Hi Zuzanna,
>I just wanted to post a question about what methods you use when
>drafting/scaling corsets to size.
Any way that works at the time. ;-) Generally speaking I create a
proportionately close copy of the original I am working from based on the
bust/waist/hip measurement I am aiming for, create a toile, and start tailoring
it in from there. I try not to mess too heavily with the original silhouette,
however.
>a corset is designed to shape the body rather than to adjust to it.
Yes and no. It's primary purpose is bust support, then torso shaping. This also
depends on what era you are looking at, but I think the conversation is
referring to the mid/late 1800's, so I won't confuse the issue. ;-) It's only
this era and onward that was more concerned with torso compression than any
other.
>I draft all patterns I make, but I still cannot draft a corset that would
>achieve the period, not modern, figure.
I mix and match my techniques. I am still a little queasy on drafting vic
patterns, but georgian and older I can do without trouble. I always prefer
drape drafting for later eras and flat patterning for the older ones, because
they tend to be a little more geometric than later eras. When following a
specific era closely, you have to take into account the body type differences
and posture variations between the two, and accept you may have to make
allowance for the two in order for them to meet. It's just like the placement
of a shoulder seam - do you put it in the period correct place and have it
either fit funny or end up in a visually wrong place, or do you adjust it to
fit correctly and end up in the visually correct location on a modern body?
When I drafted this pattern (the one I posted is the same pattern I am using
for my current project) I had to make an allowance for difference between the
spoon busk used in the original in exchange for the flat busk I have available.
So I had to nip a little here and there to flatten out the front, but widen the
side front to allow for the correct compression. I am still working on the fit,
I'll have to let you know how that goes. Literally in the middle of preparing
to sew the fitting toile I got a call back for a job (yayyyy!!) so my time has
now been cut down significantly for projects such as these.
>It's maybe best to make the right proportions (width and height) in photoshop
>and then print it to the correct size.
If you can accomplish it, then go for it. I just couldn't be bothered fussing
with that formula listed on the pattern I posted. ;-) I, unlike Michaela (sp?
correct person?) prefer to draft to the width then length of the torso because
to me, shortening something is much easier than having to second guess the
intended silhouette. Each to their own as long as it has the intended end
result.
>So, may I ask, what methods do you use when making a corset pattern? If it is
>not your trade secret, of course:-)
nahhhhh.... I don't consider knowledge proprietary, really. ;-) Other
institutions have different ideas about this than I do, however...
Toile is most important - the test fitting should be providing some support
without the stiffening by the time you are finished fitting. The stiffening
material is simply designed to keep the garment from collapsing or shifting
during wear. It also helps take stress off seams under high tension. This is
what provides the torso shaping when the fabric is restricted in stretch and
movement.
Hopefully that makes sense, and if it did, that is was useful. :-)
Kathy
It’s never too late to be who you might have been.-George Eliot
Tosach eólais imchomarc/Questioning is the beginning of knowledge. -Irish
proverb
One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.-Helen Keller
The difference between stupid and intelligent people - and this is true whether
or not they are educated - is that intelligent people can handle subtlety. They
are not baffled by ambiguous or even contradictory situations. In fact, they
expect them and are apt to be suspicious when things seem overly
straightforward. - Neal Stephenson, "The Diamond Age"
It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not. -
Denis Waitley
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