1910 Corset, First mock-up

Today I made the first mock up of my corset.
I used an old pair of pants from my husband as the mock up. I knew this would stretch, but that was okay for me. I was mainly interested in checking the length, and flap position.

I could not find my lacing strip. (I think a small child misplaced it for me) so I sewed the back closed and pined the front shut.

As I guess it stretched, as I was not very exact in cutting and sewing. I pined it all the way closed and my waist measurement was 27", which is normal for me.

But I did learn a thing or two about the pattern.
1. my guess on the waist was spot on! I know this because I put it on and tied a string around my waist and marked it.
2. It is way to high in the bust!
3. it is too large in the bust, as I guessed. I do not have that ratio.
4. the hips may be a bit large for me once I make it out of a non stretchy material.
5. I think the bust flaps are too big!

But all in all it was good enough for me to alter the pattern and put up a more usable one on the blog.

But anyways you want to see pictures don't you?! well then click ahead and see the ugly mirror shots of the mock up!
Here it is all sewn up.

I taped 14" cable ties to the inside along the seam lines, more at CF

I actually like the bright blue painters tape on the black....

I think you can see just how high it is over the bust.
I opened the bust flaps, this is as I made the pattern. (yup that's my littlest in the corner!)
I think it is too low and large, but need to check against surviving examples again.

Then I put another bone over the middle seam and only opened the flap to that seam

I marked the waist and bust level. The bust level I marked was where my bust natural sits when not supported, I am currently unsure of how much support and lift it should have.
I also sat down and marked the fold line which indicated the end of the boning in front.

So back into CAD I go to alter the pattern.