My Corsets

So, I took some pictures of me wearing just my corsets, and I'm going to put them up here cuz I want to talk about them.

We'll start with this one.  (I'm aware the lighting sucks.)  The first one I made.  Made from the scraps of a duffle bag and a suit case, alternating brown and black panels.  I used a generic pattern I found online.  Not a lot of waist reduction, but the fabric looks badass. It was a huge pain to sew though.  So thick, and didn't slide easily through my sewing machine. Inside is a mess, because I'm terrible at sewing bias tape on and the liner doesn't quite fit in places. There's even a spot or two where a boning channel didn't actually get closed when I was sewing, so they've been glued shut.  Quick and dirty fix.  So it's quite messy on the inside.  But it does have the best laces, the ones I got from corsetmaking.com.  I've done several other things for laces, and these are by far the best.  This one's also the easiest for casual wear, I have a sheer black blouse that's hot as hell with this over top.

The second one.  An overbust made from the same pattern as the first.  Burgundy fabric from what looked like a table cloth from Goodwill.  Exterior boning channels done with tape from corsetmaking.com. Same unremarkable waist shape.  This pattern has two gores in the bust, which is really just awful.  I do not have the bust to create the cleavage that would make that shape work.  For me, bust cups have to curve back inward, cuz I just don't have the cleavage.  I should have at least removed one of the gores.  If I ever get motivated I'll overhaul this, because it's almost unwearable as is.  I realize you can't see from the pic, but anyone who cared to see could look straight down my front.  Also, this one has a denim liner which peeks out at the join in the front and makes me insane.  It also had fit problems, and has been snipped and trimmed and glued in place.  And again, store bought bias tape, still badly sewn on.  This is laced with paracord, which does not slide, and makes it very difficult to loosen the laces.  Not a fan. I'll probably change it.

Third: My Jessica Albert corset.  Technically Jessica Albert's thing isn't really a corset, but I wanted to make it that way just cuz.  Drafted my own pattern for this from a tutorial on foundationsrevealed.com.  Much, much nicer waist shape.  Hips are a teensy bit wide.  Not so much that you'd notice, just enough that I know it's not quite right. Put in my first modesty panel since this was lacing up the front.  It's just a closed back, which means I needed enough lacing to be able to pull this over my head.  The problem with this is that means when it's pulled tight, the laces reach the floor.  So I have to tie it in a bow, then tie the bows into a bow to get them short enough.  The fabric is just a faux leather stuff from Walmart.  I tried an experiment with this, adding in a rectangular panel in the back so this would lace closed (to avoid needing the modesty panel) but that destroyed the fit abominably.  And at the point I was at, it would have been too much work to take it apart and take the panel out, so I just folded it in and sewed a seam down the back.  this of course made a big ugly ridge down the back, which I covered with a square of lining fabric.  This liner fit almost perfectly, and since I'd taken my first shot at binding the edges with the same fabric it was made of, I came really close to having a pretty inside.  The bias tape isn't perfect.  This fabric does not hold a crease, but since it doesn't fray either, I didn't bother to fold in the edge on the inside.  The grommets on the front were inserted through predrilled lacing bones, which I will never do again.  It was so difficult to get those grommets through all the layers.  This one is laced with craft cord from the Hobby Lobby.  This is my second best choice for lacing.  Loosens easily enough.  It's just not a nice and smooth as the corsetmaking.com laces.

Fourth!  My newest one that you didn't know about yet!  Also made from my drafted pattern. Again with the pretty waist.  I had not realized the looseness in the hips yet, so that has not been corrected, but again, it's not that big of a deal.  The fabric is scavenged from unused pillow shams from our garage.  I don't believe in pillow shams.  We've had this bed set for most of our marriage, and never once used the shams.  The bust shape has been tailored to fit me, curves inward on top to avoid any unfortunate peeks.  More pronounced point in the front than my others.

This one I straight up made bias tape for.  I even figured out which way the bias went on the fabric and cut it correctly.  Spent a half hour ironing in the creases to the tape.  And my sewing bias tape skills have advanced to where this was almost perfect.  there were a few places where my stitches wobbled, and there's a few folds in the liner where it was just a bit too big, but this one is comparatively gorgeous on the inside.  It makes me so happy.

This one was originally laced with paracord, which is when I decided I hate that, so I changed this to satin ribbon.  Slides more easily than paracord, not as easily as craft cord, but is easily prettier than every other choice.  No modesty panel and no tank underneath, so you can see that strip of skin on my back, and my bra band.  I am thinking I'm going to sew some bra cups into the front so I don't have to wear a bra with this.














So there you have it.  My corset collection so far.  I have plans and supplies for at least three more, four if my boning holds out.  I'm so excited.  I love corsets!