Foundations Revealed

Follow along as Jema takes her antique Charles Bayer corset, and the pattern she made from it in last month's instalment, and recreates it for herself.

Jema shows us the complete details on how one professional corsetmaker would make this one layer corset, step by step. Furthermore, she includes some techniques you may not have tried before, such as a lapped seam for one layer corsets that neatly encases all raw edges on both sides.

Naturally I noticed the vintage corset lying in the antique store, but since extant pieces are usually cut for Scarlett O’Hara, I passed it by. A few minutes later, my companion was brandishing it about. “I think this would fit you,” she exclaimed. It had to be late 1880s... she held it up to me, and she was right. Even over a t-shirt, it was clearly a perfect fit.

Danine looks in detail at this extraordinarily lucky find, and then makes us a pattern.

Naturally I noticed the vintage corset lying in the antique store, but since extant pieces are usually cut for Scarlett O’Hara, I passed it by. A few minutes later, my companion was brandishing it about. “I think this would fit you,” she exclaimed. It had to be late 1880s... she held it up to me, and she was right. Even over a t-shirt, it was clearly a perfect fit.

Danine looks in detail at this extraordinarily lucky find, and then makes us a pattern.

If you're familiar with our sister site, you'll know all about Sunny's extraordinary articles in which she studies antique garments in minute detail with hundreds of detailed photographs. Here she looks at six late Victorian and Edwardian petticoats, studying the methods used to produce the beautiful embellishments so that we can either recreate our own historically accurate underthings to accompany our corsets - or take them somewhere more avant garde...

On this page you can ask questions about any aspect of corsetmaking or historical underwear, however basic, advanced, general or technical, and receive answers both from our contributors and from other readers. We'd also love to publish your own tips, techniques and stories.

This month Suzannah asks about corset mannequins, Laurie inquires about the different site look and Natalie wonders how adaptable the corset drafting tutorial could be for other styles of corset.

Angela Friedman lives and works in New York City and is currently a Cutter/Draper at the New York City Ballet costume shop. She has been making corsets of all types since 2000 and has recently started her own specialist corsetmaking business.

Our intrepid interviewer Eleine grills Angela at length about the finer points of her technique, including number of panels, precision in measuring and cutting, fabrics, styles and general business advice.

It's the sixty-four million dollar question: how much should you charge for your work, without either selling yourself short or discouraging potential clients?

I'm going to give you a lot to think about here. I'm going to challenge you to think again; I'm going to tell you the biggest pricing mistakes that corsetieres make. Most importantly, I'll show you where to find the confidence to charge what you're worth. Take heart: success is out there waiting for you!