Finished corset

I finished the Victorian corset today. The fit is definitely not perfect, since it still feels a bit too big in the bust, but the waist and hips feel really nice, and at this point, I feel like it's good enough as is. I think for next time, I would probably wind up using a more sturdy boning than the 1/4" flat steel - it just doesn't feel strong enough. And I would probably use cotton canvas, not coutil. The idea of having a fabric with a little stretch in it for a corset seems strange. And a longer busk, too, but that wasn't my fault. Still, for my first adventure in Victorian corsetry, I'm pretty content. I also plan to add flossing eventually, but for now I'm moving on to other projects.










And my tiara came in the mail a few days ago! I'm quite happy with it.

Bustle Help

What do you do to keep the sides of a short bustle from collapsing? Since I am poor and can't afford expensive patterns, I was trying to make a wire bustle on my own. It was coming along pretty nicely in it's initial prototype, but I'm having major problems with the sides. At first, I was just using twill tape to attach the hoop wire to (it's just safety pinned right now), but since that kept crumpling up, I decided to make a casing out of the twill tape for a cable tie, thinking that would keep it running straight down. However, with the cable tie in there, it's just bowing out really strangely. I have a couple pieces of twill tape standing in for the ties that will run across inside the bustle, but while they're keeping the wires from spreading out flat, they don't seem to be helping them stay down.


I keep thinking maybe I should just draft out a fabric pattern to encase it all, but I'm not sure that would wind up fixing my problem either. Help please!


This is what it looks like right now.


The side with the cable tie in the casing:






And the side without it. Please ignore the absolute disaster that has exploded in my room.






And here's my sketch for Jane, which is what I will be wearing it under: