Gosh it's been a long time since I last posted. No wonder I have had to make a robe for my mother, and for myself a major Georgian outfit from scratch. And of course life it's self happens.
Like anything one has to begin with the foundations of the outfit. So I needed to make Georgian
stays. I purchased the B4254 Butterick Making History Corset Patterns chose to make corset B.
Corset A and B are virtually the same, except corset B allows the wearer to put the corset on by themselves, because it is laced at the front as well as the back. This is what I wanted.
I don't know why I made the decision to hand sew the corset. Maybe I wanted more control, maybe I wanted to know what it was like to hand sew a corset, maybe I wanted to know what the dressmakers of the time went through. It was a good idea at the time, but half way through my poor hands were complaining. Overall I am glad I made this decision. Now that I look back, I really appreciate my corset more.
4 Layers were used.
Top layer - Violet Jacquard Suiting
Middle layer - Grey upholstery fabric
3rd Layer - Interfacing
4th Inner Layer - Purple Cotton
I used spiral steel boning. Which is fairly easy to cut with little pliers.
A sample of my hand sewing.
The end product!
Overall I was very happy with the corset. The only changes I made to the Butterick pattern was to add more boning in the chest area.
I do realise my binding is better on the left hand side. The binding on the right, is rather dodgy.
I find it very comfortable to wear the stays and I can drive in them really well. Bonus! Overall the instructions were great and well illustrated. I hope to make the other 3 corsets at a later day. I recommend this pattern to a sewer who has some experience in making a corset.
