I made View C. This is one of the simplest corsets I’ve ever made. I especially like the high back on this one (so be causeful if you’re doing a low-cut ballgown). Instead of using a front busk and back lacing I sewed the back pieces together and used grommets up the front. I also only used one-layer of a very heavy duck fabric. This was also one of the corset examples I used in the “Quickie Corsets” class at Costume Academy 2005. I made it to see how quick I could make it up. I cut it our Friday night and finished it by Saturday evening (that included doing other things around the house — not just straight sewing). Instead of spring steel bones I bought 14″ plastic cable ties for boning. If you are long waisted be sure to measure; it seems to run short. Adjust your pattern and do a muslin to make sure it fits you well. Once you have your adjusted pattern you can make a lot of this corset in many different colors and fabric styles. I love this pattern! Claudine de Montigny is modeling the corset made by Jana.
Rated 4 out of 5
Donna O’sin Jones –
I have made View A twice; once in a combined size 6/8 and once in a combined size 22/18. I used steel boning in all casings longer than 4 inches. For the first corset (the smaller size), I used a purple brocade, backed with purple cotton for the outer fabric and coutil for the inner fabric. Be warned that stitching all those boning casings will require an awful lot of thread. For my own corset, I used spiral steel in the horizontal casings over the bust line and a mixture of spiral, 1/4″ and 1/2″ wide white steel bones for most of the other bone casings. I made my own bias binding from black silk to bind all the edges of the stays. I made my own hand-stitched eyelets with cotton embroidery floss, instead of applied grommets. The other corset was made of silver silk dupioni, backed with black cotton and coutil again for the inside. After stitching the casing and inserting all the bones, I added a lining to this larger corset to allow for spiral lacing, which is more historically accurate for the period. I’ve noticed one issue with this pattern. The instructions have you stitch and bone every row across the bust line, and the vertical bones below the bust stop at the horizontal casings. This causes the boning across the bust line to roll inward, which is really frustrating and needs constant adjusting. I’ve been thinking of ways to counteract this problem. I’m considering boning only every other row across the bust line and running the vertical bones in the center and side fronts all the way up. Overall, I find the pattern to be very satisfactory and reasonably historically correct (for the 18th c. stays; I haven’t made the other styles included in the pattern). I found the directions to be clear and easy to follow. Be aware that the actual garment measurements are such that there is no ease (that is, the garment and body measurements are the same). If you want this corset to pull you in, you may want to go down a size or more. The finished stays are VERY low cut. If you plan to wear this as an outer garment, you will want to have something on underneath the stays to preserve your modesty. If you are long-waisted, you will definitely want to lengthen this pattern; it is fairly short through the torso. I recommend this pattern for anyone with the desire for a relatively historical look and the patience to sew all those bone casings.
Jana Keeler –
I made View C. This is one of the simplest corsets I’ve ever made. I especially like the high back on this one (so be causeful if you’re doing a low-cut ballgown). Instead of using a front busk and back lacing I sewed the back pieces together and used grommets up the front. I also only used one-layer of a very heavy duck fabric. This was also one of the corset examples I used in the “Quickie Corsets” class at Costume Academy 2005. I made it to see how quick I could make it up. I cut it our Friday night and finished it by Saturday evening (that included doing other things around the house — not just straight sewing). Instead of spring steel bones I bought 14″ plastic cable ties for boning. If you are long waisted be sure to measure; it seems to run short. Adjust your pattern and do a muslin to make sure it fits you well. Once you have your adjusted pattern you can make a lot of this corset in many different colors and fabric styles. I love this pattern! Claudine de Montigny is modeling the corset made by Jana.
Donna O’sin Jones –
I have made View A twice; once in a combined size 6/8 and once in a combined size 22/18. I used steel boning in all casings longer than 4 inches. For the first corset (the smaller size), I used a purple brocade, backed with purple cotton for the outer fabric and coutil for the inner fabric. Be warned that stitching all those boning casings will require an awful lot of thread. For my own corset, I used spiral steel in the horizontal casings over the bust line and a mixture of spiral, 1/4″ and 1/2″ wide white steel bones for most of the other bone casings. I made my own bias binding from black silk to bind all the edges of the stays. I made my own hand-stitched eyelets with cotton embroidery floss, instead of applied grommets. The other corset was made of silver silk dupioni, backed with black cotton and coutil again for the inside. After stitching the casing and inserting all the bones, I added a lining to this larger corset to allow for spiral lacing, which is more historically accurate for the period. I’ve noticed one issue with this pattern. The instructions have you stitch and bone every row across the bust line, and the vertical bones below the bust stop at the horizontal casings. This causes the boning across the bust line to roll inward, which is really frustrating and needs constant adjusting. I’ve been thinking of ways to counteract this problem. I’m considering boning only every other row across the bust line and running the vertical bones in the center and side fronts all the way up. Overall, I find the pattern to be very satisfactory and reasonably historically correct (for the 18th c. stays; I haven’t made the other styles included in the pattern). I found the directions to be clear and easy to follow. Be aware that the actual garment measurements are such that there is no ease (that is, the garment and body measurements are the same). If you want this corset to pull you in, you may want to go down a size or more. The finished stays are VERY low cut. If you plan to wear this as an outer garment, you will want to have something on underneath the stays to preserve your modesty. If you are long-waisted, you will definitely want to lengthen this pattern; it is fairly short through the torso. I recommend this pattern for anyone with the desire for a relatively historical look and the patience to sew all those bone casings.