Materials!

The key to success or failure is choosing the right materials. Sounds simple, doesn't it? For making Ren Faire bodices, my "go to" fabric has always been cotton broadcloth, upholstery fabrics, or sometimes denim. I used my coupons and looked for bargains at the local fabric store.

Another time, I cut up my husband's old ripped karate-gi which I think is a type of heavy cotton called "drill." It was thin and very tightly woven, so there's no flex or warp. The drawback is that it's hard to get a needle through! My poor machine... and my poor blistered fingers.

Then, on a voyage of discovery to Lacis in Berkeley, I got to touch the premium corset fabric called "coutil." It's as thin as my favorite cotton broadcloth, maybe thinner. It has a herringbone weave -- not twill like your blue jeans -- which means the threads look like tiny bird feathers. There's a reason it's $25/yd. Luckily, corsets are small garments so you only need one yard or less.

 That's your strength layer. For this project, I chose a lovely "tea dyed" coutil from corsetmaking.com

A basic corset is 2 layers:  the strength layer and the outer layer that shows to the world. You could make both of coutil, or you could make the outer layer of something pretty... like gorgeous imported silk brocade! Trying to cut corners a bit, I'm taking a chance on a polyester/nylon blend brocade from JoAnn's.

It's got a blue paisley pattern on brown imitation silk, so when you turn it to the light it reflects different color. I'm going to have to be very careful cutting all the pieces in the same direction! And, puckered seams will look terrible. No pressure, right?

The LM pattern recommends making "boning channels" by stitching straight lines. Well, I'm still learning and straight lines are hard to do. From trial and error, I like to use Soft & Easy Hem Tape because it's really thin and it has little tiny lines on it. I suppose I could also use a quilter's pen and mark up the fabric, but I'll just be pig-headed and charge forth.

Bias tape is for finishing the edges. I'll get to that later.

The last bits of supplies are the bones and the hook-clasp (or, "busk") down the center front. More about those later, except I cannot stress enough the importance of using steel corset bones. Come on, they range from 30 to 50 cents each, mail order on corsetmaking.com or Richard the Thread or Farthingales, etc. You are not saving any money by using cable ties from the hardware store. For mercy's sake, do not use the featherweight plastic boning sold at the mainstream fabric stores!! Why? It is sold in a package coiled up in a roll, so first you have to struggle with straightening it. I have resorted to dipping the cut bits into boiling water and that helps, but they never get truly straight. Then, as demonstrated by the boiling water or hot steam iron, HEAT MAKES PLASTIC BONING WARP AND CURL. Your body is a heat source. Enough said.

Bones come in 1/2-inch, 1/4-inch widths and can either be flat steel (on the left) or these really cool spring steel (on the right.) I just discovered the brilliance of spring steel bones. OK, they cost a few cents more, but what a difference! They flex vertically but also side-to-side like one of those cheap plastic snake toys. I wish I had a better camera so you can see they are a zillion little steel links. This means you can put them in curvy places and they will not warp the seam.

So, with all my materials on hand, I'm ready to start cutting!