#they just started calling it the girtle in the 1900s

[trishmishtree]

Corset-Making Chronicles: Part 4 (it's done!)

I think it's part 4 but I lost count. This is probably the most technically demanding and second-most time consuming sewing project I've tackled yet.

Anyway, woke up bright and early today to figure out how to hammer on eyelets for the back lacing since I've never tried that before. It turned out surprisingly straightforward and only took about 1 hour, most of which was spent trying to force holes into the weave of the fabric without breaking any of the threads. The eyelets went in with no fuss, though the hammering did make my cat rather concerned.

Unfortunately, I only had enough eyelets to do the back, so the front eyelets were going to have to be stitched and finished by hand.

Which I proceeded to do for the entire rest of the day. Because I'm a moron who would rather take 10+ hours to do a thing by hand than get off my butt to buy more eyelets and get the job done faster. I'm not mad at all about how they turned out, though. At least it was much faster than the flossing or the boning channels.

And then she was complete. For the lacing, I used a bunch of pink ribbon that @rockscanfly gifted me when we were in college (she's probably forgotten all about it, but I distinctly remember saying something like "um thanks? I'm sure it'll turn out useful... someday?")

I should point out that no, this is not the outfit that I plan to wear with the corset. It's just a nightgown that looks like a chemise because I haven't gotten around to making a real chemise yet. I can't show pictures of the back because I live alone and am incompetent at photographing things I can't see.

Initial observations: It seems I messed up the direction of the lacing in the front towards the bottom, but that's okay because this is just for testing the fit of the finished corset.

It's doing absolutely nothing for bust support, but that's okay because this was designed to be a pretty floofy thing and not actually a functional undergarment. However, I am very surprised by the amount of back support I'm getting. Like, no joke, I could slouch in this thing and people would still think I have good posture. Now I'm actually tempted to try wearing this under my scrubs at the hospital and see if it will help keep my lower back from screaming in pain when we're in the fifth straight hour of walk-rounding.

In before anyone asks, no, I don't feel like I'm being tortured or like I'm on the verge of passing out. I am comfortable. This was made specifically to fit me, since the pattern was originally drafted from one of my dresses that I altered to fit snugly. Yes, I do have to breathe differently in it, but I can take deep breaths. There's no compression on my diaphragm or ribcage. No, I am not tight-lacing, and my oRgAnS are not being sHiFtEd ArOuNd. My waist actually measures larger in the corset than without it.

Anyway, I'm thinking I'll go back and properly tack down the lace trim on top since it seems to want to stick out and flip inside out. Otherwise, the corset is compete, and I'm looking forward to tackling some less ambitious projects.