Made a mock up for my first corset making venture (under-bust) need some adjusting/fitting the mock.

So, I'll introduce myself first as it is my first call to arms so to say. 

I've been sewing on and off since high-school and college where i took fashion tech, did nothing for a few years due to machine access and then have gone all out in the last year making all kinds of things. I'm Autistic/Dyspraxic so forgive me if i misunderstand you from time to time. I've been trying in getting my skills somewhat surpassed from my old understanding and i'm happy with the improvements. These range from undies to dresses, jumpsuits using all kinds of materials. I've been able to make and adjust some of my own patterns for these things rather than buying patterns after some practice but i feel these are still somewhat more basic than the skills seen on here by many of you. I'm always learning. 

I find those things easy now but adjusting a corset pattern is something else and a little scary and confusing with information that seems conflicting from just reading so I thought some questions might be best! 

I've made a Toile using calico — medium to heavy weight, I've been fairly accurate in my sewing and measuring from the standard pattern, i'm directly in between two sizes given, and although i'm happy with the waist reduction (about 2 inches) not being huge for my first corset as per advice there is some gaping at the top around under the bust line and the bottom side. I admit the waist tape ended up being a tiny bit not spread out with the fabric underneath so nice but it was on the waistline intended

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A snippet I would like to share about corsets in 1913 plus questions about bust support.

I was talking about old (edwardian to 1949) books on sewing with TheLongHairedFlapper on her youtube channel, and she recommended some freely downloadable books from archive . com,
I downloaded them, and looked for printed versions to buy on the internet as some of these have been cleaned up and reprinted by Scholar Select.
Only one of three of the books are available to me for purchase (the art of dress) so I decided to just start reading the pdf versions to see what exactly was inside the books.
"Home dressmaking or dressmaking made easy, by Jane Ford" has a chapter about corsets, their uses and how they should fit.
I thought it was interesting enough.
So for anyone who wants to read it here is the link; https://archive.org/details/homedressmaking00ford/page/n5

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LaBella

A Peterson's Article On Making One's Own Stays At Home

Came across this by a circuitous surfing route, while I was hunting for something not related to corsetmaking.
It seems to have come from an 1855 issue of Peterson's Magazine, and for those who enjoy reading the period prose instructions, it might be entertaining, or illuminating, or even helpfully instructive. I liked the hint about cleaning with bread.

http://www.victorianpassage.com/2010/04/art_of_stay_making/

1876 Corset Mock-up

Hello all. I’ve been a longtime lurker(learned so much here) but this is my first post.

So I’m using an original period pattern from Gracieuse Archives. This is going to be my first corset(though I did do several mock-ups for a different pattern about a year ago, but just couldn’t wrangle it into shape).

I made a whole bunch of adjustments from the first mock-up, and I’m feeling encouraged by how well it seems to be going.




I know I need to raise the top line at the bust, let out the hips some more, and a few other things. The problem I can’t figure out how to solve is fat from my ribcage is being pushed up into my armpits. I had the same problem with the other pattern.




It seems like my boobs might also be pushing into my armpits. As you can see from the back picture, the lacing gap is even, and the top is actually quite loose at the back; it even gapes a bit at the lacing, though you can’t see it in the picture. Any suggestions on how I might fix this? ATM I don’t have a picture of the pattern pieces since I altered them, but I will include a pic of the original pattern before I altered it just so you can see the general layout:

Also if anyone has any other suggestions for improving the fit in general, that would be invaluable to me.


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Jillian - Ghostbusters

Two really silly questions

I am familiar with 17th and 18th century stays, but Victorian era is new to me. I have two quick questions:

1. Why do Victorian corsets have external boning channels rather than inner ones like stays? for me, internal boning is really easy and my preferred method.

2. Laughing Moon's Dore vs Silverado: what are the differences other than the bust gussets? at some point I'm going to attempt a Victorian ensemble using some TV patterns in my stash but not really sure which corset to go with.

Pattern Pieces Not Matching Up

Hello! I am very new here and I don't know if I'm putting this post in the right place but hopefully it works out. 

I'm working on my first corset using TV110. I don't have a lot of sewing experience at all so this is a bit of an adventure for me. I've made one mock-up which fit quite well and was comfortable, but I wasn't satisfied with how well I'd cut some of the pattern pieces. They didn't really line up when I was sewing them together and also seemed to be of slightly varying heights. Nothing drastic but a little annoying. 

Today I was re-tracing the pattern pieces and laying them on top of one another to make sure they fit properly, when I noticed that the seam of #4 and #5 isn't quite lined up. The edge of #4 also extends higher than the edge of #5. They are both cut to the same measurements so I know that isn't the problem. I might simply be a bad tracer. Should I completely re-trace the pattern, or not bother with it and trim the fabric so they match when I sew them together? 

Does an under bust corset, when you are wearing it, make shoulders wider?

I completed my first mock up a little while ago. I made it pretty sturdy so it can be worn at least a few times.
Someone here advised me to test drive my mock up to feel first hand what I want from the corset and what I am looking for in a corset. This was good advice.

My mock up is very short above the waist, it ends halfway between waist and bra band. I chose that design because I thought it would increase mobility (and it does) but I mistakenly thought it would look equally good on me as it does on a very slim 50's model.
Another reason I wanted a corset that didn't end up underbust was because I feared the apparent widening of the shoulders I had seen with some (not all) commercial underbust corsets I had tried on.

And I want to talk about that a little, since I think there should be a way around that.
Has anyone else experienced seeing their shoulders being pushed up and out (sideways) when wearing an underbust corset?

Is this caused by certain corsets squeezing back muscles and/or shoulderblades up?
If so, because I don't see edwardian photographs sporting women with pushed up shoulders, could this be remedied by allowing more room at the top of the corset to avoid squeezing things up and out?
  • khoc

Bust Support, back fat, and waist tape help

Hello,
I'm having trouble with making corsets that support the bust. I have no photos to show, so I tried to illustrate what I think is happening. As the corset cinches in the waist, fat and flesh are displaced upwards to the underbust. This roll of fat pushes the corset away from the body, leaving a gap between the underbust and the corset and resulting in no support for the bust. My friend's corset I made for her wedding had that problem, and we found that lacing the corset tighter allowed for the support, but resulted in a lot of back-fat. This is all from self-drafted patterns, as I am not at a place where I can purchase any. Being male, I have limited knowledge of bust support and cannot practice/test on myself as I lack endowment in the bust area, so any insight and/or recommendations are very greatly appreciated!



Another issue I have is the waist tape. Even when I use coutil (purchased from Britex in San Francisco, if that matters) I can see the waist tape indentations on the outside of the corset. It seems as though the fabric is trying to stretch at the waist but the waist tape is not allowing it to at that area, so you see the indentation. Granted, I've only ever tried making single-layered corsets, or double layer (fashion + strength fabric). Is there any way to combat this as well?

Thank you very much.

Need help finding a custom corsetier

I'm looking for someone who can create a custom corset for me, however what I want is a little unusual. I have scoliosis and corsets have helped with pain relief a lot in the past. I've recently come into a little bit of money and would love to find someone who can create at least one, but possibly up to 4 corsets for me. They would sort of fill the role of a back brace, although I'm not looking for something that has the same medical re-shaping stuff that a scoliosis back brace has. I would like something that is an overbust and can be worn under clothes (so no frills etc). I'd like it to basically just be a tube that provides somewhat equal support all over, rather than something that cinches in the waist like a victorian corset or similar does. Having something where the lower stomach is supported/brought in might be useful if that's possible. It might be useful with the way my back is shaped, but is certainly not necessary. I've thought about trying to make my own corset to meet this criteria since it's so different than what most corsetiers seem to make, but I'm not very confident in my ability to sit in front of a sewing machine/table for the length of time it would take to create. It would probably take me a year if I tried to do it on my own given how often I need to change position etc. Please ask if I've not been clear enough and you'd like more information about the type of design I have in my head.

Does anyone know of someone who might be comfortable making something like this? I've e-mailed a few corsetiers, but have not had any response yet. My guess is that there are a couple of factors working against me 1) mentioning scoliosis often makes people nervous 2) maybe they don't have time to devote to something so unique?

I would be really grateful for any suggestions! Thanks in advance!