atherleisure | 1890's Corset

I thought I had everything I needed to make a new 1890's corset back in January so I mocked up and started working on the 1890's corset with elastic panels from Norah Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines. I don't think I really made any changes to the pattern. I had to order a busk and some boning tape, but other than that, it was all from my existing supplies.

The pictures are not great. I put it on really quickly and didn't make sure that the lacing gap was even before I took the pictures. I need to unlace the corset and knot the strings at the bottom of the bust so they don't pull too tight there, which is something I nearly always need to do. I also found that you have to be a bit careful about how you pull the bottom part of the lace because the elastic will be happy to stretch and make the gap really narrow at the bottom. I will be curious to see if after wearing it for hours the laces will want to work their way tighter at the bottom and a little looser at the waist. Of course, the top part of the lace will presumably keep it from doing that too badly.

It's coutil with a mix of steel and synthetic whalebone. I've got a bunch of steel bones in a box, but lately I've been using synthetic whalebone for practically everything so I thought I should use up some of the steel bones. I used steel for every channel I had a good size for and filled in the rest with plastic.