Awesome, thank you! Maybe if you cut the sides in a stairstep pattern it would be easier to cut the notches out the top rather than the sides so you wouldn't have the slipping problem?

How were the sides made? Are they a sheet of plywood cut into the general shape and then notched to hold the rails? Very unique storage solution!

Where did you find the instructions to draft the corset? Or have you studied pattern drafting before? Very beautiful work!

At a thrift store or regular store? It could just be that the manufacturer's pattern was a little off, who knows. That should fix the problem though!

Don't the towels give off lint and threads like crazy though? I wouldn't think terry cloth would hold up very well after cutting it so small...cool rug though!

Any craftsters around the Tacoma/Lakewood/Fort Lewis Area know of any good fabric or craft stores? I'm going to be moving to the area soon and was curious if there's any hidden treasures beyond the usual Joann, etc. Any tips would be great!

Another thing I thought of, though, is you'll probably want to make it in wool rather than fleece, if you're going for more of that expensive, high class look. Of course it will be more expensive than fleece too, so it depends on what you want. If you put the time into it, though, you could probably make it look good in fleece, too, if cost is more of a factor.

Well, this is about the closest pattern I could find...

http://sew-n-sewpatterns.mybisi.com/product/butterick-4666-ladies-fleece-ponchocapejacket-pattern

It's out of print, but it looks like there's still places around to order it. You could just make the tan view on the top left. All you would have to do to make it like the one in your picture is make the lapel a little wider and rounder, overlap it a little more to make it double breasted, and put in bound holes right about where your elbows would fall. It looks like the model in the picture has it belted around the front and then through those arm holes. Hope that helps!

I also forgot to mention, don't forget to detach the front two beltloops at the beginning and reattach them when you're done.

But like someone else said, make sure to detach and reattach the beltloops for this process as well.