All about corset making and corsetry components

A blog with plenty of information on Corset Making and corset making supplies.

A new "From the Archives" series will be published every Wednesday and Saturday from 25 February 2023, until 26 March 2023, and these posts will contain 'old' information on corset making which will be updated for the revamped Learn Corset Making information portal whereever that may be.

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Category: Corsetry Fabrics

  1. Herringbone Coutil Update

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    English coutil fabric for Corsetry

    So over the past couple of weeks, you may have noticed that our regular herringbone cotton coutil fabric feels a bit different - a bit softer, a lot softer actually.

    First of all PANIC NOT!  This is not a bad thing. The thread count and quality of the fabric is still the same. The sizing has changed - what is 'sizing'? I hear you ask...

    Size is the glue product which is put onto the coutil fabric during the finishing process to make the material stiff and therefore suitable for corsetry.  In the past, to be honest, I think the fabric has been oversized which has resulted in a really cardboard like feel to the fabric.  However, this over-sizing did have benefits too  because it meant that you could dye the white herringbone with ease and the fabric would remain firm even after several washing cycles. 

    Now, we have a softer product but no less strong and certainly still the best fabric to use for making a corset.

    If you do wish to dye the coutil, you can still do so but will need to use starch in order to get a crisp result. 

    The new softer herringbone corsetry coutil allows you much more flexibility especially when it comes to fusing other fabrics to it (ie: silk);  before you would end up with a really stiff and bulky cardboard like fabric which would permenantly crease if you weren't careful.  With the softer base, this will not happen.

    For tips on fusing, click HERE

  2. Inspiration - Sand and lace

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    finished bridal corset sand coutil with ivory net

    As you may know, I only stock products at Sew Curvy that I myself would use - and therefore I like to use them too.  I sometimes have so much inspiration that it's hard to focus on one idea at a time - such is the creative mind, and I imagine that if you are reading this, you are like that aswell!  So, for selfish reasons, not least because i've discovered that making things for fun is good for my stress levels, I've decided to indulge myself a bit and make some inspirational blog posts using materials from the shop.

    Being a shopkeeper I have to stock practical things as well as pretty things, and sometimes certain colours can seem a bit 'hmm' until you've played about with the possiblities; our Sand herringbone coutil is one of those 'hmm' items and probably one of the most difficult colours to pair up so that's where i've started! 

    ivory net and bows

    The sand coloured herringbone coutil on it's own isn't exactly inspirational - It's an odd colour truth be told - made for the medical market to replace what is now the vintage staple corsetry colour "tea rose" which is that salmony pink shade so common in corsets and girdles from the 1940's right up to the 70's, and which was the go to 'nude' of old.  Well this 'sand' colour (also once known as 'nude' and in Europe known as 'skin') is the replacement.  For medical corsetry, this colour was thought to be more compatible with a more multi-racial range of skin colours. 

    I call it 'sand' because it isn't like any skin colour i've ever seen, unless you count American Tan, but it is like a rich honey shaded builders sand.  It goes beautifully with ivory and also black as a base 'skin' tone type colour - it can melt away underneath a sheer underlay, and under ivory, becomes a very pretty bridal option. 

    In my first project,  i've teamed it up with our floral lingerie net, and two of our pretty guipure trims, along with a white busk and a cute little bra bow from the bra making range.  I like to mix and match shop supplies so that they are good for multiple uses and when I started stocking bra making supplies, I visited the warehouse to ensure that I could pick products that could be used for both bra making and corset making in a number of different ways.

    cutting out with no turn of cloth

    The most exciting thing I have to tell you about this project is that there is NO ROLL PINNING !!  Why?  Because the lace fabric has a slight stretch to it, so if you incorporated turn of cloth as you would a normal non-stretch fabric, you might get a bit of unsightly bagging.  Fabric with a slight stretch can cope very well with turn of cloth so no pesky fiddling about with those seam allowances and no tedious pad stitching as some people do. 

    Simply cut out both layers of your corset pattern at the same time, and stitch the coutil and lace together within the seam allowance.  Easy peasy and an excellent place for beginners to start with multi-layer corsetry!

    inside with garter tabs and bias boning channels

    I can't bear waste (ha!), and in my classes I teach what I call "fabric economy".  With this in mind I can literally use almost every single scrap of coutil from half a metre or a metre - whatever i'm using to cut the pattern.  Because 12mm bias strips, which I use for boning channels, are only 2.5cm wide before being processed, you can get alot out of the surplus material around the corset pattern and  when you're paying anywhere between £10-30 for a metre of fabric it pays to be thrifty let me tell you - especially with the more expensive coutils such as the rosebud coutil.

    In this picture you can see that i've used self made boning channels from 2.5cm wide coutil strips, and I've used 15mm satin ribbon stitched into the binding as detachable suspender loops. 

    Using matching coutil for your boning channels gives a single layer corset a very tidy interior negating the need for a separate lining and therefore making sure you end up with a light yet strong and durable corset.

    bias maker and strips of coutil

    I use the Prym bias binding maker for making the bone casings because it has a wide gap in the 'nose' - other bias makers can't take the thicker coutils, and I find that this little maker works very very well.  You cut your strip of coutil on the bias OR on the straight grain - it doesn't matter as long as you use a bias strip over particularly curvy bits.  Then you feed your strip through the little thingy, pin the end of the tape to the ironing board, and pull the contraption along your strip until you have a double folded peice. 

    I'll be making a video on this as soon as it stops raining!

    The bias strips are then used as boning channels and everything is stitched down with my 'wonder thread' - Guterman no 722 - it is literally invisible on a very wide range of fabrics!  Jenni Hampshire of Sparklewren fame discovered this and I've also been a devotee of the colour ever since... It literally disappears into any neutral coloured fabric including a number of the coutil we have at Sew Curvy:   Mink, Sand, Biscuit, ivory/gold rosebud, nude/silver rosebud, dessert orchid brocade, biscuit spot broche and small weave herringbone.  Amazing!

    bow and white busk

    The corset fabrics are all set off rather nicely with a white busk and a little cream bra bow.  Unfortunately, our black and white busks are currently on limited stock as my coloured busk project is on hold - basically the original factory mucked it alot of things up and i've been talking to another local place who have yet to provide samples for me.

    Here are some other palette ideas for the sand herringbone - black spot net, with black 'little crowns' guipure and either a Victorian style guipure with our 'latte' satin ribbon woven into it (good for lacing too) or the black tulle 'scrolls' trim.  Both look pretty and all of these options will go with our suspender elastics very well.

    black net and ribbons black net and scrolls trim

    SO! if you want to have a go - you can do this with any corset pattern at all, and these are the ingredients I used to make this cute little nude underbust.  All she needs now is a name - I think "Daisy" seems quite apt.


    Estimated material cost for a 22" corset approx £40 (excluding tools) if you had to buy everything - but see what's in your stash and have a play! It's good for the soul.

    shopping list 

     

     

  3. Interfacings, nets and fusibles

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    Summer is about weddings,  and weddings are all about having the right foundations!  At Sew curvy this means interfacingsnets and fusibles!  We've got several types of quality fusible interfacings all made by Vilene which is the British equivalent of the US Pellon brand.  Woven fusible cotton is handy for making flimsy fabrics a bit heavier, and our new Bondaweb two sided heat activated webbing comes in 90cm widths!  Big enough to fuse half a metre of fabric at a time!

    vilene interlining bondaweb
    G700 Viline fusible woven interfacing is glue backed cotton in black or white.  It has a grain and is easy to use.  Full instructions in the product listing.  Use it for adding body to flimsy fabrics, for dress facings or for interfacing a lighter corset fashion fabric.  Works best with natural fibres. Light but stiff canvas interlining is commonly used in wedding dress foundations as the inner corsolette material.  Use it with spiral steel boning to smooth out the sillhouete under a light retro style dress which needs a good nip on the waist for max effect! We have new 90cm wide bondaweb!  A double sided fusing web for bonding two fabrics together which saves much faffing!  A much better width for corset making.  Use it for bonding fashion fabric to coutil to make a tough, but fine underwear corset or bodice.

    fusing copy The best way to use woven fusible is to lay said material on your fabric, lightly spray with water, cover with thin paper, and press press press.  Do not rub.  Just press.  The water creates steam which adds heat and improves bonding properties.  You can do the same with bondaweb just remember to sandwich the web between your two layers of fabric.

    powernet for lingerie black and white bobbinet corset net

    This lingerie strength powernet is used by several British manufacturers of vintage style lingerie.  It comes in black, nude or white.  90cm wide and stretchy in both directions.  More colours will be coming in soon!  Use it to make comfortable dress foundation panels for wear all day, every day!

     

    Bobbinet is used for authentic vintage foundation wear such as waspies and gown foundations.  Ours is 100% cotton,  90cm wide, and comes in black and white.  Use with spiral steel bones or fake whalebone.  Use it to make couture gown foundations or light underwear corsets.

     

    Rigid corsetry net comes in two colours, natural and black, and two weights.  Heavy is best for regular corsetry while light can be used for waspies and stiff petticoats.  Use loop pressing bars to make external bone channels for your sheer corsetry.  Use the net to make sheer corsets, or stiff peticoats which will give a skirt more body.

  4. Bobbinet - what is it and what is it for?

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    swisstulle bobbinet

    I find the story of the fabric known as bobbinet quite fascinating.  Like coutil it is a very rare, difficult to find material and it is only made by a very few factories in the world.  Like coutil there is a certain 'snobbishness' tied to it when put into the context of couture and fashion.  You must have 'genuine' bobbinet and it must be made of the right stuff and in the right way.

    Luckily, here at Sew Curvy we have genuine bobbinet, manufactured by one of the UK's only remaining factories and even more luckily, because I was able to get a narrower (but no less useful) width, the cost per metre is extremely competitive - the best you'll find anywhere on the net I think (haha! pun intended!)!

    Bobbinet is a very special tulle fabric - sometimes even known as 'genuine tulle' it has been around since 1806 when it was invented by a very clever man called John Heathcoate.  Mr Heathcoate coined the term 'bobbinet' from two words, 'bobbin' and 'net' because it is a lace type net fabric - lace is made with bobbins - but made on a machine which he also invented.  Modern lace is made on similar machines and these days, the design for bobbinet machines, like many Victorian inventions,  is largely unchanged from the original Heathcoate design.

    bobbinet fabric structure
    The structure of bobbinet tulle is hexaganol and this is what makes it so strong and durable.

    Bobbinet tulle is constructed from warp and weft yarns,  but unlike regular woven fabrics and nets, the horizontal weft yarn is looped diagonally around the vertical warp yarn to form a regular and distinctive hexagonal mesh which is completely stable, has minimal stretch and is durable, sheer and very very strong in comparison to it's weight.  This is why it is ideal for foundation garments within dresses and has been favoured by designers since the early 20th century for supporting haute couture gowns.  It is the hexagonal mesh which makes the difference here, without the hexagons, it's not bobbinet.

    Bobbinet was originally made from cotton, and it is now available in many different fibres including silk, nylon and special 'technical' fabrics. The threads of bobbinet can be coated in all sorts of non fabricy things including metal and this makes it's range of use outside the fashion industry quite vast!   It is used for theatre back drops, military applications, medical patches,  parachutes, cryogenic insulation, electromagnetic shielding, flexible electronics, fishing nets, high quality wig making and a whole other raft of 'craft' applications including porcelain statue decoration - who knew!!??

    bobbinet dress foundation dior couture
                 Dior dress foundation with bobbinete corselette

    In fashion, which is what we're interested in of course,  bobbinet mesh is still used for couture style dressmaking including bridal wear, corsetry and lingerie or as a base cloth for fine embrodery.  In the world of costume, bobbinet is used in wig making because it is fine, strong, and more or less invisible when hair is woven through it.

    bobbinet dress foundation balmain couture
    Balmain gown inside and out, with bobbinet corselette foundation

    What to use bobbinet for?  I would use it for dress foundations (sometimes called a built in corselete), and I am intending to try it out in light corsetry or as a stand alone corselete.  You can use bobbinet for petticoats but if I were to make a floaty tulle petticoat I would use a more standard silk tulle - not a specialist silk bobbinet.  Why?  Because regular silk tulle is much less expensive than silk bobbinet and just as effective, it also comes in a wider range of colours.  The point of using bobbinet in dressmaking is for strength and lighness to create something fine and elegant.  Bobbinet is not really a fabric to be used for it's looks in any application.

    Useful links:

    Anatomy of a gown by Morua Designs - see how bobbinet is used to create a dress foundation, this is one of my favourite ever posts on the internet.  Very inspirational.

    A post from Gerties Blog for Better Sewing regarding bobbinet corselettes in haute couture dress foundations.  I actually disagree that underwear should be worn in a dress with a foundation - a properly constructed couture dress foundation negates the requirement for separate underwear.

    Interesting post by Alison of Crikey Aphrodite on the OCOC blog about a lace factory in Scotland.  Lace is mounted on net and these machines are very similar to dedicated bobbinet machines.  A very interesting article with a nice video.

    Pictures of a beautiful beaded and goldworked Balmain gown bodice with bobbinet foundation that I found on my quest for bobbinet knowledge.  This is just superb!

  5. What is Coutil?

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    grey spot broche
    grey spot broche coutil - 'silver screen - sleek, elegant, ethereal

    Coutil is a fabric which was especially invented for corsetry back in the 1800's.  It was also known, at that time, as "Jean".  It is commonly a herringbone weave but it also comes in other forms.  The reason coutil is special is because it is a very densly woven fabric which makes it very strong and durable - able to stand up to tension, but can be very smooth and luxurious.  

    Coutil fabric for corsetry comes in several different 'weights', and also different compositions.  The best coutil is 100% cotton or at least a cotton/viscose mix (though some people are allergic to viscose).  You can get polyester coutil or polycotton coutil.  I do not recommend those as they do not 'breathe' as well as natural fabrics.  There is a bit of a myth that the best coutil comes from England.  This certainly used to be the case, however, I am sad to report that there are no coutil mills left in England.  All coutil is made abroad nowadays, some in India, some in China, and some in Europe.  I believe that some coutil is made in America too, although we in the UK do not tend to import from there and many American corset makers prefer the European coutil.   You may have heard of 'German coutil'.  It is important to use coutil for many reasons.  Not only is it the best material to make corsets from, and incomparable to other 'strong' fabrics, but it is also a dying industry.  It is expensive because it is a good quality fabric,  and we must support the production of coutil, to keep the few mills that are left in Europe open.  Many industries use coutil, however, most corsetry components are not made for small production or for fashion, but for the medical industry.

    Broche coutil is the heaviest type of coutil available from Sew Curvy, alongside the cotton sateen coutil which I also stock - it's basically the broche without the viscose design.  Fine herringbone coutil is the closes substitute to genuine antique coutil and is quite common in Edwardian corsetry.  It is very fine but deceptivly strong and therefore suitable for lighter single layer corsets or training corsets - smooth, light and dense.  Perfect! 

    fine herringbone coutil fabric for corset making

    fine herringbone coutil fabric for corset making

     

     

     

     

     

     

  6. What is Corset Net or Mesh?

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    The corsetry net at Sew Curvy is made from a strong polyester fabric similar to nylon, and  suitable for all types of corsetry.  Unlike softer nets such as silk bobbinet or stretchy nets such as power net, this polyester net is like any other non stretch strong fabric and you can make a corset with the standard four inch reduction without worry that it will tear or buckle.   It is sheer, durable and very very strong and can be used on it's own or with lace and other sheer fabrics for extra drama.

    There are some considerations to bear in mind when working with sheer net.  You must use external fabric bone channels if you don't want the bones to show, and you need to consider the inside finish a bit more because unlike a solid fabric where things can be hidden with lining, with a sheer fabric, everything is on show.  However, with some imagination, spectacular effects can be achieved.

    This net can be ironed with a cool'ish iron, and can be sewn using regular polyester thread or with clear/invisible nylon thread, all of which are stocked at Sew Curvy.

    Available in black or natural - the net is BACK IN STOCK! So hurry and get yours, it does have wings!

    sophie corset 2 web

    corset: Clessidra (aka Sew Curvy)
    photographer: Catherine Day

    model: Sophie Roach