I’ve decided to make 2 complete corsets. Now that I think I am on the right track, I am making another mockup, but this will be a permanent usable corset… A trial run, really. I dyed some white cotton duck to muddy brown which will be the “fashion fabric” of this corset. I’m using gold grommets and some orange poly cotton to line the corset. I will do external boning channels, but I don’t know yet how.

Last night I ordered a 12 inch busk and some extra grommets from Richard the Thread. Things I liked and didn’t like about this company:

Disliked:

  • They don’t have all busk sizes in every color
  • $35 minimum purchase
  • Shipping: shipping costs aren’t part of checkout, you have to wait until it is shipped and pay whatever the cost of shipping is.

Liked:

  • Grommets and busks  are a good price
  • awesome store and lots of stuff I want

Once my busk comes in, I can do a fitting. I think I need to add a gore to the hips — I chose to go with a smaller hip size (6) in order to use the gores in the hips. I will probably need a second gore.

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Speaking of gores, I came up with a way to stitch my gores in that looks great and is durable. First I drew the seam allowance on the wrong side of the gore. When I reached the point where the two seam allowances intersect, I drew a straight line splitting the bottom space in half. I then stitched over these lines, from widest part to narrowest, including the line at the bottom. This way, the stitching didn’t just end at the tip unsecured.

To keep myself on track, I’ve made a list of the major steps of the process:

  1. Take measurements
  2. Do complicated math to calculate circumference of pattern
  3. Mark & measure waist (compare to above measurements & math)
  4. Mark & measure bustline
  5. Mark & measure hips
  6. Measure length of pattern, adjust if needed
  7. Make toile
  8. Fitting and adjustments
  9. Make corset
  10. Sew boning channels and waist tape
  11. Finishing touches