Category: What I'm up to

1. Finding different & quicker ways of doing things

   Posted on 12:00pm Tuesday 21st Aug 2018

   I find some aspects of corsetry tiresome - putting in eyelets for instance. I also don't like creating boning channels from strips of fabric or bias binding and lining them up so they are symmetrical with the other side - it's a right faff! I now create my mid-panel boning channels so they are intrinsic to the panels themselves. Each channel needs 2cm of extra fabric. They are so neat when executed properly - and if you mark the parallel lines accurately and in line with the grainline, they are always going to be exactly symmetrical with the other side. They look like lapped seams so if ironed to the correct side they will look like the seams and be consistent across the corset. Try it!

   

2. Inspiration from Museum exhibits

   Posted on 12:00pm Wednesday 13th Jun 2018

   I was back in London for a few weeks recently and visited the V&A - my favourite Museum in the entire world.

   It's such a great source of inspiration. I was fascinated by the leather detailing on the underarm of these stays, presumably its purpose being to lengthen its life;

   

   I'm currently working on a strapped over-bust design, to be published later in the month on my Patreon platform.

3. Free under-bust pattern now offered though my website

   Posted on 12:00pm Wednesday 21st Feb 2018

   I started patterning corsets four years ago as I didn't think there was too much choice on the market. There were plenty of 12-panel underbusts, simple over-busts, and some good historical reproductions, however I felt there could be more variety, especially in the modern camp. I've done my fair share of standard patterns of course and have decided to offer one of these as a free pattern through my web-site to show my work. A part of my patterning that I've been working on is splitting panels in half at the waist giving corset makers the opportunity to top and tail different sizes - whether it be bust size, under-bust or hip against a specific waist size. It's much more adaptable for the many sizes that human beings come in! The free under-bust pattern does just this. Here are the possibilities of sizes without having to make any modifications yourself;

   

    

   I'm now much more interested in bringing unusal designs to the market place and given that there are quite a few free patterns out there anyway, the most simple of my designs are not great sellers. Here is a pic of the pattern - the pattern centre front is actually a little narrower than this prototype;

   

   Please contact me via the contacts page or fill in the e mail address on the pattern page. I offer a comprehensive 25-page manual on corset construction through Etsy so if you need further information on how to build a corset please have a look at this (you'll be suporting my cottage business too!).

   https://www.etsy.com/uk/CorsetsbyCaroline/listing/580781156/corset-construction-manual?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1519249999828