Third boned garment done, and it actually fits

Congrats on getting there, it really is a slog sometimes. My own corset saga was less about the boning and more about the lacing area. I put eyelets straight through two layers of coutil and after a few wears the fabric started pulling out around them. Added a third layer with fusible stay tape behind the eyelet line on the next one and the problem vanished. Cheap fix, wish I'd done it from the start. I also learned the hard way that spiral steel and the cheap stuff they sell as 'boning' are not the same thing. My first pair of them bent into little s shapes after one night out and poked at my ribs the whole time. Now I use only proper spiral steel for the side seams and get it from a corsetry supplier rather than the craft store.

One thing that helped me with the gaping at the top edge was steaming the binding down and clipping into the seam allowance before applying it, kind of like easing a sleeve cap. Sounds fussy but it took the puckers out for me. Hope it gets lots of wear this weekend, you've earned it.

My take on the top edge is diffrent because I stopped binding it at all. The pattern I use, an Edwardian block adapted from a free corsetry draft, has the boning channels running past the top edge as little tabs, with a stitch line straight across between them. Then I face the top with self fabric turned to the inside and hand stitch it down. All the stress lands on the tabs and the finished edge just sits flat. I have done that on four corsets now, including a black taffeta one I wore to my sister's wedding, and I have never had gaping or a ridge showing through.

I also make the lining as a seperate floating layer, bagged out and slip stitched in by hand after the channels are done. It hides every raw edge and stops the fashion fabric from getting all the wear. Sounds fussy but it takes maybe an hour and the inside looks nearly as nice as the outside.

The thing that still humbles me is fitting the bust. My frame is lopsided enough that one side takes almost half an inch more shaping than the other, and it took my mom lacing me up and marking with pins to figure that out. Fitting yourself in a mirror while tugging at laces is a losing game, if you can get a second pair of hands do it.

Not sure about clipping into the seam allowance at the top edge though. On a corset the top edge is where all the tension lives, and snipping into it is basicly inviting the fabric to fray and pull out of the binding later. I did exactly that on a bodice once and had to reinforce the whole neckline six months down the line. Steaming the binding yes, but I'd flatten the allowance with a hammer or clapper instead of cutting notches into it. Maybe it works if you catch the clips in the binding, but it seems like a shortcut that costs you later.