Okay, this post isn't very exciting, but I'm excited about, because my brilliant plan is working.
My client is all the way across the country, so we will not be able to do in-person draping, fitting, tailoring, etc. Instead, I have created Mary the Dressform, by wrapping my adjustable and trusty dressform (formerly known as Millie) in cotton batting, and using my conical corset (Elizabethan corset, but creates the same shape as a 17th c. corset) to squeeze the batting down into the correct shape for the period. The dressform as-is is far too modern in shape. I laced and loosened and tightened and adjusted the front and back lacings of the stays to fit Mary's exact measurements - 35.5" for bust, and 28.25" for waist. The shoulder width and length from nape of neck to waist are also matched, the latter being indicated by the blue ribbon tied around the waist.
The cool thing is that this method of batting and corseting will work for just about everything. My client and myself are similar sizes, so it wasn't much of a shift, but if I were working with a client with larger measurements than myself, I could expand my dressform out, wrap in batting, and corset it in to fit the exact measurements. Yay! don't I feel crafty :-D
