I actually made this corset last year for Dickens Fair, but never got around to photographing it until now. The pattern was self-drafted and is just a basic 10-piece generic Victorian shape. The red striped fabric is a cotton pillow ticking, I think, and it is flat lined with white cotton twill. It is boned with 1/4" steel bones on all the seams and has a 1" busk (much better than the ubiquitous 1/2" busks that are less expensive. Worth the extra expense, in my not-so-humble opinion).

The Bustle:

The bustle is made from Truly Victorian pattern TV101, which is pretty straight forward as patterns go. To save time I used pre-gathered eyelet lace for the overlay, which I think is a brilliant alternative to hemming 848732387 yards of ruffle. I ran into a few issues, though... Namely, the pattern suggests pleating or gathering the front of the bustle to the waistband, but when I pleated it, I discovered that pleating towards the center front caused the pleats to pull back on themselves with the weight of the bustle added to it. So, I'll be redoing the waistband and either pleating away from CF or just gathering, because those pleats right now are UGH-LY. And I'm not the sort to let that go just because it is underwear and technically no one will be seeing it. Because it is me we're talking about, and you'd be surprised how often I find myself wandering around in public in my historical undies.

You might also notice that the hem is longer in front... I noticed, too. Checking the TV boards, I discovered someone else had this problem with this pattern and they were told, essentially, "It's all in your head." Excuse me, no, it's not all in my head. It is RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF ME. So, not having altered the pattern in anyway to cause this from something dumb on my part, I'm going to issue the caveat to the rest of the world that It Can Happen To You. It's not something difficult to fix, thankfully.

The Combinations:

And of course, underneath it all (but not pictured in the photos) is the combinations, made from the Mantua Maker 1880s Combinations 8808. I made these back in 2004 for my very first bustle dress, and still think they're great. The pattern requires some external fitting help to get the fit correctly (they're worn under the corset, but require a very tight fit against your skin so as not to create bulk under the corset), yet once made up, it makes a wonderful, comfortable undergarment.