Foundations Revealed

Sunny talks about embroidered insertion, lace edging and embroidery. Next month will be the construction of the six petticoats.

There are two questions this month. One on patterning/fitting a corset for a figure where the waist is almost as big as the hips. The other is on horizontal boning channels in 18th century corsets.

Historical fashion magazine corset ads say over and over again: "Available in white or drab coutil, or fast black sateen". But what colour is "drab" exactly? And how can you make it cheaply?

How do you know that your client will pay? How do you know that they won't ruin and try to return what you've made them? The answer to most concerns is a good contract. Are you protecting yourself?

Practice + experience = better corsetmakers. Let's look at a challenge that'll get you thinking ahead and avoiding construction problems to come up with a fantastic corset on the first attempt.

Following our Pattern Challenge article, here's more about the pattern and its maker, along with my method of patterning this corset from scratch.