Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for coming back! This week we'll be continuing the Regency corset, attaching the sides, making the boning channels and binding the corset. If you missed last weeks post you can find Part 1 here, where I cut out the pattern, inserted the gussets and made a busk pocket. Coming up next week:
In the interim, I have embroidered the busk pocket, which we're not working on straight away, but I thought I'd show you the result anyway!
I used a stem stitch for (guess what?) the stem and satin stitch for the leaves.
Before we attach all of the pieces, let's finish off the back panels, shall we?
Making Boning Channels
Regency corsets don't really need that much boning, and in modern reproductions we only use boning on the back pieces to stop wear and tear on the eyelets. With the long piece you cut for the back, pin it to the back of the corset.
Sew into place, then iron the seams open. If you iron them open I find that makes the fold crisper.
When you fold it back, fold it slightly over so the seam isn't visible from the front. Now measure 3.5cm away from the edge and mark with your frixion pen. This should be enough for two 1cm bones and a 1.5cm gap for the eyelets.
This now gives you a line to follow. Fold it back and iron.
Sew into place- it's a little tricky with this pattern because the line is curved, but it's not impossible. Now mark out three channels, 1cm, 1.5cm and 1cm wide.
This should give you three channels; two on either side for the bones and the eyelet channel in the centre.
Repeat this on the other back panel, and then you have them both finished!
Attaching The Pieces
We're going to top stitch all of these pieces together, like we did on the gusset panels. Pin all of the pieces together.
And stitch. Once you've stitched everything together, press the seams open.
Once you've done that, trim down ONE of the sides. I prefer to trim down the back.
Now fold the larger side over the smaller side, iron in place and stitch.
It should look like this on the inside.
Now that all of the sides are attached, we can move on to...
Binding the Corset
With the bias binding you made earlier (and if you haven't simply search for how to make bias binding- it's very simple) we start with binding the bottom of the corset. Mark out your 1.5cm seam allowance and pin your binding along that line.
Don't forget to leave a little 'tail', so you have enough binding to finish the end. Once you've pinned along the whole bottom length of the corset, stitch and trim down the main pieces a little bit. To finish the edges of the binding, I like to cut a little triangle out,
fold it under
and pin in place!
This gives you a lovely little neat edge without too much bulk.
Now pin the rest of the binding in preparation for hand sewing. You can either sew this now or wait until later as there will be more hand-stitching to do later. I usually like to let it pile up and then do it in front of the telly!
Once everything is pinned, we can jump back to the busk pocket! Pin onto the centre front, the hemmed side above the binding and just leave the other side.
Mark out where you're going to put the eyelets on the main fabric.
And poke holes and insert the eyelets exactly there!
This should give you some lovely even eyelets that you will easily be able to thread lacing through.
Now pin the bottom back in place again and you can finally stitch the busk pocket to the main piece! I like to use a zipper foot to get around the eyelets. As you're top stitching it into place, make sure that you get the stitching as close to the edge as possible without falling off of the pocket.
Now that the busk pocket is attached, you can bind the top of the corset. Again, mark out 1.5cm and pin the binding into place. I have left a gap in the binding for the strap as that is coming up next week!
BEFORE SEWING leave the top of the boning channels unstitched because you still need to be able to get the bones into there! Keep those sections pinned but unsewn but sew the rest of the binding into place. This top binding should keep the gathers on the bust gussets in place. Trim down the main fabric and pin into place.
Now that you've pinned all of the binding into place, you can take it with your cup of tea and hand stitch it all. Next week we'll be making the straps and inserting the bones and eyelets.
Hope to see you next week!
Aisha x
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