Wow! Well FR friends and followers, we are finally at the stage where I have completed a corset based upon Daniel Kops' 1906 patent. In Part 5, we consider how to maximise the time available for complicated corsetry, how design affects construction, look at one way of dealing with a slightly asymmetrical body, and lament some of my construction choices!

As you have seen, a fundamental joy of patterning is that it works in both directions... from a 2D pattern piece to a 3D form, and from a 3D form to a 2D pattern piece. The idea of drafting a flat pattern based upon this design, without existing pattern pieces to reference, was immensely intimidating. Those "hearts" and "shields" were not easy to intuit. Working in three dimensions gave us a more immediate and accurate way of figuring out the required shapes and understanding their relationships.

Theoretically, you could take any bodice block (see Hearts: Part 2), draw on the placement for any seam lines, and construct your flat pattern from the resulting cut-out shapes.

As you saw in Part 2, I drafted the bodice to feature some waist reduction. I then decided that the corset would benefit from even more waist reduction, in order to best suit my model. This involved tweaking the cut-out pattern pieces further, an intuitive process that requires an extra imaginative "2D to 3D" leap.

I'm quite comfortable working in this way, but appreciate that it can add extra time/work to an already time-consuming process. By skipping this step and working straight from a toile that holds the desired silhouette (as brilliantly illustrated in Katarina Vukšić's article on patterning the Y&N diagonal seam corset)  we are able to save a bit of precious time. So for the final Hearts corset, I began from scratch once again, with a new model, to explore the design on a different figure (and because my original "model" was off travelling the world!)

METHOD:  Draft a basic "Victorian" corset using your preferred method, and work from this toile in place of a bodice block.

Two Birds, One Stone

The benefit of trying so many different patterning approaches is obvious. You learn the best way to proceed in the future, thus saving time and avoiding confusion. There were various practical constraints working on this project, which made me think carefully about the best way to proceed - the sorts of constraints that any corsetmaker, seamstress, designer or hobbyist may come across - primarily the time available. Anything I could do to simplify and/or speed up the patterning process was important.

I know that you'll all have your own issues that sometimes get in the way of your corsetry. Dependants, work, financial constraints, or so many ideas in your head that you don't know where to start. When devoting yourself to something as time-consuming and intricate as corsetry, anything we can do to streamline the process is a plus. Remember, streamlining certain tasks gives you more time for the fun stuff, which is why experimentation and study is so worthwhile.

I hope you'll enjoy seeing the final corset and reading about the patterning/fitting process.

The Pattern (once again)

As I had switched model, I needed to re-do the pattern. SamiO is a beautiful and charming 5' 8" lady with an athletic build and full bust. She loves all things pink and "vintage", and is a joy to work with. Having shot a couple of standard sized corsets on her before, I had a good idea of shaping and proportion. There can be a lot of debate about standard versus custom sizing, and the evils/merits of each... I love bespoke, which pivots around the idea of creating a new pattern, a new design sometimes, for each and every client. Every seam is carefully considered to best flatter their body.

But the standard sized corset can be a thoroughly useful tool. Few people fit standard sized pieces perfectly (you can see in Figure 3 that SamiO is longer through the torso and fuller in the bust than this midbust, worn cinched to 23" at the waist), but where time or expense is an issue, a standard sized pattern can be altered satisfactorily to give us a first step towards a custom fit. Many corsetmakers work in this way with brilliant results.

Figure 3: SamiO in a standard sized Sparklewren corset, cinched to a 23" waist.	Figure 4: SamiO in a standard sized Sparklewren underbust.

 

I traced out and adapted an overbust pattern based upon the midbust worn in figure 3, deciding at the last minute that I would like to stick to the low hipline of Kops' design, so I extended the hips directly onto the fabric using a French curve. I eyeballed the proportions needed based upon my observations when patterning other corsets and lacing SamiO into my standard sized pieces. Without the time to fit this first pattern to SamiO, I immediately used this a toile as the base for the Hearts design.

 

This first toile was laced onto a Victorian shaped mannequin and padded a touch (figure 6). Keeping an image of SamiO in front of me for reference, I sketched out Kops's seam placement in pencil (figure 7). The bust is folded and pinned to give an idea of how the volume will be affected by flattening out this piece. Once I was happy with their placement, I went over the seamlines in black marker pen.

Figure 6: the "Victorian" toile.	Figure 7: the pencilled seamlines and "flattened" bust.	Figure 8: the finalised seam placement.

I added an extra diagonal seam at the front. This is partly for aesthetics, but also to give us another point for in-seam alteration if necessary. The blue line shows the waist. You could also mark the hips and bust if you wished.

I then used the other side of the toile to sketch out a second design. If you have multiple ideas to try out, or a client/friend who you are making two corsets for, this can be a brilliantly simple timesaving measure, and one that I like to employ when coming up with new designs for myself. In this instance the second design isn't especially wacky, although it does feature a squared-off front hip gusset, as seen on some antiques. Remember that you could try just about anything. Swirls, squares, circles, multiple gores or gussets, triangles, hearts... you could even use the full toile and draw an asymmetrical design across the entire surface! Different shapes will result in different changes to the overall silhouette, so it's worth experimenting. My feeling is that the wilder your shapes become, the more prudent a separate strength layer may be (with simpler seams, to provide on-grain support beneath the interesting top-layer design).

Figure 9: The waistline, and an extra diagonal seam placed between the Heart insert and first Shield.	Figure 10: a second design, making use of the other half of the toile.

 

The drawn design was cut down as in Hearts Part 2, flattened, and traced out onto a rectangular framework (figures 12 – 14). (Flattening the pieces will result in softer, less curvy shaping. If you desperately want a super-curvy bust, for example, you will need to add extra seams or darts.) As we have worked from a body shaping toile of approximately the correct shape and size, we do not need to fiddle with the pattern at this stage. We can simply add seam allowances and build our proper Hearts toile.

Figure 15: SamiO's flat pattern (this is actually the final version, after the fitting took place, see below), traced in Illustrator. Try scaling this up using Sandra Stuart's instructions or the Foundations Revealed Corsetmaking Revolution system.

 

The Toile

As the toile is constructed almost identically to the final piece (just a bit more roughly and quickly) I will describe the process later in the article. Key points to note here are as follows:

1. The Heart insert at front is not needed, as it provides no shaping. Speed up the toile process by leaving that central Heart for later.
2. The toile was laced onto the mannequin so that the raw edges face outwards and vertical bone casings were pinned in place this way (figure 16).
3. One side had a few bones in place, whilst the other had a minimum of steels (figure 17). This allows us to make an informed decision when selecting boning options for the final corset.
4. For accuracy and reliability, the toile was made from coutil.
5. A central panel of canvas was used to sandwich a few steels at the front (figure 16). These steels were arranged to compliment the heart shaping of the front.

Figure 16: pinning the first vertical casing in place. Note the sandwiched casings on the front panel.	Figure 17: the toile is inside out at this stage. Here you can see the side with the extra steels.

 

The Fitting

Fitting this toile was a joy. As you can see in figure 18, the basic fit is good. 
The first obvious change is to the topline, which could be lowered about an inch. I like to draw directly onto my toiles, so having taken these photographs I drew the new topline in place. The next change was to the side bust (figure 19) and low hip (figure 20). Each needed pinching in a small amount, so I pinched the fabric at the appropriate seams and marked the alterations, then transferred them to the flat pattern.

Figure 18: the toile from each angle.
Figure 19: the side bust alteration.	Figure 20: the low hip alteration.

The next point that became apparent was that my model has, like most of us, a touch of asymmetry. Figure 21 is marked to show this. The red lines give a horizontal marker. The white lines show how far from horizontal her shoulders and hips are. I cannot speak medically, of course, but it is my understanding that through favouring one side over the other (which we nearly all do), most of us will, over time, drop one shoulder and raise the corresponding hip slightly to meet it, resulting in the slight curve you see here. In other words, one side is compressed slightly, whilst the other is lengthened. Personally, my right shoulder is slightly lifted and the left slightly dropped. If you stand before a mirror with your arms by your sides, you can often spot any asymmetry very quickly by observing the space between your arms and your torso. I was quite alarmed the first time I noticed that my right elbow seemed miles away from my body!

Figure 22 shows this asymmetry illustrated another way. The red line shows the curve down the right-hand side of my model's body (slightly compressed), whilst the white line shows the gentler curve down her left-hand side (slightly lengthened). You may have already spotted where this is leading...

Figure 23 marks the "problem" resulting from this asymmetry. As my model's left hip is dropped slightly, the low hip of the corset is not being filled out. Whilst the rest of the asymmetry is barely noticeable, this "hollow" hip is quite obvious.

We have two options here:

1. Mark different alterations on each side, giving an asymmetric corset to match her body.

2. Build up the corset to disguise the asymmetry.

For this piece, I have decided to go with option 2.

Figure 21: SamiO's hips and shoulders are slightly asymmetric.	Figure 22: the differing waist curves.	Figure 23: the "problem" raised by this asymmetry.

Crucially, we aren't talking about any major problem that is worthy of medical treatment or concern. No-one is perfectly symmetrical. Sometimes this is an issue worth considering when fitting corsets, and sometimes the corset disguises the asymmetry with little effort.

So, with those small changes noted and a plan of action to deal with the asymmetry, I could progress very quickly to the final corset. Remember, we've done only one fitting. In the world of custom clothing and Edwardian corsetry, this is pretty speedy and not an ideal scenario. We should never rush if we can help it, but there are always little things we can do differently when time is short or when working on personal projects.

Fabrication

"The various sections are parts of a single-ply fabric corset, and the front steels and bones do not extend to the lower edge of the corset, but stop appreciably short of the same, and thereby provide a flexible lower edge of appreciable width adapted to yield to abdominal configurations in a sitting position." (1906, patent no. 832,390, lines 39 – 45, page 3).

As quoted in Part 1, the Kops patent describes this corset as "single-ply". A reissued Kops patent of 1903, however, makes use of two layers, the outer layer beingFigure 24: Kops 1903 patent, with 2 distinctly different layers. Seemingly, one provides strength whilst the other provides the aesthetic element. This is yet another beautiful antique design that I hope will soon be explored by contemporary corsetmakers. shaped in a "novel" way, whilst the inner layer has essentially vertical seams like an average turn-of-the-century corset or tightly-fitted bodice block:

"The single-ply light-weight fabric a is preferably formed of the shaped parts 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6", ie: the lining layer. "The overlying or heavy fabric b composing the surface of the corset is of two parts [...] provided with incisions" for the insertion of shaped gores (1903, patent no. RE12,120, lines 56 – 68, page 4).

Using an inner layer that differs to the outer layer isn't something I have done often, though it can certainly be useful. On occasion I have found it useful, for example, to make a loose lining layer with simpler seams than the exterior layer in order to reduce the number of seams pressing against the body.

As is often mentioned, there are not that many existing antique Victorian/Edwardian corsets that have more than one layer. But it does show us that we have options, and that complicated, or even impractical, outer seaming can be explored providing your inner layer provides on-grain strength and stability.

For my toile, I stuck to one layer of coutil with applied casings to give us an approximation of how the patterns were working.

For the final corset, I decided to use:

• One layer in pink satin coutil with applied interior casings
• One separate lining layer in soft cotton.

I considered a couple of thread types that I might use to decoratively finish the "points" where the Shields and Heart were inserted, thought about ribbon decoration (I wondered if La Greque style lattice ribbons, or even a central panel of woven ribbons, might give a nice effect – I think a translucent or diaphanous ribbon could give a beautiful effect, for example, and also played with the idea of cording or quilting the Heart and Shields.

In the end, however, I discarded practically all of the decorative options I had considered. I wanted to showcase the seaming and was worried about making a corset that was too "girly". For the point flossing, I selected a silk floss in "pale opal". A very delicate colour, this has a touch of pink to it and compliments the satin coutil nicely.
	Figure 25: silk floss.	Figure 26: the cut fabric.

Constructing the Corset

As touched upon in Hearts: Part 4, lapped seams seem to be a typical way of constructing Edwardian corsets. There are a couple of ways of constructing lapped seams, and even contrary definitions in the sewing books as to what officially makes a seam "lapped", "double-lapped", "flat-felled" or "welt". I will show you just one method here (a method that requires a separate loose lining for a neat interior, but is quite fast to do).

Any edge that I wish to sit "under" the seam has a 1/2" allowance added, and any edge that I wish to sit "over" has a 1/4" allowance added. You could mark the seam allowances on your paper pattern as "over" and "under" for clarity.

You can see in figure 2 (above) that the Heart insert at CF is visually "beneath" the surrounding panel. It therefore has a 1/2" seam allowance, whilst Panel 1 has a 1/4" allowance.

Hawk-eyed readers will spot where I have accidentally cut the shield pieces with 1/4" allowances instead of 1/2", a result of working when tired. (I would not recommend it!)

Thankfully, it doesn't affect this particular construction too severely. Indeed, seam allowances seem mostly a matter of convention and personal preference. I've seen corsetmakers use allowances from 1/4" to 2", with great results. Your allowances should be appropriate to your chosen construction method, but otherwise you can bend the rules to suit your way of working.

The pressing line of the 1/4" seam allowances was initially demarcated by stitching with an unthreaded machine. Satin coutil is usually crisp enough to hold a faint impression of this stitching, but I found the pink satin coutil to be less crisp than I am used to, so I proceeded to thread up the machine.

Figure 28: stitching the guideline 1/4" in from the edge.	Figure 29: the faint impression of your unthreaded stitching shows you where to press the seam under.

The 1/4" (top) seam allowances are clipped where needed (figure 30), pressed under (figure 31), and "fray-checked" (figure 32). With careful pressing you can get a rather neat shape (figure 33).

Figure 30: the more you clip, the smoother the resulting curve.	Figure 31: the clipped seam is pressed under first by hand, then with the iron.	Figure 32: fray-checking the clipped seam.	Figure 33: the pressed piece.

The Shield insert is then stitched in the same way (ie: to mark the seam line, figure 34), lined up beneath the top panel (figure 35), and top-stitched in place. In my reference books this constitutes a "lapped" seam, whilst pressing under the lower seam allowance before stitching that second line would constitute a "double lapped" seam. The second method gives a completely clean finish to the inside of the corset, so if your corset is made of only one layer, use double lapped seams.

Figure 34: one of the offending Shield inserts that should have had a 1/2" seam allowance, but was accidentally cut with a 1/4" allowance.	Figure 35: the two pieces pinned together. With something this complicated I like to stitch very slowly, removing the pins as I go.	Figure 36: the stitched seam.

 

The whole corset is stitched in this way (figures 37 through 41), as is a cotton lining (minus the centre-back panels).

Figure 37: the first Shields are inserted into Panels 2.	Figure 38: the centre-front Heart is inserted into Panel 1 and that main panel stitched to the adjacent panels.	Figure 39: the side-back Shields are inserted into Panels 3.

Figure 39: the side-back Shields are inserted into Panels 3.	Figure 40: the centre-back lacing panels are attached to Panels 3	Figure 41: then the side seam is stitched (Panels 2 and 3), giving the whole corset shell.

 

A waist tape is then fused into place. You could hand-baste this, but satin coutil doesn't always recover perfectly from stitching. For this piece, I wanted to experiment with using satin coutil to make the waist tape by pressing the edges under for a neat finish. As you'll see later, this ended up being far too bulky and visible for my liking, so that's another technique on the "Do Not Use" list. The waist tape was stitched securely into place as the interior boning channels were applied.

Steels

Interior casings are applied as in the toile. We know from the toile that we can use almost as many or as few steels as we wish. I would say that whether you prefer to use more or less, do try to always ensure that there is a steel supporting the longest sections.

I chose flat steels for the very front and back of this corset, with numerous spirals elsewhere. There are many ways you can support your corsets, so feel free to experiment!

You can see in figure 44 one of the features of pale satin coutil that I don't really like... it has a certain translucency. This is less visible once lined and on the body, but it irritates me. One way around this would be to back the satin coutil with a white interfacing (or a white cotton coutil if you prefer very firm corsets), but you are adding more bulk that way which I hoped to avoid with this piece. It's a question of priorities, but I don't think I'll be using white or pink satin coutil very often in the future. Perhaps for details, but probably not the full corset. At centre-front, the facing is put into place and stitched to create sandwiched boning channels.

Figure 43: pinning the interior casings into place.	Figure 44: the left-hand side boning channels stitched in place.

A Bit of Structure

As mentioned, I wished to deal with the slight asymmetry by building up the corset to help disguise it at the left mid-to-low hip.

I cut pieces of cotton canvas, cotton wadding, and pink coutil to fit the shape of the hollowed out hip section (figure 45, the coutil was cut slightly larger). These pieces were stacked and secured with a quick basting stitch down the centre (figure 46) before being very roughly pad-stitched outwards from this guideline to create a firm, curved shape (figure 47).

Figure 45: canvas, wadding and coutil.	Figure 46: the basting line down the centre. By "centre" I mean the part of the shape that requires the most fullness.	Figure 47: the roughly pad-stitched hip shape.

Once stitched, this supportive pad was moulded into the corset to check shaping and curve, steam-pressed (figure 48), then tacked into place in the interior of the corset's left hip (figure 49).

Figure 48: you can see the gently curved shape this supportive section of padding now holds.	Figure 49: I tacked this hip section into place by stitching it to key points on the seam allowances.

Lining and Finishing This lining is stitched as per the outer layer (figure 50) and then attached to the coutil shell to give a smooth and clean interior. The reverse side of the lacing panels function as extended facings and these are pressed under and hand-stitched down neatly. Narrow self-made bindings are attached then hand-finished.
The Finished Corset Now at this point I have to apologise... Through miscommunications on the day that this corset was photographed, we have ended up with nice artistic shots but no plain front and back shots. The corset is no longer in my possession so the best I could manage was asking the model to take a quick snapshot (right), which wasn't ideal. But I will do my best to describe and explain the various successes and failures of this corset using the images below.
In figure 51, our flash snapshot, you can instantly see the issue with the satin coutil. Now, I love satin coutil and it is certainly strong enough for thin or single layer corsets. But not all thin corsets are created equal. If we compare this shot to figure 18 showing our toile, you will see that the 100% cotton coutil holds a smoother shape. So it is my feeling that the complicated seaming of this piece, the extra strain put on the front by having a flatter bust, and the less crisp finish of the pink satin coutil have contributed to those bumps. A clear indicator that this fabric would have benefited from an additional strength layer beneath is the padded left-hip, which sits much more smoothly than the unpadded right hand side. Both sides fit, but one has that extra support, and we can learn a lot from this. You can also see how the thin coutil makes the darker colour of the steels slightly visible, a feature of pale satin coutil that I really dislike.
Figure 52 shows the lovely swooping seams that the Heart and first Shield create. The waist shaping is very modern whilst the bust is flattened and lifted. You can see that by using a standard sized base we have quickly produced a complicated corset with good fit.
Figure 53 shows us clearly that the waist tape method was too bulky for this corset. On the plus side, the placement of steels at centre-front is quite lovely and helps maintain a smooth abdomen, though you can also see where even more steels (in addition to the extra strength layer mentioned) would help hold the fabric taut. This is a mirror shot so the hip we can see here is actually the right hand side hip (ie: the side that was not padded).
Figure 54 gives us a side view showing the left-hand hip (another mirror shot). Again, the thin satin coutil doesn't respond well to these swooping shapes and there are a few bumps, but you can see that the hip area itself is smooth as a result of the padding we did to fill out that section. You can also see that I cut the corset quite low under the arm. This can compromise support and contribute to bulges if you're not careful, so it's a detail that is worth considering at fitting stage.
Figure 55 gives a glimpse of the back of the corset, where again you can see the problem with the waist tape, but also the lovely angles of the seams. I say "problem with the waist tape" because it's neither one thing nor the other... I personally feel that a waist tape should either be invisible or totally visible! So using a chunky waist tape might be fine if it were going to be a definite and obvious feature of the corset... if you really wanted the construction of the corset to be centre-stage.

Summary

We can now compare all the Hearts toiles and drapes from this series to see what we have learnt about patterning.

Mannequin Drape (Figure 56): draping each piece into place directly onto a mannequin is a useful learning exercise. It helps you quickly learn to visualise patterning, by increasing your understanding of grain, seaming and so on. You build your 2D to 3D understanding this way.

Bodice Block (Figure 57): using a fitted bodice block with some waist reduction already factored in can be a useful and quick way of developing a very personalised corset pattern. Further, this method gives greater scope for more unusual garments. If you want to extend the "spine" of your corset into a posture collar (figure 26) or have built-in shoulder straps that confirm smoothly to the body, this can be a great way to start. You can also use each side of the bodice to develop a different design, if you so wish. This method develops your 3D to 2D skills.

Contemporary Toile (Figure 58): this toile showed what could be achieved by working from the bodice block. The shaping is clean and contemporary, but we still have those curving seams as desired. The fit is just about perfect, meaning that we could very quickly progress to a final corset if we wished.

"Edwardian Posture" Toile (Figure 59): this toile was less satisfactory, despite being adapted from the previous successful toile. It highlighted the challenge and misunderstandings we have of "S-curve" corsetry (see Marion McNealy's research article for more on Edwardian posture and shaping). The shaping was less comfortable for my model as it was less natural. It therefore placed more stress on the seams and one of our seaming tests did not hold up well at all. We can see from this toile that adapting the already complicated pattern is trickier than adapting a regular shell into a new pattern.

"Victorian" re-cut Toile and Corset (Figures 18 – 23 and 51 – 55): our final toile and corset have shown that, like working from a bodice block, working directly onto a shell that holds the desired shape (in this case, a straight-forward late Victorian silhouette) gives quick and reliable results.

As shown, whilst the seaming may change radically, you are essentially creating the same silhouette. It's just put together differently. This is a brilliant and efficient way of creating new patterns. This toile has also shown that standard sized corsets/patterns can be a very useful fitting tool and that a slight asymmetry can be spotted and dealt with easily.

 

By far, the two most successful and brisk methods have been to draw the design directly onto either a fitted, waist reducing bodice block or onto a corset toile holding the desired silhouette. Really, this is just one method; it is the choice of shell that differs.

When time is scarce, it's great to have such a reliable patterning method available to you. It is far more reliable and simple, for example, than trying to dramatically alter a toile with those complicated seams. For example, if we were to say that this piece needed 3" more waist reduction (hypothetically, let's pretend my model has become an experienced tight-lacer all of a sudden!), it would be far simpler to re-draw the design on a new Victorian shell that had the necessary reduction, than try to take the reduction from this particular toile.

Lessons Learned

Ultimately, whilst I am annoyed with many of the choices I made for the final corset (the pink satin coutil, the waist tape, the lack of an additional strength fabric) I am pleased with the experiment as a whole, as I have learned a lot from it.

• The patterning process being the main success of this piece, we have seen how the technique can be applied to vastly different designs (see in Katarina Vukšić's diagonal seamed corset.)

•  We have seen one potential way of dealing with an asymmetrical figure.

•  We have seen how manipulating the pattern can flatten (eg: at the bust) or add curve (eg: at the hip).

•  We have seen that using a standard sized toile as our base can allow for the speedy exploration of new designs.

Personally, this has been a hugely useful process too.

I plan to treat this corset as a test toile and re-work the design with different fabrication to create an end result that I am happier with.  I have defined a couple of techniques that I never wish to repeat again, which is important progress! I hope that I've given you food for thought with regards to waist tapes and fabric choices.

 I have also realised that working with a very feminine motif is quite the challenge. When making design decisions I became anxious about the corset being "over the top" and ended up with a result I'm not really happy with. In my next article, a spin-off from this series, you will see what happened when that anxiety was removed and I went full-throttle at the "girly" motifs!

 

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I hope you've all been inspired to try out some new ideas and that my trial-and-error throughout this series will help save a bit of time and head-scratching when attempting your own complicated corset patterns.

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