The Handmade Corset Update #2

As with any good sample there have been many many mistakes with this corset (and I know that the correct term is 'pair of stays' but to be honest it's quicker just to say 'corset' -so my apologies). 

Let's call them things I have learnt!

And I was going to list them all here but the amount of writing and explanations I'd have to do would make for a very boring looking blog. 

So first here's an update photo; the last panel's been completed and then all the sides have been wrapped in round the edge and whipped at the back. (Here be the first lesson learnt - concentrate much harder on getting the angle of the boning correct and in it's right position and it will make for a much smoother edge)

The Completed Panels:

You can already see from this photo how the two CF panels differ - that is because I ran out of the hessian backing (which I was using instead of a proper expensive linen canvas) and so had nothing to back my boning channels with.

And my undersides don't emulate the corset in the Bath Fashion Museum's undersides, my boning wanted to curve the wrong way so I copied the pad stitching idea used by tailors to control the front chest of their jackets, to pull in each panel. The corsets in the museum - it is needless to say - don't have this, theirs look remarkably flat and neat. 

Here's a photo of my underneath:

And here's the image of a corset in the Bath Fashion Museum (Image courtesy of the Fashion Museum, Bath and North East Somerset Council):

I can only imagine that their flatter boning channels result from the use of the rectangled shaped baleen and maybe slightly looser boning channels - my round cane bounced out rather too nicely thank you very much.

And the sewing of the SF Panel (the photo previous to this one above) also threw up some interesting questions on where they put the grain for this particular panel. But I want to go and do a bit more research into this and maybe do another Post for it later.

Then once all the panels were prepared, then came the stage of joining them together. This was actually slightly easier than I thought, but only slightly and my stitching would've been a lot neater had the sides of the panels been a lot neater - well we live and learn. 

Please see photo beneath...

And....

Well I think that's all for now, I've just got to finish getting them altogether and then argue over the idea of steaming first....

..... (O which means eyeleting first, but I was going to do a study into why the eyelets weren't sewn on the lining and that kind of messes me up but really I ought to do the steaming before the silk ribbon goes on as I am hoping it will soften some of the joins and the shapes of the panels....but then it might be good to see what happens to the silk ribbon while I steam just to see what they might have done and if I'm correct in my assumption they would've put the silk ribbon on after.....)