Make a Victorian Steampunk corselette from an old handbag

This was one of those days that surprise you, one of those days when you set off to create one thing and wind up with something entirely different.

It started like this …

I had the other half, well, more like three quarters, of the handbag made into a Renaissance change purse on Saturday January 26, 2013.   I thought it would be great to make a medieval/renaissance wench corset.  The way this piece is patched together from smaller pieces and the way it curves up at the top edge, there just had to be a prime corset in the bones of this particular remnant.

So I cut the old hobo bag apart by separating the front, sides and bottom of the remainder of the bag.  I was shifting the front section this way and that when I actually saw the bottom for the first time.

What I saw wan’t the bottom of an old handbag.  What I saw was a no sew/ low sew Victorian/Steampunk corselette!

The shape was perfect and already reinforced, originally for the bottom of the bag but now for the front of the corselette. 

Every thing was there… I even had a button at one end that could be looped or tied for the closure. 

What could I make into a belt loop?

I tried part of the handle but it was just too thick to sit right with the button.

I dug through the scrap ribbon and found the perfect length of black grosgrain.

The only sewing I did on this project was a single small row of stitches that attached the ribbon to the seam of the corselette.

To put it on all I did was tie the ribbon around the button and finish with a little bow.

At this point, I have a little confession to make. .. there were some raw white edges from where the bottom section by the button was cut from the original handbag, and I, … well, I …. OK.  I covered the raw edges by drawing over the white with a black sharpie. 

This was really so much fun and I’m delighted with this “green” project!