Keeping the Blog Posts Rolling

I made hip pads for my Edwardian corset today, which I am dubbing the Mermaid Corset, due to the colors. I had planned to get better pictures today, but it was overcast and sprinkling, so all I have are crappy bathroom shots. I did move the toilet paper off the counter, though, so that's no longer blocking the shots.

With hip pad in place

Without hip pad, from yesterday

The back of the corset now curves gently back over my butt, instead of bending weirdly. The lace at the bottom hides the fact that the corset is padded.

Interior picture of padding

The pads were too firmly stuffed at first, so I slit them open, removed stuffing, and seamed it shut again. I made the seam in the center so the pad will curve naturally and fit my hips better. I also realized from my few try-ons that some of the boning seams were breaking where bones rubbed against each other, so I started some flossing for protection.

You can see that the thread where the diagonal bones meet the straight bones is loose, due to the rub breaking stitches. The flossing for these bones is pretty intense, to prevent further wear. The little diamonds are more bones (the channels are internal) that haven't started to show wear, but should be flossed too just in case. There will be a good deal more flossing, but to be honest I don't expect this corset to last. The thin lacing bones are uncomfortable, and the twill tape I used as boning channels began to fray at any point where the bone didn't insert easily. At least one point it the binding seam is tearing because a bone is too long, and the waist is too small and causes uneven lacing (even on an empty stomach). This corset will probably only be worn as part of a Steampunk costume, so I've already started thinking about how to remake it.

Now, I am not a fan of pink. I used to have a deep hatred, and now I'm more accepting of pink in certain applications. Recently, a bunch of scrapbooking ephemera went to clearance, and I have a weakness for clearance. There are these lovely working metal clasps:

 Which will be used as cloak clasps either with the gem-topped tassel removed or the pink stone painted or replaced. And these so-called "album swags":

Now to me, these pink rosettes with copper sliders and matching ribbon look like perfect garters with a little elasticized pink ribbon and a clip added. And a soft pink Edwardian corset could be nice. Or buff with pink stripes? Either way, I think I will remake this corset in pink to match these rosettes. Maybe I'll pick up one more, so I can have a rosette on the corset itself. And that way I can remake this corset to be more fitting.