My First Corset

Upper left: channels sewn in. Center: the layers sewn together with the following items-scissors, one zip tie to illustrate, the busk(sanded but without holes drilled), a package of zip ties. The dark line on the brown fabric is part of the serged seam I took apart to reconnect the material into a flat piece big enough for my purposes. It used to be a giant sleeve on a MM dress. Photo on top right: the three layers-white>inner lining, blue> canvas for stiffness, brown>cotton. I sewed the three together and slid the cable 'zip' ties in between the blue and brown fabric.





I am following the instructions on the Elizabethan Costumers page, using the corset pattern generator.

http://www.elizabethancostume.net/index.html

I am making the version with tabs. For fabric:
I am using a white cotton twin sheet for inner lining,
a piece of the canvas material out of which, Paul had us make windows for his deer camp tent,
a cobbled piece of brown something that was sleeves in my first MM gown. It is a lightweight cotton to be sure. I'm sewing these together for boning channels. My boning material is 3/8 inch cable ties, 10 for 5$ at Home Depot. Each is 24" long.
The cover of the corset with be some quilting fat quarters in white on white, that I have sewn together to get a big enough piece. I will sandwich a piece of very heavy interfacing between it and a muslin ?. So all together there will be 6 layers, 3 with boning channels and 3 without. This is not according to anything I have read, but is what I have in the house to work with and I have decided it will be this way. I have a small bust, I'm probably going way overkill, BUT, i will get a very firm round tube shaped bodice when the gown is put over the corset. This is the Venetian gown which is going to use UNPERIOD fabric. I bought a crimson and gold FLORAL knowing it's not acceptable. The gown I wanted to make VERY PERIOD. Venetian 1560's, partlet, front ladder lacing. The WORKS. It's always something with me. I'm never satisfied. Well , my ego isn't anyway.
In the picture, you see a dark seam at an odd angle on brown fabric. That is a seam I made from a serged edged former sleeve.

I have drawn boning channels. It all looks okay, but the the three pieces are not EXACTLY the same shape. I know it's going to be okay, I'm talking about scan inches. I'm losing my nerve as I took a few pictures. The thing looks lumpy now. I know the thing will lie flat after the pins are taken out. Breathe deep. feel my inner body. be present. go sew boning channels.
There seems to be a difference between the left and right front. I've marked the one side two times and it still seems to list to the left. I'm taking a break. The back/side channels are done and the cable ties fit nicely. I followed the instruction to start from the bottom up. I am sewing three different pieces together.
I folded the corset in half, laid the pattern on it again to make sure both points of the first tab in the front were equal. They were, so I removed pattern, put pins in to keep it folded evenly and marked (for the third time)the boning channels of the 'other' side. I sewed them without looking to see if I had marked them correctly. I hadn't. BUT, I'm leaving them. It just isn't that big of a deal. I'm getting hung up on a silly detail.
As instructed: I sewed 1/8" from the tab marking, from bottom to point and with needle still in fabric, spun it around and sewed down the other side. No backstitching. This is to anchor the tab when I cut it. I will apply Fray NO More to raw edges as well.
PATTERN IS CUT
CHANNELS ARE SEWN
Time to cut and insert boning. I'm using plastic cable ties. I'll measure one at at time, the longest looking ones by laying them on top of the corset channel. I'll mark with a sharpie and cut with scissors, snipping the tip edges to round them a bit.
Then , I'll cut the tabs.