Monday, February 20, 2012

Dabbling in Corsetry

I know there hasn't been much sewing blogged here lately, but I promise I'm not just turning into a Jeremy Lin blog (incidentally, thank you all for sharing your thoughts about that and agreeing that we should NOT go back to the old days)! My husband was gone for several days for an interview in SF so I haven't been able to get pictures of the UFO dress, and I've been working on my Alice-inspired dress but don't have anything much to show for it. But since my husband was gone, I decided last Thursday night to start a new project instead of finishing any current ones. Cutting and laying out patterns and fabric are easier when I have the whole living room floor to myself.

After my experience with the amazing Dark Garden corsets at the Vintage Fashion Expo, I decided that it was high time I just bit the bullet and started working on a corset. I did my research (mostly using advice from House of Marmalade and Steam Ingenious), found a free pattern for an underbust corset, and purchased a packet of 24" plastic cable ties from OSH for $5.99. In an effort to keep my costs for this first foray into corsetry as low as possible, I used fabric that was already in my stash: some stiff-ish (but as I later discovered, simultaneously loosely woven) cotton leftover from hemming IKEA curtains for a friend, red corduroy (from a bag of donated fabric from a church lady) for the red Sew Weekly theme, and black hook and eye tape instead of a proper busk.

Right after I had followed the instructions to lay out the pattern pieces for marking so that I wouldn't mix them up,
Walnut woke up from his nap and walked over...
"Oh, I'm sorry, did you need to do something with these little pieces of comfy fabric? Also, did you need more work to do? Because I've got all these little red corduroy bits in my fur that need to be brushed out now."  

The pattern was easy enough to use, being only four pieces (with the fourth piece mysteriously upside-down -- so make sure you rotate it if you use that pattern!), but I think I'm not used to being quite so precise in my cutting and stitching. My inner and outer layers definitely did NOT match up! As a result, once I sewed my boning channels, the inside looked pretty ghetto-tastic. Also, my topstitching on the corduroy just looks wonky. That said, once I painstakingly cut and filed my boning and set all my grommets, it was really exciting to lace it up and try it on.

Excuse the odd choice of lacing material...this ribbon was all I could find that was anywhere close to long enough.
The cable ties were curled up in the package, so they're still a little bent.

I was scared to lace it too tightly, as I don't trust my own construction. There's no coutil in this, and my grosgrain ribbon waist stay is a little too high for my actual waist. As a result, it doesn't actually reduce my waist any, but it looks pretty cool (at least, for being totally unfinished and missing binding and all) and will be perfect for if I ever get invited to a pirate-themed costume party. Or possibly a very campy Western saloon party?

Awkward shots in front of the bathroom mirror.


I really need to clean that bathroom mirror. And that side seam isn't exactly straight, but the other side is. Also, I feel like the top of the underbust part gets uncomfortably high, but I'm not sure if that's normal. It's starting to run into the underwire of my bra.
I shot this over the back of my shoulder, so it's not in focus at all, but you get the idea.

Tomorrow, I'm going to get some more bias tape for the binding, as well as pick up some pearl buttons for the cuffs of this lovely thrift store find:

Front of the blouse: it closes with a series of hooks and eyes down the front. One of them was missing, but otherwise the blouse is in very good condition. No sweat stains or anything, as is common in thrift store white blouses.

I took these in front of our shower curtain since I was taking pictures in the bathroom mirror anyway? Not sure.

I know it's not nearly period accurate, but it's a 100% cotton white embroidered blouse with tucks and hooks and eyes, which are all at least period appropriate, I believe. There's no shaping to it, so it will poof out nicely with a high-waisted skirt. And guess what! My VPLL 1912 project pattern for the month is a skirt! So it's perfect. I'm trying to decide between a dark blue cotton or a forest green wool/poly blend. I've got nine yards of the former and "only" five of the latter, but the recommended fabrics are wool, silk, linen, or twill.

19 comments:

  1. That's a pretty nice corset if you ask me! I love the shade of red.

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    1. Thanks! I really only used red because it's what I had in the stash, but the more I look at it the more I like it.

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  2. Wow lovin the corset and looking forward to seeing what you do with the blouse.

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    1. I don't think I'm going to be doing too much with the blouse other than swapping out the very plastic buttons for slightly more authentic looking ones, but it's still exciting!

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  3. Your corset looks fabulous! And I love that Walnut plopped down on all your pattern pieces! what a cutie!

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    1. Aww thank you, Debi! And you know that Walnut will just use that as an excuse to plop on everything from now on ;)

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  4. what a great first attempt! using zip ties was definitely the clever and cost-wise way to go. also, a 1912 skirt! i can't wait!

    meanwhile, i am glad to see that it is not just my cat who mysteriously ALWAYS KNOWS exactly when you just finished laying out something important and decides it was meant for him to sit on. how do they do that?

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    1. Yeah, considering that the corsetry store near me only sold spiral steel by the dozens or grosses, I was definitely going to make a tester in zip ties first!

      I believe cats have a seven senses: the normal five, plus always landing on their feet, and knowing where not to sit (fresh laundry, sewing stuff, the book I'm reading, the laptop keyboard, etc.)

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  5. Hey, I've been chickening out on my first corset (I was actually considering that same pattern) for years now! I'd say it looks pretty darn good. I'm told ideally the sides along the lacing will be parallel when it "fits" properly, but for a first try it looks great! (Also, your "uncompressed" waist makes me green with envy, but that's a whole nother issue... ;) )

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    1. Well, now you know that the pattern works well enough that even I can make it...once you flip piece #4, that is. I'm pretty sure that your jeans-making skills are transferable to corsetry; I have great confidence in your abilities! As long as I'm envying your sewing skills, let me just throw in that I love your legs too ;)

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  6. Oh, wow, this is amazing. I can't believe you even attempted this, I'm way to afraid to get near boning with a ten foot pole. Well done, this is stunning and fits you beautifully. I can't wait for your next pirate party, you are going to blow them out of the water. (GET IT?)

    Last night when I was about to sew on a button I laid my jacket out on the floor to lap the edged. Brother Cadfael was like, oh, thank you very much, a new floor spot. How kind. Cats. Tiny fluffy jerks, all of em.

    strugglesewsastraightseam.wordpress.com

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    1. Walnut is proud of being a large fluffy jerk.

      I was afraid of boning too, until I used it in my strapless dress and realized it's not bad at all once you get over the initial jibblies. I was scared of making a corset, but then I figured if I waited until I wasn't scared I would probably be eighty. And that would only be because I was one of those cranky old ladies who aren't scared of anything, and not because my sewing had gotten better. Anyway, I am waiting for a pirate party too :)

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  7. I laughed out loud when you got to the Walnut pictures. That is EXACTLY what Felicity does. At least she is self cleaning!

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  8. How did the hooks and eyes work for you? I would think that any serious tightening and they'd collapse. There are no corset stores near me so if I make any I will have to resort to ordering a busk on-line.

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    1. They are just fine for me, if a little fussier to put on. The corset store I went to didn't have busks that short, or else I would have used one. That said, I haven't tightened this seriously (just about a cm of reduction), as I really didn't need the reduction, but I've worn this for long events and the hooks have showed no danger of collapsing.

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    2. I wish I could get away with that! I have much more that needs to be pulled in than you do! I also wear mine daily because of chronic low back pain. But, for a decorative one worn on occasion, I could see that working just fine. Good idea on your part!

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