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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.

From the Archives : How to trace and mark a corset pattern

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This is an oldie - extract from it what you will

 

It is good practice to trace your sewing pattern so that you have a 'master' for future reference.   Alterations can be made using the copy.

Note:  It is not recommended that you use a strong colour to mark pale fabrics.  I have used red here for clarity

For this example I have used a few tools:

1.  Tracing paper (greaseproof paper is perfect, but not baking parchment which is coated in silicone) and a pencil.

2.  Dressmakers carbon paper (see note above)

3.  A tracing wheel

The tracing wheel should be the 'blunt' type, not the sharp type.

Both dressmakers carbon and tracing wheels are available in the Shop

 

trace1   

Use tracing paper and a pen to trace each piece of the pattern including ALL construction marks.  Do not worry too much about grommet hole markings at this stage.  

Do make sure all the grain lines are marked.

 trace2

Once your pattern is traced, you can use the copy to cut your fabrics out.  

Make sure that the fabric is properly grained up as if the grain of fabric isn't right, the corset may end up twisting which will cause it to feel uncomfortable when you are wearing it.

Also make sure that the fabric is laid out Right sides TOGETHER.  You will be marking the fabric directly onto the wrong side of the fabric. 

Before taking the pattern off the fabric, you will need to transfer the relevant markings and balance points.

 
 trace3

 Using dressmakers carbon, create a 'sandwich'.  It is useful to use 2 different colours to mark the top and bottom layers as this will eliminate any confusion over which side is which later on.

 
Making sure you don't unpin the whole ensemble - ie, keeping the layers in the exact position in which they were cut, layer one piece of carbon underneath the pattern and ontop of the first layer of fabric, and one piece of carbon underneath the bottom layer of fabric.

trace4   

Now firmly, so that the imprint goes right to the bottom, run the tracing wheel over the markings on the top paper.  

Mark bone channels and balance points and any other relevant stitching lines or marks.

Before removing the paper, check the bottom layer to make sure that everything is marked up.

You should now have a left set of pieces and a right side of pieces. 

In the seam allowance, label each piece of each side in the seam allowance ie: centre front/side front/side back/centre back etc.,

 

 

 

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