With my new subscription to Foundations Revealed, I am following the corsetmaker’s course to construct Laughing Moon #100 Silverado corset. I plan to do a very detailed blog of the process for future reference, though many of the steps that are in depth on FR will just be mentioned.
I initially decided to use the Dore pattern, but Farthingales’ profile view decided it for me – I want more of a cupped breast for the FR challenge ideas that I am pursuing.
The Silverado course starts with taking exact measurements of your body and comparing them with the actual measurements of the pattern pieces. I put on my best fitting bra and made sure the straps were evenly supporting my boobs. I carefully measured in front of a floor length mirror and my resulting sizes gave me a 14 bust, 18 waist and 12 hips. I followed the recommended 75 mm reduction at the waist and 50 mm everywhere else, as well as the 15 mm seam allowance listed on the pattern, as well as a 2 inch gap in the lacing.
I cut the above sizes out of the (photocopied) pattern and sewed mockup number 1.
Made some changes, tried larger cups, went back to smaller cups, added a gore to the hips, and moved the gore to between pieces 13 and 14. My pattern pieces now look like this:
My cotton duck mockup is practically disintegrating around the edges from being handled, so I will cut and sew one more mockup, which will be used to flatline the lining of the real thing. I haven’t picked out a fabric to make it out of, but I’m considering several fabrics for the exterior, then I will pick out a pretty matching lining.
