OSTARA: ‘THE GODDESS COLLECTION’

Having drafted the pattern several years ago I recently found the time to make up one of my personal projects: a longline girdle inspired  a 1940’s utility corset from my own vintage collection.

OSTARA is the second corset in ‘The Goddess Collection’. Ostara is the Nordic Spring Goddess.

The corset is constructed from a silk taffeta backed with coutil (pin rolled pieces). Centre front and centre back casings also made with silk backed with coutil

For this sample I chose to omit the underbelt seen on the original 1940’s garment focussing on cut and shape over making a historically accurate reproduction. For a detailed study of the original Avro garment follow the link to my other blog.

The corset is finished with gold hardware including the busk and eyelets contrasting nicely with the silk- a little out of my comfort zone as I don’t tend to work with gold. I chose to use a  busk the length of the centre front panel rather than the original garments reduced length and  hook and eye feature to the lower section.

The corset is decorated with gold tone hand cut lace applique and finished with bead and sequin embellishment.

Pattern drafted using CAD system

Plain finished corset front view

Plain finished corset back view

Progress of lace application

Being watched…

Flat lay of the finished corset with lace application

Close up detail of lace

Finished corset

Finished corset on the mannequin

Finished corset on the mannequin front view

Just before writing this article I used the corset in a photoshoot. I’m really excited to show you the images in a later post.

PATENT CHALLENGE: 1878 H. S. STRAUSS

Over the last couple of weeks I have been on off working on a new corset  and article based upon a historical patent from 1878. The patent can be found here.

Following the patent instructions the corset was made from a double layer of fabric for the centre front, front, side front and back panels that would sandwich a series of bones . The side panels were cut from a single layer. I chose a spot broche fabric for its strength and durability.

The corset is heavily boned with 50 in total and over 8 metres of boning used. There is a curious additional bone pocket panel stitched to the exterior of the corset- a totally new technique and unique to the patent- I think this is what initially caught my eye and intrigued me to investigate when I was deciding on what my new challenge would be.

Here are a few  photos from the project thus far.

Double flexi steel bones used in wider external casings

Interesting bone pocket- additional panel applied to the exterior of the garment

Bone pocket pinned in place

Rows of stitching to create bone channels in the pocket

Top and bottom edge bound in silk- handstitched in place

Hand cut lace applique pinned in place

I think I’m going to add some Swarovski crystals on top of the lace to add a little Sparkle. I’ll keep you updated!