I worked on the corded regency corset some more yesterday.  The shoulder straps are padded, the lining is attached, the busk pocket is sewn (if not yet attached), and the bottom edge has been bound.

The prepared padding survived the washing machine perfectly, and didn’t even shrink much at all.  In this photo I have trimmed the ends fairly evenly.

This section of padding is trimmed slightly wider than the shoulder strap.

I have centered the padding on the shoulder straps (6″ is the center point), with the smoothly cut edge even with the straight edge of the shoulder straps.  The padding is sandwiched between the core coutil layer and the drill cover layer.

I used a slight zig-zag stitch to secure all the layers along the trimmed edge.

I then came back along the other edge, also stitching close to the edge with a zig-zag.  The purpose of using the zig-zag is so the edge still has all of its bias stretch in case it’s needed at a later point in the sewing.

Click for Larger

This is one of the shoulder straps with the padding layered in, secured, and trimmed.

Click for larger

After finishing with the padding, I attached the lining to the entire corset.  Again, I used a slight zig-zag stitch close to the edges so they retain their bias stretch.  The back edges are folded under and loose.

After securing along the top and bottom, I secured the lining to the back edges.  The lining needs to completely cover the raw edges of the core and cover, so it is stitched just in from the first cording channel with a hidden running stitch.

To create the hidden running stitch, make each stitch alternately through the body of the corset, and inside the fold of the lining. The finished appearance is very similar to a machine stitch.

Next I trimmed the bottom edge so it was completely smooth, and bound the edge.  Normally I have the edge binding cover the outer 1/4″, but the cotton taffeta ribbon I am using for this corset is too narrow.  Instead I bound the edge just inside from the zig-zag stitches, about 3/16″.

For a detailed tutorial on edge binding, see How to Edge a Corset.

To make the busk pocket, I cut a rectangle of fabric longer than the front of the corset is tall, and 5.75″ wide.  Taking into account the 1/2″ seam allowance, that gives me a finished busk pocket cover which is 2 and 3/8 inches wide, wide enough to be sewn down and hold a 2″ wide busk.

I pressed open the seam and stitched closed one end.

Then I turned it.  The closed end is to the left.

Both the body of the corset and the busk pocket cover are marked for eyelets.  The bottom edge is bound, so there is no fear of the eyelets creating bulk too close to the bottom edge.

Project: Regency Corset