Corset

A side of me that I keep well hidden is my love of period costume. There's about 4 skirts in my closet that are all by-products, or modernized hybrids from historical costume patterns. Why? They are full and long, perfect to feel girly in, and great for TLM. But they are intended to have chemises and stays to go along!

What have I yet to actually sew? a complete set of stays, and my chemise ... *facepalm*

I'm on a budget of "when there's no money, there's NO money," and I'm the type of broke to pay for gasoline in coinage. Therefore I'm not buying the fancy-dancy coutil or duck, boning, or lacing or busk for that matter. All three layers are cotton, the boning is balsa wood which offers just enough give, and the grommets will require me to sneak Dad's hammer at some point.

As for the guys who read this post, no need to be squeamish. Corsets are not a modern torture device! They actually improve posture, and I'm not into tight-lacing (aka wasp waist). I wore my Halloween corset, unbound, for extra warmth and posture when I worked with the Salvation Army this past December. I have worn them at that time of the month and found it comfortable; (I also get really ache-y knees, and will kneel on the floor at Mass and other Catholic events because it actually feels really good to my knees; ladies might know - my knee caps feel like the joints/cartilage are suction cups).

In previous posts, you've seen how difficult I find it to post pictures from Picasa here, so it'll be a corsetier collage.

The box patterned red & black is my fashion fabric for the outside. I'll be binding it either with cream or red bias tape, silver grommets. As you can see below there are two thicknesses of balsa wood, I may be using the thicker one in lieu of a busk.

In the photo with the measuring tape, you can see my hand stitches in contrasting thread, which are a little longer than my quilting stitches. And in one of the pictures you can see the textbook I should be studying and my wool lap blanket (it's June gloom and I tend to get cold easily), and my lavender colored bed sheets. =)

I'll post more as I go along.