The Idea and Inspiration

In the last decade, the construction of modern corsets has experienced a true evolution. Experimenting with new designs, pattern shapes, materials and construction techniques has resulted in many exquisite pieces. Today we have more material choices than antique corset makers ever dreamed of, and that abundance of materials has affected our creativity and made us more capable to investigate our limits, if they exist at all.

I have already experimented with sheer and mesh fabrics, and now I decided to make a semi mesh corset with a lace embellishments and Swarovski crystals, using strong yet beautiful Spot Broche in contrast panels of a transparent mesh fabric. I have also gave a bit different cut to the top of the corset, so it is supposed to cover just a lower part of the breasts (but not the nipple) – a kind of the halfbust in the sweetheart shape. This corset, for me, represents the strength and fragility of a woman's soul. The corset shape is very feminine with a great reduction and accented waist to hip ratio.

 

Fabrics Choice and the Related Issues

I thought this one is going to be easy, as I will apply similar techniques to the ones I used for making mesh and lace corsets - but combining two materials with such different properties has revealed some new and unexpected issues. Due to the big difference in the thickness of those materials, I realised from the start that this was going to be a fight with the thickness which may appear on the spot broche panels.

By comparing density of some materials, we can see a big differences in their mass per unit volume - and the more dense a fabric is, the thicker it is going to be.

Material	Density [g/m2]
Spot broche	320
Rosebud coutil/black	260
Polyester mesh fabric	60
Silk bobbinet	39

When measured by cross-section, we can clearly see the difference in the thickness between the spot broche and mesh fabric.

Spot Broche is about 1mm thick in its cross-section, and that is almost about 10 times more than a mesh fabric.

 

Construction

The corset is made from a six-panel pattern, with panels 1, 3, 4 and 6 made in a spot broche and panels 2 and 5 in mesh fabric.

The main problem left to resolve was how to make boning channels to avoid the thickness on seams, because the spot broche panels are going to be much thicker than the mesh ones, and all the seam allowances need to be folded on the spot broche sides.

On panels 3 and 4, I also decided to put a floating lining to have a smoother finish on the inside of the corset.

So the start was easy with inserting the front busk and making the front modesty panel. For the waist tape I used a 2.5cm (1") wide grosgrain ribbon rather than a twill tape (just because I found grosgrain ribbon much more sturdy than a twill tape, to give extra support to the mesh, single-layer panels).

I always prefer to use lighter materials and add a layer of fusible interlining to get the needed firmness, but the spot broche was already too thick. The main problem was that I wanted to use a double layer of spot broche on the front and back panels, but two layers of spot broche were just too thick comparing to the mesh panels, which are supposed to be a single layered part of the corset.

If I had used two layers of spot broche, I would have four layers of it on the border seam, because all the seams need to be folded on the spot broche sides so's not to be seen through the mesh layers. Also the mesh fabric layer is supposed to be sandwiched between those 4 layers of spot broche to get the corset together. So I measured the thickness of 4 layers, and started to think about alternative solutions. When making corsets it's good to always challenge yourself, keep thinking analytically, and have many possible solutions for one problem. So instead of a second spot broche layer, I have used a regular herringbone coutil for a second layer because it is thinner than the spot broche.

On the 1st and 6th panel, which are the two layers made of spot broche and coutil, I used 'the sandwich method' for boning insertion.

Panels 3 and 4 have interior boning channels made of polyester twill tape which is 1.5cm (0.6") wide. I usually never use polyester twill tape for boning channels, but here I have used it because I thought it is the best way to avoid the thick spots.

Mesh panels 2 and 5 have exterior boning channels made of spot broche.

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The both edges of spot broche and coutil were pressed toward the inside, to match the seaming line. Remember, when working with polyester mesh fabrics, to take care not to touch the mesh fabric with the hot iron because it might melt the fabric or change the shape permanently. I used a few layers of gauze for protection and ironed it only on the spot broche side.

To reduce the bulk on the seams, I cut out the excess fabric from the seams before I hand-basted the layers and topstitched them together. I did not trim the mesh, to prevent it from tearing apart when under the tension of wearing.

In this particular case it was important to take care to do things in the correct order while constructing the corset, so the waist tape is visible on mesh parts but goes inside between the coutil layers and floating lining on panels 3 and 4.

Also the interior boning casings on panels 3 and 4 had to be sewn on before the floating lining is closed.

I needed to leave a gap for the waist tape to be pulled from the inside of the two layers. The waist tape is later secured by topstitching the seam on the right side of the corset, 2mm from the edge.

The waist position, and the waist tape, need to be carefully matched on both sides of the corset to be symmetrical.

While inserting a waist tape on the panels covered with floating lining, I first attached the lining to the one side, but also left a 2.5cm wide gap at the waist area. I then pulled the waist tape through the gap so it goes under the floating lining and is not visible on the inside of panels 3 and 4.

Boning channels for the mesh panels are made out of spot broche and were sewn on after the waist tape was inserted, to give additionally steadiness on the crossings of waist tape and boning channels. This gives the corset a bit of a 'cage' structure - and I always build my lightweight fabric corsets on that principle.

I wanted to attach the floating lining without it being visible on the outside of the corset, while making boning channels of twill tape. To do this, I first had to sew the seam further to the edge and finish the seams closer to the main edge at the end. I could not see how to make it without changing the usual order of sewing boning channels (always make the seams closer to the main seam first)... but obviously it worked out.

No seams are visible on the inside and lining is floating like I planned. You can see that the waist tape goes under the floating lining.

The last panel is made in a similar way as the center front; by leaving the gap to insert the waist tape between the two layers of coutil.

I decided to make a binding for the corset out of spot broche; to be sure the mesh panels will stay better-secured at the top and the bottom of the corset and will stretch less while wearing. It would have been much easier to make it out of lighter material, but this was also a design choice. I also decided to hand-sew it in invisible seams on the inside, to achieve a 'couture finish' for this corset.

I always try to make the binding at the center front panels with a neat finish, but the spot broche was a great challenge to work with because of its thickness and sturdiness. I have seen corsetmakers using the spot broche for binding, but it is much more difficult to work with spot broche than bias tapes made of lighter materials, so I do not advise this for beginners. It was also hard to hand-sew, because the needle was hardly going through the fabric.

I usually make the top binding first and then insert boning into the casings. This corset was made out of 18 spiral bones that were 0.7cm wide and 4 flat steel bones. It was a bit of a challenge to put bones into the tight coutil casings of the mesh panels and not to pull the mesh out and de-stabilize its structure, so I did that stage with more care than I would when working with strength fabrics.

 

Design and Embellishments

To put the cherry on the top, and achieve a more delicate look, I decided to emphasize the hip area by adding some beautiful lace embellishments and some black Swarovski crystals. The uniqueness of this corset is in contrasting different materials, but in a subtle, delicate way.

The back modesty panel had to be narrower than the back panels, so that when the corset is closed, it can't be seen through the mesh.

I hand-stitched the lace appliqués to the top layer using a fell-stitch.

I hot-fixed the crystals into the small holes in the lace pattern to get a delicate effect. (I found it easier to do the application of the crystals while the corset was on the mannequin, so the corset was upright.)

(I apologize that mannequin is not a perfect fit for this corset, although I have padded the hips a bit.)

I also considered similar design options like putting the lace and crystals over the mesh part of the corset. I have tested the hot fixing the crystals on the mesh fabric but the mesh is not dense enough to hold the crystals glued on its surface. I have not tested the smaller sized crystals, but it might be worth trying for another projects. I have here used the ss16 Swarovski elements that are about 3.9mm in diameter.

This corset was created for a custom order, but I have not been able to test the fit yet as it was a long-distance order. I am still very curious about the sweetheart, halfbust shape of the corset and how it will fit on the client. I will try to update the article with a photo when I get one.

 

Conclusion

When started this corset, I gave myself quite a challenge. This was not only because of the choice in materials, but also with some new things I wanted to try such as the floating lining only on panels 3 and 4, and a waist tape visible only on the mesh panels.

To make this corset, I had to think two steps ahead - re-ordering the usual way of construction techniques - and had to create some innovations like the gap for pulling the waist tape through the panels. I also had to combine many different construction methods and used three different types of inserting boning in order to win the fight with bulky spots on the spot broche panels.

I would also like to point out the importance of considering density and other features of fabrics when choosing your materials; especially when making corsets with panels cut from different fabrics. I have actually never worked with spot broche before, but I got this idea that it would look nice to combine it with a mesh fabric. I had not expected the material would be so thick when I ordered it, but when it arrived didn't want to give up my idea, and gave it a try anyway!

 

In the end, I found this project to be a success and I am quite happy with the result. Would I use again those materials together? Yeah, probably I would… It was an extra effort but seems like it was worth it. The corset could have a smoother finish and would had been made with much less effort if the spot broche was replaced with a fabric that is less densely woven, like a rosebud coutil for instance. But this corset can be seen as a good example of the theory that every design idea is feasible, as long as you just stick to your goals and try hard enough to accomplish them.

 

 

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