Queen of Hearts Corset

Inspiration

During the pandemic, I re-read Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland, published in 1865. The book felt appropriate in the context of surreal life in quarantine and absurdity of US politics and current events. The promise of a vaccine prompted me to begin planning a Mad Hatter’s Tea & Queen’s Croquet Party in the distant future. For any good themed party, a hostess needs the proper themed attire, in this case, a Queen of Hearts 1865 croquet dress!

I began my project with the under garments, starting with an 1860’s corset. This corset will serve as a foundation layer for a Queen of Hearts inspired “croquet dress” yet to come. I found inspiration in an 1860’s croquet skirt in the Manchester City collection and playing cards of the era. I made selections inspired by book themes like red roses and geometric patterns inspired the original woodblock prints, based on 1865 British fashion including the graphic, geometric patterns of gowns in the era and the curvy corset shapes.

The Construction Process

After much deliberation, I selected the Laughing Moon Mercantile’s 1840-1900 corset pattern, The Dore. The selection of fabric includes a black with silver and red diamond broche coutil to echo the shapes of playing cards in a graphic way characteristic of 1865 ladies’ clothing, and the lining is a tone on tone red rose coutil representing the Queen’s rose garden, both from Vena Cava Design.

Techniques included sizing a pattern, making a mockup, inserting a busk, setting eyelets, installing a waist-tape, treating the seams and hand stitching seams of the layers together, hand sewing lace, and lacing the corset.

The final corset