Corset Cover

Sometimes simple projects take for ever to finish. I’m not sure what my issue with this one was, but it took me many a day and many a night to get myself into gear enough to get this little cover finished. I seemed to make it difficult for myself at absolutely every turn.

It of course started with deciding on a pattern. This took weeks, maybe even months, depending on how you count. I’d been sort of looking ever since I finally chose the blouse pattern. In the end I settled on the Wearing History E-pattern of a 1910’s Camisole or Corset Cover. I want to stay in the 1900-1908 with my Edwardian project, but this thing claimed it could work for before 1910’s so I decided it would do. Printed it out, taped it up and cut out the size 28 waist.

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For fabric, I chose a white fabric with tiny leaves that I also used as the lining for my plaid jumpsuit (I still love that jumpsuit). I didn’t have a lot of that fabric so I figured that corset covers didn’t need much and it was a good way to use up scraps. I chose to cut it with peplum but without sleeves. So far so good. Now came the bad choices. It started when I sewed the bodice together and only then determined that I needed to finish the seams. I agonized over that and in the end decided to double fold the seam allowances (that were quite large) over and stitch them down. Ok, that turned out well.

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Then, in my infinite wisdom, I decided to only sew the row of gathering stitches along the edge of the body and forget the one about an inch above. This was a problem because sewing gathering stitches evenly is much easier when the fabric is flat. However, I skipped that step and went to gather the bottom and attach the peplum to the inside of the waist. Next, I stitched a line at the seam allowance of the outside of the peplum and folded it over using the iron. However, sewing single layer had shortened the peplum so it wouldn’t fit into the waist anymore. I had to take my thread back out again. Luckily it stayed nicely folded over. Then I positioned the lace on top of the outside peplum on top of the regular peplum seam and sewed that down. Because this meant invisible sewing, it’s not neat on the inside, but it’s sewn down and that’s all that matters right? The top of the lace still needed to be attached, so I had to hand sew gathering stitches as there was no way to do that by machine anymore. I did manage to get it done.

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Next I needed to figure out how to finish the armholes and neckline. The pattern called for beading lace, so I went to get some and didn’t get enough. I also didn’t love it enough to go back. So I gave up, cut 3 cm wide bias tape from some scraps and folded one edge in by a centimeter. I then attached the bias to the outside of the armholes and neck edge, stitched it down and turned it all inside and stitched it down again – effectively creating tunnels. I sewed little eyelets in the top of the neck for a drawstring and once completed, figured out I made them in the wrong spot. With an overlapping button band, you cannot put two exits on the same side where they overlap. It won’t work. So I made another eyelet at the back of the overlap. I’m calling the useless one a Design Choice.

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Now the cover was mostly done, just the buttons and buttonholes to do. Cue days of staring at the thing as if it had done something wrong. Eventually I came up with another solution. I grabbed some of the tiny bit of ladder tape that I had left and created an ‘invisible’ placket. In built buttonholes, so no fiddling about with that. Adding the buttons to the other side went fine. They are spaced 5 cm apart. Then I tried it on and it gaped at the bottom. Solution, attach two ribbons so you can tie the bottom together. It might not be pattern but it works.

If you choose to make this, please don’t use my terrible construction as a guide. Think ahead and choose one of the countless methods that are faster and actually nice. I may have to make another just to prove that to myself..