So very, very lazy

I have discovered something which brings me joy.

The fabric glue stick.

I used to baste each individual pieces of the outer fabric for a corset to a piece of twill, one at a time, before assembly. Took longer than actually making the thing.

Now.. a few quick swipes with a water-soluble glue that dries pretty much indistinguishable from fusable interfacing and I'm good to go. It has chopped HOURS off how long it takes me to make a corset, start to end.

Offers zero in terms of stability, and can easily be pulled apart, but who cares? That's not a functional part of the garment, just to keep all the layers playing nice while I sew them together.

Thought I would share.

(oh, and I'm hoping to have a new one done for me by tonight. Fabric is all cut, just need to sew it together. Just going to create channels for the steels by sewing the layers together, and I'll floss it mid-week or something, so I think I can do it. If I, you know, leave the computer and get to work...)

Things we have learned:

Fuck PVC bone casings without a teflon foot. No more PVC for me until after Christmas, since I'm not buying any accessories for this machine until I know if I'm getting one for the holidays.

eight layers of fabric (lining, inner lining, fashion fabric, the two layers of the bone casing, and the two layers of the decorative casing- while trying to add the binding) causes my machine to make a grinding noise and me to go through six needles in a night.

ugh. I remember why I never sew with pvc.

So yay, the mockup fit. It was a bit high at the center front, and a bit low on the sides, but the waist, rib and hip were dead on. Even with just four bones in it the gap was completely parallel and a perfect 2".
*little dance*

So, I made the adjustments on the pattern I'd drafted, and cut out the fabric tonight.

Just finished the mock up for a corset. It'll be zebra print with neon green PVC bone casings and binding. Not sure on the eyelet color yet, I'll have to ask tomorrow when she comes over to be fitted.
I think I can safely say this is the smallest corset I've ever made (a 19" closed waist). Small enough I'm wondering if I should combine the front and side front into a single piece, or split the side front and merge it into the front and first side piece, on the final, if only because they're so narrow I think the pvc will be too close together and you won't really see the zebra.

Oh, and I won a prize for my costume. A bar tab. yes, I drank it already.

Halloween time!

Goal:


And what I came up with in a hectic week and a half...



This dress used to be a tablecloth. The sash is floral ribbon, cape is red floral wire, a single corset bone across the neckline, and mirror organza from ebay.
The cape just wouldn't stay up on its own, so the final product has it tied to the clip in my hair.


Yeah, bit patchy on the arms there... 100 applications, my ass... Ben Nye, you dirty liar.

And bonus pics of my friend Danielle, borrowing a costume from years past.

almost done

I love these black grommets... they blend so well. I just wish someone made black powdercoated busks.

Anyhoo... here is one panel, the right to be specific, with nothing left but the binding. Eyelets in, all bones in, so it's basically all set.

Which is very good, as I wanted to wear it tomorrow, and adding the binding will be quick My top stitching is pretty good so I don't think hand sewing the back side will be necessary, just a wee bit of hand stitching on the very end to keep it neat. I actually topstitched all the bone casings into the seams made by the panels, and they turned out rather good.

The back lacing panel is actually seperate from the rest of the corset- you can see the seam on the inside. But, that's because it'll be easier to take the corset in when I drop a bit more weight that way.
Here's the final fitting, before finishing it off. I took in the top a wee bit after. I'm also leaning to one side, for some reason.

Woohoo!

So I'd say I'm at about 80% on the corset. Bone channels done on one side, busk in, just need to do the eyelets and bind the top and bottom.
I'm particularly pleased with this:
The busk is in, and I think I did a damn fine job matching the pattern from one side to the other. Not on the curves (since, well, how?), but across the center? Golden.

I ended up backing the fashion fabric with twill since it's such a light cotton that it would have stretched. I've checked and rechecked the measurements, compared them to existing corsets, and still feel like it's way too small. But compared to what I own, and based on the fittings, it should be good. If not, well, I can drop weight. ;)

The quarter inch spirals I got seem lighter than the kind I'm used to, and a lot more flexable, but I'm not terribly concerned, as the half inch flats will take the brunt of the abuse and they're a good deal sturdier than anything I've worked with before now.

And, a bonus shot of the front pieced together ready to be sewn.