Angle of boning (hemp cord)

[gem]

So I'm getting ready to cord the flatlining of my curved front bodice:



And I'm having trouble deciding how to mark the boning channels.

Normally, my instinct would be to put them straight up and down, like on Jen Thompson's corset, but this bodice has the curved fronts AND angled side seams, and I just don't know how to lay out the boning channels. Because of the curves and the angles, they can't go straight up and down, but I don't know how to combine the curved bits and the angled bits, and what to do in the middle.  If I were using rigid boning, I'd fudge the angles and leave gaps between the boning channels, but I don't know if you can really do that with cording. All the pictures of corded corsets/bodices I've seen have been fully boned (tightly packed channels, no gaps). Since I need a lot of support, I'd like this to be fully boned.

Here's what the pieces look like. You can see the curved front, but not really the angled sides.



Everything I do seems to leave a fairly sizable gap somewhere.



Thanks!

[Elennare]

Hi Gem.

I don't know anything about using cord for boning, but I had a thought, and since no one else has suggested anything I though I'd throw it out there.

Can you angle the channels to match the side seams, and fill in with some shorter channels where you run into issues?  I assume that would be in the front where the curve makes the bodice a bit wider.  So, you'd have a few shorter channels in the front and then pick up with full length ones as soon as they fit on the bodice.

Here is a very poor ascii-art illustration of what I mean.

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Good luck!

[Butch]

That corset I made the mom in those pics from the MN renfest was hemp cord boned.

I would trace the outline of the front edge of your closing.  Then, I would use that as the marking guide for sewing the channels.  I would make front shaped verticle channels to the inside edge of your shoulder straps.  
I would then make 45 deg channels from there to a verticle line at the rear of your arm.
I would then make some straight verticle channels at the rear center of your corset.  I imagine you could make these all the way across the back, until they meet with the 45 deg channels on the sides.

NOTE:  On the corset I made, I did not sew the verticle channels that sealed off the 45 deg channels until AFTER I had threaded the 45 deg with cord!

I used a large embroidery needle (backwards so the point wouldn't go through the material) in order to thread the cords.

Good luck!  I'm sure it will turn out beautifully!