Classicrockchick learns corsetry

Ok so now I've done a bit more research and I now know that this bit:

....is the busk. It is a foot long. And from the photo on the front of the pattern packet, appears to be where the front of the corset is fastened:

So far so good.
These are the steel bones:

All 22 of them. This is going to be complicated! Eeek.

They're steel strips, ordered and cut to length, dipped in plastic, and capped at the ends. They are ordered individually (say, 4 at so many centermetres) and are about 25p each.

There's something strange about holding the steel bones. To actually see them in the 'raw' as it were, and feel how hard and cold, and long, they are, is quite suprising. I don't know how to explain that.

I've decided to make a different corset, because the pattern I had wasn't suitable for steel boning.

So I now have a new pattern:

I'm still going for 'easy' though, because this one is unlined - that's for later on. I have everything I need now to get started:

- 6 hooks and eyes
- 40 eyelets
- corset lace with metal tips
- 1 busk
- 22 steel bones (how many?)
- boning tape in 2 sizes
- Duchesse bias binding
- coutil fabric in black (like a heavy-weight brocade)

Cotton coutil is a fabric created specially for corsetry, and is heavy and very densely woven - so as to withstand the strain put on it by the steel bones. It's no more expensive than brocade - but as an average corset uses less than 1 metre - it's not too costly.

This is available easily on the net, although on Ebay I've only found one listing - for a whole roll of white coutil.

So my next step is to trace and cut out the pattern pieces.

I haven't had enough time today to get started, so I've done some research on the net instead.

I found a few interesting sites.

This one gives a quite detailed description, of how corsets are made, and the history and 'uses' of corsets.

This one is a UK site selling all the supplies needed to make corsets (boning, stays, and busks etc).

And another supplies site.

So having looked around and found sites that sell the metal boning, I think I might go for that instead of the bendy nylon, because it gives much more rigidity to the corset. That's how I think a corset should be.

The more rigid the better

The one in the photo allows for some sideways movement (for more comfort), whilst giving vertical rigidity. Perfect.

With the help of various cats I've now traced and cut all my pattern pieces in three sizes - using good old fashioned greaseproof paper.

Edit: This post was originally posted on my main blog - so the comments will be found there.

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I taught myself to make clothes by the time I was 15 (with a little help from my mother).

It's stood me in good stead over the years. Knowing how to make clothes, curtains etc is handy when you have very little cash. I would only describe myself as an intermediate though.

I've been looking at courses in corsetry, but they're waaaaay too expensive and would mean a few days away from home with the added expense that entails.

So I've been out this morning and bought myself an 'easy' corset pattern, in the hope that I can also teach myself to make these as well. Here it is:

I've not made anything as challenging as this! So I'm going to make a prototype out of a suitable-weight fabric (not expensive brocade!), and see how it turns out.

I'll be giving you photographic updates as it's put together - whether you want them or not

But first I have to trace off the pattern so I can use it to make all the sizes.

Big challenge!