Way back in February I was asked to make an outfit for a friends niece for her prom. The only stipulations were that it had to be very red, have a big skirt and a corset. This is what we came up with and as her prom is now past I can post some pics.

I finished my first self drafted underbust yesterday. I have been working on it on and off for quite some time and bought the fabric to make it over a year ago. It was made on my new Brother Innovis 1200 and I was interested in how well an "American" machine would perform in a demanding task like corset making. The answer, like a champ. It didn't make that satisfying "crunch" that the Pfaff does as it goes through big layers of material, but it thumps away and gets the job done without breaking into a sweat. I did use a denim needle on this project (a new one).  I learned so very much. So much... I am overall pleased with the results but...there is always room for improvement, and that is why I am here. If you would like to see more pictures, visit my Flickr account.

The particulars:
-Self drafted pattern, Victorian underbust, 12 panels total.
-Cotton "Persian Carpet" pattern front and back panels, olive green twill fashion fabric, 100% cotton coutil inner lining.
-Standard busk, .5" flat steel bones on either side of the grommets, .5" spiral steels at each seam all the way around, bone channels sewn into the lining of the corset.
-Construction method-Truly Victorian. Great and simple method of putting together a corset, and the interior ends up looking great. Of course, you can never ever take it apart and alter it once it's done (or if you think you can...it's only in a very limited way).

Things I am proud of that I did for the first time:
-This is the best shape I have been able to come up with yet. Nips my waist and is very comfortable to boot. Actually, the photos are not as acute as the real thing. I like the shortness of it, looks good on me. High back is good, too. First time I drafted my own pattern and I used the famous method you can get from Dark Leather site.
-Matched that pattern exactly. Exactly. This was no hole in one...it was a chore, but it was worth all the effort.

Things that bug me:
-The horizontal "stress wrinkles". Selmabouvior complained of them, too with her very lovely overbust. I don't know if the final answer was given but I would like to hear it. Flossing? More bones? Does the severity of the angle of the nipped in waist cause these?

Things I am going to do for sure later:
-Add a modesty panel (I make mine out of plastic canvas because no matter what you do and how hard you lace yourself in that canvas panel will not wrinkle or collapse).


( Here are the rest of the things I learned from doing this corset, and there are a lot of them. )

here she is... By La Belle fairy, inner coutil, outercoutil, all good stuff !

I like to consider this project my "salvaged materials" cincher.

I know the combo is a bit overdone, but I literally had the materials laying around. The outer layer was a loosely woven cotton plaid from another old project (it shifted more than I would have liked), the inner layer is herringbone denim, the lining is a basic black cotton, and the PVC boning channels (it's backed with a layer of herringbone denim) were from a pair of cheap PVC pants.

I have worked with PVC before for another project and hated it. I still hate it. It's not a material I use often so I have no reason to buy attachments for my machine to make it easier.

I basted the plaid to the denim and treated it as one layer, and then made a separate lining. I used external casings for the bones (all spiral except front and back) for the first time and even though I have a few obvious mistakes visible in the PVC, I'm not too concerned.

I also finished the binding by hand and I'm a little proud of my results. I know I'm chunkier than my dress form, but I tried to pad it out to be closer to the right shape. I included a really awful mirror shot of me for good measure! There's a few pics and they're all kind of big so I used a cut.


( Read more... )

I finally got finished the first corset I've ever made. I wore it on Sunday night and got lots of compliments on it, and even a commission! I used the Simplicity pattern 7215.

Here we go with the eye candy: ( Read more... )

The stays are complete, and they're now in Scotland with their new owner! Cue eye candy!



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EDIT: The mods are telling me that I haven't provided enough information about this corset yet, so do bear with me while I recap:

These stays were made according to the 1776 Diderot stays pattern in Corsets and Crinolines. The layers are black wool, coutil and Chinese blue cotton, boned with flat steel throughout. There are two-piece brass eyelets arranged in a suitable fashion for spiral lacing, and the straps are fully detachable.

Extensive notes on the construction can be found in the following six corsetmakers posts:
Fabrics, marking the boning channels
Boning; tipping bones with insulation tape
Shaping and tipping bones with PTFE tape
Beginning the binding
Binding tips 1 + side seams
Binding tips 2

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By the way, I should mention that Your Wardrobe Unlock'd^TM (which features a complete draft-your-own-Victorian-corset masterclass) has a very special offer on during July only.

Until the 31st July, we're letting new readers in totally ZOMGFREE!!1!! for ONE MONTH. Just sign up using the coupon code given in this post, which tells you all about it. You won't need to provide any payment info at all, and you can check out for yourself just how much our subscribers get for the small subscription fee. Basically, we pay our writers so that you get the best, most complete, most in-depth information, advice and how-tos from some very busy and successful costumers who'd never otherwise get around to giving this much away. Think of it as your online apprenticeship.

Keep in mind also that next month, we'll be featuring the full details of how to bind stays like these. So what are you waiting for?

I have been so busy sewing, I have neglected posting up my work. Here are a few of my favourite pieces. All of these pieces are available for purchase.

Hiya folks

I thought I'd post this here for you all, since it is, well, corset-related...

A photographer was kind enough to send me some awesome photos of me performing living statue in Toronto.
For the look of my character (an angel) I chose to make a sample of a pattern I drafted last year for my collection, but never had a chance to make up.

This corset is a 21" short-hip demi-cup based upon a late-Victorian corset in my personal collection. It was made in ivory cotton sateen, and is laced down to a 23" in these photos (due to the fact that I need to be a bit mobile while I perform, ironically). The pics make the corset look a bit ill-fitting, as a result (that coupled with the awkward pose). But, I think it's such a pretty shot, I wanted to share it with you all.

As this is a costume piece and is taking a routine beating (I actually made it last year and its been worn too many times to count--and hey, it's still ivory with no handprints! Yay!), I have not yet made the sample that will be photographed for my upcoming website (which shall be launching very soon, in fact). I do have the materials, which is exciting, and it will involve chantilly lace. :)

I will try to snap better photos of this new style for you all when I can. For now, hope this will do. (For what it's worth, its not really a great promo shot either, because you can see my shoes!)



Hope you guys like it :)

My friend asked me to make her a corset for her graduation party. so, i did!

( More about it and pictures over here! )

My husband has a growing interest in sewing, particularly, corsets. We both have bad backs and he made one a few months back that has been helping with the pain of his back.

( Pics and more explanation )

Here's some pictures of an organza corseted gown I made a while ago. Sorry the pics aren't the best quality.



( More pics and details )

I've made a couple of overbusts recently but never got around to posting pics of them.  More pics are in my private journal and on the website if you want to have a look.

The first one was for a hairdresser friend of mine who was entering a competition for an avant-garde hairstyle.  She had to submit one photograph of her model wearing the wig she'd created, so she wanted a pretty fabulous outfit for her.  I haven't seen the photos yet but I'll post them when I get them!

This one was a bit of an experiment for me as I normally create shaped cups.  Rachel wanted her model to have lots of lovely cleavage though, so I drafted straight bust lines and just used sprung steel rather than spiral.  This also has a double-bust seam whereas I normally use a single seam.  It's quite long over the hips with a nice wavy line.  There are little suspender tabs inside (3 on each side) for suspenders to hook into also.

It is made from black delustered satin, is bound in the same, has an attached back modesty panel and has black size 00 grommets.

This corset will have more life after its photoshoot as Rachel selected a model with a similar size to herself so that she could run away with it afterwards.





The second one was for a client who didn't have much of an idea of what she wanted when she came in, but together we worked out a design that she is very happy with!  She wanted it to be mainly black but also have a feature colour of blue.   It fits much better on a real body than on my mannequin!  My client is planning on loosing a bit of weight so I designed it with a 10cm gap at the back so it can be closed down further.  She has two different removable modesty panels depending on how tight she is able to lace it.

This is a more traditional overbust shape for me, having shaped cups and a medium sweetheart neckline.

It is made from black silk dupion except the 2nd panels which are blue dupion and have a lace overlay. The binding and modesty panel are black dupion also. Lattice weave trim has been stitched to the top binding and a thin blue ribbon woven through.  It's left loose at the ends so that my client can reweave it or swap it out for different colours in the future. Thick blue dupion piping is stitched into the bottom binding and snaps have been attached for the removable black lace trim. It has black size 00 grommets and standard corset lacing.

The piping along the bottom came out a lot thicker than I had intended, but in the end it worked out well as at its original height it would have been masked by the lace trim.




x-posted

Greetings, earthlings!

Today I bring you photos of a sample which I had made for a boutique in Luxembourg. I actually did a big series of samples for them as a display - different shapes, styles, eras, all done in this fabulous indigo cotton/linen blend of fabric. I also made bloomers and chemises out of Swiss batiste (heirloom sewing rocks my world!). All that was left of the sample display was this midbust. And an earlier victorian shape which is currently on hold for someone.
I finally found a few minutes to snap a couple of pics for you all. I got tired of Photoshopping after the first photo, so please bear with me. Indigo and burgundy walls kinda clash. But you get the idea.

( Holy smoking silk buttonhole twist, Batman! )

Here's a couple of pieces I've made recently.

The first is an underbust corset made of red and cream polka dot cotton with external bone casings of cream silk dupion. I've not done many single layer corsets so I've been experimenting recently and am loving the relative speediness and results, so expect some more soon!



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After my first corset, I experienced different techniques on a pinstripe underbust, and then went on for the Truly Victorian overbust pattern.

Actually, a couple of years ago, I saw a beautiful corset on the internet, but I never found the homepage again.

Fortunately, I had saved the picture, and decided to make my own one…

The original corset:

 

Thank you for looking....

 

Just finished this for a friend. It's from the Mantua Maker 1870-95 pattern and it measures a 23" waist closed. The wearer wanted something pretty casual she could wear with jeans as well as a skirt so she picked this Alexander Henry print cotton.

 

Hi everyone here !

I’ve been reading this community for a while now, and I think it’s time for me to show you my first corset.

As I couldn’t afford all the corsets I wanted to get, I decided to try making one. And this is how I started this first one in january, using the LM Dore pattern.

Considering that it was my first corset and my first sewing project ever (never sewed anything else than a button before), I’m quite proud about it turned out…