Reinventing the World: May 2012

Mission to Commission Pt. 3

First time Corset Maker con't:

As you can see, everything is marked for laying and seeing the casing on the muslin. Since this is the back, I placed the first casing a 1/4 of inch in. This will eventually be hemmed. This is perfect to keep the back from slouching and looking messy.

When sewing the casings on, sew right along the outer edges. Also, with placing your pins this way, you avoid having to stop to remove them and avoid anything getting warped. You want this to be as straight as possible, otherwise you can't get your boning back in.

Now for boning. Before you start to place it back in the casings, file an end. Helps to ease it back in and prevents unnecessary digging once worn.

I like using the the thumb rule when replacing the boning.

Cut the excess off and straighten the casing.

Mission to Commission Pt.2

The process of a first time Corset Maker:

Needs:
Scissors and file for boning. A marker (I like to use it on the muslin to mark and number wear to lay my boning~shows better than chalk). I am also using an old pillow case that I marked from 1-15 so I know which sized boning goes where. A mountain of heavy books to straighten the boning. A towel doubled over to keep the books from getting wet. A pot of boiling water to make the boning pliable.

Cut the muslin in the shape that best fits your model. The bigger the lady, the more boning to help shape her more beautifully. As you can see I am using pre-covered boning. I have never worked with steel boning before so sticking with what I know...plastic.