My First Corset- Simplicity 2890

Finally a project I finished this month! (Last week to be exact).

1860'S Corset

My friend described my desire to make a corset perfectly: "You want to level-up your sewing skills." And yep, the only reason I really wanted to do it was to try something new- and hopefully learn from it!

In the end I chose Simplicity's 2890 pattern, which includes a corset, chemise and drawers. I only wanted to make the corset, but having the patterns for a chemise and drawers could come in handy one day.

After talking to another friend, who specialises in corsets, I discovered I'd actually chosen a difficult pattern. *Facepalm* Since then, she's shown me a much more basic corset pattern which I hope to make in the future.

I purchased the wrong kind of material for a corset... cotton sateen. Yeah, I'm addicted to this stuff. It has stretch, which isn't exactly wanted in a corset; so to counteract this somewhat I made the corset two layer (whereas this pattern only calls for one layer).

But anyways, with lots of help from Youtube tutorials (seriously sometimes I forget how much patterns assume you know sewing terminology...) I was able to finish it!

 (No work-in-progress photos, as to be honest I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to complete it.)

It is FAR from perfect.

I made lots of little, stupid mistakes throughout the whole process. Things that even I'm thinking "how the heck did I get that wrong?" but that's what this was about: learning!

And worn photos:

I have a naturally small waist and short torso, so please don't be horrified by my gigantic hips protruding out.

Time to Complete:

This took about 2 weeks, mainly because I had to wait on the boning and busk to arrive in the post from interstate. I actually completed the majority of this over 4 nights. The longest part was simply sewing the gussets, as I altered the pattern into two layers, so I had to do two 'halfs'.

Costs:

On average this corset was $60, which includes the cotton sateen, boning, eyelets, busk and pattern. That's pretty good! I stole the lacing from some thigh-high boots I already owned, haha!

Final Thoughts:

For my first corset, I am thrilled that it actually WORKS. Haha! I was sort of expecting to try it on and discover that it was completely useless.

There are things that I would do differently, such as using coutil for material, and maybe even adding more boning than required.

The biggest regret for me is in the bust area- I dont get the right support. Because the 1860's corsets are designed to sit nipple-height, it gives me a triangular boob from the side! lol! I am thinking I may have made the bust area too big? Here's hoping I can alter it slightly in the gussets to compensate...

I was honestly surprised at how much it sucked my waist in. I was hoping I'd get some definition from this corset, but to actually put it on and go "woah" was nice! There is such a small gap between my rib-cage and (wide) hips, it was kind of amazing to see it actually squeeze me smaller there. I dont know if this shape is historically accurate, but I think it will go well with full petticoat ball-gowns!

All-in-all I am pretty happy with my first attempt at a corset! I'm feeling a lot more confident about using boning in bodices, which is handy as the project I am currently working on requires a boned bodice! (Also a reason why I might not update for a while, as I'm working frantically on this next project, which is to be worn in exactly a months time! Wish me luck!!)