To all who mourn in Israel, He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory. Isaiah 61:3

Friday, April 22, 2016

1890s Wedding Corset and Dainties Planning


Greetings and Salutations to you all!  This week for me has been a very long week.  It all started on Monday when I was waiting for my corset steel to come in.  I was at Wal-Mart purchasing embroidery floss to use on the wedding corset that I had started on when I got a call from my sweet Mama informing me that her sister, my Aunt LaVonne had just passed away.  We knew she was very sick, but the suddenness of her passing left us all in shock.  I spent the rest of Monday with Mama, just being with her.  Please keep her, and the rest of my family in your prayers if you would please!  

Thursday was my sweet Colton's 14th Birthday!  I cannot believe that this wonderful young man has been entrusted to the care of my husband and me...he is truly a fantastic blessing and I love him dearly!

In between Birthdays and comforting the grieving, I squeezed in bits and pieces of time to make my wedding corset.  It is 99.9% complete, the only thing remaining is to add some beautiful lace to the top.  I loved the look of the corset from Simplicity 7215 when I made it for my 1840s mourning ensemble and so thought it would be fantastic for my 1890s wedding ensemble.  I was right!  The hip and bust gores made for lovely curves and made my geeky heart sing!  I found the fabric for it at an antique store.  It is a silk/synthetic blend that is probably from the 1950s or 1960s...I couldn't find any fabric in a silky hand anywhere local and truly hesitate to purchase online, so when I saw this, I gave a little squeal of delight!



Now, I know and totally understand that there are thousands of extant white corsets that are not "wedding" corsets, and that corsets of all colors were worn for weddings.  However, since this corset will be a part of my "Dressing the Victorian Bride" underwear presentation, I chose to make it white (ok, off white).  Plus, I "needed" an excuse to make a new corset!


This is the first time I have corseted my pillows and found it quite jovial!

The inspiration for this new corset came from Fripperies and Fobs.  I have no idea if it is truly a wedding one, but I loved the shape and color.  I will wait until I have all the rest of the underwear completed before I don it and take pictures.

I had been wanting an over the top, gorgeous petticoat to go with the ensemble and my prayers were answered one day while perusing eBay.  Thankfully, no one else thought that this petti was as impressive as I did and I won the bid!  It is the most incredibly beautiful petticoat I have ever seen!  And the lady who wore it must have been at least 5'10" tall!  It is 41" long....WOW!  It is dripping with beautiful lace and the fabric itself is nice and crisp.  I believe it may have been starched because of the way it sounds when it is "swished".


The flounce is super deep and the hem is really wide.  The strips of fabric that go between the lace are tapered...I have never encountered this before.


I love the bows in the lace...so lovely!


Another thing I have never encountered is an under flounce of fabric and lace followed by...



A lower underskirt of a ruffle flounce!  It is really full and fluffy!



The drawers and corset cover I plan to make will be made from Folkwear 203.  I love the pin tucks and use of insertion lace.  I have some lace coming to me that is the exact same lace as the petticoat lace!  Huzzah!!!



Source:  The Met

I love this pink corset cover and think the Folkwear pattern will be a perfect choice to make something similar...in off white of course.



For my chemise, I plan on using Truly Victorian's TVE02 Edwardian Underwear.


The chemise that is featured in the TV pattern is almost exactly like the one in this image from flickr.  The one I am specifically interested is the one right under "Ladies".  Again, I will be using lace that is exactly like the lace in my petticoat.






My sweet Colton and my wonderful Daddy yesterday at Cabela's, one of Colton's favorite places.  Happy Birthday my son!

Well, I hope you all are having a really lovely weekend.  Give your loved ones and hug and let them know how much you care about them!

Blessings!

g

3 comments:

  1. I tried making and wearing a froofy filmy chemise one time, and I managed to rip holes in the front where my corset snagged it. I guess I'm too rowdy for them. Back to the sheet fabric ones now.
    Val

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  2. Oh Gina, I'm truly sorry for your loss! I will be praying for you and your family, that the Lord will comfort your hearts!
    And happy birthday to your son! :) What a blessing!
    You did an amazingly beautiful job on that corset! I can't wait to see the rest of the ensemble; I can only imagine how gorgeous it will be! :)
    Have a blessed Lord's Day, Gina!

    P.S. Hurrah for fellow Cabela's enthusiasts. ;)

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  3. It has bow lace! Squeeeee. You found a really stunning petticoat! The corset turned out beautiful and Colton need to stop eating too because all of our boys are getting to big! Have you shared the wedding dress inspiration yet? I am trying to remember but my brain is pretending to be swiss cheese again.

    My heart is still with your mom- give her my love again.

    Bow lace......sighhhhhhhhhhh.

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