First Corset Finished, Almost...

I got the two 11 inch bonings from corsetmaking.com on Saturday.  I didn't get to get working on my corset until yesterday, Sunday, because my craft room had been taken over by fourteen and fifteen-year-old girls.  I mentioned in an earlier post that my very creative fourteen-year-old daughter has been making duct tape corsets and using up all of my grommets.  She and her friends decided to get together and make a bunch of duct tape waist cinchers as a fund raiser for band camp.  They had all sorts of decorative duct tapes and lacings and were up there in the craft room for about eight hours straight.  They asked me to order them pizza for a dinner break at 5:00pm and then went right back up until people's parents started calling and coming by to pick them up.  I couldn't believe that they got so many done.  Most of them are waiting for grommets, but are otherwise finished.  The order with the grommets should be arriving on Wednesday.  I will be posting some of their cinchers in my etsy shop for them to see if they sell there.  When the post is ready I will also put a link to it here and on my Facebook page.


So, I finally got to work on my corset on Sunday morning.  I knew we would be going to my aunt and uncle's house for the Superbowl and I wanted to get the machine sewing parts done so I could bring the hand sewing with me.  I was not too excited about watching the super bowl, because the Seahawks weren't in it, but the Superbowl at their house is a tradition and the food and company is always good.

The last two bonings had to be inserted into their channels, and then I sewed across the top edge to keep them all in.  I then began the painstaking ordeal of finishing the top and bottom edges. I trimmed them up neatly and cut off all the scraggly threads.  I have read how to avoid having all of these.  I will give it a try next time.

I pinned and sewed on the satin bias tape.  I had to rip and resew the first one because I misjudged the width I would need to wrap over the edge.  Still, the first one I sewed (twice) was still not perfect, but ripping it again would not be good for the tape or the corset, and I didn't have extra tape, so I just said, "heck with it," and left it.  This is my first corset and I don't expect it to be perfect.  I am trying my best though.  The rest of the edge binding looked better.

Next I folded the binding over and pinned it so I could hand sew it during the Superbowl.

I put them in a pillow case for transport to try and avoid dirt and cat hair.  I also ate my hot wings first, washed my hands and stayed far away from the food while I worked. I only got half done, during the Superbowl. I must admit I didn't work the whole time.  I also had to hold my baby cousin, eat a bit of Superbowl food, and drink a beer.  I finished the hand sewing after I got home.  I put "Hot Fuzz" in the DVD player and sewed while sitting on the couch until I was done.  I do like that movie. It is pretty funny.

 

Here it is as it was when I went to be last night:

 

It is finished enough to wear at this point, but I still want to add some details.  I want to floss the boning ends to reinforce them, make them stay in one place and prevent wearing through the fabric. 

This is the first one I did this morning.  It isn't perfect.  The stitches are too close together and not very even.  I also noticed that after I started stitching the first end the bone shifted towards the other end.  This is hard to prevent.

This is the second one I did.  It is the other end of the same boning channel.  It looks a lot better.

 Here is the whole bone so you can see both ends. It being white on white, or whitework, it isn't very noticeable.  It will give the corset a little bit of fanciness without making it really busy.  I think I will like it when it is done.

 

I only had time to do the four bones around the grommets so far today.  It is painstaking work. I will probably get faster at it as I go, and better, but it will take me a while.  I will try the corset on for pictures as soon as I have time and someone here to assist me.  I can't wait.

 

Here is the top of the back.

And this is the bottom.

From a few feet away it is not very visible, but I think it is still worth it.

 

 

I have been reading about how to make corsets, stronger and how to adjust the patterns so that they fit better.  I have loads of ideas for next time.  I also read about how to make and add an underbusk and lacing panel. I think I might do that for this corset.  That will, of coarse, mean another corsetmaking.com order, so I will wait on that.  They are added after the corset is done anyways.  Next time I will put my twill tape waist reinforcement in before I put in the busk and I will add my grommets after I sew all the layers of the corset together and put the bonings in.  This is supposed to make them turn out straighter and smoother.  Also, instead of pressing the seams open I will try pressing them to the side and topstitching them.  This puts the stress of tight lacing on the fabric grain instead of the seams.  My next corset will have a facing fabric of silk brocade.  I will also try making my own bias binding.  I think it will look better.