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!