Drumroll please...

The 1880s corset is finished!

I had my doubts but this corset project was surprisingly easy, not at all frustrated-hair-pulling-inducing or, well, evil in that special way that only corsets and stays can be. I now dare to say it, having safely finished, that I actually liked making this corset. Shocking.

The pattern is from Norah Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines  and I really didn't modify it at all. The top fabric is the same I used for my 1820s pelisse and it's still one of my all time favourite fabrics. There's a steel busk and spiral steel bones, metal eylets and I used jute yarn for the cording on the bust.

I feel very accomplished :)

I had trouble pulling the lacing evenly. I believe the fit of the top edge will be better when I adjust the lacing.

I had a bit of fun with the flossing

I sewed the busk in by hand, and also the cording and the topstitched boning channels on the front and front side pieces. Otherwise the corset  is machine-sewn.

In progress...

Scared

Somehow all this should make a corset from the year 1880. I won't lie, I'm definitely stepping out of my comfort zone here.

On one hand, I really want to get started and get the corset done, because after that I can begin sewing the dress which I really want to do. On the other hand, I'm scared to begin, because based on my previous attempts with corsetry and staymaking, there's a fair chance that everything will go spectacularly wrong. Maybe the pieces will sew themselves if I stare at them long enough.

I've made a chemise, though. I've been having a Hercule Poirot binge for about a week and a half now, watching all the seasons of that great series and sewing pintucks on my new chemise. I got the pattern from the Fashions of the Gilded Age I, and then modified it slightly. All is hansewn, as usual. I like it and I hope it works with the corset, if I ever get around making it.

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