Making skirt lining

I made the skirt lining similarly to the outer shell. Once I had sewed the sides together, still leaving a gap for the zip on the left side, I pinned the top hemline to the corresponding hemline on the skirt. I then sewed along this hemline with a machine.
I slipstitched the lining to the skirt at the lower hemline. Finally, I slipstitched the lining right up to the edge of the zipper to give it a neat finish, and ironed the seams flat.

Cutting skirt fabric

I made the pattern for the skirt myself by making an initial toile which I tested for size and shape by trying it on myself. I pinned the pattern pieces onto the velvet fabric and cut them out. Then I pinned them together and sewed with a machine alond the side seams leaving space for a hidden zipper on the left side.
I pinned the hidden zip into the seam and sewed with a zipper foot.

Making and Attaching the Extension

Unfortunately I lost the piece of the paper pattern for the extension so I made one up myself in order to stay on time. I cut a rectangular shape out of my houndstooth fabric and the interfacing which I then ironed on. I folded it in half vertically and sewed the two opposite edges together and turned it the right way round.
Next, I pinned and sewed the extention onto the corset on the lining side. I used a sewing maching to attach them.
Then I cut the hook and eye bands to size and sewed the eyes to the outershell of the corset. I slipstitched the extention to the corset under the hook band.

Slip-stitching Armholes

Now I needed to stitch the armholes which I had left unsewn. I started by folding the lining and fabric over on themselves by around 1 cm. Then I pinned the lining to the fabric in this position, ready to be slipstitched.
Then, I slipstitched both armholes carefully. I did not need to re-do this stage.

Trimming and Ironing seams

Once I had finished sewing the lining onto the corset I trimmed the seams to 1cm wide. This was so that when it comes to turning it inside out the seams will be flatter and more aesthetically pleasing. At the armholes I trimmed off slightly more and trimmed the corners off the perpendicular seams to stop the fabric bunching up at these areas.

Next, I turned the lining to the inside of the corset by pulling the fabric through a gap I left on the front left side. I needed to iron the corset flat at the seams so that none of the lining showed from the outside. I pinned the lining to the fabric leaving a small amount of the outer fabric visible to ensure no lining would be visible from the outside.

Sewing together

I found this stage tricky as the fabrics slid out of position in some places meaning I needed to unpick part of the seam to re-do it.

Once I'd got it right I ironed the seams so that a small bit of the outer fabric was showing from the inside, ensuring no lining would be visible from the outside.

Preparing to attach lining to corset

Now I needed to prepare the lining and corset to be sewn together. I lightly marked the seam allowence (1.5cm) all the way along the edges with a pencil. Then I checked with a measuring tape that it was the same width all around.


Once I'd done this it was time to pin them into place. It was difficult to get them lined up accurately but I tried to pin it securely so that the fabrics wouldn't slide out of place while sewing.

Lining

I chose an off-white colour for the lining to compliment the white in the dogtooth fabric and give the corset a light feel. After cutting the pattern pieces out of the lining fabric I sewed the pieces together making sure that the seams were 1.5cm wide.

Once the lining was sewn I ironed it to give it a neat appearence and ironed the seams flat.

Boning

I began by measuring the boning against the individual seams. I left just over one inch either end to allow for room when sewing the lining on. The ends of the boning where sharp so I needed to round them off and sew a small square of calico fabric around to prevent them from being uncomfortable for the person wearing the corset.

I used a herringbone stitch to keep the boning in place but it was important that I kept it in the centre of the seam. I also needed to make sure I left enough room on either end for the seam attaching the lining to the fabric. On some seams I needed to re-do the boning as I had sewn it too close to one of the edges and not left enough space for the lining seam.


Another problem I had was that sometimes I sewed the boning on without leaving enough room for it to move, making the fabric appear bunched. This was mainly a problem when sewing onto the velvet fabric.

My health and safety concern for this stage was the needle as I kept pricking my finger on it.

Sewing

I made quality checks at this point by checking that the size of the seams were all 1 1/2cm wide. This assured me that the size and shape of the final product would not be comprimised by uneven or inaccurate seams.

Once I had sewn all the seams I needed to iron them open to prepare them for attaching the boning. When it came to ironing the velvet seams I was careful not to apply too much pressure which would damage the pile of the velvet and therefore effect the colour and quality.

Pinning

Next, I pinned the fabric pieces together. I ensured that the edges and notches were accurately lined up so that the corset will not turn out smaller or larger than I anticipated due to inaccurate seams. When pinning the velvet fabric pieces I needed to place the pins close the the edges so that the marks created by doing this would not be shown once the seams had been sewn.

Ironing Interfacing onto Fabric

I cut the pieces of interfacing out in the same was I had with the fabric pieces.

When it came to ironing them onto the fabric pieces I needed to make sure they were lined up properly. I was careful not to burn myself on the iron. I trimmed the edges of the interfacing where it passed the edge of the fabric.

This stage took longer than I hoped because the interfacing wouldn't stick to the woven fabric due to its stretchy properties.

Cutting out fabric

Now that I had the altered paper pattern I needed to pin it onto the fabric for the outer shell.

The houndstooth fabric was stretchy in one direction and not the other so I needed to consider which way round I wanted it to be. As I am going to use this fabric for the skirt aswell I chose to cut the fabric so the stretch was horizontal. This will mean that when I make the skirt it will be tight fitting and the pattern will be the same way round as the corset.

For the velvet fabric I needed to cut it so that the pile was facing down; when the user adjusts the corset by pulling it down the pile will not be damaged and wear away.

I made sure the scissors I used to cut out the fabric pieces were tailors scissors and were very sharp to make the pieces as accurate and neat as possible and therefore reduce my chances of making mistakes later on.

Cutting out the pattern

First, I cut out the McCall's paper pattern pieces for the top A/B. The shape of the top was not exactly how I wanted it so I made a copies of the pattern pieces and altered them to suit my design; I changed the low hemline from rounded to an inverted point shape and shortened the length at the back.

I made a quick toile to see how it looked and check if any changes needed to be made. I found I didn't need to alter the pattern further. I now have the paper pattern I am going to use to make the corset.