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Hi everyone!
I am glad to welcome you to this book which is a
part of the Opaque Corsets series by the Corset
Academy!
It is very important to understand that despite its very useful and valuable material the
book cannot fully replace the DVD with video tutorials and authors commentaries!
However it is a handy, worth-while and basically essential supplement to the DVD!
If you achieve mastery of the DVD course and use this book in your future work as well, it
is going to help you learn easier and implement your new skills practically.
I highly recommend you to start learning how to tailor opaque corsets exactly in the
sequence described in the book - in other words going from the basics to the complicated
parts in a build-up manner.
You should first of all try your hand at the tailoring of a corset in a simplified technique.
Achieve a really beautiful garment! And only then - elated by success - go on to the making
of a quilted-cup corset. If you manage to make this professional garment well - what I am
sure you are going to manage - you can doubtless go on to the making of a dress with
separately cut cups or a bodice.
Just follow my directions carefully and you will succeed!
I would also like to add that the corsets and dresses that I teach you to tailor in this book
are only a base for your own masterpieces.
Let your imagination flow freely!
You can design an amazing dress using one of the corsets as its element!
If you are not sure how to decorate the garment or how to design patterns of various
models and sizes - my DVDs and books are there to help you!
I advise you to watch the updates on the website.
Best of luck with your learning and enjoy reading the book!
Sincerely yours,
Tatiana Kozorovitsky
I start working on the first corset which I am going to sew in what is known as the
simplified technique.
I have chosen a simple basic design for the tailoring of this corset.
You can see a technical drawing of this design and its pattern schemes in this picture:
There are four parts in the pattern of my corset: 2 front pieces and 2 back pieces.
There is a crease line in the middle of the front and a cut in the middle of the back because
the lacing will go across the middle of the back.
You are not going to need that many materials to sew this corset.
I have made a collage of all things necessary for making this corset and took a picture of it.
Measuring tape.
Scissors.
Ribbons.
Plastic bones. I use them for adding support to the curves of the corset.
You need to make certain calculations and alter the standard pattern a little in order to be
able to use it for any non-standard forms.
The main rule: I need to preserve the beautiful corset shape and at the same time stretch
(or the other way round - squeeze) the pattern so that the new size can fit the forms of the
client.
Under-bust
14.2
front
Bust
33.9
circumference
Under-bust
27.6
circumference
Waistline 26
Stomach 33.9
3.5
Clip
3.5
Column 1 necessary measurements that you need to take off the client.
I assume that before buying this book you had watched my free tutorials on taking clients
measurements where I explain in detail how it is done and how each measurement is used.
Only then I can imagine what size the corset will be if I sew it according to the standard
patterns and how much the size of the standard pattern should be altered (made smaller or
bigger) so that the client could put her corset on.
There are necessary notches on the pattern corresponding to the main lines:
- bust;
- under-bust line;
- waistline;
- stomach.
The task is to lay out the patterns on the table in such a way that the main lines are parallel
to each other and go through the notches of all pattern pieces.
In this very case the bust circumference of the standard pattern is 36.6 inches.
I write this value down into the third column of the table against the bust circumference
measurement (line 5).
Measurements of other section lengths are taken exactly the same way and fill up the third
column of my table completely.
Bust middle
7.1 7.9
Under-bust
14.2 15.7
front
Bust
33.9 36.6
circumference
Under-bust
27.6 31.1
circumference
Waistline 26 30.7
3.5
Clip 4.7 5.1
3.5
I find this method very easy. However there are many questions addressed to me concerning
exactly this step. Therefore I would recommend you reading this part of the tutorial one
more time and very carefully.
There is another method of taking measurements off a corset sewn based on the standard
pattern.
You could sew a corset out of some mock-up fabric, put it on the dress-form and draw some
cords along all circumference lines. Then you would outline them with a pencil, measure
them and write down the values.
- under-bust front - under-bust line at the front measured from side to side;
It is necessary to mark the distance between the waistline and this measurement. The line
of the stomach is normally the spot where the corset ends.
In this very case this distance is 4.7 inches from the waistline.
When taking this measurement off a client I always note the distance from the waistline and
put it into the table. And afterwards when I start measuring the pattern I draw a stomach
line at exactly the same distance from the waistline.
- clip.
In this case I have taken a clip measurement in only two directions: from the bust middle
to the underarm (line 1) and from the bust middle along the curve (line 2).
- side length - distance from the waistline to the upper point of the corset along its side
seam.
I recommend those not yet familiar with my re-calculation technique to watch my free
tutorials on the topic in advance. Its really going to be helpful.
Most of my students have got acquainted with my philosophy and agreed that it is much
easier and more reliable to use a worked-through standard pattern.
Only once you have sewn a couple corsets and understood my methods you can easily cut
corsets with closed side seams and make fitting tests with a finished garment.
If the measurements of the pattern and the client coincide you wont have to make any
corrections and the whole column 4 of the table should be left out during re-calculation.
But in my case Kates measurement is 7.1 inches against the patterns 7.9 inches which
means I have to alter the pattern along the middle crease line.
Let us calculate:
I have to divide this value into 2 sides - the right and the left.
Therefore:
-0.8 2 = -0.4
I write this value of -0.4 inches into the table (column 4, line 2).
The bust middle measurement of the standard pattern is larger than Kates. This means I
need to take away 0.4 inches (the value was negative) from the standard pattern to adjust it
to Kates measurements.
Therefore the crease of the fabric is going to be 0.4 inch inwards to the central front part of
the pattern.
And when I make a pattern after Kates measurements my standard pattern should go 0.4
inches beyond the crease of the
fabric.
I am going to write the -0.4 inch value in all the lines of column 4 in order to keep this in
mind.
Let me remind you that the value is -0.4 inches for each side of the pattern.
Under-bust
14.2 15.7 -0.4
front
Bust
33.9 36.6 -0.4
circumference
Under-bust
27.6 31.1 -0.4
circumference
3.5
Clip 4.7 5.1
3.5
Now I want to determine where the front side seam will be.
There are two measurements determining the location of the side seam: bust front and
under-bust front.
Bust front:
It is 19.7 inches on the pattern and 18.1 inches according to Kates measurements.
I have already adjusted down all circumferences by 0.8 inches when calculating the bust
middle measurement and shifted the pattern by 0.4 inches against the fabric crease.
Therefore the side seam along the bust-line is going to be adjusted down by 0.4 inches.
Under-bust front:
I am doing it the same way keeping in mind that the bust middle has been reduced by 0.8
inches.
15.7 0.8 = 15
It is now perfectly clear that the side seam is shifted by 0.4 inches.
However I am going to adjust down the whole pattern by 0.4 inches to keep the beautiful
side shape of the corset - this lovely curve - thereby reducing all circumferences (bust,
under-bust, waistline, stomach) by 0.8 inches.
I add the -0.4 inch value into the lines 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the column 5.
Clip measurement.
Since there are 4.7 inches on the pattern corresponding to the 3.5 inches of the clients
measurement, I do the following:
It is 5.1 inches on the pattern and the clients measurement shows 3.5 which means I need
to do the following:
The values are added into the table (column 5, line 9).
Side length.
It is 7.5 inches on the pattern and 7.1 inches on Kate, therefore the side length should be
adjusted down by:
Under-bust
14.2 15.7 -0.4 -0.4
front
Bust
33.9 36.6 -0.4 -0.4
circumference
Under-bust
27.6 31.1 -0.4 -0.4
circumference
3.5 -1.2 -
Clip 4.7 5.1
3.5 1.6
Now I would like to go into more detail concerning the side length.
In my case I need to lower the side of the standard pattern by 0.4 inches.
According to the rule of side adjustment you cannot cut off more than 0.6 inches atop.
The thing is that when the difference between the side seam lengths exceeds 0.8 inches it
means the client has different proportions: the distance between her waist and her bust
differs from the standard.
If you for instance reduce the sides by 2 inches for a petite client - the neckline cut of the
corset is going to be right below her chin.
That is why the pattern should be altered in a different manner if the difference between
the side seam lengths exceeds 0.8 inches.
You need to cut all patterns along the waistline and lay the top and bottom parts onto each
other shifting them up by the value of this difference, i.e. reduce the pattern length.
There are naturally no more bust front or under-bust front measurements now.
It is 36.6 inches on the pattern and 33.9 inches according to Kates measurements.
I have already taken into account the alteration along the middle of the bust-line (-0.4) and
the front side seam (-0.4).
Thus:
36.6 1.6 = 35
Under-bust circumference.
(27.6 29.5) 2 = -1
I dont think much about the values for now; I just calculate and record them.
Waistline.
Let us calculate:
Let us calculate:
38.6 1.6 = 37
Under-bust
14.2 15.7 -0.4 -0.4
front
Bust
33.9 36.6 -0.4 -0.4 -0.6
circumference
Under-bust
27.6 31.1 -0.4 -0.4 -1
circumference
3.5 -1.2 -
Clip 4.7 5.1
3.5 1.6
I have prepared all my notes and calculations made during the previous tutorial.
Fabric Consumption.
First of all I need to figure out how much fabric is going to be consumed.
I take the patterns and lay them out in the same sequence I am going to lay them out onto
fabric.
I use a measuring tape to see how much fabric approximately I am going to need.
I tear off 47.2 inches of iron-on batiste (deliberately oversized) and as much of the main
material.
Preparation of Fabric.
My iron-on batiste is 35.4 inches wide. This width is exactly enough for the full cutting of
both the face and the lining.
Then I fold this piece of batiste in half, even out cut edges and then fold it in half once more.
Please take a look at the picture to see how I place this batiste piece. Note the way its cut
edges and creases are located:
I am going to use the same fabric both for face and lining: crepe-satin.
The quality of the cut and the garment itself depends on the way Im going to fuse the iron-
on fabric onto the main one now.
Afterwards I fold fused fabric the way I have planned it; all creases get evened out and
pinned together and the fabric is now fully prepared for cutting.
Cutting.
The pattern you see in pictures has a certain neckline shape. But I want to make a design
with a straight cut or a strapless type. That is why I am taking another standard pattern
but with a different neckline cut - the one I need:
I am going to provide you with a ready-to-use strapless pattern but I think it is useful and
interesting to see a possible implementation of patterns with varying top cuts.
I am placing the pattern of the front side piece onto fabric so that the waistline of the
pattern perfectly coincides with the waistline that has been drawn on fabric:
For that purpose I mark 0.4 inches (see the table) decreasingly along the waistline and draw
a new side seam line of the front through this point, parallel to the line drawn after the
standard pattern.
I use the corresponding sides of the same pattern for drawing lines going through calculation
points.
Then I draw a new top line (0.4 inches below) also referring to the top line of the standard
pattern.
I pin the fabric together along the newly drawn lines in order to prevent it from shifting.
I place waistline notches along the waistline drawn on the fabric and outline the pattern.
Please note that I use plastic patterns or patterns made of thick cardboard. Such patterns
dont need to be pinned to the fabric.
All calculations have been carried out and all values are in the table.
I connect all calculation points referring to the standard pattern, i.e. I try to transfer all curve
lines from the old pattern.
Having marked the calculation points (see the picture) I draw new lines with the help of the
standard pattern starting from the waistline. I draw the bottom part of the line first, then
turn the pattern around the point on the waistline and draw the top part of the line.
The top and bottom lines of the calculated pattern are also drawn based on the standard
pattern.
This way all the parts of the new pattern are going to match each other perfectly. The lines
will have a smooth flow.
I put the pattern on the fabric matching notches on the waistline with the waistline line.
I adjust down the standard pattern by 0.2 inches at the under-bust level.
I draw the bottom half of a new curve line over the pattern.
Then I draw the top half of the curve line turning the standard pattern around the
intersection of the notches.
This way I have drawn all corset patterns on the fabric after my client Kates measurements:
Then I unpin the pieces and sort them out into face parts and lining parts.
I need to join the central part together with the side part.
I hear many people asking how to put these pieces together correctly.
Please take a look at the picture: I have put the pieces together very accurately (face to
face), evened out their cut edges, the notches however dont match!
So what do I do in this case? I look for the intersection of the bust-line and the seam
allowance line on the side part of the front and pin it at the spot:
Please note the way I use my hands when sewing pieces together: I am holding the bottom
layer in one hand and the upper layer - in the other:
While sewing, I even out cut edges right under the machine always correcting the seam
allowance according to the line of the throat plate.
I am using neither pins nor tacks. I always hold the layers of fabric with both hands
controlling thereby either the ease-in degree or the stretching. You should always feel the
way the fabric lies under the machine.
Then, in just the same manner, I join and sew together the central part of the front lining
piece and the second side piece.
A small trick: it is very difficult to start sewing pieces together when fabric layers slide along
each other like in my case. It is hard to push evened-out cut edges underneath the sewing
machine. That is why I pin the layers together, then push them underneath the machine and
start working.
The pins are afterwards removed and I continue sewing, holding each layer with my hands -
the upper layer with the left hand and the bottom layer - with the right one:
Having sewn a seam like this a couple times you will see this yourself and the situation will
be fully under your control.
So I have finished sewing together the front of the lining and now I put it aside.
You can see the pieces Im going to work with in the picture:
I hold the pieces separately with my hands, like before. I hold the bottom piece lightly but let
go of the upper one. This way the fullness produced by the machine on the bottom layer is
evened-out. I join even the most basic pieces this way. This should become your habit!
This procedure is going to be repeated multiple times during the process of sewing corsets.
It is done in order to make the fabric less thick when you start joining the lining and the face
along the curves. I sew together the second vertical curve of the back of the lining also
trimming the corners.
I press the seam open step by step from both sides - first from one side and then from the
other- to preserve the volume of the piece:
Then I trim about a half of the seam allowance leaving around 0.2-0.3 inches.
I repeat the procedure with the other back curve but in a different way.
First I press the sewn curve along the iron-on fabric without unfolding the piece:
It is slightly more difficult to press open in the second technique because the seam becomes
small and hardly opens. However on the other hand the seam allowances are trimmed
perfectly the same from both sides and the seam therefore looks neater.
I press open the flat parts of the curves on an even, smooth surface:
I place the cushion on the pressboard then put the cup pressing mould on top of it and the
cup itself - onto the mould.
I press open the seam in a circular motion forming the required shape of the cup:
Note that the pressing process takes almost as long as the sewing one!
You should let the seams cool down - then they will stay well pressed and wont crease:
As a result, in this tutorial I have shown you how to join together pieces without using pins
and tacks.
I have sewn together the vertical curves of the lining and pressed them open.
I have almost finished sewing this corset. Now I only need to put some finishing touches and
decorate it.
First of all I need to sew a flap that is sewn-on underneath the lacing.
Its length should equal the length of the back of the corset.
You can choose its width yourself depending on how wide the open gap on the back is going
to be.
I take 2 rectangular pieces of face fabric fused with iron-on batiste from the wrong side
and sew them together along 3 sides:
I bend the seam allowances towards the lining side and make a clean-finish-edge seam in
order to turn the flap out easier and achieve a neat piped-like edge:
I make a stitch along the fourth side leaving a small hole in the middle for turning the flap
out.
Then I turn the flap out and stitch the hole up by machine:
Then I press this flap and hand-stitch it onto the lining of the corset at the lacing area.
Punching Grommets.
So I have sewn a flap and now I start marking holes for grommets:
In my case the distance between the grommets is 1.5 inches. I make markings.
I take my punch machine and punch holes through using a special accessory:
I bend the corset and make markings on its second side through the existing holes in order
to make sure these lacing holes are in exactly the same spots as those on the first side, i.e.
the grommets are symmetric:
I take a 1 inch wide satin ribbon and make gathers on it using a household sewing machine
with a special presser foot:
You could gather the ribbon by hand as well then secure it with pins and make a running
hand-stitch.
I put the corset onto the mannequin and arrange this gathered ribbon into an improvised
ornament securing it with pins:
You can use any ornament depending on the shape of the neckline. You could also make an
ornament along the bottom of the corset.
Required Materials.
Let me say a few words about the required materials before I start preparing fabric for
cutting.
These are basically all materials that I use for sewing a corset.
- Rigilene bones, both wide (0.5) and narrow (0.3). Its enough to just use narrow bones
for this very design;
- main fabric. I have chosen rather dense stretch satin as the main fabric. This dress can be
made either with or without an additional lining. Additional lining is desirable if you use a
thin material as the main fabric. However if the main fabric is dense enough and there is also
an overlay of decorative fabric atop (in my case it is a lace overlay embroidered with glass
beads and sequins) - then you dont really need a lining.
- zipper;
You can see all tools required for sewing the dress in the picture below:
I have prepared 2 pieces of fabric for the face side and the lining:
I lay out the cup pieces crosswise, i.e. along the shoot, but I have decided to arrange the
back pieces along the grain of fabric to save up some material.
I remove 0.4 inches along the centre of the front because according to the calculations I
need to go 0.8 inches inwards in order to reduce the standard pattern along the middle of
the bust. I outline the pattern as is for now remembering to mark notches.
I will alter the patterns later and for now I just outline all pieces as they are.
I have cut the back piece crosswise against the front piece of the cups. I am fully aware that
laying out fabric in different directions may result in having different kinds of shades or
shimmer. But I also know that there will be an appliqu going along the top of the cups and
thats why Ive taken this decision to spare some fabric.
I step 1.6 inches atop from the curve, 0.5 inches - from the neckline, and 0.7 inches - on the
side piece of the front.
I look for the location of the bust-line to find out how much the neckline should be lowered.
I would like the depth of the triangle in its actual size to match the bust-line precisely. Thats
why I step upwards from the bust-line by a distance of the seam allowance and mark the
end point of the neckline cut.
However upon looking at the shape of the neckline I can tell that removing 1.6 inches along
the curve would be too much! The neckline cut wont look good and the cup pieces wont
match properly. I have most probably recommended the client to have the neckline cut
lowered significantly when taking off her measurements, or maybe she just wanted a very
low neckline cut. But I can see that it wont look good, the shape of the cup will be
deformed. And that is why I have decided to remove 0.8 inches along the top instead of 1.6
inches. This way the beautiful proportional shape of the top will be preserved.
I remove 0.2 inches along the side seam and 0.4 inches under the bust.
You can see how pretty and well-proportioned the new top line is:
You shouldnt forget to remove 0.4 inches along the length atop the side.
I remove 1 inch along the bust-line, 1.2 inches under the bust and 0.4 inches - along the side
length.
I place some folded hard iron-on fabric underneath the front cup pieces that have been
pinned together.
I match the creases of the iron-on fabric and the pattern fabric and pin them together
again:
I cut the cups very carefully along the marked lines. It is necessary to make notches. I dont
put any hard iron-on material underneath the back pieces.
Once Ive cut out all pieces, I check them comparing the cut out pieces with the pattern.
Apart from that I always check how well these cut out pieces match:
Before I start talking directly about the pattern for this garment and the working process, I
would like to talk about the pros and cons of a bodysuit.
- it fits your body tightly and there are no folds on the stomach or at the back if the
garment is sewn correctly;
- first of all, its fastener is not conveniently located. Lately I have completely given up using
button, snap and hook fasteners here. All of these have been tried and showed no good
results when worn. That is why I either make a one-piece bodysuit or a sewn-together
bodysuit. I always warn my clients about this. Usually we decide to sew a one-piece garment
similar to a jumpsuit or a swimsuit.
- in most cases functional straps are needed regardless of the size due to unavoidable
vertical tension. Straps prevent one from having this unpleasant feeling that the garment is
going to slide down, and they are absolutely necessary for women with full breasts because
without them a body wont be able to hold a heavy bust even if the cups have been quilted
and glued.
- there are quite high requirements to ones forms. This garment cannot change body forms
dramatically and cannot disguise fat rolls.
- it is rather difficult to decorate it on the stomach and at the back. It is hard to drape it and
fix the drapery because a bodysuit is made of elastic materials. Thats why either your
mannequin should have the precise size of your client or all alterations after the fit test, as
well as all decorative elements, should be applied directly on the client.
However: despite the cons, bodysuit remains popular and is often used in the tailoring of
evening gowns and wedding dresses. If the skirt of a future garment is going to be rather
heavy and voluminous, you can sew a bodysuit without the panties part. In this case you
just sew it like a singlet and the skirt provides vertical tension with its weight. This
eliminates all the main disadvantages of a bodysuit. But straps remain a necessity.
The bodysuit itself will be made of an elastic material and have one layer; a non-elastic
dense material with lining will be used for the cups.
The pattern I use myself and offer you consists of the following pieces:
Cup:
Body:
Required materials.
Rigilene bones. For this very model you can just use narrow bones (0.3 inches).
Measuring tape.
Narrow ribbon for the loops used for hanging the garment.
In this picture you can see all tools and materials required for making a bodysuit:
Since the main part of the bodysuit is sewn out of a highly elastic material, there is no need
to go into detail about alteration of the pattern, in other words I wont explain you in depth
how this pattern should be changed. It is the same principle as when sewing a corset or a
dress.
The only thing that will always require your attention when cutting a bodysuit is the
elasticity coefficient of the fabric. Thats why the main part of a bodysuit should even be
made a little smaller than clients measurements both in length and volume.
Let me say a few words on altering cups with the help of the clip measurement.
Tatyana, you keep drawing our attention to the fact that one should never, by no means,
alter bust curves. But how comes? Larger cups should be much deeper and smaller cups
should be shallower, so what should we do then?
- if I make the clip measurement smaller, the cup becomes shallower automatically (line
1).
- as soon as I start enlarging the cup based on the clip measurement, it automatically
becomes deeper (line 2).
The only thing you should always keep in mind: you should always control the depth of the
dart if the bust is large and full. You cannot just enlarge the pattern thoughtlessly and
continue the curve line right parallel to the line on the original pattern. A full bust requires
some space. You should narrow the opening of the bust dart.
If you minify the location of the clip, you just go right along the bust curve, make
markings after new measurements and lessen the cups length proportionally thereby
reducing their depth.
For larger cups you start going up along the bust curve and go beyond the border of the
cup. This is exactly the case when you need to slightly draw away from the upper point
(literally by 2-4mm depending on the size, fullness and shape of the bust). Thereby the cup
is slightly enlarged and the dart opening - narrowed. The same is done on the central
pattern piece.
However as we start shaping a dome-shaped cup when sewing, we ease-in the upper cut
edge thereby ensuring good fitting of the cup to the bust. But it is absolutely unacceptable
to have large cups sticking tightly into the body. It is a very graceless effect!
You might ask me: Tatyana, why should we determine everything by sight? Cant we take a
certain formula and calculate the dart opening for a certain figure?
Unfortunately this is not possible! Otherwise, why do most women buy and wear lingerie,
including bras and swimwear, produced by a particular brand? It is just because garments of
this or that very brand fit them well! Why does it happen? It happens, because every
The same happens when you tailor a garment based on a certain request. Every woman
should be approached individually and there is no universal method of constructing a bra
that would suit everyone and always, with no exceptions.
Your good tailors or cutters eye should suggest you the methods and alterations I have just
told you about.
Later, in the process of sewing, you can adjust the volume of the cups using other methods,
for example the method of quilting rounded cups or the method of easing-in along the
upper cut edge of the cup to make it look dome-shaped.
I never looked for a universal calculation method because I always thought: if I have a
beautiful cup pattern, then I will just try to alter this very pattern in such a way that any
woman could feel comfortable with it. All the more, these alterations are quite simple and
your comprehension of working with a ready pattern comes very soon. Its enough to
literally sew 2-3 garments for different body types.
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