Sooo...back in February I was looking for something to work on and while going through my fabrics, found some yardage of combed cotton lawn I had ordered during the fall. I had ordered it from Dharma Trading Co. with the intent of using it for some Edwardian underpinnings. Then I put together my Regency drop front dress.
While I do have a Regency shift already, I was the first one I made from cotton/poly broadcloth and the entire thing is machine sewn. As a result, it is very bulky, not breathable, and very stiff. The neckline is also cut very high and sometimes peeks out from my dresses.
Originally I had used Sense & Sensibility's Regency Underthings Pattern, but I opted for the Laughing Moon Ladies' Regency and Romantic Era Corset, which includes pattern pieces for a shift.
As I cut out pattern and fabric pieces, everything is pretty much the same in that there is a large front and back piece, shoulder piece, sleeve piece, and underarm gusset. I did some research into the LM pattern though and one of the things I noticed were a lot of people had issues with the back running a little high. To see how the shift would work out, I made a "half" mock-up of just the upper portion to check for for fit and any additional alterations that might be needed.
Just like the reviews, the back did run high. To help adjust this, I added 2" to the back of the shoulder strap pieces, and lowered the top edge the same amount to accommodate the change.
So while I have been diligently working on a couple sewing projects and my cross stitch, I went on a week long hiatus of not really doing a whole lot. My sewing space sits in the same room as the office, and because it doesn't get a whole lot of use (outside of my sewing), it also has the propensity for being a huge dumping ground of things that myself and the beau (Kerry) would really not deal with at the immediate moment.
In the spirit of spring cleaning though, we go into the room to clean, purge, and just go through things. Part of the the mess includes a lot of stuff that I never got around to going through when I moved over a year and a half ago. While going through everything, I found this gem of a photo from when I was probably in the 10th or 11th grade (2004-2005). So here's a Throwback Thursday on Friday.
It's from a Girl Scout workshop that had something to do with local heritage or history (I don't remember, there's too much dust on that portion of the brain). But as you can see, I had a very early introduction to corsets. I have a vague recollection of being laced into it and going, "Cool! So this is what these things feel like!"
