My previous 1880's corset has been too tight around bust and hips from the beginning, but I've always liked it, so I kept using it by lacing it unevenly. Now I was ready to try to make a better fitting corset. The shape didn't come out quite as I envisioned, but at least it can be laced evenly now. One day I'm going to try to make a corset with same fit but rounder curves.
It's made from black cotton coutil and iridescent duchess silk satin treated as one layer, stitched with light blue silk thread. The seams are flat felled and act as boning channels. The front boning channels are sewn from the outside and made from silk strips and the back channels are strips of coutil sewn from the underside.
The pattern is the same I used in the previous corset, the 1880's corset from Corsets and Crinolines, but this time I changed the proportions to fit my shape better.
I also needed to make a new chemise with a low back and front neckline to be worn with a ball gown I'm in a process of making. It's made from light weight cotton. The straps and trim is made from three different laces attached to each other to form a wider piece. The pattern came from one of the chemises in Fashions of the Gilded Age. It's machine sewn and hand finished.
To me the best thing about this corset is it's color that changes from purple to fuchsia depending on the direction of light. It was very hard to capture but here are a few more pictures of it in a different lighting.
The chemise:
Chemise pattern:
