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In Elizabethan costuming, the "Bodice" is generally a waist-length outer garment worn covering most of the upper torso of a woman. For the upper classes, it was often tightly fitted and laced down the back; however there are examples of bodices that are frontlacing, or looser and doublet-like. Bodices were frequently elaborately decorated on the front, as well as being worn with a goodly amount of jewelry. The effect, particularly in Spanish and later French costume, came to resemble some sort of odd, backards tortoise, with the woman fortunate enough to afford it being stuffed inside a jewel and trim encrusted shell with only her head sticking out above a ruff.
If you already have a correctly fitted corset that laces fully down, which you plan to wear under your bodice, then drafting the bodice pattern couldn't be any simpler - fold the corset in half so that the creases are at the center front and the center back. (Now take the busk out and try it again, silly.) If you don't have such a thing, go to the section on corsets and come back when you're done. No, really. I'll wait. It is very important to have the corset first, as the line of the corset determines the line that the bodice will need to follow. If you have a corset, but it doesn't lace down fully and you don't want to make another one, then measure how much of a gap you have at the laces, and add half that much to the pattern at the back (for a back lacing corset) or front (for a front or front-side lacing corset), or get used to the idea of your gussets showing.
Decide where you want the bodice to lace; back, front or side. I generally prefer front or back because if you gain a little weight, instead of suffering, you can add a matching gusset (or even a decorated one, if the gap is in front and you are pretending you meant for it not to lace down all the way) and lace it down as tight as is comfortable over the gusset. When the extra inches you need are added at the side, then the center design of the bodice ends up slightly to the side of center.
Now, trace around the outside of the corset onto tracing paper, staying 1 away from the edges on all sides. This is your seam allowance. I take half inch seams, but I use a 1 seam allowance when drafting bodice patterns just because you will want the bodice to extend a good half inch above the corset, and 1/4" always seems to "disappear" as I sew. If you want the bodice to lace at either the front or the back, draw a 1.5" line straight out from both the top and the bottom of wherever you want it to lace, then draw a line, parallel to the seam allowance line, connecting these two lines.
If you want the bodice to lace in the side, you will have to cut the pattern in half at the center of the armscye dip from the corset, then add that 1.5" to both pattern pieces at line you just made by cutting.
You now have your basic bodice template. This is not the same thing as a working bodice pattern. For one thing, to lacks the straps where sleeves will attach. For another, You will generally want the bodice to be substantially higher in back so that the sleeves aren't always drooping off your shoulders from lack of support. The straps will attach at about the point where your corset bends down for the armscye, on either side of the arm. (If you look at period portraits, you will notice that the straps are fairly far out on the shoulders, compared to the way modern dresses are constructed.) The straps should be between 1 and 3 inches wide, which means that, with seam allowances, they should be drawn between 2 and 4 inches wide. What I have done, with decent success, in the past is something of a cheat - I draw about a 3" strap coming up from the back. I usually curve the strap into the back of the pattern, rather than making it an abrupt protrusion. I only add that 3" to the pattern. When I cut my material, I cut a strip about 20" long and the width of the strap out of both the outer material and the lining material. I then cut the outer material to the pattern, and the lining material I add another inch to the stump of the strap when I cut. (This is so that I do not have all of the bulk from attaching the rest of the straps in one place in the finished garment.) I sew the long strips onto the stump-straps, then sew the lining to the outer material as normal. Then I can fit the straps to the front of the bodice with my corset on so I know exactly how long the will need to be. I finish off the edges and, if I'm having a very paranoid day, I leave and inch or so extra just in case the straps need to be let out right before the garment is worn. I tack the straps by hand to the inside of the bodice. I try to hide this attachment under trim to camouflage the bulky-bit. I suppose you could also push any slack you leave back into the strap and have the bulk hide in the strap itself where it will likely be covered by the sleeve cap or shoulder roll, if you are using one. This method does two things - it makes it easier to adjust the length of the shoulder strap, and it eliminates some of the fabric waste you would get if you cut the straps as one with the bodice. I tend to be very miserly with fabric so that I have have as large a scrap as possible left when I am done to use in another project.
There are some other bodice alterations you may want to consider playing with:
Once you have your pattern, it is a very good idea to crawl into your corset, and wrap the pattern around yourself. If the front and back cannot be held to your front and back respectively, or there is undue strain on the paper anywhere, you should add extra to your pattern at those places and try again.
If you have made your corset, you will find sewing the bodice to be very similar, and somewhat simpler. Sew around the edges, leaving room to turn the bodice rightside-out. Turn the bodice rightside out. Sew on the trims. (If you are adding boning to the front, you can hide the boning channels under the trims. I sew down the inner edge of the trim, pin the trim backwards (towards the center of the bodice), insert the boning between the layers of the bodice, finish the second line of stitch for the boning channel, then finish stitching down the trim. I suppose you could use two small trims on either side of the boning channel. I have not done this. It seems to me that you would be able to see the outline of the boning if you did, so I only put boning in bodices under trim that is wider than the boning. This is also not a substitute for wearing a corset. You do not want to put strain on the boning inside of the bodice; it is there solely to insure that things lie smoothly. Too much strain, and not only will you see stress marks on the outside of the garment, you will also run the risk of popping your boning through the outside of your lovely bodice. That would be a shame, indeed.
I should note that I do not have documentation of boning inside of a bodice in upper class clothing. It is likely that these bodices were either stiffened with a lining of a heavier material. My suggestion is based on a tip that was given to me by a very kind noble woman at Bristol who took the time to respond when I asked her what tips she would give me regarding my costume of that year. (The costume in question is featured in my photo gallery under the first 1580's English Noble red dress, and she was right - the bodice did not lie flat and smooth like any well-behaved bodice ought.)
The Master Bodice Pattern Template
This
is a peicing template for the basic bodice, as I make them. The armscye
to waist seam and the diagonal armscye to center back seam are both optional.
You will want to use the armscye to waist seam if you have a small peice
of material to work from and need to peice the bodice, if you are making
a side closing bodice, or if you just really happen to like side seams.
I usually omit it. You will want to us the diagonal armscye to center
back seam if you anticipate changing size during the lifetime of the costume,
if you want to insert the diagonal side back lacing seen in some period
portraits, or just as a detail. If I am not making a french cut bodice,
I usually use this seam and pipe it - the diagonal is flattering to most
figure types. This is also a very period way to cut both bodices and doublets.
In either case, do not forget to add your seam allowances when you draft
your final pattern!
Classically, sleeves in the Elizabethan era seem to have been laced in to the straps of the bodice or the shoulders of a doublet, and these lacings, or points, were hidden under a sleeve cap, epaulette, or shoulder roll. If you are going to do this, you should locate the center of the shoulder on the strap before you sew the outer edges of the outside and lining together, and add a finished strip, about 3/4" wide and 5-10" long (depending on your size and the weight of the sleeves in question) of either twill tape or a doubled over piece of material into the seam, centered at the center of the shoulder. The finished edge of this little flap should face towards the inside of the strap when you sew it on. (Documentation: Janet Arnold, Patterns of Fashion Vol I, see the doublet patterns in back). If you made very thin shoulder straps, you can hand tack a piece of twill or wide folded bias tape to the lining of the straps at the center shoulder once they are sewn. If you are line me, and perpetually running behind in your sewing, I have found safety pins to be an inordinately useful last minute solution. Those of you who find this offensive, please refer to Herbert Norris' book on Tudor Fashion. One of the items cited, from an inventory of the items sent with princess Mary Tudor (Henry VII's sister) to France at the time of her first marriage is some 10,000 pins for the purpose of holding together her gowns. (I swear I will dig out the exact quote at a later date.) So, I would claim that I am really not that far out of line in suggesting this. Safety pins themselves might not date back that far, but the concept is there, and it's not like they will show if you do this correctly. (If the do show, for crying out loud, try repinning. It's not a time consuming process.)
Go here. Look at the pictures. Do like they do. 'K?
On the Delicate Subject of Cleavage
I'm sure we all know that one of the best things about historical costuming is that it not only accepts, but rather encourages, a girl to put her best front forward, as it were. I have nothing against this. Actually, I have my fair share of fun with it. However, before you decide to make that corset just a smidge smaller at the top to create the kind of cleavage that could swallow small children, please take a look at some period portraits. Notice that you really don't see that sort of thing. I doubt that Holbein, with his famous eye for detail (or any other artist in an era notorious for such display) would have discretely "overlooked" this area. (Especially since it is visible in some portraits of the period, mosly of larger women or German women.) It seems to me that the logical conclusion is that, in general, foundation garments in period provided only moderate compression of the bust, creating a silohouette that was a cone rather than a cylander. I am bringing this up for two reasons: 1) You will be significantly more confortable with a corset that is not designed to smash your boobs into your chin, and 2) I have seen some people whose corsets were so tight up top that they literally overflowed them. It's not a pretty sight. Sometimes, just a little bit of discretion goes a very long way towards improving the look of a gown. If you are overflowing, it looks like the dress was not fitted correctly.
Points of reference, for your convenience:
