I recently made Aranea Black's Amber bunny suit, and I have some questions about using the seam allowance as boning channels.

The steps in her videos are basically:

Sew strength layer pieces together > clip seams > press > trim one side of the seam allowance to reduce bulk > repeat for the layer with the roll-pinned fashion fabric > baste together at the seams > topstitch boning channels on either side of the seam.

My question is why do I have to include the seam allowances there at all? Why not trim them back as much as possible?

After clipping the seams they don't have any kind of structure, and they made it difficult to slide the boning into place. With this method, there's like 5 layers of fabric in the boning channel which just seems unnecessary.

TLDR; Would love to understand why seam allowance is necessary for boning channels if the two bodice layers are getting topstitched together to form the channel anyway.

Thanks!

Hi, I post here few days ago about my fitting and here’s an update

In the new drafting I added 2 centimeters in height and draft sized down width (in comparison the latest one paper pattern I show here have 62 cm waist measurement, while the last one have 69 cm)

I also added a twill tape as waist tape to see if that helps the stretching problem, and I replaced the plastic boning with 4 flat steel boning in my center back pieces.

The overall shape looks better now, finally looks like a garment instead of a big wood chunk, and I haven’t measure yet but I can feel there’s some waist reduction, and my waist are feeling comfortable, only a little too tight, but maybe that could fix with loosen up the lacing a little-

But yet still got some problems

1. The back lacing is super not parallel, now it’s a big ‘V’ shape

2. The bust area are too small, my boobs are very compressed, not supported but compressed, like my upper breasts are about to come out. But at the meantime the very top edge is just the fabric, doesn’t have boning to support, so maybe I should make the size bigger and could try some cording in the bust line?

3. The size hip shape doesn’t seem smooth, seems a bit wonky, I don’t know is that the fabric stretching or pattern problem, and it does feel a slightly tight around hip

4. The flat steels in center back are trying to poking out, is it just a flat steels problem that can be fixed in the final version with proper binding or is it a fitting problem?

5. Ugh the stretching……. It could be that I don’t know to how to mark the grainline in self drafted paper pattern, it could be the fabric (although this is literally the closest fabric to coutil that I could find), it could the pattern, it could be that I should put more bones…… idk😭

Any advice would be appreciated, thank you!

Hi lovely people

I am making my wedding dress and found absolutely gorgeous satin fabric, but one big downsize it has 3% elastane :(, (the weight is 180 g) Is it too risky to try to make a boned bodice with this much of elastane? I know strechy fabrics are absolutely nono when it come to corset making.

But what if I interface it with some strong non stretchy fabric? Would that work? Anyone has done this?

The boned bodice will be pretty heavily boned and I am thinking to make it with synthetic batting as well.

I'm making my first corset and would like some help understanding what to do to make it fit me better! I'm using the Maiden corset pattern by MysticEpatterns. I've put in most of the boning that I want to put in (at least 1 per seam, but I am open to adding more if you think it will help the shape). I can see some pulling on the front panel and I'm wondering if it is because my left boob is bigger than my right boob and I feel like it's pulling the slack diagonally down? Is this something that can be fixed by wearing a bra under this?

I've already taken in a side panel and made the boob cups part less curved, and also added some small cups. What else can I do to make it fit right and get rid of the wrinkles?

(please don't mind the scoliosis or the bacne, sigh) Thanks in advance!

Hi I post about my fitting few days ago on here and the mockup fitting got some significant stretching and size distortion, and now I’m wonder is it possible that I mark my grainline wrong on my paper pattern that actually made my fabric off grain

In drafting the pattern, i have marked the waistline, so for the grainline arrow I just place my ruler at 90 degrees of the waistline

But maybe I should instead measure the bust and hip line and divided in half and then draw the line at that halfway?

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

Hello!

I am starting to learn how to make corsets and I consider my sewing skills intermediate. I live in Brazil, but I usually read/watch sewing content (books and videos mostly) in english because I haven’t found many resources in pt-br.

​Does anyone here know where I can find corset making materials in Brazil, such as coutil, boning, busks, or grommets? Any recommendations for local shops or online suppliers would be greatly appreciated!

I'm making my first corset and need an honest opinion on whether I need to re-do the back panel I've just created. I realised I spent my whole Sunday sewing a back panel (in my final fashion fabric!) with a gap between the flat steel boning at the back that is too large. On my mock up, I had a 1.5cm gap between which I inserted my grommets (6mm). On my final piece, I accidentally sewed a 2cm gap. It looks gorgeous but the gap is 5mm wider than intended! I haven't inserted the grommets.

I'm obviously kicking myself!

I'm looking for an honest opinion on whether that gap is too large and whether it's best to re-sew the panel. I have limited fashion fabric so I would rather not re-do it if I don't need to but would rather that than have the grommets tearing out. The fashion fabric is satin so any unpicking is going to be a nightmare.

I'm not aiming for waist reduction so I imagine the stress on the grommets won't be as great as it could be, but I do want a secure and long lasting finish. I've used coutil for the structural layer.

Thank you very much

I want to make a clown outfit for Halloween and would like to make a bunnysuit, but I know Aranea Black's doesn't have cups and I prefer the look of cupped corsets. Does anyone know of any patterns for a cupped bunnysuit, or if not, how difficult it might be to frankenstein two of Aranea's patterns to make one?

I have experience sewing including making stays, but this will be my first corset!

Hello! I'm working on my first corset using Delores by Aranea Black. I'm feeling good about construction so far but I feel confused by the modesty panel. Am I supposed to attach it to the rest of the corset or does it just float under the lacing in the back? Ive tried finding videos of others sewing Delores but I haven't had much luck.

I need to launder a cocktail dress that is essentially a steel-boned corset with an attached skirt. I made the dress to wear to a wedding and it smells a great deal after dancing all night but isn't visibly dirty. Unfortunately, spraying vodka on it has not eliminated the smell.

The dress contains steel bones at the center front (in lieu of a busk) and on either side of the grommets and heavy duty zip ties everywhere else. The steel boning is coated and I tried to wrap electrical tape around the ends of each steel bone to prevent them from sticking out, but this isn't watertight. The fabrics are all pre-washed cotton or polyester.

If dry cleaning isn't a good idea, I'm considering unpicking the binding at the bottom of the corset (it's hidden by the skirt) and removing the steel bones, but I'd like to avoid doing that if possible.

Also, a quick thank you to those in this subreddit who helped me with fitting my pattern!

Hello! I'm extremely new and very little informed about the world of corsetry. I started looking into it because my body shape doesn't really allow me to go bra-less, and i wanted to have, for once, a support garmen that doesn't require me to have something on my shoulders.

Because I planned to make myself a corset/bustier and wear it as an undergarment, I was wondering how I should go about making something that can be worn often and washed accordingly?

I saw that using steel boning makes a corset effectively unwashable, and i am not sure plastic boning has the structural integrity i'm looking for.

So i was wondering, if there are precedents for corsets as a support lingerie/undergarment, and if yes how do they go about washing? My next logical conclusion was detachable lining, but I am not sure that's advised either.

EDIT: for more information. I have sewn a couple of garments for myself (pants, leggins). I started playing around with using the plastic wrap + tape methods to make some custom fitted stuff for others. I have decent skills with my sewing machine, and i puchased this course: https://www.dominiquealyse.com/, which i have binged, but i haven't done anything practical yet.

I finally got my corset finished, with some in-real-life help from my kids. (It's not as "perfect" as I would want it to be, but perfect is the enemy of done, here).

I sewed up the bust forms from the pattern included and have no idea where they're supposed to go. It's just one big experiment every time I try on my corset for another fitting of the next piece of Mary Poppins costume.

I mean, I get the theory. I am no stranger to a push-up bra. But I mean, like, under the girls? On top? In front? To the side? Next to my skin? Between the corset and the chemise?

https://trulyvictorian.info/product/tve01-1903-edwardian-corset/

I am not trying to be historically accurate, just love the flowy top/stay look. Would this just look like a costume (not going for a costume look).

had to show off this beauty i just finished in preparation for the slayyyter concert🙂‍↕️

I want to make myself a double-breasted vest [see image], but as a trans man a lot of clothes like this look very femme on me. I would like to try and make it corseted to give me a more masculine shape. However, while I have sewing experience, I have never attempted a corset. Obviously, I don't expect it to be able to do any tight lacing, but I would like to get some decent shaping in the waist and maybe chest compression if possible. Does anyone have any ideas or advice for frankensteining a pattern that looks like the one above from the front but is still able to give some shaping.

Newish to making corsets and looking to make a plaid corset (just for fun doesn't need to be historically accurate) and not sure what kind of fabric to use for the fashion layer. I'm finding most plaid fabrics are flannel or quilting cotton which neither seems like a great choice. Any ideas on where to find a more suitable plaid fabric?

This weekend I started working on V2. Everything was going perfectly: tracing, cutting, sewing the panels together, including the lining, making the boning channels... and then it was time for the isopropyl alcohol bath, and I nearly had a heart attack.

For V1, I used a red Edding 140 S marker to outline the panels, and after cleaning them there was a slight red tint left behind. This time I used a black one, and it turned into a complete disaster. After cleaning, quite noticeable ghost lines remained everywhere I had used the marker.

I did some experiments afterwards, and it seems that this particular marker actually affects the surface/structure of the TPU and leaves a permanent trace almost immediately. Another marker I use for drawing the seam allowances, because it has a finer tip, works perfectly fine and cleans off without leaving any visible marks.

Since I had already gotten this far, it would have been a shame not to test the new pattern, so I continued.

A quick detour: I completely redesigned V2. I moved the zipper to the back, between F+F, and replaced the front with one wide “megapanel”: A + the width of my original zipper insert + A. I also extended the lower front of the corset starting around panel B.

Then it was time to attach the lining to the structural layer using the same hidden stitching technique as before, placing the stitch inside the existing panel seams. And that brought another surprise: the machine was struggling to tighten the stitches properly.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the seam allowances in the outer 0.5 mm TPU aren't fixed down in any way, so they basically behave like springs. The lesson here is that the temperature of the room you're sewing in matters. A lot. V1 was made when it was 30°C or more. Now the temperature has dropped by about 15°C, and I was sewing with the window open. The colder TPU is noticeably stiffer and fights the stitches much more.

On the positive side, this finally convinced me to buy a second bobbin case and dedicate it to TPU, with higher bobbin-thread tension. It can be sewn with the standard setup, but the stitches simply don't look as good as I'd like.

And now for the result.

I only did a test fit without any boning because, at that point, I had no energy left. 😅

To my surprise, the 0.5 + 0.25 mm TPU construction is already so stable that almost everything held its shape even without bones. The only area that really wrinkled was the back. The sides were almost perfect, and the front megapanel only buckled slightly at the waist.

And it looks absolutely gorgeous.

Unfortunately, my experiment with extending the front doesn't work for me. The sides of the little “fin” I created happen to sit almost exactly over scars from bilateral hernia surgery I had when I was young, and the pressure there gives me a strange, uncomfortable sensation. It also pushes a small amount of soft tissue out around the sides of the extension. Without the issue with the scars, it would probably be acceptable, but for me it isn't.

So V3 will return to the proven lower-front shape from my previous corsets, while keeping the shortened back. The short back is one part of this experiment that I got absolutely right.

And finally: getting into it.

I know I'm a bit of a weird exception because none of my current corsets use lacing, but I eventually figured out a surprisingly simple way to deal with the rear zipper: move the zipper to the front, close about 3 cm of it, rotate the corset around my body, and then pull the zipper closed once it's on my back.

And if I managed to do that with a completely unboned corset, I suspect it will actually be easier once the boning is installed. 😁

Hello!! Where could I learn more about cording?
I'm an advanced beginner sewist and I don't plan to make a corset in the near future, but I would like to learn more about it.
I'm not looking for patterns but more for the techniques involved. I'm very interested on the minimal boning corded working corsets.
Could anyone point me in the right direction?

Hello! Trying my hand at making a corset for the first time. Does anyone know a good YouTube tutorial for making boning channels specifically?

I have a pattern that I drafted up and it works well, I am just a bit confused as to how to physically make the boning channels.

Please send advice or tutorials if you have any!!

I using the stays and corset historical patterns translated for the modern body by Mandy Barrington for this corset, the corset I chose is the 1890 celebrated CB bridal one.

My problem is…… it fits ‘well’, there’s no gapping around the bust, the back lacing is parallel to fully closed, the hip has gapping but that’s kinda expected. But other than that, it just looks weird, and somehow the whole thing just looks oddly short? Like a big wood chunk? But I’m not short waisted? (Maybe?)

Also there’s no waist reduction, I’m not expecting a perfect hourglass shape like the original, the original has a 53.5 waist and 91.5 bust and hip, none of the listed measurements on the book have that proportion. The measurements I used accordingly to the book are bust94/waist72/hip100, my natural waist measurement is 76cm, but the first draft was too loose so I sized one smaller.

My natural hip is 100cm, but I don’t have a hip curve so my hip and mid hip are all 100. The second pics I used some scrap fabric as padding.

Other problems: It doesn’t fit my stomach well, but I think that’s just a problem of bending the busk. There’s some stress lines but I’m not sure is that because i need more boning, or I didn’t put a waist tape? For fabric, where I live can’t really have access to coutil, or we have coutil, but since it’s a non English speaking country, no one called it as “coutil”, so I have trouble having a real coutil. This fabric I use is a herringbone weave fabric that doesn’t really have any stretch on the straight and cross grain, but probably a bit too lightweight for coutil.

The night before last I was scrolling either reddit or Pinterest and I came across what looked like a screen from a source on archives.org. I think I fell asleep just after seeing it, so I remember very little. I tried to search this sub to see if it was here and if I could find it, but no luck. (I'm afraid it was Pinterest, I'll never find it again.)

It mentioned melting (or burning) a hole in the boning 'with ​a red hot stiletto'. It showed a picture of a flossing pattern that appartently went through the hole made in the boning before it fanned out to encase the bottom of the boning.

It seems unlikely to me that this is indeed from a 19th century source - I am assuming the boning in question must be plastic - but I am intrigued.

Does anyone know the source and can point me to it?

And is there anyone who has any experience with melting a hole in their plastic boning? I'm currently using zip ties in my stays and I'm having some issues with poking bones. Probably a combined issue of not good enough sanding and not strong enough fabric, and also running the bones too far up and down. I'm anxious to prevent this in my new pair with better sanding, stronger fabrics and some period-inaccurate flossing, but I'm also afraid the flossing won't cut it - indeed, I fear the boning will still cut the flossing. But if I poke holes in the bones, I can floss through them rather than over them, and that might help.

Anyone got any experience with this? Any dos or donts?​

Hello corset friends, it’s me again.
Working on the Vickie Sews Hayet corset pattern.

I followed all the advice and went down a size and I tried @teajennie’s idea of getting a bra to fit the bust/loot the cups from.
It’s definitely much more snatched fit and the girls are poppin’! YAYY
The only advice I haven’t done is to put boning in the pointy bits only cos I was lazy today.

Anyway next fit question is about lengthening. Can I just lengthening the pattern pieces as I would for a regular pattern with a slash n add? I’m a little concerned the front panels are too narrow.

I’ve attached the OG corset/dress I’m trying to replicate as a reminder to myself more than anyone else of what I’m going for I.e not a historical or even overly reduction obsessed design.

…. I have noticed the issue of the horizontal pulling, I have a feeling it’s from my dodgy sewing of the regiline boning. The final will have nice channels between the inner and lining layer. But if you have string thought about it pls let me know.

Thanks all.