Burlesque Corset

I needed to work on a fantasy, burlesque costume. I was inspired by my Sharon McGunigle who I worked with on a few shows for the Troubadour Theatre Co. at the Falcon Theater in Toluca Lake. She's very talented as a costume designer and she performs for burlesque shows. I've always wondered if it is successful to juggle two intriguing professions ( in her case 3 because she has a full time job too ). She may be overly stressed and over worked but generally happy with her line of work. She's a great mentor. I threw my costume idea at her and she gave me some great ideas.

I figured I didn't have a costume in mind for Halloween so I decided to kill two birds with one stone. Even though I wanted to keep it a secret until Halloween I found out some other people had the same costume in mind; so it's not an ice breaking idea. I don't know who is responsible for it but there is an immense fascination over unicorns and rainbows. So I did just that, I'm making a unicorn costume but "Aha!" different from the rest because its a burlesque version. I went to my favorite fabric store in downtown la on Los Angeles and I think Maple ( i know i'm probably wrong but I can always edit the location later ). The little mexican guy that tells me "he misses me" everyday, that this fabric does have silk in it. I'm sure he tells all the girls that so we can keep buying fabric from him, not to mention the discounts. Well, hey it works I keep on going back.. I'm a bit skeptical about the 'silk' but its transparent, sturdy for the most part, very light weight fabric, beautiful... and.... DIFFICULT to work with BUT this is what I always do to myself. I then picked a nude organza that would hide in between the self and my skin. This fabric is very transparent so I plan to embellish the upper portion of the corset. I tried using a size 10 needle and still had problems piercing through the fabric.

I used this Vogue pattern for the corset. You can always trust Vogue patterns, I mean they're expensive for a reason.

There will be hook and eyes in the front and grommets in the back. I don't have the luxury of owning an overlock since I broke the last one. The fabric easily frays so I decided to fray check the edges. I hope nobody takes a lighter to me because it is flammable. I felt that it looked a bit plan at the edge of the corset so I added piping. If you know me well I'm a sucker for piping. I don't remember what I bought this one for but I'm glad I found it before I had to finish the seams. It's done for the most part but i do need to add the hook and eyes. I bought the strip of hook and eyes but found out I didn't need it because there is a boning on the center front on each sides. I don't mind hand sewing at all but I plan to embellish it with crystals, embroidery, and whatever else I can find. That's it for now..