Here’s a sneak peak at some material I’ve got for my next few corsets – they’re going to be historic corsets. But that aside, I thought this was a good time to talk about fabric weights and what works best when making a corset…
So what do I mean by fabric ‘weight’? If you’re not familiar with the term, it means the thickness, and it makes a big difference to the way the fabric moves, hangs, and holds its shape under pressure.
I’m often asked what corsets can be made from and if you’re wondering the answer is anything… as long as it’s lined with coutil (a cotton with almost no give that is specially designed for corsets). But there is a difference between what a corset can be made of and what it should be made of to get the best results.
Now as long as you have your coutil lining, your outer layer or ‘fashion fabric layer’ can be any material (although you’re making a rod for your own back with stretch fabrics). I myself love to use lightweight cottons, not for the material but for the patterns; all the best fabric designs are printed on quilters cottons from pin-up girls to palm trees. However it’s very hard to work with these fabrics when you make a corset as they wrinkle if you don’t get the tension between lining and outer layers just right and even then they wrinkle a little. I use fusible interfacing most of the time and this helps considerably, but if you’re new to corset making and are just learning how to make a corset for the very first time, I can’t recommend heavy weight fabrics enough.
These two in the photo above are upholstery fabrics I got from the curtain section of Rolls n Rems – my favourite fabric store in Lewisham, London, UK. They have an upstairs devoted to these beauties. So look for local curtain and upholstery shops for an easy to work fabric that will sit flat and smooth where others will pucker and wrinkle. Add to this an extra layer of strength to back up your coutil and you have a winner! When I find a method to make shirt cottons lay smooth and flat I’ll let you know as I’m not giving up on my palm trees and pin-up prints! 😉
