Cutting Day!

I am always so nervous cutting into the fabric. I don't know why. I have plenty... I got that end of bolt discount on the polyester brocade. It's just that cutting seems so drastic and permanent. Seams I can pick apart, but once fabric is cut you're stuck with it.

Forgive me, corset purists out there, but I am doing this as a fun hobby. I don't have a rotary cutter or that green plastic mat. I think those kinds of precision tools would make me even more nervous! Meticulous detail does not come naturally to me. For Ren Faire bodices and peasant blouses, hey, half an inch here and there doesn't matter. But we're trying new things!

After my morning coffee, I unfolded the ol' cardboard thing on the dining room table. I spread out the tracing paper pieces that are modified for sizing. I also transferred where the original pattern recommended boning channels, in the orange and blue lines, but those may change when I put it together. Little waist cinchers can get by with less boning, but the full-length overbust corset usually benefits from more, more, more.

I pre-washed the coutil yesterday and let it dry on the line (inside the garage) overnight. It's all fresh and ready to go this morning. (Thank you, late summer heat wave!) After cutting the brocade, I'll do the same for the coutil. *Lesson learned from earlier failures, I'll mark each piece by number, by right side/wrong side, and by which way is up.