Continued Corsetry... Part Deux.

November 03, 2023

Continued Corsetry... Part Deux.

Ok friends... when we last left our procrastinating perfectionist, he was constructing mockup after mockup and NOW.... Its construction time. Now, this is how *I* make corsets... this is not the only way (unlike the Mandalorian). There are so many ways to build out a corset, this is just my preferred method.

This is also a PHOTO HEAVY post.... so be warned.

I'm going to start with the center back panel and work my way to the center (you can go the other way, that's cool... GO NUTS). Draw a straight line away from the selvage of the fabric (mine was about 1.25 inches away). This is because sometimes the selvage of the fabric is not even and want our center back edge to be straight. Lay out your center back edge on this line and use your preferred method to secure to the fabric (I love my pattern weights, they are from Bianca Springer @thanksimadethem on insta)

All seams on this corset are stitched with a 1/2 inch seam allowance that I trimmed to 1/4 and then pressed open.

Once all the seams are sewn and pressed, you can see just by the fabric and patterning, that this is gonna be one CURVY corset!!

And then Frank went to BED...

The next day was grommets/busk. To prepare the back, we're gonna be a bit of a rebel... I cut out a duplicate piece of the back panel and stitched it RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER (just stay with me...). After trimming and pressing, I stitched lines 1/2 inch away, 5/8 inch away, then folded under the raw edge and edge-stitched it down. This made the boning channels and space for the grommets to live. Then I stitched three lines (semi) equally down the grommet space. This provides more support when we are placing the grommets in the center back piece.

Now I use a 2-piece grommet that I buy from Corset Making Supplies (click me...) in size 00. After I marked all the holes, I punched them using my metal punch and set them using the die setter and my rubber mallet. YES I cut my holes, NO I don't want to use an awl.... YES I know its preferred to not cut the holes open, NO I don't care 😊.

The busk went in using a similar method, but in no way similar at all.... you follow? Great, lets walk through that process K?

The "Loop" side of your busk gets marked on the WRONG side of your front piece. Then you take your front facing piece (which was not an actual pattern piece, but one I created for this particular pattern) and stitch the front seam RIGHT SIDES together, stopping your stitching where you marked for the loops to come through the fabric (Yes I know there are multiple marks, I messed up ok....do as I say, not as I do LOL). Then flip that facing inside, and push the loops through the holes created by the stitching and with your zipper foot, pray you don't hit the busk and break a needle in the process.... ASK ME HOW I KNOW). Once that's done, trim the seam and fold the raw edge down and edge-stitch it in place.

The stud side is worked the exact same way, and unfortunately I didn't take as many pics as I should have (FOR SHAME). Stitch a facing RIGHT SIDES together (the facing pieces were about 2.5 inches wide, and as long as the longest point of the corset plus about an inch), and press that seam open. (Deep breath)… trim the side of the facing that the studs will poke out from to about 1/8th of an inch, and mark the studs. Then using your awl (or any sharp round pointy thing), make small holes and push the studs through. Then flip the facing to the inside and stitch the same way to finish like you did on the loop side.