Skulls & Roses Corset

Here’s what I’ve been working on this weekend – a matching corset for the skulls & roses outfit. The intention is that the skirt, bra and corset together should give the overall impression of a dress.

I drafted the corset myself – I needed to update my pattern because all the corsets I made for myself two years ago are now just a little bit too big. The irony is, of course, that I must have made a mistake somewhere in the maths for this one because it’s rather a lot too small!

Still, it looks lovely from the front, which is a good start. I designed the shape to fit the bones that I had already, so it comes up a bit at the centre front and back, and fits perfectly below the underwires of the bra. I only had a short busk, so I placed a full length bone next to it and used another pretty red frog fastener at the top.

A friend who’s also an experienced corset maker suggested adding an extra panel into the gap at the back, and having the corset fasten with two sets of laces instead of one. As luck would have it I do have another corset lace and plenty of eyelets, so I think I might just take up that suggestion. I’ll let you know how it works out!