I made this corset at the end of 2012 after having been lucky enough to attend a patterning masterclass taught by Sparklewren’s Jenni Hampshire and Sew Curvy’s Julia Bremble.

The idea was to create a chevron pattern running around the corset.  I love simple patterns like stripes and chevrons but didn’t want a really bold colour pairing for the corset, but I didn’t think having one flat colour would show the pattern off in all its glory. When I came to make the corset I found some beautiful shot silk in my stash, with teal threads running one way and bright pink the other, which gives a beautiful purple tone to the silk. I decided that if I used this but cut one run of chevrons on the grain and the next at a 90 degree angle to the grain that the two tones of the silk would display the pattern I had created at its best.

The placement of each piece was very important and I took a long time just to place my pattern on my fabric.

Sewing all of the tiny separate pieces together took a very long time, and as they were all such similar shapes it was very important that I kept track of which piece went where so as not to destroy the whole pattern with one misplaced piece. I sewed each panel back together first and then trimmed my seam allowances so that i could carry on as if it were a normal corset, although I did have to take my time to ensure all the pieces and the pattern lined up as I stitched the corset together.

I am very pleased with how the corset turned out. The silk works in exactly the subtle way I had hoped and the pattern is clear. I do hope to make another version of this corset once I have time as there are a few things I think I could improve on. For starters this corset is a very simple construction and only has one bone per seam; I would like to add more for a better fit, along with making the shaping on the body more extreme. It has very little reduction as I just wanted to test the pattern as simply as possible, but I think it could be very dramatic on a more shapely corset.

I love how pictures taken at an angle to the corset give the impression that it is actually made from two different coloured fabrics. When worn, you get a really beautiful iridescence to the corset which shows all the colours off so brilliantly.