How to Calculate Fabric Width Differences

Jen, over at Historical Sewing, has a great article on how much yardage you would need for various garments in certain eras. I've always used the basic "5 yard skirt" method in my historical skirt calculations, but I've recently had an epiphany about amounts, and also discovering the wonderfulness of fabric that is 60''. I always never know how much to buy, and way overshoot and overspend. My very first dress I bought 11 yards!

A plaid in 60'' width fabric; I only needed 6 yards for an entire 1860's dress!

I love shopping fabric online. It's awesome. But comparing prices is sometimes tricky, because I forget to calculate the difference between 60'' fabric and 45'' fabric. If there are two different wools, and one is $8 a yard and the other is $10 a yard, I might choose the cheaper one being the cheapskate that I am. BUT...upon further research, you find out that the $10 a yard is actually 60'' wide and may even SAVE you money....if you know how to make the proper calculations as to how much you need. You won't be doing any saving at all if you buy the same amount as you would for 45'' fabric, even if you have gobs leftover.

1 yard pieces of 40'' silk taffeta

It is true that 5 yards is close to the amount you would need, but only for a 45'' fabric if you want 4 panels. Before even beginning to start fabric shopping on a budget, grab your measuring tape and pad of paper, and we'll calculate how much yardage you will need.

Start by figuring out how long your skirt needs to be. Take the longest measurement, and add enough for hem and turnover at the top, if you use that method. My finished skirt length at the longest measurement (in the back) is 43'', so I'll add 2'' for turnover at the top, and 1/2'' to attach the hem guard. Rounding up, my total cut panel length is 46''. That isn't going to change from width to width, so hang on to it!

Beginning with 45'' fabric, I'll need 4 panels. Here is the formula:

Cut Panel Length x Amount of Panels, Divided by 36'' = Skirt Yardage

This applies to 45'' and 60'' widths. So for me, I will need 5.111 yards for 45''. I'd probably round up to 5 1/4 yards. For 60'' fabric, I would only need 3.83 yards, round up to 4. That's considerably less! If I paid $8 a yard for the 45'' widths, I would be paying $42. For 60'' widths, I would be paying $40. I know, $2 isn't a huge difference, but it definitely makes some of the 60'' prices look much more affordable than you might think.

After that, calculating bodice design is pretty dicey. I've found that, a basic bodice with plain coat sleeves, you can probably get away with 2 yards even in 45'' fabric. You may even need to do a little bit of piecing, but I've had no trouble with 7 1/2 yards of that same style. For larger sleeves, you will definitely need more; 3 yards total should cover most styles. Huge pagoda or bishop style sleeves you may want to up it to 3 1/2.

For 60'' width fabric, I haven't really experimented with what the difference in yardage is, BUT...using a different way of comparing, we can figure out how much we will need. 45'' to 60'' is 3/4, or 75%. See what I did there? You will need 1/4 less fabric than in 45'' fabric. That makes a basic bodice (the 2.5 yard kind) being a little under 2 yards, with the most being 2 3/4 yards.

There you have it! I'm getting better at calculating in my head, and having the finished skirt measurement written down in my notebook makes a huge difference.

5 Ways to Save Money in Corsetry

I am sooo excited to be on my way with my corset. The grommets are installed, the busk is in, and just fiddling with it more before I sew the boning chanels. I tried it on, and wow! The coutil behaves completely differently, and is much more firm. I could barely get it on, and completely laced has 3'' spring (before tightening the laces, there is about 5'' of spring, so you can imagine how tight it feels when first putting it on). The mockup only had 1 1/2'', so it makes it more difficult to get on. I'm afraid I have no pictures of what the corset looks now, and mockup pictures aren't so great. BUT...pictures will be coming!

The coutil is way more stiff and thick than I thought it would be. Next time, maybe I will try the imported coutil from corsetmaking.com instead of the domestic coutil; there was only a $5 price difference. After a little debate, I decided to try making a single layer corset, but line with twill. After working with it, I think it was a good decision because my sewing machine couldn't make up it's mind going over some of the double layers, particularly over the seams.

With each corset, the price gets lower and lower. Here is some of the breakdown of what my costs are, and some comparison of how you can plan ahead and save money on your next corset by making wise purchases now. No matter how much you hate making corsets (which I don't, it's growing on me), or how long you think your corset will last, you will eventually have to make another one.

My first corset was:

$15 busk
$10 Boning
$25 grommet setting kit
$10 Cotton twill (the mockup became the finished product)

All in all, shipping is expensive, so the total was around $70-$75.

The second corset:

$15 busk
$8 boning
$25 1 yard cotton coutil
$6 cotton twill (I bought it for the mockup, but it'll also be used for the finished product)

I ordered 4 dozen grommets for a different project and used 2 dozen, so I'll have enough for this particular one and be able to consider it stash. Also, there are a couple different boning sizes I have from my last corset to use in this one that will fit somewhere in the side and back. The front in this new one is considerably longer, 2'', plus more flare vs. straight up and down. Total cost = $65

With potential preparations for a corset for someone else, I will have enough for one layer to be coutil, which is a huge savings, and I may be able to use my original busk which doesn't fit my new corset. Grommets, once you have the kit, are inexpensive in bulk. I ordered 4 dozen on Amazon last time for $8, and it's nice to have enough for more than one project.

Here are what the price is looking for the next one:

Re-Used Busk - free
Stash Coutil - free
$6 cotton twill mockup
$8 boning
$8 Grommets

Corsetmaking.com is a great resource, but their shipping is expensive for even small orders. For something like this, I will probably try The Button Baron; each boning piece is a little more expensive, but the shipping is way better on smaller orders. So, the total we're looking at for the next corset is between $25-$40, depending on whether the old 11'' busk works or not.

All in all, here is the breakdown of ways to save money:

1. One thing that I haven't had to buy is plastic zip ties for the mockup. I keep reusing it over and over, and very rarely does it get put in a finished project. That is kind of a one-time buy, if you hang on to them once you're done with the mockup. Another thing you can use for each project is a set of grommet tape; I bought eyelets from Joanns for a different project, and they were so cruddy that they are now only used for mockups. However, after tearing apart my old corset, I decided to not recycle the back panels with grommets because of the stretching and have upgraded my mockup just by switching to something I can put boning in.

2. If you and your friends are looking to make corsets, order from Richard the Thread. You must buy at least 5 yards, but the breakdown is $15 a yard all in all.
Also, I just discoverd this Etsy seller has very affordable fabric, but the shipping can be expensive for people outside the UK like me.

3. Making single-layer corsets or double layer with the inner layer being some other stable fabric is another way to stretch one yard. I also recommend that any bias strips you use to bind or make boning casings with you use something other than coutil; it has no bias stretch whatsoever and could be more of a headache than it's worth.

4. You don't need any fancy grommet setting kits, but after buying the simple kit for $25 and using the grommets from that, buy in bulk enough to make 2 or 3 corsets. You'll save on shipping, and the more you buy the less expensive they are by the dozen.

Grommets available at Vogue Fabrics

5. As far as busks go, there isn't really any place to get them for less than $15, and the best bet is buy from either the same place you buy boning or fabric. If you have an old corset, reuse it if you can. My friend Tiana over at Adventures in Costuming found an old corset at a thrift shop and reused the busk. I go thrifting all the time, but I never think to look for sewing supplies.

If you buy boning, it never hurts to buy a couple extra bones in case you want more. If you don't use them, they can be used either in a mockup or in the next corset.

Know of any other good tips to save money in corsetry? I'd love to hear them!

Inspiration for Brown Challenge

While watching Pride and Prejudice, we took a five minute break for various reasons. I popped onto Ebay, my head swimming with fabrics and wishes. I typed in silk taffeta. The very first fabric that came up was....yellow silk taffeta....for....THREE DOLLARS A YARD? I almost needed to call for my smelling salts (can you tell I've watched that show way too many times?)! Don't worry, I didn't lose my head but....I did buy the fabric. Not exactly at that price, but that particular seller was having a sale on several one-yard pieces. The other piece that I bought was a beautiful brown. Now, I'm struggling with what to do with it.

I started a new apron made from stash fabric that happens to be brown, although I doubt it'll last until September unfinished. So, this brown will become something. I'm dreaming of covering my current corset project in this stuff, I just am undecided on how practical this is within our reenacting impression. It must work beneath my white dress under a corset cover, and still not be seen through. That might be the deciding point.

I would absolutely LOVE to own a silk-covered corset, but....alas, I would be afraid that it would show through my corset cover. It was a bit risque for 1860's, as well, but that isn't really any consolation.

Here are a couple other ideas with what it may be used for:

Decorative apron:

Belt, with a rosette in the middle. I can't believe I still don't even have a wearable belt of any kind, even though I've been talking about it for forever!

Lastly: I love silk hoods. Particularly, this style which is called a Pumpkin bonnet. A friend of mine knows how to make them; I may just need to contact her!

A Pair of Undersleeves

Just because I love handsewing, I chose to make a pair of undersleeves. Do I need a pair of undersleeves? Absolutely not! One day, maybe. Maybe I just wanted an excuse to procrastinate on my corset. It was a nice little project. If you're confused about what kind of undersleeves I'm talking about, here are a couple pictures. They would have been work with any type of sleeves that were open, and possibly shorter.

I pulled out leftover fabric from my dotted swiss dress. I thought I only had maybe a yard and a half. Man, it was more like 3! I've got a lot to work with. It's going to be like the dotted swiss that never dies. I love working with it, though; it irons really nicely, and just feels like a good quality. Just to recap, I bought it at Hancocks. The below originals are kind of textured, but not exactly dotted swiss.

All in all, they took about 4 hours of handsewing, or, in other words, 4 episodes of P+P. It cracks me up how much my sister loves that show.

From what I've seen, there are several different ways to do undersleeves. They can be completely detached, with either a drawstring or elastic at the top (yes, elastic!), or made longer and basted to the armscye of the dress itself. The undersleeve that doesn't attach is best worn with dresses whose sleeves are more tailored (as in the 1860s), vs. some of the 1850's open pagoda sleeves were occassionally slashed up very high, in which case a detached sleeve could potentially be too short.

Bonus: I had all the supplies already. Technically, I could have entered this into the Heirlooms and Heritage challenge, because I used buttons from my Great Great Grandma's stash (the same excuse as my lame drawers), but I chose not to. Hopefully, the mother-of-pearl doesn't look to dingy against the bright white fabric.

This may need to go into my pile of to-do tutorials, if I can revise it to basic squares.

HSM #8: Heirlooms and Heritage

This has to be the lamest thing I've ever entered in the Historical Sew Monthly challenges. I had such fantastic plans that involved so much family history; what happened?

It turns out my embroidery skills are severely lacking. Plus, 18th century pockets are not at the top of the list of things I need before a certain event coming up. *Cries* I wanted to make them so badly, but embroidery is not my forte. I've tried it. It's okay.

So, here are my lame split drawers, using a bone button from my stash that came from great great Grandma.

There is a more period correct way to do laundry markings, but I am personally not picky about something like laundry markings.

I had planned on doing 3 tucks, but....something happened.

What the item is: Split drawers

The Challenge: Heirlooms and Heritage

Fabric: 1 1/2 yards muslin

Pattern: from the Sewing Academy

Year: 1860's, ish.

Notions: Bone button, thread

How historically accurate is it? 80%, just a random number, but close enough to originals and definitely passes the "original cast recognizable".

Hours to complete: Around 6. More than it should have, but I handsewed a lot of it, just so I could watch North and South at the same time. :)

First worn: Not yet

Total cost: Under $5


Coming Up: Dog Leg Closure Tutorial, the easy way.

Upcoming, Updated Projects

Here are how the voices in my head sound:

(Practical me) "I'm going to have to rip apart my old corset and start over."

(Sentimental me) "Nooooooooooooo!"

"Oh, you mean that old thing that has stretched into non-existence?"

"What do you mean, that old thing? It took me a hundred hours of fitting and was finished 6 months ago!"

I can't even wear it anymore, but letting it go was pretty sad. And now it lays in pieces on the table.

Not to worry, the Frankencorset's legacy lives on. The ripped apart pieces became a mock-up for little baby Frankencorset, which may get renamed into something nicer if the finished project turns out. (Frankencorset is not my own terminology, but I thought it was pretty darn creative!)

Here is the original list of problems which must be solved:

-A longer busk, as the first cut right into my gut and caused horrible stomach-aches straight after eating.
-One side modified, as two of the same side makes it sit crooked on my back.
-More taken in at the hips, so that the spring in the back is straight up and down.
-A more durable fabric, as one layer of twill wasn't enough.
-More boning in the front, and more flare in the angle they are sewn in. Straight up and down causes the boning to not sit right.

In my first stages of making it, I could never have forseen how it would not hold up. I thought it would at least last a year, but now it is basically able to lace closed.

I cut apart the old corset, and traced the outline into a pattern, and did as much flat-drafting as I felt comfortable with. I actually did make two of the same sides, even though that was on my list of things to do, because I thought that somewhere along the way, I might have taken in one side and not the other.

Not so.

However, the length on my first mockup is just right, and the shaping from the old one (which I love) is still the same. Overall, it's pretty big and can basically be laced closed, but for a first mockup, I'm pretty excited! The next step will be to take it in, and figure out where to adjust the one side for overall evenness.

Change of Plans

Even after making a long list of ideas for the August Heirlooms and Heritage challenge, I found something pretty cool. I took the Longfellow poem about my family's inn, and how he talk's about the landlord of the inn, who is a distant uncle of some sort.

'But first the Landlord will I trace;
Grave of aspect and attire;
A man of ancient pedigree,
A Justice of the peace was he,
Know in all Sudbuy as "The Squire."

Proud was he of his name and race,
Of old Sir William and Sir Hugh,
And in the parlor, full in view,
His coat of arms, well framed and glazed,
Upoon the wall in colors blazed;
He beareth gules upon his shield,
A chevron argent in the field,
with three wolf's heads, and for the crest
a Wyvern part-per-pale addressed
Upon a helmet barred; below
The scroll reads, 'By the name of Howe."
And over this, no longer bright,
Though glimmering with a latent light,
was hung the sword his grandsire bore
In the rebellious days of yore,
Down there at Concord in the fight.'

I had known nothing of a coat-of-arms, and using what he mentions in the poem, I found it! Just so you know, "gules" is an old English term for red. Chevron argent (a chevron, argent another word for silver); and I had no idea what a wyvern was! Of course, my fantasy-oriented sister knew; it's kind of like a dragon, but with only two legs and a barbed tail.
Just Googling Howe coat-of-arms brings up all kinds of things, but none matched the description. Except for this one:

Notice the Wyvern, with the barbed tail, the red crest, the three wolves, and the silver chevron. Bingo! By the by, the scroll at the bottom says Howe.

Apparently, in 1871, some ancestry geek wanted to have a Howe get-together, celebrating the Howes. There is actually a book available that he wrote about the entire gathering. The only reason I say he was a ancestry geek is because he wrote a song. Come on, no one writes a song unless they're obsessed. The first verse is as follows:

You meet today to celebrate with fillial heart and brow,

as children of one family, the dear old name of Howe.

Brothers and sisters by that name you hold in reverence dear,

how fitting you should set apart, this day for friendly cheer!

No joke.

I got it into my head that I wanted to put this family crest on something, and the only item I could come up with is a pair of 18th century pockets; the type that tie around your waist. Like this:

The main reason being, it's one of the few garments that is basically always embroidered. Flowers seem to be the most common, but I'm okay with taking a few liberties. I already have the pattern from Patterns of Fashion 1, and some heavy mystery cotton that might be canvas, or duck. 

The only problem is: I'm not really into embroidery. My sister is, but I can't make up my mind if I want to push through and do it. I would love to have something with the coat-of-arms, but it's kind of a big undertaking for someone who isn't in love with embroidery. I don't know. I may just skip this challenge, or revisit it for the do-over challenge in December.