Regency Corset

The nice thing about sewing, is that eventually you start to build up a nice stockpile of extra fabric. Thanks to my corset stash, I realized that I actually had everything I needed to make the regency short corset included in the Simplicity Pattern.Here are my selected fabrics for the corset: A white cotton coutil for the outer layer of the corset (leftover from my full Regency Corset), a stiff cotton duck for the interlining (leftover from my 18th century stays), and white cotton from my bolt-o-muslin for the lining.Here are the pattern pieces all cut out. It was surprising how little fabric this corset required. Despite the three layers, the corset is only designed to come to just under the bust: I like to think of it as a cross between a corset and a Wonder Bra.Here are all three layers of the corset, assembled and ready to be sewn together. That was plenty for one night, so the assembling, finishing with bias tape, eyelets, and boning will wait for another night.
As usual with this style of corset, the bust gussets were the most labor intensive part of the activity. Each layer had 4 gussets that needed to be inserted into the corset. The gussets can be very fussy, and they like to wiggle around as you try and sew them in place. I got a bit of a gusset factory line set up, which helped speed the process along.Here's what the outer layer looks like on it's own. This picture is a bit pink, but the corset is actually white. I didn't realize it when I took this shot, but the corset kind of has a bit of a Madonna/Material Girl look to it from this angle. That isn't what it will look like when it is done.