Kwik Sew 3850 bustier core completed!

I'm still quite excited about this project - nothing is quite like inspired sewing!  I just finished the first core layer for Kwik Sew 3850, the bustier I am doing corset-style.  Before I could snap a pic of it on Mathilda ... first I had to sacrifice a bra that fits me and pad her out!  The core just was not going to fit right on those unrealistic shaped hard boobs of hers ...

I stuffed her bra with the leftover faux sherpa fleece scraps, since those are nice and squooshy.  I realized while pinning the core to her that I didn't stuff the bra cups evenly, but a quick comparison shows they're close enough, right down to the squish factor.

Now, for the core layer!

It's not hanging right in the waist and hips, because I now need to figure out how rearrange and pad out mathilda's lower belly and hips to match me.  The measurements might match, numbers-wise, but the shaping just isn't me.

Enough about my lumps and bumps - y'all want to hear details!  As I mentioned in my pattern notes yesterday, this pattern has 1/4 inch seam allowances.  Probably no big deal to the quilters out there, but I've gotten used to the "standard" 5/8 inch seam allowance in the vast majority of commercial garment patterns.  These tiny seam allowances, combined with all the wonderful shaping in the pattern, make it a royal pain in the (donkey) to press these seams over to topstitch them down.

Oh, another point in the "pro" column for these pattern instructions: They do say to topstitch every seam.  On the minus side (*IMO*) is that for many they say to press the seams open after stitching.  Although I've seen corset tutorials going either or even both ways on pressing seams, I have a strong preference for the "to one side" way, as it seems to my last two working brain cells that this would be stronger.  While I have no intentions of ever trying to tightlace, I also have no desire to experience a wardrobe malfunction, especially after all the work that goes into making a corset.

While this is very fiddly with the tiny seam allowances, I am loving the shaping that is drafted into this pattern.  Here's a bit closer view of the bust cup (and more proof of my assertion that I still can't sew a straight line to save my life ... yeah the black thread on white fabric really proves it).

Time to cut and sew a second core layer!  Wooo hooo!