One of my particular fascinations has always been the effective blending of corset and outwear garment. Corsets are underwear, corsets as outwear, those are the norms - but I like to think of ways to integrate corsets into other garments, and in functional ways, not decorative, hobbling ways. One concept with which I've long wanted to experiment has been the blending of a classic tailored blouse or bodice and a corset. That is, a corset that covers the collarbones and has shoulder seams. In my head, the first thing I will make is a button-down shirt with a corseted waist and back-lacing built into the body. It's crisp and white, with straight horizontal seams accenting the bust and providing an angular contrast to the dramatic hourglass curves of the sharp waist reduction.

But first things first. I feel the foundation concept – a shouldered corset torso block – has a lot of potential and to make the most of it, I first want to execute my block rather than starting with a finished design. It'll be far easier to engineer variations over a basic style than a finished design.

To start with, I have two previous blocks: a basic bodice block and a corset block. If the term 'block' is unfamiliar to you, it refers to an unmanipulated base style, with no seam allowance. It's the starting point for other styles and it is sometimes also referred to as a 'sloper'.

If you don't have a corset block, but you do have a simple corset pattern that fits you well, simply trace it and remove the seam allowance. Copy this onto a heavier paper; manila/tagboard is the most common, but posterboard or thin (non-corrugated) cardboard or anything similar is also fine. Some art papers, such as bristol, may seem solid enough, but you'll soon find their texture is too 'mushy' to really hold up. Your paper should be crisp, smooth and heavy enough to easily trace around.

My bodice block is, I believe, originally drafted using directions from Helen Armstrong's Patternmaking for Fashion Design, with the addition of the contour lines from the same book. (I've been using this block for about six years so my memory's a bit hazy on the matter!) If you're in the market for a good, basic, fashion patternmaking book, this one is a classic and it doesn't matter which edition you pick up. A bodice block goes to the natural waist and has a plain neckline, with one or two darts in the front and two darts in the back. The contour lines are a guide for how much additional intake to remove when cutting fabric away from the basic bodice, so that the remaining fabric will contour to the body instead of gapping away.
[Editor's Note: Threads Magazine has a video tutorial and PDF download of instructions on creating the same type of basic block.]

It is important to note that this particular pattern is semi-personalized. Some corsetieres prefer to only do custom corsets, some only create patterns for personal use and some embrace the ready-to-wear format. While I like to start with ready-to-wear patterns and alter them as-needed, this particular pattern would be challenging to fully standardize, as the height from corset waist to the shoulder is a highly-variable measurement and less of a fixed proportion. So I'm going to use a standard 20” RTW corset body and bodice block, but try to fit on myself. As I have one shoulder markedly higher than the other (owing to slight scoliosis), it should be interesting to see how that works out in my mockup!

First, I'm double checking my measurements to make sure they're still within the range of my those on my blocks:

• Bust: 33"
• Underbust: 27.5"
• Waist: 25.5"
• High hip, 5” below waist: 34"
• Waist to shoulder: 16"

Good to go!

1. To prepare the draft, I'm going to block a simple vertical rule and horizontal waistline. Since my pattern paper already has a straight edge on one side, I'll make a second parallel ½” away so that I won't have to add seam allowance at the end. My waistline is a good 6”+ up from the bottom of my paper.

2. Next, I'm going to trace the front pieces of my corset block, lining up the waist line of the pattern pieces with my guide on the paper. Each piece will be just touching the adjacent pieces, with neither space nor overlap.

3. Now for the fun part - trying to match up my standard bodice block with the corset! First, I match the center front waist of the block to the waist guideline on the paper and trace around to the end of the armscye.

4. The trick will be lining up a single-dart pattern with what is essentially a princess line style: the large single dart of the bodice block has the side seam swung out at a dramatic angle, with all the shaping intake under the bust. The corset block has some of the shaping intake along the seam princess seam above the bust. My corset block has 1.625” of dart intake at the waist and the bodice block has 3”, so I'll have to redistribute the difference - let's say to the princess seams at shoulder (continued up from the style lines of my corset block). Remember when transferring dart intake that it's a matter of angles, not length measurements. I avoid cutting up my patterns whenever necessary, so to transfer the remaining dart intake, I'll use the pivoting method. The apex of my bust on the bodice block is my pivot point. The midpoint of my shoulder seam is already marked, so I'll open out remaining dart excess there. With my bodice block overlayed onto the draft at the center-front waist, I mark the shoulder midpoint and inside of the dart leg. 1.375” is the amount to be transferred, so I make a second mark towards center-front (CF), that distance from the indicated dart end. Then I pivot the block to meet it. Since this is the same axis, I can use a measurement for reference, but what I'm transferring to the shoulder is the angle of intake. I couldn't simply make a dart of 1.375” at the shoulder. Now I trace from the midline of my shoulder down the bottom of the armscye again, then erase the old line to prevent confusion.

5. Now I have to merge my draft-lines. Time to think hard about fit, movement, and ease, and maybe double-check some measurements. To aid my thought process, I'm adding in guidelines for the underbust and full bust as it looks like I may need to shift my bust apex up slightly. I connect the dots to my new shoulder dart ends. I'm not sure I love the line, but that's what mockups are for!

6. As predicted, that armhole/sideseam intersection is giving me cause to pause. I want the corset snug to, at least, the underbust, and I want my armhole shape and circumference to stay consistent so I can use my existing sleeve block for future designs. Upon re-evaluation, my shoulder length is perhaps a bit long, so I'll cut that down to 4” (my shoulders are pretty narrow), re-balance the dart placement, and see what that does for my armhole placement. As soon as I place my bodice block aligned with my new shoulder end and pivot it, it matches very cleanly to the underarm of the corset block.

7. I'm feeling pretty good about the state of the front draft, so I'm going to move onto the back now. Using the same guidelines, I'll align the back corset block pieces and trace. Remember to double-check that your center-back (CB) seamline is perpendicular to the waist guide.

 

8. Draw a guideline parallel to the corset CB but 1” away to accommodate for the gap that was drafted into the corset block.

 

9. Then, I lightly trace my back bodice block, aligned at the waist and the newest vertical line.

 

10. I have to re-true my shoulder seam and mid-point since I shortened it on the front piece. I measure 2” from the back neck on the shoulder line and shift the seam from the CB corset panel to hit this line. At the top of the panel, that slices off half an inch, so I add that half inch to the top of the adjacent panel and blend to the waist.

   

11. My bodice armhole is almost exactly in line with my corset side seam so I want to try to leave that intact if possible. Any change to the shoulder line should hopefully happen in the middle, rather than at the shoulder tip.

12. The amount of dart intake at the corset waist is 1.125". On my bodice block it's 1.5", so there's a difference of .375" to be pivoted elsewhere. Again, the measurement only applies when you're measuring along the same axis in relation to the dart end.

13. I mark my inner dart leg end and then a point .375” in (towards CB) as my reference for pivoting. The shoulder dart on the bodice block will be my outlet for the excess that's shifting.

14. I measure the total intake now along the shoulder line, which turns out to be 1”. Right now it's floating without grounding; I'm going to fix it in relation to the princess line I marked earlier. That makes it almost in-line with the other edge of the princess line (as I balanced the 5th & 6th pieces), so I'll just use that line because I still have some extra shoulder length to get rid of... and now my shoulder is the exact correct length, without any further fudging!

15. Time to clean up those draft lines, erasing the ones I don't need anymore.

16. Now that I can see my draft clearly, I'm going to change the angle of some of my seams. The block I based this on has gently angled seams but I'll change them to more of a vertical/inverted curve style. My front pieces are all straight lines below the waist so I'll start there. Whatever I slice off of one panel gets added to the next, either by measuring the amount of the change, or by measuring the distance between the two pieces and making sure it stays consistent. I think the lines above the waist can stay as they are.

17. I repeat the process in the back. Since the back hip seams are curved, I use the original block as a template to keep the same curve. Just mark the new seam end and match the bottom of the block to it and the waistline.

18. Now that I've more or less decided about my lines, I'm going to true them to make sure all the seams will walk to the same length. Where I find a discrepancy in length, I mark the correct length, blend the connecting line, and cross out the old line with a little cross hatching so I know where to cut or erase later.

19. The angled seams that terminate at the armhole require me to split and redraw the armscye - I just eyeball the curve connection for now since it's not a huge jump. On the front, I split the difference; dropping the armhole slightly one side of the seam and raising it on the other. At the side seam, I split the difference again; dropping the armhole slightly in the front and raising it in the back. On the back though, since the armhole was already slightly raised on one side of that panel, I just raised the other side of the same panel and left the adjacent panel as is.

20. The one place where it gets pretty weird is the final panel at the back. I don't want my shoulder seam to become too angled, so instead of blending to the back neck, I'm just going to scoot my back neck down the same amount (¼”).

21. The final step is to cut apart the pattern and add seam allowance! (Not shown.) I like to use a ½” seam allowance for most seams, but curved seams (such as my armhole) get 3/8”. When I fit the mockup, I think I'll do one side with a set-in sleeve and the other side sleeveless. I'm leaving the neckline without seam allowance for the time being, but should I decide to add a collar, I'd go with ¼”.

 

Keep reading Foundations Revealed: next month, I'll be fitting my mockup and then transforming it into a finished design. Eventually, I'll try to turn it into a DIY corset mannequin for draping and display...

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