My 1860's Corset is Finished!!
This is the first corset I’ve ever made. It will give me a period correct silhouette for reenacting. I’m so excited! It’s actually very comfortable. I have it on right now! When I wear it, it gives me better posture.
I didn’t do the most wonderful job on it, but the shape is correct. It’s just not the most beautiful work of art that it could be :) It also needs to be taken in a bit, to make it fit better. Making a mock-up is supposed to prevent fit issues… but I didn’t do the greatest job on fitting mine. At least I’ll be able to wear it longer than I thought!
Here are some things that I learned while researching and creating my corset:
Read all the instructions —twice
Make a mock-up
Pay attention, don’t work on it when you’d rather be somewhere else
Use metal boning, not plastic. Plastic molds to your shape with your body heat, and therefore doesn’t support well
A corset kit is not necessary, but is helpful if you’ve never made a corset before (I used one)
Simplicity #9769 does not have the most thorough instructions (I used it anyway—and paid!)
Don’t lace the corset according to Simplicity’s instructions, use one lace
Subtract 2-3 inches wearing ease that Simplicity added to the pattern
I didn’t have the best experience with my order from CorsetMaking.com. First, my boning tape had a stain on it, and was pieced, rendering it a bit useless. However, there was plenty of tape to work around this. Also, when I first received the corset kit, there was no lacing. As soon as I let the company know, they sent it to me. So although there were a few problems, they turned out alright in the end.