Foundations

So, in order to have the proper Elizabethan shape, one needs the proper Elizabethan undergarments. And the most important is the "paire of bodys". This is a garment worn on the torso that shapes the midsection, and would today be called a "corset". The pattern I am using is based off of the "Effigy" bodys of ELizabeth I. This bodys was examined by Janet Arnold in 1995. It is comprised of layers of fustian fabric with baleen stiffening, bound with thin leather. Each of the three pieces was finished individually before being whipstitched together.

My bodys is made of two layers of medium weight rose-coloured linen. I chose 100% linen because it was immediately available, as well as being a common 16th century undergarment fabric. I hand-sewed the boning channels with waxed linen thread (Bockens 40.2) and used a running stitch. The boning channels were set approximately 1 centimeter apart, to accomodate 2 back-to-back pieces of 1/4 inch reed. Although machine stitching would have certainly been faster, I wanted to maintain more control over my boning channels. I still need to insert the reed, bind each piece with 3/4 inch linen tape, and then whipstitch together, and complete the eyelets.

It's slow going, but not nearly as tedious as I thought it would be. I was averaging about 4-5 minutes a row of stitches, although there are somewhere near 100 rows. I am debating on whether to attach the binding first along the tabbed bottom edge, and then inserting the reed, because the fabric will be much more malleable if it is loose.