1911 corset

I'm working on a new project! (not like the bots that hit up my blog care, but I do have two whole followers and no one else to talk to about these things)

Facts:

1. It's August, so it's boiling hot.
2. I live in sundresses. I have lots of them. I have sundresses for the dog park, I have sundresses for slumming around the house, I have sundresses for weekends, I have sundresses for work.
3. I am so sick of half of them that I wouldn't even wear them to the DOG PARK, so I'm thinning out my collection. 
4. I have yards and yards of super cute fabric from thrift stores, that I bought to make myself more sundresses to replace the ones that are going to Goodwill.
5. I have a super cute dress pattern that would also make me confront my fear of setting zippers, enabling me to add a key skill to my repertoire. 

So can you guess what I'm making?

An Edwardian corset, of course! (practicality is not one of my strong points)

This is actually a continuation of Project... 2? I think? The one for the corset sew-along that Jo from Bridges on the Body did a while back. I want to up my sewing game and for that I need to start sewing more complicated things. My sewing friend (who I admire and adore) from the Internet gave me this advice:

"You need the Patterns of Fashion books. Google them and then look at images. Museum garments. Pick one and do it from scratch, from drafting the pattern to fitting a muslin to embroidery and you will be an expert. The books are worth the price."

And THEN she sent me a gift card so I could buy one! Those books have been on my wish list for years but I've always been too intimidated to try anything from them. But no one ever accomplished anything by avoiding challenges so I'm going to try my very best to make my friend (and me) proud.

Since I already have everything I need for the corset, I decided to get Patterns of Fashion 2 so I can make an Edwardian outfit to go along with it.

I finished sewing the corset panels together last night. Here they are, beautifully displayed on the top of my dog's crate:

Left and right side laid flat...

This would be the front...

And this would be the back...

For the dress, I think I'm going to make this one. It's kind of boring, but looks pretty straightforward. Maybe I can jazz it up.

It was originally made of linen, and I have about 5 yds of tan linen that I got at Savers. The weave might be too coarse compared to the original, but I wouldn't know. Not like I have anywhere to wear it anyway, unless I throw a Halloween party. And if I do ever find an event where I can wear a 1908 summer day dress, well, real historical costumers love having farbs like me to laugh at, so it would have some entertainment value at least.

EDIT: While choosing labels for this post, it came to my attention that the 1911 corset is a POST-Edwardian corset. But it would still work for this dress, right? Right??

Renaissance fest costume for friend

I finished this a couple of weeks ago and finally have time to post pictures.

My friend, Melissa, wanted a Renaissance fest costume. I wanted to get experience sewing for other people, so I offered to make her a costume for just the cost of materials. I don't think I got a whole lot of experience in sewing for other people since she fits into my other corsets perfectly, but hey! I was sewing for someone else, which involves dealing with a different kind of pressure & performance anxiety, and I was able to follow through on the project without feeling like I had a burden on my shoulders. That's something that I've always worried about--how I would deal with the responsibility of sewing for others.

On to the fun costume stuff! Melissa's favorite colors are pink and green. I happened to have that pink and green fabric remnant I'd originally bought for the Titanic corset (a project that I still haven't attempted to pick back up). I decided to use that for her corset, since I already had the binding and ribbon for lacing to go with it.

I used heavy duty nylon duct ties for it, and I don't know if I was just really inconsistent in sewing my boning channels or if the ties were slightly wider than the cable ties I normally use, but many of them were a very tight fit. I had to be creative and stuff some of the channels with the weed whacker cable I bought earlier this year as experimental boning material that just didn't work out. I'm glad that wasn't a complete waste of money! Also used four hacksaw blades wrapped in duct tape for the front of the corset where a wooden busk would normally be, for extra-strong tummy-sucking in ability.

I made the skirt out of 4 yds of green linen-rayon blend fabric I bought at Joanne's. I had a 50% off coupon, so it was very reasonably priced. This is the first time I've bought fabric by the yard for a project, and it felt very decadent! Normally I use thrift-store linens (and love them).

I made the chemise out of that sheer poly-cotton curtain panel I bought at Goodwill about a month ago using this tutorial, which is the best thing ever.

The petticoat is made out of a cotton-something synthetic blend curtain also from Goodwill. I detailed the petticoat in a previous post. I ended up loving that petticoat so much. I saw a few other identical curtains at another Goodwill, but can't remember which one, and wish I had gotten them now, but at the time I still hadn't finished that petticoat so I didn't realize how much I would end up loving them.

LOOK WHAT I MADE!!

The Challenge: Make my friend a Ren fest costume

Fabric: Chemise: A cotton-poly blend curtain from Goodwill; Corset: fabric remnant of unknown fabric content (probably rayon or cotton-rayon) from Joanne's; Skirt: linen-rayon blend from Joanne's; Petticoat: cotton-something synthetic blend curtain from Goodwill; cotton double-fold bias tape and quilt binding for petticoat waistband & hem, corset binding, and waistband for skirt

Pattern: 18th-century style petticoat for petticoat and skirt; Elizabethan corset pattern generator for corset; thingsofcloth peasant blouse tutorial for chemise

Notions: Gutermann brand white thread for petticoat & green thread for corset boning channels and skirt; heavy-duty nylon duct ties & heavy-duty weed whacker cable for corset boning; size 0 grommets for corset lacing; double-fold bias tape & quilt binding for petticoat waistband and hem, skirt waistband, and corset binding; cotton twill tape for waist ties on petticoat and skirt; satin ribbon for corset lacing and shoulder straps; four 32 TPI 12" hacksaw blades for front of corset/busk

How historically accurate is it? Petticoat and skirt: the pattern for the petticoat and skirt is very historically accurate, but the fabric is not. I think the hem depth is accurate (I can't remember where I read hems of 18th century skirts were rarely more than 1-inch deep). I think using bias tape to enclose the raw edge of the hem might have been done sometimes, but I don't know. I think the waistband finishing isn't very accurate, but the waist ties are. Corset: the pattern is historical-ish, the boning pattern is probably just fine historically because from what I've read, there were no hard and fast rules for corset boning patterns in 18th-century and earlier corsets. The boning materials are not accurate. I don't think the grommets are historically accurate either, but I can't remember when corsets started to use grommets instead of hand-bound eyelets. Anyway, the grommets should be size 00 but all I could find when I first started sewing was a size 0 grommet punching kit. Chemise: not historically accurate--I don't think historical chemises had drawstring necklines, and I think sleeves were set differently (like with underarm gussets).

Hours to complete: I really need to start keeping track of time spent on my projects, but having to check the clock every time I take a break is annoying. So the project took about 2 weeks to complete from start to finish. It took several days to finally figure out how to make the chemise due to making mockups of other patterns that didn't work out. When I finally found the thingsofcloth tutorial, it took about four hours to make the chemise because I had to finish the seams with a zigzag stitch to keep them from unraveling. That sheer poly-cotton fabric was awful to work with. The corset took about 10 days. The skirt took a few days of working on it after I got home from work.


First worn: We're going to the Sherwood Forest Festival together on March 31!

Total cost: Petticoat: $4.99 for the fabric, $1.50 for 1st package of quilt binding, $1.79 for 2nd package of quilt binding, I already had the thread and the cotton twill tape. So $8.96 total (including tax). Skirt: about $20 for the fabric, $1.79 for the quilt binding for the waistband, and I already had the twill tape for waist ties. So about $21.79 total. Chemise: $2.99 plus tax for the fabric. $0.99 for the ribbon for drawstring. Corset: about $3.50 for the fabric remnant, $8 for the satin ribbon, $3.29 for binding, about $7 for boning, and I already had the grommets. So approx. $21.79. Hmm... I'm forgetting something. I added up my receipts and it came to about $68 for the whole costume, which includes two shirts I purchased for Melissa's sons from Salvation Army for about $7 total. Oh well.

Pirate Wedding - Corset/Bodice DONE(ish)

My corset/bodice is DONE for the most part. It's wearable! But I still need to attach the shoulder straps. And buy ribbon for lacing the back. And find something to embellish the top with so as to hide the fact that one side is a little higher than the other. I would also like to find some way to embellish the center seam to make it fancier. I figure a pirate lady is going to want to wear jewelry, if she's anything like me. But it can't be something that could strangle her (necklace) or cut off her fingers (rings). So brooches would be good.

Okay, I guess I'll have to post the rest of the pictures tomorrow, because Blogger seems to be having issues right now. I've spent the last 30 minutes trying to upload pictures and it freezes every time I do.

Wait, now it's working. I published my entry and now it's working again. Although I had to load one of the pictures twice AT LEAST IT'S SHOWING UP.

Look at my frown line. I've been doing facial exercises (this program is seriously amazing) since July and they've made a ton of difference (I stopped doing them for a couple of weeks over Christmas break and omg I looked so rough, so I know it's for real). But the frown line is still horrible.

 

The corset meets at the top of the lacing strips. If I make this pattern again, I'll have to reduce the angle in the back. At least, I think that will solve the problem. The other parts are good enough. I think I can loosen the top enough to make the sides of the lacing strips parallel without being too loose in the bust.

I look back at the pictures of the corset I based this one off of, and it just amazes me that a total stranger living half a continent away could make something that fits so well without ever seeing me. Just thinking about sewing on commission makes me hyperventilate. My gorgeous wedding dress is being made by a vendor (thank you Jill from cherrypievintage, you are so effing awesome) on etsy.com. It is so lovely and I just can't even imagine ever, ever, ever sewing for other people.

Look at how well this fits! Costumers of the world who take on commissions without ever seeing the person who is paying them... You are amazing.

Pirate Wedding - Corset/Bodice BINDING COMPLETE!

I'm so excited! I figured out how to bind the tabs of my corset. Cathy Hay's method wasn't working for me, and I'm wondering if it's because the tabs are just slits in the fabric of the corset--there is no space built in between them, in the pattern.

Previously, I had been attaching the binding by opening it up, sewing along the outermost fold using a backstitch (or something like that), and then folding it around to the inside and stitching it down. Like this:

But I figured out that the girl who made the prototype of this corset basically made a sandwich with the binding, using the binding as the bread and the corset as the meat of the sandwich.

I was able to finish binding my corset this weekend! I've attached the two halves together and I'm so excited. I'm almost done! I still need to do shoulder straps and a modesty panel and grommets. But the bulk of the work is done!

It looks absolutely horrible from the inside. Obviously I have issues with attaching the binding at start & finish, but I'll work that out on my next corset, which will be from a proper pattern. But who cares about the inside, because the outside looks pretty decent! The top edges don't match up perfectly, but I figure I can put a bow or some other kind of embellishment to hide it.

Pirate Wedding - Corset/Bodice BINDING

I started feeling bad about not following through on so many projects, so I decided to pick up my pirate costume again. I WILL finish Project 3!

I was looking at examples of tabbed corsets that other costume bloggers have done, and I saw a beautiful one that American Duchess made. There is a closeup of the binding and what do you know, you can see her stitches. And it doesn't detract from the beauty of the corset at all, in my opinion. Her work is so amazing.

Here is a picture showing the binding in detail. I wonder if the tabs separate out like that because of the binding, or if she has to shape the space between them.

So I went through my embroidery thread and found one that matches the color of the fabric & binding pretty closely. I actually went with 840 for the thread. I think it's Coats & Clark embroidery thread.

Look how it turned out. If I look closely I can see a few exposed threads, but they are all but invisible. I'm so happy! Now I just need to figure out binding between the tabs. I'll study Cathy Hay's instructions again tonight.

I should have been working on it last night, but it was such a lovely evening. I wanted to enjoy the warm weather and the beautiful sunset. I wish my camera could have captured the intense orange glow below the neon pink clouds.

Half-Boned Stays

So I'm on Project 4, which is really an extension of Project 3. Yet I've only finished one whole project (Project 1). Maybe I should rename my blog "Look What I Started To Make And Then Threw Into the Garage In A Fit Of Rage." Although I did complete two skirts for Project 3, neither of which I'm going to use for my pirate wedding costume after all. But... They'll be useful for ren fests. The costume is just not coming together like I had hoped it would.

Here are my pattern pieces. This pattern is already sized up to fit a size 8-10, so I didn't have to ask my graphics friend to resize it.

I'm going to get to work on the mockup. I can't figure out where the waistline is from the pattern pieces, so I'll sew the mockup first and then work on fitting it later, skipping the slash & spread step.

Two hours later, I finished the mockup, put on the lacing strips, laced it up, tried it on, started feeling ragey, looked at the clock and wished it was later so I could start drinking vodka, took it off and resisted throwing it in the garage with the rest of my failed projects.

The lacing strips that I made for the 1911 corset that I stopped working on so I could work on my @#$%ing pirate costume are too big to attach to the back without sewing over the seam connecting the side back piece to the center back piece. Sigh. This is just so frustrating.

So I pinned the lacing strips on with giant quilting safety pins, but then had to unpin half of them to lace them up. The corset fits bizarrely, but it's really hard to tell because I think I'm really going to have to put boning in at least on the front panel, because otherwise I just can't tell at all how it needs to be taken in/let out. So I need to cut out a second piece of the front panel, pick out the seams of the two side front panels, and sew it back together with the boning channel layer.

Also, my boobs are starting to sag, which was horribly obvious in my unboned mockup. I've always had beautiful breasts and now at the great age of 39, they are starting to sag. I just feel miserable about everything right now and think I need to walk away from this project for a few hours and get out of the house.

Pirate Wedding - Corset/Bodice RAGE

Okay. Okay. I had a meltdown last Monday about the corset binding and the costume and everything.

I had the corset channels sewed and boned, and was halfway through binding the first half of the corset. It was going really well. I was backstitching the binding to the front of the corset:

And whip stitching it to the back:

I was sailing through it and feeling so confident. I didn't even care that my whip stitches looked like crap, because they were on the inside of the corset where no one would see them, and the inside of the corset looks terrible anyway.


Then I started binding the lower part of the corset. Where the bones get really close to the edge. I started having problems. I cut some of the bones shorter. I still had problems.

See, I was sewing the binding through all three layers of fabric. I wanted to keep doing that, but I realized that I was going to just have to sew it on the layer of fabric just above the bones. So I shrugged my shoulders and got on with it, but then I poked myself really hard with the needle and bled on the binding, and the @#$%ing stitches were showing on the outside of the corset where I was backstitching the binding and suddenly I was just OMG WTF WHYYYY???

If you click on it, you can see the stitches.

So in a complete rage, I gathered up the corset pieces and the skirts I had made and threw them all in the garage.

After a few days, I calmed down enough to look for another corset pattern. I decided on the late 18th-century half-boned stays and found a free pattern on Ralph Pink's website (it's corset 5 in the package of 5 corsets). I chose this one for many reasons:

1. It's gorgeous.
2. Jo of Bridges on the Body did this corset already and has lots of good instructions.
3. It's a popular style and the free pattern is identical to the one Jo and many other costumers have used, and is very historically accurate.

So next post, the half-boned stays.

Pirate Wedding - Corset/Bodice BONING CHANNELS & CABLE TIES

My corset pattern is one piece. I had decided to use my gold tapestry valance for the corset, since the skirt situation was getting so bulky. But the valance wasn't quite the right proportions to just lay the pattern out and cut. I had to fold it in half and cut two pieces. I reminded myself to add a half-inch to the center front edges so I could sew them together. Then forgot until I was halfway through trimming the first center front edge. So now I will have to figure out a way to join the pieces.

I cut out the buckram (for the interlining) and the muslin (for the outer lining) accordingly in two pieces.

Here's what the corset/bodice looks like when the outer fabric halves are put together:

So I assembled all the layers on each half, and then spent a week hemming and hawing on how I would draw the boning channels. Finally I told myself to JUST @$&!ING EYEBALL IT AND GET IT OVER WITH. I sewed a few test channels of different widths in my first muslin mockup and determined that a 7/16" channel fit the 3/8" cable ties perfect. I looked at my pre-existing corset and judged where I should make my channels on my pattern. I measured the distance between channels using the awesome UMD Measuring Disc, which I learned about from Jo's Bridges on the Body blog. (She calls it a tailor's shuriken, and I love that name).

And I think it looks okay (the channels are sewn in, in the above pic). There was some fabric wrinkling in some of the channels and some crooked stitching, but it didn't affect how the bones went in. The thread matches the fabric so well, and since the fabric is textured, you can't even see the crooked stitching from the front. At first I felt like a loser but then I just thought, "I AM DOING THIS" and I plan on doing it again and again in the future and I'm certain I'll get better.

I thought they were the biggest boning channels ever, but then I read on Leimomi Oakes' blog, The Dreamstress, that she uses the 3/8" cable ties in at least some of her corsets, and since she is amazing I felt very relieved because that's the size I bought and I was thinking they were too big.


Cutting heavy-duty cable ties (or zip ties, whatever you want to call them) is a bitch. I bought some wire cutters to cut them, and they only made a dent. Finally I had to use my precious kitchen shears, and had to apply an amazing amount of squeeze to get them to cut. I don't have a good history with sharp blades, so I was constantly worried I'd cut off the tip of my finger, for real.

I think maybe if I get some tin snips, it might go easier next time? Because I was thinking I am never using heavy duty cable ties again. I will buy steel boning and somehow make it work if my boning channels aren't quite the size of my bones. I don't know. It was a pain and I would really rather pay for the steel boning than have to deal with that every time.

Pirate Wedding - Skirt 2

Skirt 2, the burgundy skirt was finally finished last weekend. And? It's too short. I should have made it two inches longer. I used tiny stitches to hem it and the thread is damn near invisible in the textured fabric of the skirt, so there is no way I can pick out the hem. And I had juuuust enough thread to finish the skirt.

But, the fabric is nice and bulky, so it would look okay on its own. Or I could use it as a petticoat. I should have remembered, when I was measuring it, that with the petticoat underneath I would need to make the skirt longer. Oh well. I was kind of upset about it when I tried it on with my corset so I didn't take pictures of it while wearing it. But a blog entry without pictures is boring, so here's a picture of my skirt draped over the ironing board. I'll try to take pictures of it being worn today.

I do have a matelasse coverlet that I bought for $6 or $7 at Savers with the idea of making it into a quilted petticoat. I could make it up and pleat it onto a yoke. It would be short enough to not show under the burgundy skirt, and with the yoke it wouldn't be as bulky around my waist as the osnaburg petticoat, and it would give just as much bulk. I might do that... 

I've been thinking about my outside corset that I want made for my costume. I keep looking at the one I bought. It's made out of one piece of fabric, in other words, it doesn't have panels. (What is the deal with my camera that using the flash makes things DARKER???)

I keep thinking, surely I could trace it and make one of my own? And then, I found what I think is the pattern she made it from. It's from the Elizabethan Corset Pattern Generator (ECG for short).

Looks pretty easy, huh?

I started to get excited. I thought, "I AM DOING THIS!" I bought buckram and matching thread for my fabric. I bought giant cable ties for the boning. I bought wire cutters to cut the giant cable ties. I bought fray check for the cut edges of my fabric because it frays like crazy. I traced my corset, cut out a muslin for the mockup, retraced the pattern based on the mockup, and cut out my fabric. Next post will be about making the corset.

1911 Corset - On hold(ish)

I finally got all the grommets set in my second lacing strip. Except that I didn't have enough grommets and couldn't find any at the local craft or hardware stores that were 1/4" diameter. So I had to use eyelets, which suck because they snag the lacing ribbon.

Then I fitted the corset and had a meltdown because I looked so... plump. Not flattering. I am not a plump person so I should have just gotten a grip, but I didn't. So that set me back a few days until I could face it again. Then I fitted it the best I could--had to take it in a bit at the underbust and hips. I think I did it okay.

But I haven't gotten around to altering the pattern pieces and making the second mockup. The reason is because I need to make my costume for my sister's pirate wedding at the end of April. I know there should be plenty of time to see the corset project through and still do my costume because it will just be skirts and a chemise, and I've proven that I can make a skirt without a pattern and that it's easy, and a chemise SHOULD be easy but I haven't ever made one, and I'll get someone else to make the bodice...

BUT...

I am getting married on April 7 so I want to make sure I have plenty of time to make my costume as well as prep for my own wedding.

So I'm going to work on my costume, and fit the corset stuff in a bit at a time instead of on-schedule. I hope I don't regret it!

1911 Corset - Lacing strips

I made the lacing strips today. The instructions were to cut an 18" x 5" piece of fabric.

I discovered that the bottom of a 12-pack of soda makes the perfect template for the lacing strips. It's exactly 5" wide and 16" long. After I traced and cut out the lacing strip fabric, I remembered that it was supposed to be 18" long and decided that 16" would have to be good enough.

Setting the grommets... Setting the grommets was a bitch and I'm only halfway through. I got one lacing strip done. It is really, really hard to cut through 3 layers of denim. The punch that came with my grommet kit was not up to the task. So I had to poke a hole with an awl (after making a trip to the hardware store to buy one), then force a phillips-head screwdriver through it to enlarge it, then cut the hole bigger with a pair of small scissors and trim the ragged edges so they wouldn't completely cover the grommet post.

My grommets were not lined up evenly at all, even though I marked the holes evenly. I spent the entire time vehemently swearing. My hands are incredibly sore and I know they will feel worse tomorrow, when I have to finish the other strip. I tried using a drill to drill the grommet holes, but after one hole realized that was a big mistake, because the drill bit just twisted the fabric fibers and distorted the seam.

Here's a picture of the shittiest grommet setting I could have possibly achieved. I don't think it could be worse if I tried. Whatever, I don't care as long as they will work for fitting the mockup. I hope I can do better on the final product.

1911 Corset - Mockup resized

I followed Jo's instructions to correct the size of my mockup with a couple of exceptions:

A) She pointed out that I had added seam allowance to the edge of the lacing strips in the center back, which I didn't think I had done, so I took that out and that saved me 2 inches right there. The mockup now had a 30-inch waist.

B) I did the 1/4-inch seam in the middle of each panel except for the center front panels. So four panels per side, 1/4" off each one, gave me two inches on each side. So, I took a total of 4" off the rest of the mockup. Total of 6" eliminated.

I hope that it won't mess things up since I left the center front panels the same size as before. It probably will mess things up.

Here's the re-sized mockup:

Tomorrow I'll work on the lacing strips. 

1911 Corset: Mockup

I made my mockup. I decided not to document the steps between resizing the corset pattern pieces (slashing & spreading) and making the mockup because it's just a matter of tracing the pieces onto your mockup fabric and cutting the fabric out.

So... The mockup. I was originally going for a 26" waist, which is two inches smaller than my actual waist measurement. Somehow, I ended up with a 32" waist. I'm really bad at math. Basic arithmetic I'm fine with, but fractions, percentages, etc., I'm lost. I really do think I'm math disabled.

 I also think my mock-up doesn't look quite right. I sent a picture of it to Jo and she said it looked fine.

Next mock-up I'm definitely using a patterned fabric. I got confused on how to sew the pieces together, even though they were notched, and I think if I had a fabric that had a clear "right" side and "wrong" side, it would be easier to figure out.

Here's what Jo suggested to fix the mock-up so I don't have to start over:

So it's 32 and you need 26 inches, that's 6 inches that needs to be removed. This is what I'd do, I'd take 1/2 inch out of each panel by folding each panel piece in half on the grain line and sewing a seam 1/4 inch from the fold. Boom, 5 inches gone. Then I'd fold the corset at the center front seam and sew another seam 1/4 from the original. There's another 1/2 inch gone. And finally, I'd bump the center back edge in 1/4. That should take care of the last 1/2 inch. Remove those those 1/2 inches in each panel, and the 1/4 on the center front and back. You can reconnect the top and bottom edges after fitting because you may need to add or subtract at the underbust or hips anyway and will have to check those edges anyway.

You're right, once you take a section out of the center of each panel top and bottom edges will no longer match perfectly, but this mock-up is about getting the fit right and uneven edges won't really affect that. You will still be able to adjust the fit by either pinning or letting out the seam allowances, and you'll still be able to gauge if the length works for you.

I'm going to use a colored thread to take in the panel pieces so I don't get confused and think the seam allowances are the trimmed pieces and vice versa.

1911 Corset - Transferring your measurements to the pattern pieces

First step in the process: Transfer your measurements to the pattern pieces using the "slash & spread" technique.

I am using Jo's pattern, which she adapted from a pattern in Norah Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines. My friend Jana, who is a graphic designer, enlarged it for me so it was true to scale.

The background came out dark, so I decided to retrace it using our glass door as a light table. Because I didn't read the step one instructions clearly, and thought I needed to add the extra measurements around the pattern pieces. It was only after I was done laboriously retracing the pattern onto white paper that I realized we are adding the extra measurements into the middle of each pattern piece. Oh well.

Step 1: Subtract 2-3 inches from your waist measurement. I took away 3 inches. I had to enlarge the pattern to accomodate my waist, so I then subtracted the pattern's waist measurement from mine. Divide the difference by five because you will have to enlarge the five pattern pieces. In my case I have to add 5/8" to each piece.

Step 2: Number each pattern piece from left to right.

Now to add the extra inches to the pattern pieces... Draw a line up the center of each pattern piece using a ruler. Cut (the "slash" part of the process) along the line.

Step 3: Tape a piece of paper underneath the left half of the pattern piece. Measure and mark 5/8" from the cut edge in several spots from the bottom to the top of the pattern piece.

Step 4: Attach the right half of the pattern piece along the marks you've made. I found it easiest to tape it at the top mark, then align it at the bottom mark, double-check that the space measured 5/8" at both top and bottom, and then tape it in a few places along the pattern piece to secure it.

Make sure the lines on the waist match between both pieces!

Step 5: Do Steps 2-4 for each pattern piece. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be! Maybe partly because I retraced each piece, which ended up being a really good study of how each piece is constructed (with boning channels drawn in, etc.).

Each piece has been slashed, spread, and reassembled with 5/8" added to each piece.

My second project

I've just started my next project: the 1911 corset featured in the sew-along on the amazing blog, Bridges on the Body. The list of supplies and the schedule are in the December 2011 posts.

http://bridgesonthebody.blogspot.com/2011/12/its-official-1911-corset-sew-along.html

The inspiration for the sew-along is Jo's Titanic Corset, pictured here:

Since I've never made a corset, or sewn a garment before until my 18th-century style petticoat, I didn't want to buy the expensive coutil fabric that corsets are supposed to be made from. I found a yard of sturdy cotton canvas outdoor fabric at Jo-Ann which came to about $3.60 and found seam binding and satin ribbon (for the lacing) to match.

Now I'm worried about it. I'm afraid that even if the corset turns out good, it will look like a mess because I know nothing about pattern matching on printed fabrics and I'm not sure how easily I can learn.

Next post will be documenting, step by step, the first task in the sew-along schedule: transferring my measurements to the pattern.