HFS January 2015 Challenge: Foundations

When I became interested in sewing historical and steampunk garments the one item I was almost certain I would never make was a corset.

You know where this is going, right?

And being a slow sewer, a slower, if you will, gosh darn it, I'm not finished. Today the challenge is due, so better something than nothing I felt.

And actually this is a sewing milestone for me, not only my first corset, but the first time I've used a commercial pattern which I bought new (and not a vintage thrifty bargain or indie download) Simplicity 9769.

This pattern is a dream! I may just become a commercial convert. (Nooo!) The pieces lined up perfectly, I've only had to do a few minor fitting changes which even my intermediate sewing skills could handle. The whole thing was nowhere near as scary as I imagined it would be.

Full disclosure, this corset isn't intended as a historical replica. It's part of my investigation into corsets and back support. So the two main adjustments I've done is I've swap the busk with a zipper, and the grommets with fabric loops, both substitutions being to make it washing machine friendly.

One final apology, I'm having a little trouble uploading my photos today, and I just don't have the energy to fix it, so the rest will have to come later... *sigh*

Where to find Free PDF manuals for White sewing machines and Overlockers/Sergers

Tip for today: Where to find Free PDF manuals for White sewing machines and Overlockers/Sergers old and new...

Strange as it may seem, there are free White sewing machine and overlocker/serger manuals via the Singer website. The manuals include many 20th century and even a few 19th century models too, (which was good news for me when I bought a 1906 treadle. pictured above)

To find the manual you need, look under Singer's "Support and Resources" then select "Instruction manuals" , or follow this link.

On the Instructions Manual page you'll see it says "Find Your Manual - Step 1, Step 2 etc etc" and under that there's a search box that says "Model Number"

Into this search box just type "w"
(don't type white, because that doesn't work)

You'll be taken to a near incomprehensible results page,
A) if you have a 20th century model, try doing a find via Ctrl-F and enter in your machine's model number.

B) if you have a 19th century machine, unfortunately the method to finding the manual you need is a case of clicking and opening the PDFs.

However may I suggest a couple that may be of use:
"W7treadle"
- this is a manual of a White treadle with a boat style bobbin shuttle
"WRotary"
- this is a manual of a White treadle with a rotary style bobbin shuttle

Good luck, and I hope you find what you need :)
Kind regards
Kura