Corset Design, Drafting, Construction Pt 5

Last time, I had pinned all the layers together, and stitched them into what will now be treated as one piece. So, each pattern piece has a layer of fashion fabric and a layer of coutil that have been carefully sandwiched together. Because my markings were made in white pencil on the coutil layer, I can still see my stitch lines and identification on each piece.

Here is the video I followed that explains how to pin everything accurately, and why you want to do so! (I am linking to specific videos for this segment, because this is where things get tricky... and a very clear explanation makes everything go smoother!)

Here is where I have a little blog-fail... I do not have photos of this part of the process. Oops! 

So, I cut out my lining and stitched those pieces together. I also stitched the outside pieces together. That left me with four sets of material: Outside left, outside right, lining left, and lining right. I followed these instructions on how to insert the busk: There is a knob side and a loop side. 

Next was inserting the waist tape and sewing the outsides and their corresponding linings together. I mixed up the order of the instructions, and attached my lining to the outside before I put the waist tape in. It did make it more bulky and awkward, but I managed! 

Now that the waist tape and lining are in place, I can flip this baby right way out!

With the busk closed, and the whole thing as flat as possible, you can see the general shape. The bottom should follow my lap fairly well (I will be test fitting while cutting my bones to size). The back is quite high, as you can see. I like the dramatic effect of it. Very few of my shirts and dresses have low backs, so if I want to wear this under my clothing, it shouldn't show up there.

I tried laying it flat to see the shape, but it is just too curvy!

So I put it on a pillow to see how it was coming. There are no bones yet, so it does pucker and squish, but I am happy with it so far!

It is time to start sewing the boning channels! Yay! I am nervous about cutting the bones myself.

Just a little side note... I did design this corset to be 24" closed. (That is not a huge reduction for me... my natural waist is 28" last time I measured, and I have lost several pounds since then.) I measured the almost finished corset, and it is closer to 22". Oops again! I probably won't wear this one fully closed, so a modesty panel will be a good idea!

Help Sidney Eileen Defeat the Dread Lyme

I have mentioned Lucy's Corsetry many times in my corset making posts, and she has been a huge source of inspiration to me. Her mentor, a woman who not only nurtured her love of corsets, but also encouraged her to make her wonderful videos, is in need of help.

Sidney Eileen has suffered from Lyme disease for 6 years before finally being diagnosed, and in that time it has robbed her of her well being and ability to work. It has reached an advanced stage that requires many months of intravenous treatment.

A Call to Action has been put forward in the blogging/corseting/costume community to help. Any donation, no matter how small, will mean everything to Sidney. I can't afford to offer much myself, but I am giving what I can, and hope that by sharing this at least one other person might do the same. Here is the campaign website where she shares her story, and there are links to other sites for information on Lyme.

If you are comfortable making a donation and passing this along, then I encourage you to do so. The fundraising efforts will run until April.

Sidney, I wish you the best of luck with your treatment, and a swift and full recovery. Brightest blessings to you.

Corset Design, Drafting, Construction Pt 4

With shorter office hours over Christmas, I thought I would take the opportunity to catch up on my corset making... nope. I enjoyed the time with family, several of whom were visiting from out of town and are seen twice a year. I am thankful for the time I have with them... the corset took a back seat. And it waited oh so patiently for me!

I finally stopped talking myself out of cutting the expensive stuff. I don't remember how much I paid for the pinstripe, but I didn't buy heaps of it, so it couldn't have been that cheap. And of course, the coutil, which costs more than any other fabric I have ever purchased... But yeah, I finally did it. I quit making mock ups and went in for the real deal.

99.9% of the instructions came from Lucy's Corsetry videos. She has fantastic explanations of putting everything together, inserting the busk and waist tape, grommets, bones, everything. I have learned some wonderful lessons from her videos.

I had planned to do an instructional entry on how I put this together, but I don't feel that I am comfortable enough or familiar enough with the process to properly explain anything that I did. But, here are some photos and brief descriptions of my personal journey building my first real corset.


Here are my pattern pieces. I have labelled them with their number (1 is the front panel, 6 is the back panel). These are the stitch line pieces.


I have two versions of each piece. The blue ones include my seam allowance. This allows me to trace everything out as close as possible to reduce waste. I traced these out first, and then placed the stitch line pieces inside and traced them.



My pieces are all nice and snug. I kept the waist line perpendicular to the stripes on each piece so that my pin stripes will be nicely vertical on the finished corset, and not at funny angles. My pieces also alternate direction to reduce twisting. I did the same with all my layers. Because the pattern on this fabric doesn't have an "up and down", I can do this with the fashion layer too. Obviously, if your fashion layer has an image with a definite "up and down", you can't do this with that layer! But doing so with the interior layers will still prevent twisting in the finished corset.



Here is my pinstripe. I tried really hard to make sure that my pieces were straight with the stripes. I did tidy this up, as I noticed that my front edge on this piece was a little off. My chalk made a huge mess all over my table... white dust everywhere. I used the chalk on the fashion layer so it will disappear like a ninja... without a trace (that one is for you, Char!). White pencil crayon was used on the coutil layer, because that is going to be hidden by the lining, and I don't want to lose my lines after I have manhandled the fabric.



A bunch of the pieces pinned. I carefully pinned exactly on the line, matching the waist line and stitch lines on both layers.



I labelled every piece. How ever you label it, as long as it makes sense to you the next day, next week, or whenever you come back to it next, have at 'er. For me, an arrow pointing to the top, and two numbers worked well.

The first number is where the piece fits in sequence. I have 6 pieces per side, with 1 being at the front, 6 being at the back. The second number indicates if the piece is on the left or right side. I didn't want to fuss with "is right when I am wearing it or looking at it?" or any other ambiguity, I decided that one side would be "1" and the other side "2". So, my pieces are all numbered 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, etc for one side, and 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, etc for the other side. My lining pieces will be marked the same way, but with and "L" added so I know that those are lining pieces. That is important for the front and back panels, as they will have the same pinstripe fabric as the outer layer and I don't want to confuse the two. This method worked well for me. Find what ever works for you. But do label them. If you remember one thing, let it be that. Label your pieces so you know what side and what sequence and what direction. I have sewn pieces in upside down or in the wrong order before. It was awful.

So, everything is cut, pinned, and ready to sew. That will be next time! We don't need 30 photos of black blobs in one post... lets split them into two! Tee hee!

Princess Serenity - Commence Collecting

Its official. I am starting work on my Princess Serenity costume. I have started buying the bits and pieces for it.

I decided that the wigs at The Five Wits were worth checking out. I just ordered my "Serene Crystal Tokyo Queen" wig and hope to see it in the next couple of weeks. They say that their wigs are made of Hiperlon. From the homework that I have done, this appears to be the material that most of the higher quality cosplay wigs are made from, and it is heat resistant and washable. Nice! Once I get it, and have a chance to wear it around, I will give my non-expert opinion on it.

The craft and dollar stores abound with the little pieces that will make the details of the costume. I found a bag of "crystals" at the dollar store that will make a perfect "Legendary Silver Crystal" to wear on a dainty silver chain around my neck. Still looking for a nice bale to attach the pendant to the chain, but so far, it looks much like the one from the manga! Yay!

Crystal pendant and Chain

Even before I decided to buy the wig, and I had that crappy yellow one, I still wanted to go for the manga style princess. The circles around the bust would be silver. Well, lucky me, I went to the craft store and found (on sale and still able to use my coupon for further discounts!! Bonus!!) these silver circle pieces. I bought a whole bunch of them.

Silver Circles for around bust

For the waist band, I plan to use a variety of beads, pearls, crystals, etc. Each row around her waist seems have a different material. I am still keeping an eye out for good deals on pearls and crystals. The fabric store has chain and lace with crystals already on it, so they will be evenly spaced and I just have to stitch a string of these things onto the dress instead of individually sewing them on. Another bonus! I will keep an eye out for sales on these babies, because they are expensive! I don't have them yet, so no pics.

I did pick up craft foam. I plan on using this in layers to sculpt the shoulder pieces. I should be able to shape this reasonably well, and make a shell to go over the fabric sleeve.

Craft Foam for shoulder pieces

I also have lace left over from a previous project (this lace trim has appeared on two different outfits already), and if it isn't too creamy I might use it somewhere in the bodice.

Ivory Lace

I am trying to really bump up my cosplay to more than just a simple reproduction. I don't just want to be recognisable from across the room. As you walk closer, I want more details to jump out. I want you to be able to stand next to me, and see another layer to the character. There needs to be more depth. More life. This should be a living, breathing entity, with a story told with every choice of beading, fabric, colour, texture... This year, I am anticipating a huge increase in Sailor Moon related costumes, to celebrate the new Sailor Moon. I want this to be one to remember.