Underneath it all

Underpinnings were of course necessary for the natural form dress. This forced me to finally finish the corset I drafted about 3 years ago using the yourwardobeunlock'd tutorial. The drafting part was fairly straight forward, the sewing was not at all complicated, the fitting was a nightmare!
I've made a pair of stays, but this was insane for me. I couldn't get the bust shaping right, and while the corset is done, it's still not right.


You can see the lines around the bust here. I think I'll try gussets on the next one I make. But at least the gap is even!

Construction details: 8 panels, 2 layers of cotton twill with 2 -1/4" spiral steels on each seam. 2 -1/2" flats on either side of the lacing holes. And speaking of lacing holes.....

I took a different tack with these. My machine has a functional eyelet stitch, but it's small and you have to punch and home to open it up. This is not something I wanted to do. However, I did use the stitch to give myself a guide for the hand work. I'm happy with the results. These are the most even eyelets I have ever made. With the right thread, (which this is not. Too loosely spun) and a little more practice I think I can get them close to perfect.

To make it a bit prettier, I bound it in pink and added a cute little lace to the top edge.


In my next post, I'll cover the petticoat.

Happy sewing!