less frustrated. Instead, I’m going to talk about what I’m using to make the corset and why. 

There is a lot of terminology being thrown around in my blog posts and if you are interested in deciphering this strange language or if you just want to see some of the most unflattering photos of me in existence, then you are in the right place! 

 Fabric

Coutil is what I am using for the outermost layer of the corset. Coutil is an older, crankier version of twill. It’s cotton or wool woven in a specific way to make the fabric really strong. More specifically, the weft (right to left) threads cross over the warp (up and down) threads in multiple places creating a sort of herringbone appearance. Other fabrics can be twill-woven including jeans though, they differ slightly. 

For a corset like the Pretty Housemaid which was intended for women in the domestic workforce, coutil fabric was ideal. It’s flexible, breathable, and most of all durable. 

Historically accurate? Of course. Easy to find? Absolutely not.  

There’s a lot of overlap in the naming of fabrics. And it is further complicated by the passage of time. Some things with the same name were completely different textiles a few hundred years ago compared to now. For example, muslin was once a fine, luxurious woven cotton that all the uni-boob Regency-Era fashions were made of. And now it’s the cheap garbage we use to fit mock-ups. It’s the bench flour of fabric. It’s the Jim Belushi of textiles. 

The term coutil is not really used anymore. In my desperate search for fabrics with natural fiber content, I found only two specialty corset-making supply shops online that sell the stuff and both were extremely expensive. I did find a twill-woven material that is very close to coutil from Mood Fabrics for less money. (Thank you, Moooooood) Paying less money for fabric at the notorious Mood Fabrics of Project Runway fame is not something I thought possible. Yet, here we are. And as a bonus, ‘tis in a similar color to the original corset. 

Coutil Lining

The outer layer will be a twill coutil-ish fabric and I went for a smaller amount of coutil for the actual lining because it will be next to my skin. Though, I am currently debating on how historically accurate I want to be in the way of wearing a chemise. Next time you watch a historical movie and someone isn’t wearing something under the corset, it’s bollocks. 

Jute

Essentially a loosely-woven burlap. This scratchy material will serve as an interlining for the corset to provide structure. Jute is also another older term but it’s still searchable on the internet. My understanding is that it’s used in furniture. Mood Fabrics also happened to have a reasonably-priced selection of burlaps. Burlaps? The plural of burlap sounds wrong. Try saying it aloud right now. Burlaps. 

...Burlaps.

While I’m not a fan of Project Runway, I was very excited to have a Mood box arrive on my doorstep mostly so I could say, “Thank you, Mood” like Tim Gunn a whole bunch.  

Gotta love some pre-semester stress acne. 

So here’s what my 20-year-old baby brother did when I asked him to document me opening the mood box: He decided to do the most younger sibling thing and photographed only the most unflattering moments of my life. This is the only explanation I can give for what you’re about to see. 

Me saying "JUTE" is now immortalized forever

Apparently, I turn into Golem from Lord of the Rings if I get excited. Sometimes learning something new about yourself is less helpful. Like how I now worry about contorting my body into a non-human shape. 

The Bones 

Historically, corsets were reinforced and shaped by cane, steel, cording, and the infamous whalebone. Sometimes it was called baleen. I am using both terms interchangeably.

If you’re thinking about whalebone corset boning as being as strong and intensely complex as our human bones, lemme stop you right now. Baleen is the long bristled material in the mouth of a whale that acts as a natural filter for food.

 It is the same keratinized protein as human hair and fingernails. It’s incredibly flexible. As is the substitute I’m using for this project because turning a whale or part of a whale into something else isn’t my jam. Partaking in the whaling industry is also illegal. We have a range of alternatives available to us in the 21st century that don’t deplete endangered species.

I chose two kinds of boning; 5mm wide acrylic and something called ridgeline boning. Both are made for costume nerds like myself. Most of it is acrylic and ridgeline is what I plan to use only on the parts of the corset that have intense curves because it bends more easily from side to side than acrylic does. 

Ridgeline

The acrylic boning is the coiled stuff around the candy corn. I didn't feel like walking upstairs to get a different picture of the boning 

Cord

Cording is more common than you would think in antique corsets. It was highly flexible as well as cheaper for mass manufacturers like the Symington Company. After running out of mystery cord I am using a cotton shoe-lace sort of material. And this time I have seventy yards of it. 

Other supplies I don't think you want to hear about but let me know if you have questions!

Bias tape makers

I explained the busk previously

Bone-tipping dies so I don’t get stabbed by bones 

Special pliers for cutting bones

An Awl

So many grommets

And I have lace from my collection because I’m *fancy*

Silk thread will be added for flossing which is less functional than it is for aesthetic purposes because, as we have established, I am *fancy*

Thank you for reading my blog! This week has been really tough and it's only Wednesday. My classes are challenging in addition to the life stuff that goes along with being a person. This project is kicking me in the butt. 

I recently told a friend, "I wish I could go back in time and slap the version of myself who thought I could do this." And I was mostly kidding because there's no way this isn't happening. I'm completely devoted to making this corset but I find myself struggling with this in ways I didn't expect. My previous experience with sewing is historical fashion-centered but the majority of my projects were from the twentieth century which is so different from the nineteenth century in terms of how clothes were made. I have some ideas on how to make this work and I will keep you posted, of course. So thank you for continuing to support my crazy-ass research!