THE VICTORIAN DRESS PROJECT: PART VII (In-Progress Corset)

So, this would've been done today, except since my room mate/sewing buddy and I have a jo-ann trip planned for tomorrow, I'm holding out the hope that I might be able to acquire silver grommets/eyelets of the appropriate size (not very likely, but worth the try if I might be able to get the hardware on my corset to match).

Finished Corset, minus grommets & lacing, edges hand-bound (quilting method) in the silk

Naturally, I had stopped following the pattern instructions about two seconds into this project :-) They wanted one to use twill tape/ribbon/bias tape to make channels for the boning. This step would be done after putting the corset, lining and facing together. If I were to follow these instructions, I would be required to sew the ribbon to the inside/lining of the corset. This I do not like. You can pin as much as you like, but fabric (especially multi-layered fabric, with silk being one layer) will shift when you sew it. And since I'd be sewing from the inside of the corset, I'd be blind to what the outside look. Stitching can look smashingly straight on the side you're sewing but turn out completely wonky on the underside. Which in the case of this project would be the outside of the corset. I don't think so! Thusly, when I make corsets/waistcinches/etc with boning, I just sew from the outside/right side to form the channels (running them in the ditch -yes, I was taught to sew by a quilter) and parallel to them. Since this follows their placement for the ribbon channels, the give of the garment remains the same. And looks SO much better (in my OCD-driven opinion).

Sewing boning channels from outside of corset