February Stashbusting: the LOVE CHALLENGE

Well, we're one month into our year-long stashbusting sewalong, and it's been amazing seeing what you all can whip up from less than a yard of fabric! Emily has selected some of her favorite makes from both the Flickr group and the link party, so if you haven't already seen her post, go check it out! And now, since it's a new month, we prepare to dive into sewing for our loved ones. Since February is the month of Valentine's Day/Singles Awareness Day/Hearts and Hooves Day, it's only appropriate that we make a dear family member or friend the recipient of our time and efforts. To kick off the month, I used stash fabric to make an underbust corset for my little sister.

Isn't this fabric awesome?

This is the same lining as my pair of Elizabethan bodies. 

My sister, coincidentally also named Emily, has helped me with so many ridiculous projects over the years, and, being similarly science-minded, she really liked this skeleton print. Since I had less than a yard to work with, and its drape is inappropriate for tops, I knew I had to turn it into a corset. I used Jacci Jaye's free corset pattern on Burdastyle as a starting point, but graded it down to fit her much tinier torso. The finished corset is a size 21.5, meaning that if it were laced all the way shut, the waist would measure 21.5 inches. Of course, one wouldn't actually wear it laced all the way shut, so it's not quite as scary as it sounds. Since I'm going to have to wait until the President's Day weekend to deliver it to her, I went ahead and modeled it for you all. It's a little small for me, but you get the idea.

Front!

Side!

Back!

I'm pretty pleased with my pattern placement at the center! 

This is what it looks like laced down to 25 inches, two inches less than my normal waist size. It feels like a tight hug. 

Summary:
Fabric:  1/2 yard of 44" wide Alexander Henry's "Osteology" print on a high-quality quilting cotton, purchased at my local quilting store last year, underlined with cotton muslin and lined with home-dec canvas.
Notions: Hook and eye tape, grosgrain ribbon for the waist stay, black bias tape for the binding, 24 two-piece silver grommets, 7 yards of 1/2" black satin ribbon for lacing, heavy duty cable ties for boning
Techniques: Using my new walking foot! It really made sewing all the layers together so much easier; I don't know why I waited so long to get one! Since corset-sewing requires so much accuracy and lining up pieces and sewing them without shifting, the walking foot made my life easier, and this corset turned out much better than my first one.
Casualties: 3 sewing machine needles, 2 finger stabs that bled just a tiny bit, from when I was trying to pull the needle through the many layers.
Hours: Four hours to cut and sew the corset and boning channels, another hour to cut and file down the cable ties for boning, all of the Super Bowl to hand-sew the binding, and another hour to figure out grommet placement and set them...probably about eight hours total.
Will you make this again? I don't think I'm going to make another underbust corset, but then last time I made this pattern, I said I wouldn't and I did.
Total cost: The fabric cost $7, the hook and eye tape $3, the binding $2, the grommets were $4, the lacing $0.50, and the cable ties $4, so about $20 for the whole thing.

Final thoughts: I suppose I should reserve my final thoughts for when my sister gets to actually try this on, but for now, ummm, I really like this and I'm pleased with myself? It's been almost exactly a year since I made my previous iteration of this pattern, and it's cool to see how much I've grown as a seamstress. When I made my red corduroy one, I wasn't confident enough to grade it down, and the insides looked messy, not to mention the fact that it took almost 20 hours. This time, the sewing just felt easier, and even with all the fussy hand-sewing it took less than half the time. Does this mean that if I make this pattern again in a year or so, it will take four hours??

Playing around with old-timey filters, because corsets are old-timey. Totally makes sense. 

I can't wait to see what this looks like on my sister! And I know I promised after my Regency costumes that I would get back to real clothing, and corsets are not exactly everyday wear, so...next time, I promise.