Adventures in Corsetry

Corset making…. To some, the very words feel like a blanket of dread to any costume designer; to designers and makers like me, it’s an invitation to explore knowledge and techniques that elevate your costume making to the next level. Here’s the REAL truth…y’all ready??? It’s not that HARD to make a corset, you just got to take some time to do the steps. So, here’s where I come in, your friendly neighborhood costume designer to help break it all down. In this blog we’re going to break it all down from start to finish. First things first, let’s look at our pattern. I’m going to be using NZ Corsetry’s 1890’s Mid-Bust Corset (Link to pattern)

This one is an easy pattern to put together and easy to dress up or down depending on the corset you want to make. Also, the grommet spacing is perfect for relieving the tension on the waist while tightening. You guys, there is so much out there about actresses telling you why corsets are terrible and “I couldn’t breathe or eat all day”. THAT’S CAUSE THE CORSET DIDN’T FIT RIGHT AND WASN’T MADE TO THE PERFORMERS MEASUREMENTS. In a properly fitted corset, you should be able to do anything, even yes… tying your shoes. You can buy stock sizes at online /retail shops, but they pale in comparison to a properly fitted one.

The pattern came as a PDF, so I had to print and tape it together (If you love puzzles this is for you…. get a friend). Afterwards, I traced out and added my pattern notches to the pattern by “Walking” the pattern along the stitch line to ensure the pattern would line up appropriately when assembling. You want to include notches marking the waist, and one on the top and bottom of the pattern piece. This particular pattern did NOT come with seam allowance, but that’s ok, you can use your favorite tool to add however much you want (I went with ½ instead of the standard 5/8)

So, let’s get into our mock-up: initial fitting. I constructed the mock-up with the seams facing out (essentially “Inside out”) for ease of marking alterations. NOW…. here’s where I will no doubt lose the purveyors of historical accuracy…… I use interfacing for boning channels for the first mockup. I know I know, BLASTPHEMY. But hear me out, I need to crank these out, and placing the bones NOT on the seams allows me to easily pin on the seams where needed. This is the first one to determine if we are in the right spot from a PATTERN perspective, which is different from a FIT perspective in my opinion. And these HANDY grommet strips make it easy for me to rip them out and re-use them for other mockups later.

So we need to take in the bust curve, and take in the waist a bit to create a more defined waist. Ive made these adjustments on the paper pattern, and now here comes the fun part… DOING THIS ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!! pattern updated, here comes the fun part… DOING THIS ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!! Stay tuned for our next installment where we go over this next mockup, I’ll see you soon!!!