The Corset and Bustle

I upsized the 1884 corset on page 77 of Corsets and Crinolines and cut it out simply of 2 layers cotton.

The tiny bust gores nearly drove me insane- I had to recut and re-sew 2 of them :(

It only had to be strong enough to give shape to my half scale "pillow" bustform so I didn't do much in terms of support of boning.

I didn't have time to drive an hour and a half to find miniature eyelets, or to hand stitch them, so I just laced it up the back using a large needle and some heavy gauge crochet thread.

I based the bustle on the one on page 96 of Corsets and Crinolines. I basically cut out 2 vertical rectangles, one being wider and longer than the other. On the longer one I rounded the bottom edge and then applied 1/2" bias tape horizontally from edge to edge in 4 evenly spaced layers. I inserted the boning, stitched up the sides and across the top and added a little lace along the bottom edge. Voila, A slimline bustle!