Jeanne, As umpteen other people have said, that pattern is not Elizabethan. 'Nuf said.
It does take some work, and you will need some one to help you, but if you want to make 'effigy' style stays, without having to buy a pattern - although I don't wish to take business away from Kass Mcgann or Margot Anderson - and then adjust it to fit you, you could try the way which I have made patterns for 4 pairs of stays in the last year and half. ( There is another article - 'Drafting an Effigy Corset Pattern', linked from 'The Effigy Corset: A New Look at Elizabethan Corsetry' - which, with apologies to Gwynne, I couldn't manage to make work. This is quite probably a fault of my maths skills, not a fault of her directions. You may be able to make it work for you. ) If you just want to make a very simple pair of stays, the custom corset generator on http://costume.dm.net/ is excellent. For the effigy stays : You wil need - cardboard, duct tape, an old tee shirt that you don't mind having chopped up, a marking pen to draw on the duct tape. Someone you don't mind seeing you half naked. ;-P 1. Generate a corset pattern using the above site. Draft up the pattern and cut it out of cardboard. ( Thin enough to cut with scissors, about double the thickness of cereal box cardboard. ) Cut 2 strips of cardboard about 2" x 6" to use for working out the gap for your hip bone. If the cardboard isn't big enough to cut the whole pattern out of one piece, cut it out of two pieces and reinforce the centre front join with a strip of cardboard stuck behind it. ( Like a busk! ) 2. Fit the cardboard corset to you so that it holds everything where you want it. ( This is best done next to bare skin - you can't wear a bra, it will distort things. ) Duct tape it closed. Put one of the short strips of cardboard, up under the bottom edge of the corset, just in front of your hip bone, the other the same way just behind your hip bone. If you are fairly round, the gap can be quite wide, if you are less round it will be more of an angle like the pictures of Drea. Stick the strips in place with a bit of tape. 3. Put on the old tee shirt. Get your friend to duct tape you, like making a duct tape double. If you aren't familiar with this process, follow this link - http://www.taunton.com/threads/pages/t00002_p2.asp. Tape down slightly below your waist. Don't worry about taping down around the arms, it isn't necessary. 4. Once taped, get your friend to outline with the marking pen along the top line of the cardboard corset, the bottom line of the corset, down the centre front, and down the centre back. Mark where the gap for you hip bone is on the bottom line. At this stage you can either get your friend to outline the shoulder straps and back neckline, and the line of the side back seam, or get cut out of the duct tape and draw them yourself. 5. You now have your very basic pattern, without tabs. I never cut out the tabs and front point until the corset is almost completed - channels sewn and boned, fronts and back/s joined - it stops things from fraying/ getting messy. ( Mind you, I haven't used steel boning in any of these corsets. I'll have to think about how to get around this point if boning with steel. ) At this point, I trace around the duct tape pattern onto paper, and work on and from this paper pattern. ( The duct tape pattern doesn't lie flat well, usually. ) To pattern the tabs, draw a curving line folowing the bottom line of the corset, about 2'-3' inches below. When you transfer the pattern to your fabric, mark both lines. The new bottom line is how long the tabs are, the old bottom line where you stop cutting the tabs. 6. Make up your corset. I follow Drea's method. I hope these directions make sense. Now for boning types. I haven't used cable ties, but I have used broomstraw ( in my own corset ) and hemp cord ( in the other three ). This broomstraw ( which is actually closer to reeds in stiffness and size, I think - see http://www.grannd.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=RR00&Category_Code=CCREEDS ) is more than rigid enough to hold me up - I'm size 26 and an E cup. I also *cannot* bend at the waist while wearing it. ( It opens down the front, so I don't have a busk. ) The hemp cord which I have used ( http://www.btoucan.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=249 ), two pieces per channel, was firm enough to hold up my friend Shaz who has an even bigger bust than me. The effect of her cleavage in her corset is almost enough to stop traffic. One of the benefits of using the hemp cord is that your movement isn't restricted - Shaz can do side bends from the waist in hers. One thing about using hemp to bone an effigy-style corset, is that you can't easily follow the stitching lines along the front top of the original corset. It is much easier, and looks better, if you abandon those stitch lines and cut the cord flush with the top edge, and the same along the bottom of the corset. The other thing which I have used with great success to bone Elizabethan corsets is the sticks from matchstick blinds, 2-3 to a channel, ( like this - http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0722752137.1124293162@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccckaddfhfjklhjcgelceffdfgidglo.0&CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=Super%20Categories/Indoor%20Living&MID=9876&pos=p05 ) although those corsets didn't have integral tabs. I don't think the 'matchsticks' have enough give to use for that type. I will be making another corset this way in the next few weeks, and I think that I will have to do a diary with pictures. It will make explaining the process sooo much easier. I'm sorry, this is a very long post, but I hope you find it helpful. Joannah. --- "Jeanne Willis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: "Jeanne Willis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 10:03:30 -0700 To: <[email protected]> Subject: [h-cost] elizabethian corset I just purchase a pattern for what I think is an elizabethan corset. Butterick B4254. Is anyone familiar with this pattern? My question is what type of boning do I use?. The pattern just say's "boning". I assume that it's a plastic boning since you need to cut it to length. Any suggestions as to type of boning or a better elizabethan corset? I'm a plus size hour glass type figure. _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _____________________________________________________________ Sluggy.Net: The Sluggy Freelance Community! _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
