Happy Toile, Y'all!

Hey, I'm not dead! 

What happened to me in this almost month-long silence? Midterms. Midterms happened. Also, would not recommend having deceased loved ones. Or anxiety. Or taking 16 credit hours while doing independent research and a job at the same time. Here's one more free tip that I'll throw in: if you are getting two degrees in non-medical fields do not take human anatomy even if it sounds really cool. Because you already know wearing a lab coat will make you feel slightly important and there are science credits out there that won't give you stress headaches and a set of clothes that now smells like a cadaver lab. 

I really will be fine though. My support system is amazing, I have resources and that's a remarkable gift. October is the most aesthetically pleasing and ideally spooky month but historically, it has been a hurdle over which I must heave my doughy body. And this ain't my first rodeo! *me at me second rodeo*

Annnnnd let's talk about my project. 

Plan C

Initially, I proposed to have the corset completed and laced around my torso within the first week of the fall 2021 semester. 

Can we please have a moment of silence for the version of me who thought I could do this?

She will be missed.

Though increasingly behind schedule, I tried my best to finagle the corset into existence. But guess what matters when you make a corset? Just about any conceivable thing. In late September I actually broke down at the prospect of starting the pattern drafting over yet again. I would rather deep fat fry my face. Six or seven attempts to make the OG fit without any success was incredibly discouraging.

In the last update, I teased that a professional was helping me draft a new pattern that doesn’t defy the laws of sewing and holy salvation, Batman!

One night while scrolling through Etsy’s page of recommendations I saw a Pretty Housemaid corset pattern that one could purchase from the shop owned by one of the patron saints of historical costume, Michelle Fitzgerald. And it got better. There was an option to send her my measurements to which she could custom fit the corset pattern!

Michelle is an absolute gem. She was so kind to me in our correspondence and her work on the pattern is so excellent. I can gush about this woman all day, honestly. Please go to her Instagram @clockwork_faerie and marvel with me over her stunning corsetry. Her corset flossing is to die for! Thank you so much to Michelle for getting me back to loving this project again!

The sewing community is the kindest, most constructive, and encouraging bunch of people. Particularly in the historical subcategories of fashion history, there are nerds who are so much more powerful and talented, and yet they are so consistently happy to help newcomers. Having Michelle’s expertise was like getting help with a middle school book report on To Kill a Mockingbird from Harper Lee herself. Imagine the biggest people in whatever niche field or subculture you may belong to. Then think about the prospect of them helping you with a related project. That’s what I got from Michelle and it’s so freaking cool!

One of these things is not like the other

There are several differences in the pattern I was using from Jill Salen’s book and the pattern Michelle drafted according to my measurements. To explain this while also not putting the work of two scholars I respect online for zero dollars, I will do my best to draw.

The Pretty Housemaid: Salen Style

 

As you can see, the original corset’s hip panel and extended the entire length of the pieces between the center front and back. This proved extremely difficult to work around. The chore of aligning four other pieces on top of the hip panel was, on its own, enough to drive one mad. Not only is the hip panel fully corded, but it has two boning channels running through it as well as the back F piece at a slanted angle.

The front and back pieces also had distinct curves towards the bottom of the corset. This didn’t look to be a massive problem at first. If you’ve been following this project for a while and you remember the paper corset I taped together, the curves of the seams required a bit of fussing but as long as the printed pieces were identical on both sides, it was possible to force them into shape.

With fabric, the Salen pattern was a colossal waste of time for me. To be clear, her pattern isn’t the actual problem even though it kind of is. It was taken directly from careful measurements of the extant Pretty Housemaid. Therefore, Salen’s work, while historically significant and done with precision, doesn’t give every piece of information on the corset’s construction. And it’s not her fault! Because she couldn’t look at the inside by destroying it completely, the pattern she drafted provides a starting point to build upon. Jill Salen is at zero faults in this. And I am not at present experienced enough to know how to make the necessary changes to alter the pattern.

Enter Michelle Fitzgerald’s version:

 

Right off the bat, we have a condensed version. It’s like reading the book Les Misérables and skipping the needlessly lengthy Battle of Waterloo part. No one misses the Battle of Waterloo part; it doesn’t really affect the rest of the story. Although, as ABBA once said, “The history book on the shelf is always repeating itself……….WATERLOO. I was DEFEATED YOU WON THE WAR.” And that sounded more relevant and comedic in my head. But I’m not changing it.

The fourth bust piece is gone and no one misses her. Instead, the back portion of the hip band was combined with the side back piece that was the actual death of me in the Salen Trial. I want to make a Salem Witch Trial joke so bad right now but with Jill Salen. Except I don’t accuse Jill Salen of being the reason I had a meltdown. Or being a witch. I’m just inexperienced.

This is the corset pattern Gotham needs even if it’s not the one it deserves. It's already so much easier to work with and I can't wait to show you all the finished mock-up! 

Happy Toile, Y’all!

Finally, the making of the second version toile! Spoilers: It’s still not done because my academic standing will be in question if I am to continue testing poorly in human freaking anatomy. But I am still doing the thing even if that thing makes me cry a lot.

Initially, I printed out the pattern using poster mode which expands an image across eight pieces of regular printer paper. But I didn't want to jeopardize the size and shape of the pattern pieces by taping the paper together at slightly incorrect places. The motivation to be as precise as possible was high after my previous attempts going off the rails for the smallest of things. Instead, I boogied on over to a printing shop and had them do the full thing on one large piece of paper.

I cut out the pieces of the pattern in alternating pink and maroon colors. I am using canvas this time because the flimsy muslin used in previous attempts tends to slide around as you sew which leads to inconsistent and uneven stitching. And for corsets, the fabric you choose is of significant structural importance. Corsets are not meant to move or stretch much at all. So even a few millimeters of difference can make for disaster. No pressure.

At one point, (pun intended) the needle of my sewing machine just snapped off. Which has never happened to me before. Either the needle was a little overworked or unable to handle the layers and layers of fabric I was feeding through my machine. Sorry, Barbara.

I am using a new technique known as the sandwich method to finish the seams. It took me a while to get the hang of it but this video by the fabulous Morgan Donner helped immensely. Her explanation of the sandwich or the welt seam method begins around the 8-minute mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CWWyCDTLHM

Here's me trying:

My real issue here is not the assembly of the pieces but the sewing in of the cording and whalebone as I go. Barb isn’t taking well to the wider cording and retaliates by way of sewing erratically around the cording when it is supposed to be a straight line. Perhaps I will attempt to sew the straight lines of cording channels without the cording being sewn in as I go and later thread the coring through the channels just to keep things neat.

I need to have my department order a different busk after I figure out how much of my project budget remains. Because I didn’t require the full amount of available money to construct the corset, I can ask for additional funding. Michelle tried to accommodate for the busk I already have in making the custom pattern. But it was a lost cause due to my tallness. I now need a 15” straight steel busk that will be bent slightly to resemble a curved spoon busk without the excessive width.

Watch me

As my project slowly ground to a halt, so did the entire global shipping system. The smartwatch I use to monitor my vital signs did not arrive even after three months of the history department purchasing it for me. It was likely sitting on a giant cargo ship somewhere between China and the United States since August. Luckily, we were still able to cancel the order and find a different watch that does the same things, just in a domestic Amazon warehouse. 

It's a nifty little gadget! I'm still trying to figure it out but so far, the data is presented in easy-to-read graphs and charts on the accompanying phone app. 

And the audacity of this watch to tell me how stressed I am when I am already well aware is amusing in a weird way. It’s like your therapist saying, “Did you know you were depressed?” Like, yes, it is the reason I’m here, thank you. I feel seen. So, I am trying to come up with the best way of recording in a notebook or something when I do a physical activity that makes my heart rate noticeably more rapid. And what that thing is; be it going up the stairs, taking an exam, watching the Great British Baking Show, or looking at Timothee Chalamet needs to be accurately recorded. That way I can better compare the two forms of Rachel: in a corset, out of the corset.

My doctor, justifiably concerned about my genetic proclivity towards having tiny heart explosions at a young age, ordered an echocardiogram for me a few weeks ago. It’s always reassuring when the technician discusses study strategies for human anatomy with you instead of rushing you to the emergency room mid-conversation. But we still don’t know why my heart just does its own thing. My heart isn’t like other girls. It’s a manic pixie dream heart. Anyway, I have to take cholesterol meds now. 

What else did I want to say?

Happy Halloween? I love you? But seriously thank you for sticking with me. All your kind words to me mean so much. And I hope you're having a wonderful day, whenever you happen to read this. 

Oh yeah. In a meeting, my faculty advisor was like calm the f down, Rachel. And we decided the corset will be done by the end of November. If not, I will ask her to bayonet me.