All tied up

It is finished. The corset is done, and I couldn't be happier. My fingers are tired and exhausted and a little bloody and bruised, but it is done.

It took several days to do the handwork on the corset.

I had to finish the eyelet holes in silk buttonhole twist (which was from a stash of vintage sewing goods and was about 120 years old.

Then I had to pin in the lining, and start binding the thing at the top and bottom edges. I had originally planned to use leather for the binding, but couldn't get the needle to get through, so I fell back on cotton.

It took me four days of hand sewing and pinning to get the bindings all done. I thought that it would never be finished. But it is, and I tried it on for the first time tonight, without lacing in too tightly for fear that a bone might snap. But I was lucky, and they all seemed to hold. I laced in over my chemise, and I was pleased that the look was very authentic. It was stiffer than any other corset I had worn, and I could definitely feel the "cone" shape that it was wanting to push my body into. It also seemed to push my shoulders and upper back forwards, which was something that I was not expecting.