For my matching Edwardian lingerie set, I made another Edwardian summer corset from cotton net fabric. I love how the corset turned out and it’s so comfortable to wear! 😀 My Edwardian summer corset is lightly boned, made of a single layer of transparent natural fiber fabric and trimmed at the top with cotton Valenciennes lace and turquoise silk ribbon.
Related: Edwardian Lingerie Set
Corset Pattern
I drafted, adjusted and fitted the corset pattern based on antique early Edwardian corset photographs and advertisements. My main goal was to achieve the extreme shape with the hips as wide as the shoulders. By the way, I have wide hips but they are never big enough for the extreme waist-to-hip ratio of the early Edwardian era! 🤣 So I need padding.
My main inspirations for the shape of my corset was this beautiful photo of actress Ethel Oliver in a pirate stage costume and the corset in this cute Edwardian photograph. And you can find more of my corset inspirations on my pinterest board “1900s Lingerie”.
My final Edwardian corset pattern has 7 pieces – so 14 in total. I used the same corset pattern for my Edwardian straight-front linen corset and an Edwardian cotton batiste summer corset to see what difference the different types of fabric and boning make.
Lightly Boned Corset
Unlike my Edwardian straight-front linen corset which is heavily boned, I made this Edwardian summer corset only lightly boned. In the Edwardian era, there existed all types of corsets from unboned to lightly boned to heavily boned. Athletic corsets and health corsets were often unboned or just lightly boned in the 1900s. And I made this Edwardian summer corset as a sports corset and for casual wear.
Related: Edwardian Athletic Corsets For The Edwardian Sportswoman
So I only added metal corset boning at the V at the front to create the fashionable Edwardian straight-front shape and synthetic whalebone boning at the back to reinforce the grommets. The sides of my Edwardian summer corset are completely unboned. That’s why the sides of the corset can wrinkle when you move. But that’s normal according to the following primary source from the Edwardian era:
‘Don’t be afraid that the unboned portion will wrinkle with each movement, for that is really so and it would be strange if it didn’t’ (San Francisco Call, 1903).
Related: Edwardian Unboned Sports Corset
Another reason why I made this Edwardian summer corset only lightly boned is: I have a rigid rib cage and after many years of making corsets I noticed that I can lace lightly boned corsets much tighter than heavily boned corsets. That’s probably a reason why antique Edwardian corsets were made of only a single layer of fabric, made from the thinnest possible fabric – batiste was a popular choice for Edwardian summer corsets – and only lightly boned: to make the waist as small as possible! 😀
By the way, my other Edwardian cotton net summer corset has boning at the sides. So the sides of the corset are wrinkle-free. But I can lace this lightly boned summer corset much tighter without feeling uncomfortable.
Related: Edwardian Cotton Net Summer Corset
Cotton Net Corset Fabric
The fabric is the same that I used for my other Edwardian cotton net summer corset. It’s a sturdy, white, 100% cotton net fabric. And it’s actually an embroidery aida cloth! 😉 But unlike most aida cloth embroidery fabrics, this embroidery fabric is a true leno-weave fabric with twisted threads which means the threads don’t move and the corset stays transparent even after washing.
As always, I pre-washed the fabric so that I can later wash my corset in the washing machine without the risk of it shrinking. But the embroidery fabric had so much sizing and starch in it that was so difficult to remove! It took a machine wash, then a hand wash with lots of scrubbing and then another machine wash to remove all the sizing! Without all the scratchy sizing, the fabric is still stiff and sturdy enough for a corset fabric.
Similar types of fabric have already been used for summer corsets in the Edwardian era. In 1900s corset ads, this type of fabric was called “summer netting”. You can find antique Edwardian summer corsets made from similar fabrics on my pinterest board “1900s Lingerie”.
Lapped Seams
Like most antique Edwardian corsets, my Edwardian summer corset is made of a single layer of fabric. I joined all pieces with lapped seams. Lapped seams were the traditional seam on historical corsets. By the way, lapped seams look like flat felled seams when finished but they are made differently.
Related: Lapped Seam, Flat Felled Seam & 32 Other Types of Historical Seams
I love the clean finish of lapped and flat felled seams. However, I usually make flat felled seams instead of lapped seams because they are a little bit easier and quicker to make. But since you can fold this aida cloth embroidery fabric almost like paper, I opted for the historically correct lapped seams this time.
Valenciennes Lace & Silk Ribbon Trim
Most Edwardian corset had lace trim at the top of the corset. Valenciennes lace was the most popular lace for corsets and underwear in general in the Edwardian era. For the lace trim of my Edwardian summer corset, I sewed together three different cotton Valenciennes and Mechlin lace trims with overhand stitches by hand.
Related: How To Make An Edwardian Lace Yoke
Then I hand-sewed the lace trim to the corset and threaded pure silk ribbon through the beading lace. I had dyed the silk ribbon turquoise to make a matching Edwardian lingerie set. At the front of the corset I also added a big silk ribbon bow.
Edwardian Underwear & Detachable Garters
I wear my Edwardian summer corset over my Edwardian combination suit and Edwardian ruffle hip pad. And I also wear detachable garters. In the Edwardian era, garters were often detachable and you could attach them to different corsets with safety pins. Here are antique Edwardian garters with safety pins and an antique Edwardian corset with separate garters attached with safety pins.
Related: Edwardian Combination Suit
