Well, today I’ve been working on more tweaking and fitting of this Dore corset thing. It’s sort of complicated, so I thought I would set out each step .
Step 1 (yesterday)
Using the measurements my mother did of me when I was over in CA, which were bust 50,5 inches, waist 41, hips 55 (rather vague measurements, I know) and my DD-E-F cup size depending on brand, plus the wonderful page over at Truly Victorian, I made a new tissue pattern in the size 24D bust, 22 waist and 26 hips.
A word on tracing patterns. I started doing this when I moved to Europe, because the patterns you get here are on real paper, and you are meant to trace it over to tissue paper and fabric stores sell rolls of tissue paper (either plan or with a centimeter grid) for this purpose. At first I thought this was a real pain, but I have since been totally converted. The amount of time it takes is very little in comparison to the time or potential expense if you make a mistake with the original. Plus, if you want to use the pattern again, for example if you lose or gain weight, the original will still be intact if you’ve traced it. This is particularly the case when sewing for children! I’ve sewn multiple pairs of trousers for a friend’s daughter over the course of the last year, using the same pattern, which I couldn’t have done if I had cut out the first size I needed. Yesterday when I hit up the fabric store, I bought a new roll of tissue and this time I bought the one with the grid, which I now definitely recommend. Plus it’s not the same as regular tissue, it’s soft and papery on one side and smooth on the other. Last night I discovered that you can write on the papery side using a Sharpie permanent marker without it bleeding through the back side. Way smart.
Anyway, back to Step 1. 
Even though the Laughing Moon pattern is on tissue, like most American patterns, I traced it onto my own tissue. I then cut it out on my “muslin” fabric and tried it on. According to the Laughing Moon fitting guide, it should fit in the bust, be too tight in the waist and tight on the hips. The size I cut fit just fine in the bust, but the waist was too too tight and the hips were totally hopeless. I tried adjusting the seam allowance and got a better fit in the waist but the hip was still too small by far. (Which is not surprising, the hip measurement for the size 26 is 50, which is 5 inches smaller than the wonders I’ve got on me.)
Step 2
Because the size gradations on the pattern are so discreet, I realised that fitting the waist would probably be around a size 26 or 28, and the TV site recommends that if your waist size is larger than your bust size, you go down a cup size and start over. So using their sizing chart (instead of the Laughing Moon) I traced new tissue (see my point?) in a size 26C bust, 26 waist and 30 hip. The hip actually graduates slowly from 26 at the waist to 28 at the “upper hip” and 30 at the bottom.
Then I cut and sewed a second muslin (still my ugly teddy bear fabric, but I can say that using something with a check to make muslins is fantastic, because it makes lining up the grain a cinch, especially when you’re working with so many pattern pieces!). This muslin fit much better, although it was a little high in the bust while the waist was much too short. I could see that the hips were maybe a little bit large, and it felt like the back should have been a little bit longer down over the hips.
Step 3
Using the same tissue as before, I cut 1 inch off the top (as per the TV instructions) while adding 8 centimeters at the “lengthen here” line. Starting at the center back, I lengthened the bottom of the corset 1 centimeter, gradually shorter and fading out at the side. I did not lengthen the front. Plus, the center front and side front pieces I adjusted to be size 26 from top to bottom. According to Truly Victorian, enlarging the hips in front causes tummy swell, and I’ve got enough of a tummy as it is. So instead of grading down all the way around, I made the hip area smaller just on these pattern pieces. Then I cut out a third muslin. In theory I could just have tried to fiddle with the number 2 muslin, but since I was lengthening the waist by so much I didn’t want to bother with that.
This third muslin fit pretty well–at least in my estimation, since I’ve never worn a corset before, let alone made one. I think it’s going to need another centimeter or so off the top, but I’m going to wait with doing that, although I will take it into consideration when ordering boning. I’ve also heard that when you’ve got it made and put it on with boning, the squish factor comes into play. So I trimmed 1 cm off the center back pattern piece in order to widen the back gap (the muslins I just cut on the fold plus 6-8 cm in order to make one solid back piece, since the muslins don’t have grommets or laces).
One problem is that the Dore supplement pattern (sizes 26-30something) don’t have boning channels drawn in. So I will have to go back and use the regular Dore pattern pieces to get an idea of where the boning channels are going so I know how many, which kinds, and how long to order.
Yesterday I ordered coutil and laces from Grannd Garb, which has coutil for $12/yard. Once I figure out the boning channels and whatnot, I’ll order the rest of the goodies, probably from Farthingales.
