Laughing Moon Mercantile 115 Regency Corset C 1805-1840 in denim a review and some Jane Austen research.....

The wait is over, the lightly corded and lightly boned corset is completed (except for flossing).  Made in a lightweight denim, and white cotton lining, as far as I know not historically correct textiles.  This was an intense project, that was impossible to fit, until completed.

I mean this is what the "cups" looked like before binding and gathering, it was looking a bit grim.  I mean, it needed to cup, right?  After adding the binding and drawstring, it was much improved.

There were a few areas that I didn't understand.  The strap measurement is one, so I cut the longest strap, in the hopes of fixing it later.  Since the strap pattern piece follows the same lines for all sizes, this won't be a problem if you decide to do this.

There is an area of embroidery in the center of the horizontal cording band around the middle of the corset.  I skipped it, actually I thought it might be another corded area, but couldn't for the life of me figure out how to cord a serpentine. If you want to do this, it would be done earlier in the process than later.

I was so focused on the cording I jumped right in, and did that first.  If I had followed the instructions, I would have inserted the bust gores first for the lining and the outer fabric.  Working on the cording sandwich first, left me with raw edges around the gussets on the inside, instead of the neat hip gussets that were made following the instructions.

Following instructions.....

Not following instructions....

The cording took the longest, as you might expect.  There were a few missteps along the way with the needle poking through the outer fabric, I'm counting about 5 times. This left lighter areas that you can see if you are looking for them, some holes self healed, others did not, but are less visible with the top stitching that came later. If made in a heavier weight coutil, the needle may not penetrate as easily,  the lighter denim used was so soft, it was easier to pierce.  Also, if the outer fabric, were a solid color, the same color as the cording and lining, any areas that were pierced might be more invisible.  Or, could be practice is all that's needed. See if you can see them in the top pics ;)

Not wanting to plunk down $$ for a busk, I found a piece of Alder kick plate left over from the kitchen remodel and my brother trimmed it down for me.  He really is a jack of all trades, now he can add busk maker to his resume. I started with a plastic ruler as the busk, but the kick plate was a bit thicker, so he cut first the width of the ruler, then the thickness of the blade.  He routed the top so it went into the channel without snagging.  I thought I had taken a pic but did not, sorry...

On the side seams, I removed the cording material from the seam allowance, to remove the bulk. The side seam needed a boning channel and didn't want any issues.

My biggest disappointment came when adding the grommets to the back.  The new grommets purchased were so sharp, they actually cut the fabric in two places.  I'm planning on embroidering around them after applying some fusible to strengthen the area.  I'm in the market for vintage grommets people.

In the end, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  I would recommend the pattern, it's been an interesting journey.  I'm especially happy that this is just a mock up, there were a lot of lessons learned here.

On to Jane Austen......

During the Regency period, they were a bit scandalous, showing off the Decolletage in extremes.   For me the cup depth is a bit scant, so that will need to be addressed in the next version (sometime next year I think).  

Here you can read about "The Heaving Regency Bosom" on the Jane Austen World Blog click HERE

Will it be a substitute for a modern day bra?  Maybe with some tweaking... more to come on that.

One or two more elements will be sewn up for this history bounding experiment, still researching what will be kept, and what will be eliminated from the regency garb.