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.