Pewter and steel

My latest lovely . . . 

. . . a pewter coloured silk underbust with a pretty low hip and long busk.

I decided to revisit the 'all in one' construction method (that I'd found too bulky before) this time using silk flatlined to cotton and a slightly less stiff herringbone coutil than the one I used before. The cotton used to interline the silk is dense enough that it can double as a second strength layer so no need to add another layer to the bulk.

This is quite a curvy pattern and even as I was stitching I was loving the curves!

Following each seam a row of topstitching was added to give a super-sharp edge.
The whole effect is quite sculptural, long before the boning (or even the boning channels) are added.

It's so curvy it really doesn't want to lie flat at all!

This sample is a 22" 12-panel corset and, with two bones per seam, there is very little space between bones at the waist.

All to do now is finish the back, bone, floss and bind.

I'm working on flossing designs and will post pics of those later, although looking at these photographs makes me have second thoughts – I love the smooth curves so much.

P.S. Verdict on construction method:

I'm not keen on how bulky one side of the seam becomes and, once made up, there is absolutely no way to modify the fit without completely deconstructing. On the other hand, the two layers are precisely lined up and it's possible to add as many boning channels as you like since it is basically a sandwich method minus the 'lining up' hassles.