I am finished with the chemise now, it turned out beautiful despite all the hang-ups I had during construction. Haven't had a chance to take pictures yet, but I promise some are coming.
I started the corset project last weekend and so far I am very pleased. The construction hasn't taken very long, but working with the pattern proved to be an adventure. The pattern requires ALOT of alteration to custom fit to your body. In this case I was combining two separate sizes, on two different pieces into one pattern. I took it slow, re-drawing the different lines several times to get what I THINK is the right fit. I may have mentioned this before, but I have some health issues that make wearing most corsetry very painful. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this corset does not extend very far over the belly, but maybe that is because I have a short waist and a long torso. I just tried the corset on over my chemise and am pleased to announce that IT FITS! Hurray! I don't think it even needs to have boning removed. It seems that the extra time I put in to altering the pattern has paid off. My past experience with corsetry has been with the civil war-era version and the fit of a 16th century corset is completely different. There is very little compression past the bust area, in fact, the boning seems to hold the garment away from the lower body in a way I was not expecting. After wearing CW corsetry, this corset is sooo much easier to wear. I can take a deep breath, expanding my abdomen with no discomfort or restriction. The boning pattern does not allow for the hourglass shape that we think of when picturing a corset, it actually creates a smooth, flat line from bust to waist, without the inward curve we are used to seeing.
I am ridiculously happy with this corset! As long as I do not allow whoever is lacing me to pull it too tight I think I may be able to wear this garment with very little discomfort. Anyone who has had to deal with this issue knows this is a big deal.
Pictures of the chemise and the corset will be coming after I do the finish work on the corset......and figure out how to get more than one photo to post at a time. I can conquer corsetry but the ins and outs of posting pictures on a blog defeats me. Go figure!
