Natural form corset *really* started.

[mandie_rw]

After three days of laziness and thinking, "Hmmm, I ought to work on that," while looking at my mockup-in-progress for this corset, I finally got it to a place I'm happy with - with the assistance of many many pins. The floor of this new house has now been christened with Random Falling Pins. You know - the pins that you hear tinkle as they hit the floor, but for the life of you can't actually locate.

So with a decent mockup, tonight I cut my paper pattern, and cut allll my pieces out of fabric. I'm using a light blue silk taffeta for the outer layer, and cotton duck for strength. (I've heard you shouldn't use duck to make corsets, but for the life of me I can't remember why; I've never had a problem with it, and years ago I bought five yards of it or something on the cheap, so I see no reason to ever actually spend money on proper corset fabric. Do as I say, not as I do!) And am now in the process of hand-basting the layers together, since I did that with my teens corset and it was a Good Idea.

Still waffling over whether I want to spend the money to get real (i.e. metal) boning for this...I've not yet had an issue with my cable ties, but I am going to be spending all this money on a spoon busk, don't I want to get proper boning and make a nice corset for once? On the other hand...I'm spending all this money on a spoon busk! I should save where I can!

Especially since I just bought some TV patterns today for the dress to go over this corset. And some boots. Because I don't have any decent Victorian footwear, and this dress will show my shoes. Found some Oak Tree Farms boots on ebay, and won them for $36 today...I've been stalking boots on ebay for weeks, so this is my payoff.

Comments

[hiraimi.livejournal.com]

What a lot of progress! Either boning-argument is valid, I think.

[mandie-rw.livejournal.com]

Gahhh, you're supposed to make my decisions for me, not tell me both are ok! ;)

[grace-lee-19c.livejournal.com]

I <3 spiral steel.  My only rational argument for doing so is that it flexes in directions spring steel and plastic boning can't.  Irrational arguments include how much fun it is to play with and how much it resembles a slinky.  I love slinkys.

[hiraimi.livejournal.com]

Suddenly I have a new appreciation for spiral steel... ;)

[mandie-rw.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I will have to ponder the rational argument...but like a SLINKY! I LOVE SLINKYS! boing boing boing

[atherleisure.livejournal.com]

I've read claims that duck can fall apart on you, but I haven't had any trouble with my 18th century stays made of duck.

I think the boning should be what it needs to be. If you need the support of steel or are going to be wearing it to death, go with steel. If cable ties are satisfactory, why not use them as a substitute for the no longer available whalebone?

Good job finding shoes for a good price.

[mandie-rw.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear from the comments on here I don't appear to be completely bonkers for using duck! :D And hmm, I think I'm leaning toward the cable ties since nobody said nasty things about them either! But we'll see.

[madamekat.livejournal.com]

I made 2 corsets out of coutil and they both are falling apart! The first I've worn maybe a dozen times (fabric is ripping at the seams now) and the other ripped before I was even finished making it. I don't know if I just had bad luck with fabric (from two different sources) or what. Honey, go with the damn duck!!

No idea about the boning, but if you can afford the steel, I say go that direction. If not, then do the cable ties.

NICE JOB on those boots! I've been dying for a pair since I saw them a few years ago online. Yum. Now I'll have to stalk Ebay and see if I can get a good price one day, too. In the meantime, I need to move the buttons on my AD Tavistock boots so I can actually wear them.

[mandie-rw.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, that sucks about the coutil! And that stuff is a lot more expensive than my cheap duck! I think I'll stick with that, then...

I'll have to think about the boning; I've spent all my play money til next paycheck anyway, so I have time to think about it!

They look so nice, I was thrilled to find them for that price! Apparently my three parameters of "no zipper", "preferably leather" and "not ridiculously expensive" eliminated a lot of shoes! A little patient stalking, though, and I'm all set. As long as they fit...

[chocolatepot.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of the arguments about materials are contradictory and ignore the fact that sometimes, you get a bad batch of whatever.

I did make duck stays once, and I thought the material was just awkwardly stiff to deal with. What's better about a twill is that it's usually more flexible and thinner, but if you don't have a problem manipulating the stiffness then there's no reason not to use it. I've never had a problem using heavy-duty cable ties, either, although I admit that I haven't used them extensively, and since the usual complaint about them is that they mold to the body ... well, so does baleen. There are plenty of extant corsets that still hold a shape. If you have no problem with cable ties, there's no reason to stop using them.

[mandie-rw.livejournal.com]

I do like the weight of duck - I used it mainly for stays at first, and just kept using it when I went on to 19thc corsets! Might just be that I'm used to it, haha.

And I always thought that complaint that the ties mold to the body was funny...maybe I'm being dense, but why wouldn't you want your corset to shape to your body?? I think my "broken in" corsets and stays are much more comfortable than the new ones!

[chocolatepot.livejournal.com]

I think even people who are really good at making corsets can forget/not realize that the entire point of boning is to hold the fabric taut and keep it from buckling - the cut gives you the proper shape. Whether it's molded to your figure or springs right back, as long as it holds everything in place, it's fine. It's not like awful creased featherboning in corsetty shirts you paid too much for, sigh.

[mandie-rw.livejournal.com]

Good point - I remember way way back when I made my first-ever attempt at a corset-y thing (Ren Faire type, oy) I certainly didn't understand that! "Let me get a barely-shaped piece of fabric and bone the hell out of it, that'll work!" No, it decidedly did not work, and I gave it up in disgust 3/4 of the way through! *snort*

And those corset-y shirts make me so unreasonably annoyed when I encounter them! My college friends definitely got tired of me saying, "NO, they're CRAP" whenever we came across them in the mall!

(But then, who was complaining about how uncomfortable they were after a night out? Not me. *smirk*)