Making a physical start

For my Wollaton Hall project I am starting with the ladies outfit, I have much more experience with female clothing than male, so I thought I would get this out of the way before tackling the footman costume.

I’m working from the base up, so corset is the first port of call. I can’t find the book I made this sketch from, but this is what I’m aiming for. My model is naturally slim, so she doesn’t need much in the way of support.

I borrowed this pattern (the short corset in the middle oval) as a starting point. I had to change it quite a lot, my corset is to open at the back not the front, come down to hip level not under-bust, and include a front busk. Also this pattern does not go smaller than a UK size 14, and my model is an 8.

Here is my version part way through, since this I split piece 5 into two with most of the angling for the hip going between the two new pieces, the angle on the far right in this version looked far too harsh.