FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Out To Sea
(click images to to enlarge)
Outline the story …
I spent months looking for inspiration and began (and abandoned) several projects based on several books. Mid December I had nearly given up on entering when I stumbled on the online PDF of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Tarzan of the Apes.” January was unforgiving for me, so this entire project (from drafting to lacing up for photos) was born in under a week.
In chapter one “Out to Sea”, Lord Greystoke and his wife Lady Alice board a ship bound for their new post in Africa. Only a few lines after they have expressed eagerness it reads “And here John, Lord Greystoke, and Lady Alice, his wife, vanished from the eyes and from the knowledge of men.” In a moment, I was inspired.
I based my corset on the Symington “Pretty Housemaid” 1890s design, as the story begins in 1888, imagining Lady Alice would be trying to be practical and comfortable for the journey. The naivety with which they begin begged to be an off-white fabric for pure intentions and hopes. I chose a blue gradient embroidery design hinting at the oncoming darkness in their future and the sea that carried them there.
“Once Upon A Time” has always made me feel so hopeful, and I imagined that they were feeling similarly just three months into their marriage with so much potential for their futures. I thought it would be interesting to base my project on that feeling of new beginnings and the dread that foreshadows misfortune.
Outline the construction…
There were so many first for me in this project! I drafted my first pattern, made my first corset, inserted my first grommets, and did my first embroidery. I spent hours watching and reading tutorials on this website, Youtube, and Pinterest.
I followed Cathy Hay’s corset drafting instructions to the T and stumbled through three mockups. For the construction of the corset I closely followed Michelle Fitzgerald’s “A Very Pretty Housemaid Corset” article and felled my first seams, corded my first panels, and applied my first boning channels (my thumbs are bruised, and my hands ache from spending entire days pinching and pulling cording and embroidery floss into the right places). For the embroidered boning channels I followed the careful instruction of Lina Piprek in her 2020 CoCovid video “Sewing a Flossing Sampler - Victorian Corset Embroidery”.
For materials, I used twill satin for my fashion fabric (a bit of regret there, it was exactly the look I wanted but I could only find 100% polyester in the amount of time I had and though it looks the way I wanted it doesn’t feel overly sturdy and it frayed just from looking at it which made it difficult to work with) and fused it to a sturdy cotton twill. I purchased tan coutil, three busks (trial and error, I didn’t know which length to get and I had no time for mistakes!), and several meters of 5mm synthetic boning from various Etsy vendors.
This is stunning work, down to the precision of the flossing!
The flossing and the cording look amazing! I love how the flossing is in a gradient it makes it really stand out.
Wonderful job! I think my favorite part is the flossing. The color and pattern you did it in is beautiful!
that’s a superb corset, very well done and delicate.
Beautiful! I love the flossing details.
The corset is really pretty, I like the blue flossing.
I love the concept behind this design, and, as everyone else has already said, the blue flossing is a beautiful detail! I can’t believe you managed to make it all in under one week, that’s incredible! Well done for all your hard work and for tackling so many new skills in this project, I’m impressed!