Guide to Corset Shopping

I've gotten many questions about corsets over the past few years, so I put together a video to help those of you who want a burlesque look make wise choices based on your intentions for the garment. I give some simple tips to recognize a well-constructed corset, and recommendations on how to select and utilize an off-the-rack corset or corset-like garment.

Enjoy and share the love.

Sewing September - Day 30

I didn't post last night since I was finishing this for my sister. It's finished!

Glad I paid attention when I was cutting the fabric!

The laces in the back are red. I may replace the cord I got with paracord since paracord will make it easier for my sister to cinch herself in. She needed something that looked "burlesquey" for an upcoming poi performance at Harvest Festival, and I think this will do the trick.

I didn't get as much done in September as I had hoped. I wanted to do a sew-along, but there were plenty of speed bumps that prevented that from happening. I can plan better for next year. :)

Here's what I actually completed in September:

• sparkly mint cardigan
• sparkly mint headband
• gray cardigan
• my sister's striped underbust corset
• my black zip underbust corset
• a ridiculous sock monster for Coca Carter
• two panels for my panel skirt

Here's what I worked on but didn't really complete:

• e-textiles (I did complete some tutorials.)
• quilted bag
• two Doodle squares for the quilt

I lost some corset pieces, ruined some corset pieces, replaced a part for my primary machine, got attacked by a crazy person, did a couple shows, and started a new business in September. Despite these interruptions, I still managed to get some things done.

 

While I don't have the pressure of National Sewing Month, I'm always creating and will share my discoveries with you as I go.

Sewing September - Day 29

Hand sewing like a freak today. I'm not sure how many projects will be completed by end of business tomorrow, but I have put in a valiant effort.  I started the night with my final LilyPad project. I worked on it before, but something was missing. Today I sorted out that it was missing the negative trace from the final LED. Glad we have a multimeter and my husband is smart.

I love learning this stuff.

Since I was playing with LEDs, I wired up the LEDs on one side of my corset. I have to attach the power supply; it's going to be removable because I'm smart. Lights first, trim on top, then rhinestoning to enhance the look.

I couldn't help myself.

I ended my sewing night with the bottom binding of the other side of my sister's corset. I'm looking forward to finishing it and sending it to my sister. I love finishing projects.

This is going to look so good.

Sewing September - Day 24

I was making great progress last night. I got the busk completely set and it looks fantastic. I stitched the boning channels in the back panels so I'd be ready for grommeting, but something happened.

I use Chacoliner to mark the stitching lines for the channels. I used my new red Chacoliner on the shell of the corset, and it didn't wipe off as easily as the yellow. I tried using a scrap of the same fabric to rub the red chalk off, but that didn't work. I took the panels into my kitchen and hit them with cold water and a little dish soap. I scrubbed the lines with my fingers and rinsed the panels, leaving them to dry in my dishrack.

When I dyed the coutil for the quickie corset, I rinsed that stuff until the water ran clear. I rinsed it and air dried it, then rinsed it again and again and again. You can't wash a corset because of the bones and grommets, but there were no bones and I bought the coutil that was already dyed black. Imagine my surprise when I found that the dye in the coutil ran all over the shell. This was just from the hand washing in cold water with soap. Not cool at all. I have to remake these back panels. (What the hell is the deal with having to make corset rear panels twice per corset this month?!)

Not cool, black coutil. Not cool at all.

I'm fortunate this happened when it did. I've made black coutil corsets that didn't stain while being worn, but those were from a different dye lot. She's not going swimming in this corset, but she is going to get sweaty. I can't have it dye her skin or ruin the shell. The lesson I've learned is that you must rinse coutil that has been dyed to dark colors before using it, even if you didn't dye it yourself. I'm going to rinse all of the coutil I bought until the water is clear. I'm going to rinse the inside coutil panels that have already been assembled. It's a bigger pain to pull out the busk and rinse that coutil, so I'm going to try interfacing the coutil on that panel, essentially creating a fusible condom to protect the shell from the coutil. The panel is so small I don't think it will be an issue.

Learning lessons quickly by sewing so intensively. :)

Sewing September - Day 17

As my cardigan gathers dust on my ironing board, I take on a new project. (It's not really gathering dust. More precisely, it's gathering papers and projects because I'm terrible with flat surfaces and I fill them with projects. My ironing board is half craft table, half ironing surface.)

There are wonderful things about working with the same people and the same patterns over and over. I'm making a corset for my sister for the Harvest Music Festival in October. She's spinning poi and probably doing some other hippie performing arts (like fire fans and hoop and stuff I can't do). Her group is doing themed costumes, and she decided she wants an underbust corset. I made another for her earlier this year for fun.

Since I have the pattern for her underbust corset on file and I've made this particular style a few times, I cut and assembled the sides within 30 minutes. I have to get more coutil and a busk before I finish each half, but I might just drop in the waist tape with room at the ends and put in some boning channels before I have the rest of the supplies.

I asked her to send me canvas for the shell. This stuff is dreamy on the machine.

Sewing September - Day 14

Bested the corset! Today I finished the assembly, so I'll show you how it all turned out. I rarely make single-layer corsets, so now is your chance to see the nuts and bolts.

I use fusible web to baste the waist tape and boning channels before I stitch them all in place. The waist tape floats between channels, meaning it's not stitched down on all edges. The boning channels were once intended for magnetic tape, but the supplier ordered more than they used so they sell it at a discount. If you use two layers of coutil, you don't need the boning channels. If you use a single layer of coutil, you can buy the discount channeling and have the print face the coutil; no one will be the wiser unless you spill the beans on the internet. ;) I'm not taking this off during a number, so it's an inside joke for me - "dangerous near a pacemaker."

Boning channels with built-in comedy.

Here is the front of the corset. I embellished it with some black stones to make the ebony panels in the back look a bit more intentional. (I had to use a filter so you could see the stones.) You might notice there is no facing behind the zipper. Since the piece isn't intended for removing on stage, I didn't bother with a facing. I have to loosen the lacing and take my time unzipping it so I don't catch my skin when I remove it.

Front view

The back doesn't have my standard modesty panel. I'm not removing it on stage. I also rarely wear black, so I didn't take the same care constructing this piece that I would a piece that I planned on wearing frequently. If I intended to use it regularly, I would add the modesty panel and the front facing. I would also get some thicker lacing cord because the paracord shifts pretty easy in the grommets. This will work for tomorrow. Since I had all of these supplies on hand in my house, I didn't go out of pocket for this piece.

You can barely tell what was once lavender in this light.

The reason I had to crank this out for Monday was to match Lili's silhouette when I perform her number in a tribute show tomorrow night.

I think I fill out her bra reasonably.

Monday may just be a little hand sewing. I'm hoping that Tuesday ends my wrestling with the cardigan.

Sewing September - Day 6

Corset making time! This is the single layer corset I'm whipping out for Lili's birthday show. It's an under bust corset with a brass zipper closure. (I opted for the brass zipper for a few reasons. I don't plan to take the corset off onstage, but I want to be able to get into it easily. As a teacher, I know not every student will want to spend the $15-$20 on a busk but wouldn't mind spending $5 on a brass zipper. I also wanted to increase my zipper skills by sewing more zippers.)

Look at that perfect zipper and the Doodle Hulk.

I learned a zipper-setting trick in a Craftsy class. I use a bit of stitch witch and secure the zipper to the fabric with an iron. It's important that the vertical lines of a corset be as clean as possible, so I had to make sure that the stitch witch was perfectly placed before pressing the zipper to the corset. I dotted craft glue along the stitch witch to secure it to the zipper, preventing slippage when I steamed it later. The sturdy fabric, the strong zipper, the stitch witch all contributed to the perfect setting.

Zipper teeth are attached to twill tape, and twill tape is very sturdy. I pressed the seam allowance and the zipper's twill tape inside the corset to create a boning channel. No need to add separate boning channels to support the zipper because I stitched them into the seam allowance.

Inner workings of the corset.

Since it is a single layer corset, everything inside is exposed when the corset is open. You can see where I pressed the seam allowances open. Once I set the waist tape, boning channels will be stitched over those open seam allowances. It won't be gorgeous, but it will be well-made.  I should have this done within a few days.

Tomorrow I will change the thread on my serger, change to a ball needle, and make that second cardigan!

Sewing September - Day 3

Today was another very busy day so I had to make an effort to work in my sewing projects.

First up, I did some stitching on my latest LilyPad learning project. The LilyPad Kit is incredible. I'm hand stitching with conductive thread, learning how to create a button for wiring. I'm getting this knowledge under my belt so I can really soup up my new costume.

Then I cut a new corset. I'm performing one of Lili vonSchtupp's numbers in just under two weeks, and I don't have a black corset to go with the other costume bits. I'm building a single layer corset with a zipper instead of a busk, so I figure I'll have it finished within a week. I cut the corset today, but I won't be stitching it until tomorrow.

I photocopy my corset pattern pieces so I can alter them. (I prefer working from existing patterns whenever possible because it saves me time. I'll only reinvent the wheel if I must.) You can see in the photo where I reshaped the top of the overbust pattern to create an underbust shape. I'll bag up these pattern pieces, mark the bag, and keep them in my drawer of individual corset patterns so I can pull them out the next time I need to make a longline underbust corset.

Copies of patterns are easier to alter.

Corset Time: Finished

I put in another two hours on the corset to bring it to completion. That's 10:45 for an overbust corset from a pattern I've used (and fitted) previously. I'd say to allow twenty hours for constructing a brand new corset, giving time for multiple fittings and inevitable learning errors.

The hand stitching of the bias tape is fairly time consuming, especially when you're trying to use your non-dominant hand like me.

I'm also a fan of the modesty panel. The first custom corsets I'd seen had modesty panels attached to one side inside the corset. I helped many performers tug the modesty panel into place so you wouldn't see any flesh under the laces, but the tugging didn't work so well when their bodies were a smidge fuller than the modesty panel would cover. (One quarter inch of bare back is pretty obvious when you have so many precise lines with a corset.)

I don't like having to rely on someone else to dress me backstage. I also don't want to look like I've outgrown my corset because of the sliver of skin to one side in the back. I make full coverage modesty panels that will cover most of my back (roughly 11" across). For this silky fabric, I interfaced one side so it would have some durability. I topstitched the panel closed and used the topstitching as my guide for hand sewing the panel to the corset.

The panel is attached just outside the grommets and inside the rear bones. You have to be careful with this so you don't sew the modesty panel in the way of where your laces will go. When I put on the corset with the secured modesty panel, a tug at the top and the bottom of the panel will dress the back nicely before and after cinching.

I'll give a fancier photo of the finished product later. I was so excited that I wanted to share my timed project!

Corset Time: Fitting

Grommets set, fitting done, boning inserted. Total time spent to this point was 8:45.

We don't have the kickass grommet machine yet so we have to do all the grommeting by hand. The grommet punch that comes in a grommet kit sucks.  I'm sure it would be great at cutting through a single layer of banner plastic, but it's miserable at trying to cut through coutil (much less the layers of fabrics behind the coutil in a corset). No matter how long I would hammer on that miserable little die, it would not cut through the fabric. I now use the die to indent the fabric (from the inside) so I know where the hole will be. I take a pair of fingernail scissors or sturdy nippers and clip out the fabric inside the hole. It takes a lot less time and frustration. Andrew set the grommets for me because he's stronger and faster at it. He's a bit better at swinging a hammer.

I dropped a couple bones in the back of the corset and laced it up with some spare ribbon for the fitting. You can see how it looks with no extra boning and no extra support. I was satisfied with the fit, so I measured the boning channels and had Andrew cut my boning. (I'm including his work time in my estimate.) I'm wiggly so I used spiral boning everywhere but center back. He clipped and buffed the edges of the bones, then dipped them so they wouldn't poke me.

I believe in getting as much of the soft work done as possible before dropping in the bones. The corset is harder to move around on the sewing machine once the bones are in place. I machine stitched the bias tape on the shell of the corset around the bottom before putting in the bones for completion.

Corset Time: Gaining Momentum

My husband and I have noticed that a project doesn't really look like much of anything until the finishing touches start falling into place. This totally applies to corsets.

I spent three hours inserting the busk, attaching the lining to the shell (via hand then via machine), and serging the lower edge. The hand sewing always takes forever. I'm not looking forward to the bias tape steps later because of all the hand sewing.

I'm at 6:45 now. Andrew is doing the grommets tomorrow while I'm at the day job. (I found a fancy grommet device but can't afford the investment yet. For now he's my grommeting machine.) after the grommets are done, I can add temporary lacing for a fitting.

Corset Time: Moving Right Along

Since my last post, I added the boning channels and waist tape. Because I've made a few corsets and I know this particular pattern really well, I knew where to put the waist tape. This would usually be established in the fitting stage of the muslin mock-up. I get to bypass that.

I also worked out a neat trick to make it easier and more efficient to place the boning channels and waist tape. I used Stitch Witchery to secure the waist tape and to place the boning channels against the seams inside the coutil. I know the pattern and know my body, so I know how many boning channels I will need to appropriately support my body. This is the stage where additional boning channels can be added. After the channels were temporarily bonded to the coutil, I stitched them down.

Busk next! So far I'm at 3:45.

Corset Time: Blue Coutil

My corset materials supplier is RichArd the Thread in Los Angeles. They have oodles of corseted and millinery supplies. I was going to pop in for some natural coutil, but they frequently have coutil of various due lots in stock. It usually comes by the yard, but I lucked into a precut half yard (enough for two overbust corsets for myself). By using the robin's egg blue coutil, I don't need to add a lining layer to the corset. The blue will make a structure and lining layer. (I recommend corsets that are at least two layers for burlesque: fancy outer shell and pretty inner support.  Colored insides of garments make them more lovely and theatrical when removed. Your garments look less off the rack that way.)

I also picked up a brass busk for a couple dollars more than the regular busk. Brass will look nicer with the gold embroidered stitches I put on the shell seams. I scoped out a grommet machine while I was at Richard the Thread's because grommeting is so time consuming. I think that may be the next tool we add to the Snapper home. In the meantime, I'll have to grommet by hand.

I cut and stitched together the coutil layer in an hour. Next step is to drop in some boning channels and prepare the front for the busk.

Not including the shopping or embroidery time, I've spent 3:30 on this corset.

Corset Time: Quick Start & Cheap Pretties

I've decided to time myself constructing a corset from scratch. I plan to teach a class in corset making, so I have to be able to manage the class so the students have completed corsets at the end. This is my journey of making an overbust, and you can follow how long it takes me.

I'm saving time by using a successful pattern. I altered an overbust pattern for my Rewedding corset, and I made a muslin mock-up for a fitting before I made the final garment. I didn't have to fit this pattern again because I know how it fits. This saves me two to three hours in cutting, stitching, lacing, and fitting.  Students won't have this shortcut for their first corset.

It took me two hours to cut the corset pieces and attach the fusible interfacing for the shell. (Delicate fabrics require some support beyond the coutil.) Another thirty minutes and I had the shell fully assembled. I still have to purchase the super sturdy coutil to make the lining. So far it's 2:30 for a fancy shell of satin.

I recently had my sewing machine serviced, and I was reminded by the technician that my machine has some cool embroidery stitches. For under $3 and thirty minutes, I embroidered the seams of the shell with beautiful gold leaves. I pressed all the seam allowances toward the back of the garment and stitched directly on the seams. I would probably use appliqué backing if I was going to do anything with more stitches to further support the fabric. I'll probably use the gold thread on the busk openings.

Next time I'll have the coutil done.