Thursday 5 September 2013

Edwardian corset: disaster!

I've been working hard on my corset for the past to day, neglecting everything about school. Today I came to the point where I would try it on properly for the first time and guess what? The bloody corset is way to small! Just closing the busk is hard work. I must say that I am very disappointed and would very much like to throw the whole thing away. Perhaps I will let it rest for a few weeks, scavenge it for the parts that can be reused and make a new one. Probably go up a size or two. Might need to order some new coutil though...

Monday 2 September 2013

Edwardian corset: Lining, boning channels and lace

So, it's been a while. Everything concerning sewing has pretty much been put to the side for the summer. But with autumn comes a less strict schedule and I am back in business. I did finish the dress for the wedding though, a post about that one is coming up.

When I last wrote about the TVE01 corset all the pieces were cut and the busk inserted. Since then I have acquired a thin cotton fabric to use as a sort of lining, cut it and sewn it together. The instructions that came with the pattern did not mention any kind of lining och finishing of the seam allowances but that felt wrong, I want to make things neat inside and outside. The lining is held in place with the boning channels. It is just aligned with the outer coutil layer, wrong sides together, and the channels are sewn on.

Inside of the corset. Lining with a soft floral pattern visible and one boning channel basted in place.
Speaking about boning channels. Oh boy.. The pattern calls for tubular boning channels in a width available only in the US. Reluctant to order from so far and afraid of additional taxes I settled for twill tape from the UK. Upon arrival I noticed that the roll in my hands had the wrong width and could not be used for the corset. Perhaps it was for the best, twill tape apparently isn't any good at holding steel.

These difficulties called for some thinking and I ended up cutting strips of coutil left over from a previous corset. They are quite difficult to baste on but they will do the job. I am up to this point done with the channels on one side of the corset and just couldn't help but to add the binding. Because I at the moment am in love with all things burgundy I chose to add a little colour to the corset. I couldn't find any ½" bias binding in Sweden so instead a bought a rather wide ribbon and used it to bind the edge.


The corset laid flat.
The binding from the wrong side. It is sewn down with slip stiches and some fiddling produced a neat corner. 
 And so for the lace trim. It's not completely done yet but I could not help but to pin it on and see what it looked like. I was not disappointed.