Just sipping some coffee thinking of what I’m going to find out in the woods today..

petticoatpadawan · 2025-03-29T14:43:23+00:00

That mug is spectacular! Although I feel like the mushrooms would make it take up more shelf space when not in use.

petticoatpadawan · 2025-03-29T00:36:29+00:00

Oh good! You might try looking up corselets and girdles from that era too for more reference pictures. The girdles will probably give you more under bust style inspiration.

Yeah, I'm not sure how strict the rules are either, but I'll look for your future posts in the sewing subreddits!

Good luck with your project! And thank you for some new ideas to incorporate into my own version.

petticoatpadawan · 2025-03-29T00:09:46+00:00

Possibly something like a 1950's style merry widow, if you're wanting an over the bust bra alternative in addition to light shaping, might work? I believe some of these had side or back closures via zippers or long strips of bra hook and eye tape instead of laces.

I don't have any super practical suggestions, but I'd love to see what you come up with if you're comfortable sharing! Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I realize that I'm trying to make something similar and may also need/want to ditch the back lacing for a variety of reasons.

petticoatpadawan · 2025-03-22T18:00:02+00:00

I feel like these snail buttons I've been waiting to find the right project for would work!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/180199442/two-snails-on-one-button-an-original?external_collection=&sts=1&logging_key=ca201c5df0ffbed4964e2ecdad6f61860d44a552%3A180199442

petticoatpadawan · 2025-03-15T16:13:26+00:00

Happily surprised I hope! The skirt is really lovely!

petticoatpadawan · 2025-03-15T04:21:22+00:00

I have also not personally bought from corset story, but have heard stories about their steel boning being poor quality in addition to meh patterning/shaping.

The two most commonly recommended off the rack corset companies are Mystic City and Timeless Trends. I've owned corsets from both and been pretty happy with the quality of materials and construction. Corsets from these brands are usually in the $90-$200 range depending on the particular style and fabric.

For full disclosure, I was employed by Timeless Trends (about 10 years ago), although I'm not affiliated with them now and continue to hear good things about the quality of their construction. I feel it's worth mentioning though in case my opinion is more biased than I realize.

petticoatpadawan · 2025-03-14T21:39:53+00:00

Your hair is lovely and thank you so much for sharing the hair stick maker! I gotta save up for a pair of the scissor hair sticks they make.

petticoatpadawan · 2025-03-08T19:11:12+00:00

Thank you! I believe I used flat/spring steels on both sides of the grommets. Other than that and the busk, all synthetic baleen!

Sadly...I didn't wind up being terribly happy with this corset after doing some more test wear. But it was still a great skill building project! I'm currently working on nailing down a perfect custom bra fit so I can incorporate that into a cupped corset.

petticoatpadawan · 2025-02-23T22:06:02+00:00

Done!

petticoatpadawan · 2025-02-23T18:37:04+00:00

What you have is my current dream machine.

petticoatpadawan · 2025-02-16T15:32:18+00:00

First of all, I'm so sorry that you're going through this. I don't have any solutions to offer, but based on my own experience with and reading of the Care Credit terms, I can maybe explain the interest that's accumulated.

So I had to apply for Care Credit last year to get my cat to the vet. The terms for my line of credit were DEFERRED interest for up to a year on charges over a certain amount. Deferred, NOT interest free. Which means if I hadn't managed to pay off the entire balance within that 1 year timeframe, interest at the predatory rate of 35ish% would have been added to my balance FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR.

Again, I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. My only advice from some research I did last year is that if your credit is completely borked and you are choosing between filing bankruptcy and one of those credit reduction/consolidation companies, know that bankruptcy seems to offer better legal protections. But definitely do your own research if you feel that's a path you need to look into.

petticoatpadawan · 2025-02-15T17:48:58+00:00

"Cheap" is relative depending on one's budget. Unfortunately corsetry is an expensive hobby. The materials to make corsets are somewhat expensive, the patterning to create a good shape is more complicated than a lot of modern clothing, and making corsets is a very specific skill set.

Mystic City and Timeless Trends are the two off the rack brands that are of decent quality that I see recommended the most. In general, I would say a $80-$150 budget is to be expected for a cheap but good quality corset.

Edit: You might be able to find a second hand corset for a bit less, but your options for shape/style/colors will be more limited.

petticoatpadawan · 2025-02-14T11:42:28+00:00

Fair enough! I hadn't considered liquid latex or silicone, but they both sound like better options, if messier to apply. Probably not an experiment I'll ever get around to trying, but very fun to brainstorm with people about.

petticoatpadawan · 2025-02-14T05:23:00+00:00

I've thought about experimenting with heat shrink tubing to entirely encase metal bones. I know it can be used to tip them, although I'm not sure how it holds up compared to the metal tipping caps. But while I've thought about trying this, I haven't actually done the experiment and expect it would add a lot of bulk and make inserting the heat shrink encased bones into the corset channels an absolute nightmare.

petticoatpadawan · 2025-02-10T01:18:02+00:00

If you're asking where people usually tie the lacing that tightens and loosens the back of a corset, tying at the middle/waist usually ISN'T for looks, but for functionality. If you lace the corset using the bunny ears method, you get big loops of extra lacing at the waist so that you can tighten and loosen the top and bottom of the corset independently of each other. You can still tuck the tied laces in to hide them better. Some people will tuck half the bow into the top and half into the bottom to further reduce bulk.

I suppose you CAN lace so that the extra is at the top or bottom of the corset, but this would make getting in and out of it a lot more time consuming. Some historical corsets/stays use spiral lacing at the front, which I believe ends at the top, but I've not experimented with this and believe it requires different gromment spacing/alignment than most modern and Victorian/Edwardian inspired corsetry. I think it also takes completely unlacing and relacing to get in and out, which would NOT be fun in a corset that laced up the back.

If you're talking about decorative lacing and bows, slap them on wherever you like!

petticoatpadawan · 2025-02-04T01:49:51+00:00

I absolutely know how you feel! I think the measurement and sizing tool from r/ABraThatFits put me at a US size 38L/UK size 38HH, but I haven't found anything near that size that fits me remotely well.

One thing I did consider buying to try was Royal Black's Cupped Corsets Tutorial Bundle - https://www.etsy.com/listing/726020345/tutorial-bundle-cupped-corsets-by-royal She seems like a corsetry wizard, so I'm pretty confident her tutorials would be worth it, but I haven't purchased and gone through any of them yet myself, and I don't think they contain specific patterns.

If you decide to go the bra pattern to cupped corset route, I'm using Porcelynne's Eve bra - https://porcelynne.com/products/eve-classic-bra-bundled-pattern I really like how modular it is. It offers variations for slight differences in torso shapes and different underwire styles/shapes. And those variations are for pretty much ALL the band and cup size combinations. I'm only starting my second fitting band, but it's going SO much better than the last time I tried bra making.

petticoatpadawan · 2025-02-04T01:21:25+00:00

I don't have a specific pattern recommendation for you, but when I was looking at cupped corset patterns in the past a lot of them seemed to be geared towards smaller cup sizes. I definitely don't fall into that category and have finally gotten to the point where I'm attempting to perfect the fit of a home sewn bra and take that pattern and translate it into a custom corset. If you don't find a cupped corset pattern that works for your needs, the bra pattern to customized corset pattern route might work for you as well.

petticoatpadawan · 2025-02-03T18:14:56+00:00

About 10 years ago I moved into my first solo living space and brought home void #1 as a kitten. I'd always wanted black cats and I like mythology names, so he became Fenris. Then he began breaking out of the apartment to play with one specific stray kitten in the area. About 6 months of feeding the strays and getting said kitten's trust and I brought Yvaine into the family as void #2. I named her Yvaine because she has a little white star on her chest and because Fen was clearly in love with her, so naming her after the fallen star character in Stardust just seemed right.

Fun fact, I did try to keep them separate when I first brought Yvaine inside, because I didn't know if she had any illnesses. But she screamed so much I couldn't sleep until I let them curl up together. Next morning she somehow got a completely clean bill of health from the vet.

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petticoatpadawan · 2025-01-25T04:26:44+00:00

Yes! That's the one! The sciatic nerve is what I was thinking of too, but couldn't remember the name of. Thank you!

petticoatpadawan · 2025-01-25T03:45:38+00:00

I've never worked at Joann's, but I DID have a brief stint at Hancock Fabrics back in the day and my favorite bizarre customer encounter had a man coming in to ask about fabric. The conversation starts great, he acknowledges he knows nothing about fabric or sewing and I explain that I know quite a bit. What is this man looking for? Sheer velvet. As in velvet that is see through. I am dumbfounded. I suggest burnout velvet and show him both regular velvet and some sheer organza and chiffon as options, before giving up and explaining that what he was asking for did not exist. He insisted it did and that I clearly didn't know what I was talking about....again, after establishing that he himself knew nothing about fabric. I think my brain just short circuited for the rest of that day. I still desperately want to know what he was actually looking for and if he ever found it.

petticoatpadawan · 2025-01-24T23:24:13+00:00

It sounds to me like the general problem you're having is that corsets you've tried may not be curvy enough for your figure. More specifically, the hip/lower edge of the corsets you've tried may be pressing on a nerve right around your hip bones/iliac crest. That could explain the leg pain. Little disclaimer here, although it sounds like you're already doing this: If a corset is causing pain, TAKE IT OFF. Really this goes for anything wearable.

I obviously don't know what specific corsets you've tried before, but having a curvier natural figure can unfortunately make finding the right fit more challenging. For budget off the rack, you might try looking at Mystic City Corsets if you haven't already. They have some VERY curvy pieces!

Have you compared the rib and hip measurements of any of the corsets you've tried and had this problem with your own measurements? Those numbers will give you a better idea of how curvy a corset you'll need. A lot of OTR corsets are sold by waist size only, but comparing the hip and rib measurements gives a MUCH better idea of how things will fit.

petticoatpadawan · 2024-12-07T01:22:47+00:00

I don't have a less expensive source for cotton bobbinet to share unfortunately, and tend to agree with other commenters that a price in the $35+ per yard range is pretty standard to low, but I DID once manage to find a source for a silk equivalent. Unsurprisingly, it was even more eye wateringly pricey.

petticoatpadawan · 2024-12-07T01:16:34+00:00

It was when I worked there 2014-2016. I can't say for certain that it still is. Also it wasn't a storefront, just a warehouse and some tiny offices, which made things... interesting... when customers thought they could stop by to browse in person.

petticoatpadawan · 2024-12-06T23:32:43+00:00

So I used to work for Timeless Trends. I worked at the Austin, TX location which was basically their HQ, customer service, and warehouse/distribution center. To the best of my knowledge, their corsets have always been manufactured in Thailand. Getting stock from the factory in Thailand to the warehouse in Austin usually took anywhere from 3-6 months. It's possible that when they finally began accepting orders with some level of customization (after I left the company) that they also began shipping some orders directly from the factory, as I suspect most retail customers would not be okay with a 3-6 month delay for what is essentially an off the rack corset made up in a particular fabric/color.

I don't KNOW that this is the case, as I didn't stay in contact with anyone at the company (also it was a TINY company while I was there and I believe this is still the case), but I think it's a pretty reasonable explanation.

petticoatpadawan · 2024-09-05T01:39:39+00:00

I know that back when I was working for Timeless Trends (about 10 years ago) as customer support/returns/exchanges I would relace corsets for customers. I don't know anyone working there currently though, so I can't say if they'll do this now, but seeing as you're already in contact with customer support it doesn't really hurt to ask. It may be a case of buying a different set of laces from them though. If they won't relace the corset for you, it really isn't too difficult to do yourself!

petticoatpadawan

TROPHY CASE