Building a Corset

My husband is always very supportive of all of my new endeavors.  I have to say, though, that his enthusiasm for and offers of assistance with this new project reached new heights as soon as he heard "corset."  I purchased Truly Victorian's 1913 Late Edwardian Corset Pattern which listed all of the various bits and pieces needed to build it, size 00 grommets among them. We have a grommet setter that we bought from a retiring seamstress and costume designer last summer, and we didn't have the cutter and setter for size 00.  My husband become even more keen about this project as soon as he learned there was a tool needed that he didn't yet own!  From Corsetmaking.com (who knew?) I procured all of the other parts: 2 busks (I was unsure which size would work best), a roll of coiled steel boning, bone casing, coutil, boning tips, corset lacing and 8" garters.

The pattern instructions direct one to take certain measurements - bust, waist, hips - of oneself and match them to the corresponding pattern size for each part of one's torso.  All straightforward and expected.  I am very short-waisted, so I also had to shorten the pattern length.  I did all of this, flat measured the pattern to be sure those sizes matched the measurements I'd taken, traced the corresponding pattern pieces, cut the denim to be used for the prototype, sewed the corset together and with great excitement asked Jim to help me lace it up and photograph the front and back.  

The term "crushing disappointment" does not even come close to describing how awful the result was.  Clearly the topography expected by the pattern in no way corresponded to that of my torso.  The gap between what I needed and what I had made was so great that I could see multiple iterations of denim prototyping looming in my future.  I went back to the pattern and started marking pattern version 2.0.  I thought there had to be a better way to navigate this problem, and then it came to me: spreadsheets!  Spreadsheets are just the ticket when iterative calculations are needed.  The lines for each different size, A-K, on each pattern piece were a set distance apart.  The trouble area, no surprise, was that between my waist and hips.  I measured myself in 1" increments along that length of my torso and proceeded to build spreadsheets for different combinations of sizes.  It was brilliant.

I determined what size I needed in what areas, traced the new pattern, and cut the second set of denim pieces only to realize I had forgotten to raise the waist on the pattern pieces.  At least I realized my error before I began to sew.  I tossed those pieces, adjusted the pattern, cut out a third corset from the denim, sewed it together, and asked Jim for assistance again.  (He is quickly becoming an experienced ladies' maid!)  This prototype was too large in several areas, so this time I took several seams in.  Try on, photograph, repeat.  Once, twice, thrice and finally I reached a version that seemed to have an acceptable fit, ver 2.2.  I cut the boning and taped it into the prototype and was amazed by how much better the prototype fit and looked now.  It was time - finally - to make the real thing!  

I cut the real fabric, coutil (who knew?), and proceeded to build my corset.  Everything went smoothly enough, including setting the grommets.  As explained in my previous installment, while inserting the steel bones I ran out of a critical part and had to stop work on the corset for a full 8 days waiting for new parts to be delivered.  Frustrating! 

All this time I'd been wondering how I was going to fit my dress since it had to be tailored for a corseted body.  After watching multiple YouTube videos, I decided the answer was to convince Jim to watch the videos and agree to wrap me in duck tape.  It didn't take much convincing!  We had been pretty busy, and so I had to schedule a morning to get Jim to focus on this project.  When the appointed morning arrived I had a chest cold and fever, so I took a shot of cold meds and headed downstairs.  

Let's just say that taking DayQuil on an empty stomach is not a good idea, a fact which became apparent about 45 minutes later.  I had to ask Jim to stop while I tried to sit without distorting the duck tape, but to no avail - I just had to lie down.  And then before I knew it I was on the floor, puking up the DayQuilt and trying not to faint, wearing black pumps, a chemise, a corset, an old T shirt and a layer of duck tape from neck to hip.   Yup, that's me, always poised and elegant.