I've been making a sample of the Laughing Moon Gentleman's corset for my shop and for demonstration at the workshop I'm doing at Darn it and Stitch in Oxford tomorrow. I bought some Italian design cashmere suiting in London a while ago for this purpose ... I don't think I really needed the 4 metres I bought, but, it was a bargain! and it is sighworthily beautiful fabric. Actually, I think it would also look nice with satin in a ladies corset.
Having not sewn a "wool" corset before, I wasn't sure how to go about it, so, I started by steam shrinking it. Then I bonded it to some plain herringbone coutil, with bondaweb. I had done a practice patch which seemed not to bubble or come apart, however, one cannot wear a practice patch!
The lining of the corset is a traditional suit lining too - it is very flimsy and very prone to fraying, so I gave it the same treatment as the wool - bonded it to coutil. Now I have two VERY STIFF pattern pieces for each section, and I sewed it together using my new sewing machine (more on that later) ..
Because of the stiffness of the bonded fabric peices it was hard to sew and even harder to press (esp between two sheets of paper to avoid rogue glue spots). However, the end result, was very pleasing.
Now I just have to bone and trim it. I am VERY pleased with it. However, it is too big for Mr.M which is a shame. If I was to do this one again - which I will, I would definitely bond the layers together again, but if I was to do it for a ladies corset, I might use a softer method for joining the layers.
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