Sandra Stuart constructs and decorates a new corset from the 1878 Fanning patent that she patterned and fitted in part 1.
Fabric preferences, the size of your toile and pattern pieces, and your proposed construction methods are all enormously important. They influence what you buy, what it’s made of, and how much of it you should get. I wanted to use only natural fabrics and threads in this corset, so I purchased accordingly.
Never one to miss an opportunity to tackle two projects at once, I chose the colours and design for this corset based on a teacup! (To read more about my teacup corset project, check out the interview here. 
I wanted to keep the colours, materials, and embroidery somewhat period-correct, and the muted tones of this china pattern worked perfectly.
Lay out your pattern pieces and estimate how much fabric you will need (accounting for things like seams, grain, possible shrinkage, and whether you will need extra fabric to make your own bias binding). I always buy a little more fabric than I think I’ll need, because everyone makes mistakes (especially me).
For construction layers, I planned to flatline my outer layer to a twill base and treat them as one layer for added strength when cording and embroidering. A single layer of coutil would do double duty as both the strength and lining layer.
List of materials (their functions are in parentheses):
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Preparing the MaterialsI hand-washed the sateen and twill in warm water, rinsed thoroughly, and tumble-dried them on low heat. The bright white coutil, twill tape, and lace were dyed in a light tea dye solution. These components will be visible and I prefer a natural antique colour. (This will only work with natural fibers such as linen, wool, silk, cotton, etc.) |
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Here’s how to tea-dye your fabric:
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The Hardware
Measure your toile to determine the length of your busk and bones. I made my bones 1/2” (13mm) shorter than the corset at each end, so they wouldn’t come too close to the edge (leaving room to bind the edges of the corset and floss the bone tips).
I used:
- Twelve 1/4” (6mm) spiral bones: 4x14” (seams 3 and 4) 2x12” (seam 5) 4x12½” (seams 7 and 8) 2x13½” (seam 10)
- One 14” (6mm) flat steel busk
- Four 1/4” (6mm) flat steel bones: 4x15”
Fig. 1 of the original corset patent shows twelve evenly-spaced grommets per side. Using only twelve grommets along a 16” (41cm) total height would mean that they’d be spaced about 1¼” (32mm) apart, and I personally prefer to space grommets 1” (25mm) apart or less. I opted to use sixteen grommets per side, 32 total, maintaining the even spacing shown in the pattern and bringing the top and bottom grommets closer to the edges.
(If this were a tight lacing corset, I would use more grommets and put them even closer together, especially at waist-level.)
Cording Tests
Never having corded a corset before, I decided to do a test. I wanted to see how much the sateen fabric would be shortened by the addition of each cord (so I could compensate for the addition of cording to pieces a, b, f, and g). I cut one 3”x3” (8x8cm) piece of twill and one of sateen. I stitched these together vertically along one edge, laid a cord between the pieces against this line of stitching, then stitched it into place along the other side (using a piping foot). This shortened the sateen layer by almost 1/8” (3mm). Adding a second cord shortened it by almost ¼” (6mm).
From this experiment, I saw that I would need to widen edges 3, 4, and 5 by a little less than 1/8” (3mm) and edges 7 and 8 by a little less than ¼” (6mm). Pieces a, b, f, and g would be corded after assembly. The only pieces that I intended to cord before assembly were pieces k, the back panels.
The back panels will be corded diagonally, so I did a second test. I cut out two identically-sized 6”x9” (15x23cm) pieces: again, a base layer of twill, and an outer layer of sateen. With these pieces sewn together using a straight vertical stitch at one edge, (just as they will be along the back edges of the corset), I ran a line of stitching at an angle across one corner. All of these diagonal stitches will begin at the vertical stitch line. The cording was pressed against this stitching, and its end was basted to anchor it beside the straight vertical stitch. Then I secured the cord in a channel by running another diagonal stitch along its other side. I did this five times, just as I will on the actual corset.
As a result, the sateen layer angled itself downwards.
I tried adding five more cords at an angle against the first group of five, to emulate the final cording of the corset. As you can see, the left edge of the sateen is now about 5/16” (8mm) shorter than it used to be, and the top edge was also displaced by about ¼” (6mm) with the addition of cording. I needed to cut the edges of piece 10 5/16” (8mm) wider than the pattern, and the top of piece k also needs to be ¼” (6mm) higher.
Cutting and Labeling the Pieces
| Cut out the coutil and twill pieces, ensuring that the waist line is parallel to the selvedge of the fabric. I cut out everything except twill pieces c, d, and e (for reasons I’ll explain later). |  |
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The sateen layer needs to be cut a little differently, as per my findings during the cording test. I add the required widths to each edge, drawing lightly in pencil. (The gussets and gores need no extra width.) |
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Identify all pieces on their wrong sides using small tape labels. I’ve just cut out 60 individual pieces for this corset: if I don’t label them, I’m almost certain to forget which is which! Setting aside the coutil layer, I have a lot of work to do on the combined sateen/twill layer before I can sew everything together. |
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Cording the Back Pieces
Pin the sateen and twill pieces with their wrong sides together. Stitch a temporary straight line down the edge of each piece as shown. My seam allowance at the very back is 3/8” (1cm), and the width I require for my row of grommets plus two vertical ¼” (6mm) flat steel bones is 1” (2.5cm), equaling a total width of 1 3/8” (3.5cm). I draw pencil lines on the twill sides 1 3/8” (3.5cm) from the edges, then stitch along them very carefully.
How to position the cording symmetrically on both back pieces? Here’s a little trick I came up with:
- Hand-baste all four back pieces together at the edges (twill on the outside, sateen on the inside).
- Draw light pencil lines on one side to indicate where the cording will go. From my test, I learned that the area taken up by the five cords together would be about 1 1/8” (29mm) wide.
- Remove the thread and bobbin from your sewing machine. Run the needle along the lines closest to the back, as shown. This will create tiny perforations through all four layers of fabric.
- Remove the basting stitches and separate the two halves.
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Reload the thread and bobbin into your sewing machine, then top-stitch along the perforations on each side of the corset. With these perfectly-positioned starting stitches in place, I add the strands of cord. The back panels are now mirror images of one another! I trim off the any excess sateen, using the twill layer underneath as my guide, and remove the anchor stitches from the cords. |
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Setting the GrommetsI always do a fabric thickness test before I set my grommets. One layer each of coutil, twill, and sateen, proved to hold the grommets well.
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Right sides together, I combine my sateen/twill and coutil k pieces with a 3/8” (1cm) seam along their back edges. (All up-and-down vertical stitches I make from now on will begin at the top and end at the bottom, so that I am always sewing my corset in the same direction.) The temporary vertical lines of stitching can now be removed. Trim 1/8” (3mm) off the seam allowance. Turning the pieces right sides out, iron them flat along the seam. Run a line of topstitching where the temporary vertical stitches once were. Another line is stitched ¼” (6mm) away from this one to create a bone channel. Yet another line is stitched 5/16” (8mm) from the edge, creating a second bone channel. Slide the flat steel bones into their channels. Using a clear ruler, I make pencil marks at 1” (2.5cm) intervals (beginning and ending ½” (13mm) from the top and bottom edges of the corset.) |
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I poke holes through the three layers of fabric with an awl. I always find it difficult to make holes that are large enough using the awl alone, so I will very carefully cut a few threads with a sharp blade. (I use an “x” shape.) Try not to cut more threads than you need to cut, as this can weaken the holes and/or widen them too much. I fit the grommets through the holes one by one and set them. |
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I will set the top two and bottom two grommets last, after the top and bottom edge binding has been sewn on. |
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Embroidery: Historical Examples
Here are some beautiful examples of embroidered corsets from the 1870’s and 80’s.
Red corset with gold embroidery, 1880's, Met Museum NYC, C.I.48.48 Buff corset with white embroidery,Thompson's, Late 1870's Lara Corsets Cream corset with cream embroidery, late 1870's, Abiti Antichi |
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| Colorized diagram from US patent 293969,1884 | Detail from a Bon Ton Corset advertisement |
Embroidery: My Own Designs
These sketches show the areas I plan to embroider, and the types of designs I want to use in each location. My pattern ideas are a mixture of the historical examples above and the pattern on my teacup.
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Although it may not seem worth the time and effort, I strongly recommend that you do a few sampler pieces before taking a needle and floss to your corset. Practice pays!
You can experiment in different stitches and colours without the pressure of perfect execution the first time around. You will discover what looks good and works well, and what doesn’t.
When creating samplers, use scraps of the same materials you will be using in your finished garment. (I embroidered two little flowers onto my cording test!)
This kind of careful hand-stitching seems like a lost art these days, it’s not something we’re expected to learn from our mothers or grandmothers anymore. I taught myself through experimentation, practice, and persistence. It may seem overwhelming at first, but just relax and have some fun discovering the art of hand embroidery while you make your (no-pressure) samplers!
Embroidery: Bust Gussets and Gores
Flatline the sateen bust gore and gusset pieces to twill fabric as shown (ensuring that the grain lines of both fabrics are parallel). Stick the labels from the sateen pieces to the corners of the twill, for identification. These twill backing pieces will eventually become part of the corset, but for now they will also give me the extra fabric I’ll need to stretch my sateen over a hoop as I embroider it. |
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Trace and cut out two pieces of translucent vellum: one the same shape as gusset e and one the same shape as gores c & d (c and d are the same size and shape). Draw a border slightly wider than your seam allowance inside the traced outlines (given my 3/8” (1cm) seam allowance, I drew my border ½” (13mm) in from the edge). The space in the middle represents the area that will be visible on the finished corset. Draw your embroidery pattern onto the vellum within this boundary. Using a nice, sharp blade, cut out and remove areas of your vellum pattern as needed. (Don’t worry if your cuts are wobbly or rough. This is just a stencil, and it doesn’t have to be pretty!) |
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Place the stencil over the sateen surface of your pattern piece, and lightly trace the design onto the fabric with a sharp pencil. Flip the stencil horizontally to trace a mirror image of the pattern onto the opposite pattern pieces. |
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Now I can embroider my designs onto the gores and gussets, covering all the pencil lines I’ve drawn. I’m using hand-dyed silk floss: I prefer it to cotton because it’s smoother, stronger, and slightly lustrous. Always do this kind of work under good direct lighting, and take a break once in awhile. |
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When the embroidery is complete, iron the fabrics flat and then trim off the excess twill fabric. Stick the labels to the backs of the embroidered pieces so they don’t get mixed up. These took me about 20 hours to stitch. Fewer colours and a simpler design would have been easier and quicker, (and also more historically accurate), but I had a very specific design in mind! |
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Embroidery: Front Busk
First, I attach the sateen to its twill base along the front edge. (I will not need extra twill here as I did on the gores and gussets: I’ll only be doing a simple line of chain stitching, which doesn’t pucker the fabric very much.) Then I ran a temporary straight line of machine stitching ½” (13mm) away from the edge: this line represents the leading edge of the corset (where the coutil layer will eventually be joined). Another stitched line was added about 5/8” (1.5cm) away from the last. The area between these two lines represents the area which will sit directly over the ½” (13mm) wide steel of the busk. The embroidery will stay within this boundary. |
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As with the bust gussets and gores, I make a stencil so that I can mirror the pattern and achieve a consistent, even design. To give myself an idea of how it would look I traced the design down the entire length of the stencil, however I only cut out the top two swirls and used these to repeat the pattern. |
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On the right-hand side, mark the locations where the busk studs will poke through the fabric. Don’t embroider over (or under) these areas: this will make punching the holes difficult, and may result in broken embroidery threads. |
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For Next TimeNow that all of the special preparation has been done for various key parts of the corset, they’re ready to be assembled. For Part III, as my last instalment in this reconstruction series, I’ll be combining the pieces, flossing the bones, and finally trying on the finished corset!
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This is going to be beautiful:-)
