There are many methods for pattern drafting; flat patterning, the body contour method, draping on the stand, the duct tape method and so on. These different methods can all be employed as part of your corset-making skill base and you may find that some methods work better for certain styles of corset than others.

I will be demonstrating a method that has the glamorous title of ‘the duct tape method' - it's so called because in essence, you wrap your body in duct tape! On a more technical note, it is a way of patterning in 3D that can be really helpful if, like me, you are better with a 3D tangible form than a set of measurements, a calculator and a blank sheet of paper!

I use flat pattern drafting when I am designing simple hourglass Victorian corsets or plain underbusts, but when I am doing something more complex - maybe an asymmetric design or a corset which has lots of sweeping shapes, curved seams, corded panels etc. - I find using the tape method really useful as you can literally draw your pattern onto the client or mannequin and see exactly what it is going to look like before you transfer it to a flat pattern.

So without further ado, I will start to explain this method, using my fabulous model Claira to demonstrate...

What you will need:

1. An old t-shirt (try to find one as close-fitting as possible. Sleeves are handy if you are going to do a style that is high under the arms or that has straps.
2. An old pair of shorts or hotpants (this one is optional - I am including this as I am going to draft a pattern that has a gusset).
3. Duct tape or wide masking tape.
4. Coloured markers.
5. Scissors (not your best fabric ones!).
6. A live model or mannequin.
7. Some ticker tape or thin coloured tape.

You should take a full set of measurements for reference, before anything else. For a guide on how to do this, please see Cathy Hay’s article ‘Draft Your Own Corset Pattern’. Ask your model to wear a well-fitting, non-padded bra and start by dressing your model or mannequin in the top and shorts (obviously with a mannequin you may not be able to do a gusseted corset, unless you are lucky enough to have one with legs!).

If you have a corset mannequin then this is really useful, as you won’t need to take out any waist reduction when it comes to the flat pattern stage.  Also, if your client has a corset that is the right shape and fit, you can have them wear that underneath the old top and shorts - again this means that you will have less reduction to take out in the flat stages.

I am going to assume that not all of us have corset mannequins, so am going to demonstrate the method and then add in waist reduction after.

Find your models bust, waist and hip lines and mark with a thin tape. I do this first as once the model is wrapped in tape, it can be hard to find the true horizontal measurements - especially if your model is particularly athletic or has a small bust.

Once your guide lines are in place you can start taping!

I use thick masking tape as its readily available and cheap in my local DIY store, plus I find it easier to work with. However you can try ducting tape and masking tape, and see which you prefer. The guide lines are only really visible through the masking tape, which is also another reason I prefer it.

Use smallish pieces around 10-12 inches long and try to avoid the urge to just run round your model wrapping them in one continuous piece of tape! We want to try and make the tape as smooth as possible to avoid bulk. Remember that your model is curved and your tape is not flexible so work with the contours of the body, smoothing tape over the curves. (If you have ever done papier maché its kind of the same principle!)

Before you tape too many pieces over your measurement lines, just run a nice dark line over your tape to keep the line visible.

I usually work from the waist down and the waist up so I am now working downwards over the hips and going under the gusset area. You can stop as far down as you like, if you are only making a short line corset stop just below the high hip. I’m going to keep on taping down quite far.

It is worth mentioning here that if you have a regular client or someone that you will be making a few corsets for, you can make a very handy dummy using this method; taping over the whole torso, cutting up the back and stuffing with wadding, old plastic bags, scraps, etc. It isn’t particularly good for pinning but can be a great aid in fitting, especially if your client is at a distance. You can papier maché over the form for sturdiness and mark in all their horizontal and vertical measurement lines too.

Once the bottom part is done, I am going to work upwards towards the bust. If your client has a larger bust there are a few different ways you can use the tape to help yourself out in the shape department. For instance, if I wanted a cupped style I would tape horizontally under the individual breasts - smoothing up to lift and separate, almost like the underwire of a bra. If I wanted a more fluted style I would work upwards in a straight line from the waist, trying not to contour the tape under the breast too much - whereas if I wanted a flat-across-the-bust 18th century-inspired style, I would tape horizontally across the apex of the breast with a slight pressure on the tape.

My model has quite a small bust so extra shaping with the tape isn’t going to help me out that much. Therefore I am just going to tape as smoothly as I can over the bust.

I am going for the 18th century style neckline with my corset and I also want to add in straps to my design, so I am going to tape over the shoulders and high around the back.

Once you are satisfied with your taped-up model and your guide lines are drawn in, it's time to get creative and draw on your corset design!

The benefit of this method of drafting is that you get two for the price of one on your draft; you can draw one style on one half on the body and a completely different style on the other! The other benefit is that if your client is particularly asymmetric you can use this method to good effect, using both sides of the pattern instead of one.

I am going to draft two styles, my 18th century inspired design on the right side and my gusseted style to the left

I start by sketching in my design with a light-coloured pen; this allows me to be quite sketchy without committing to a final mark. Once I’m happy with everything I will fill in with black marker.

When you draw in your panels you need to think about how your design will be made up, i.e. the fabric you will use, interior seams, exterior boning channels and such. This will help you decide where to put your seam lines. You may want an elaborate design, or you may want to put your seams in helpful places, e.g. straight over the apex, or more seams in the front where there are problem areas like the front hip. If it’s tight-lacing I like to give myself two side panels so I can spread my waist reduction in small amounts. The benefit of doing this in 3D is that you can see exactly where everything is going and if you wanted to do a really wacky design with lots of different shaped pattern pieces, this is a great way of drafting it. For good examples of this, please see the ‘diagonal corset’ and ‘heart corset’ articles on Foundations Revealed.

Once you are happy with your design, get out that black marker and start finalising your lines!

You can also draw in any cording pieces or other details here and start thinking about where your boning will go. I like to draft boning channels in a lighter colour to give me an idea, but as I will be adapting my pattern when we get to the flat stage I’m not too set about where they will finally go. I then mark each of my pieces with all the info I will need; numbers, CF, CB, right or left sides etc. The more info you have, then the easier it will be when it comes to flat patterning. At this stage I sometimes mark in a grain line as well. In my photo I have added all this info in a different colour and gone round my design once again, just for good measure!

Remember that if you want the standard 2” gap at the back, to draft this in as well. Then, its time to cut away the design.

You need to cut up the CB line very carefully! The safest way to do this is by cutting a small hole in the t-shirt or shorts right at the bottom, then put your hand between the model and your scissors, keeping the flat of the scissor blade against the flat of your hand. Use small snips and work slowly and carefully.

Once the back line is cut, the model can step out of the tape draft.

Cut around your tape design to leave just your corset and then you can tape this back on the model to check the details. If your client is comfortable to do this just in underwear, without a bra, this is most helpful - it means you can see to some degree how the corset will behave, as the tape structure is quite tight-fitting and mimics the structure of the corset.

Once my tape draft is back on my model I can start to asses the design. I’m quite happy with the overall shape but there are just a couple of issues in the bust area (aren’t there always!) that I want to sort out.

Firstly, on my sweetheart side, I had cut a really low plunging neckline that went way below the bust line. As I taped the draft back on, the tape started to rip and the CF pulled away quite a lot from the other half. In my photo you can see I put a piece of tape over this to secure it back onto the body. (If you are adding in pieces instead of taking away, use a piece of scrap fabric to stick underneath so you are not taping directly onto the skin!)

On the other side, the top line under the arm was a little too low and the strap a touch too far in on the body; you can see in the side on photo that Claira’s breast was spilling out a little at the side. To correct this I added some scrap fabric, taped in place and drew on my adjustments.

I then took the tape draft off, cut out my adjustments and taped back on again.

On the sweetheart side I decided to keep the deep plunge but play it safe and put some lacing in to help support the low sides. The adjustments to the straight side worked really well and the breast is now sitting in the proper place, with no spillage!

So, now I am happy with my fit and shape, it's time to take the pattern from a 3D draft into a 2D pattern and make my reductions to the waist.

You will see in my photos that I put crosses on the waistline at some points; this is to give me an idea of which seams to take the most waist reduction from.

I start by cutting all my pattern pieces out and laying them out flat. It’s good to look at how contoured your pieces are, especially around the bust and hip area; you may decide that you need to add in extra seams or gores to accommodate really rounded pieces.

My pattern looks fairly flat, you can see in the photo that there is a little shaping around the main bust piece, but as I flatten my pattern onto the paper this should spread out quite well, if I’d of been working with a larger bust I would have drawn in extra seams and if I still had a big contour in my masking tape piece I may have thought about adding a gore.

You can place your tape pieces onto paper and draw round them, but I prefer to stick my pieces down and trace off, I find it easier and more accurate, try both and see which you prefer?!

Start by drawing a waist line along your pattern paper, this is your guide for where to place your pieces.

Peel off the t-shirt backing from the tape and lay each piece along the waist line, lining up as much as you can along the waist and top and bottom edges.

Once all your pieces are stuck down you can draw in a bust and hip line as well. I double check mine against my models measurements. Claira’s high hip is 10cm below her waist and her bust line is 15cm above, so I draw these lines in parallel to my waist line. They should correspond with the guide lines on your masking tape, but this just gives us a nice straight line to work from.

Take another piece of paper and lay over the top of your tape pattern - I pin or tape mine in place to keep it steady - and trace off all your pieces and all the information.
You will now have a base pattern to which we will add in our alterations and reductions.

Hopefully you will see my faint dashed pencil marks in the photo marking out my pattern pieces. I will make the lines darker as I make my amendments.

The first thing I adjust is the waist. To check my tape pattern corresponds with Claira’s measurements exactly, I measure each pattern piece at the waist and then total my measurements.

In my tape pattern I left a 2” (5cm) gap at the back. Knowing that Claira’s waist is naturally 27” (68.6cm) my pattern should measure: 68.6cm - 5cm gap at back ÷ 2 (for half the pattern) = 31.8cm.

My pattern measures this exactly! Hurrah! If yours doesn’t - even if it’s just a few mm out - it is best to correct it now so that you are starting with true measurements, otherwise if you take reduction from measurements which are not accurate you will end up getting into a confusing mess!

Now that I have my waist measured accurately I can add in my reduction. I know that Claira can reduce about 4” (10cm) comfortably, so I’m going with this for my corset. This means I need to take 2” (5cm) out of my pattern.

Decide where and how much reduction you would like. I am choosing to take most of mine from the main side seams, then a little from the front and back side seams, with none from the back or front. Your decision will be based on your client, their body type and the overall shape you are trying to achieve.

I marked crosses on the four seams I wanted to reduce on my tape pattern, so now on my flat pattern I need to calculate my reductions between 8.

My reduction of 5cm divided by 8 comes out at 6.25mm, which is a bit too fiddly - I’d rather have whole numbers! Also, I want to take more from the sides than the front and back so, after a bit of working out with my calculator, I decide to take these measurements:

• 8mm x 2 out of the main side seams
• 7mm x 2 out of the next side seams
• 5mm x 4 over the remaining seams

...which all adds up to a nice round 50mm.

I mark in these reductions on the seams but don't join them to the top and bottom edges just yet. (apologies for my tape measure being in the way, but hopefully you can see what i mean!)

Next, I check my measurements for my bust and hips in the same way I checked my waist.

My high hip should be 33” (84.8cm) and my bust should be 34” (86.4cm) which they both are. Hurrah again! I decide not to take any reduction from either hips or bust at this stage. My surplus 4” from the waist will be displaced above and below the waist, so I would rather see how this affects the bust and hips at toile stage and make any necessary adjustments then.
Now I join my new waist line to the top and bottom line of the corset, smoothing the joins at the waist into nice curves.

I true up any discrepancies at the top and bottom edges by measuring each piece above the bust line, and each piece below the hip line, to make sure that all my pattern pieces will meet.

The pattern is now finished and ready to go! I have marked in red the mm measurements I took from the waist to make it a bit clearer.

I like to keep a base pattern in case I need to adjust anything, so I have a clear idea of where I started. So, this draft is my base. I then take another sheet of paper and trace off the pattern pieces and all information.

I prefer to mount my patterns onto card, draw round them onto my coutil and then add seam allowance on the fabric. Everyone has a different way of pattern cutting, so choose your preferred method. If you would like to add seam allowance onto your paper pattern first, you can trace-off from your base pattern and add them.

Once my pattern is traced-off, I spray the whole piece of paper with spray mount, stick it to a piece of card and then cut out the pieces (this saves cutting pieces twice and also means they stick better around the edges).

I now have a full set of pattern pieces to begin my toile. I have added grain lines to everything, along with numbers and right/left sides. I notch at the waist, bust and hip, and make sure I label a grain line and piece number to the back of my pattern pieces for when I am doing the reverse side (I don’t like folding my fabric and cutting pairs so I cut everything individually as I find it to be more accurate).

 

The next part of this article will look at how I got on with my toile and will show the making of the corset! I hope you have enjoyed the patterning part of this article and will look forward to seeing how the final corset turns out!

 

 

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