totchipanda

I had a brain-wave last night/today. I really need a new Victorian corset, and I think the only way I'm going to get one that fits the way I want it to without spending big bucks on a custom one is to make it myself. I was going to make a gussted one for one of the previous HSF challenges this year but discovered too late that my busk is much too long, so I put it off for the time being. I'm aiming to have it done for a future challenge instead.

I've been poking at various patterns for a couple nights. My next challenge entries are "soft" (small, easy things) so I'm planning on working on the corset in stages so that I have time for fitting. I was going to use Truly Victorian's pattern because it's a 6-panel corset that I made once before (but never finished), and should be easy to get the fit right. But every time I look at it, I'm not overly enthusiastic about starting work. Maybe because I'm having a hard time starting a new project of any sort right now? (Seriously, it took me 2 weeks to start reading a book I really really wanted to read! And then I devoured it in about 3 days.)

Then today I was looking at some blogs and their newest (and some not-so-new but still lovely) corsetry and BAM! It was like lightning. After a day in my corset in San Antonio, it was pulling in my lower back, especially over the left hip (where I have the most damage from the sprain 5 years ago). When I tried it on a couple weeks ago, I got some weird pinching in the rib cage (and not even the same side as the one I broke). What did these lovely examples have in common? Hip gussets with no or minimal boning over the back hip. Both examples, and then some of the inspirational examples linked, had boning at the lacing, and some diagonal boning at the upper back, but none over the hips. Over the bust, there was boning next to the bust, and angled from the bust and sides and ending at the front hip, but not the same up-and-down-at-every-seam pattern you see with seamed corsets.

It was like lightning. I must have spent a couple hours scouring the internet for gusseted patterns and boning patterns. I might be able to replicate the boning pattern with a seamed corset, but I'm really more determined to create a gusseted one now. I don't want to change the shape of my body much at all; I mostly want a good foundation garment that's comfortable and not too heavy. It just has to fit and not cause my back injury or ribs to hurt. My belly resists shaping in pretty much any shaping garment I put it in, and I'm OK with that, but the rest of it has to fit too. I'm hoping the gussets will allowing my hips to do their thing and also not squash my chest flat. I don't have a lot of demands...