Draft Your Own Corset Pattern
- Details
- Written by Cathy Hay
Taking measurements is a vital element in the creation of a perfectly fitting block or garment. Extra care at this stage can save you an extraordinary amount of time, effort and extra expense later. So before we begin, I need you to make me a few promises:
- You will be honest about your measurements. Telling little white lies will only result in a garment that does not fit. I can guarantee that you will not be satisfied with the resulting corset if you have not given your true measurements.
- You’ll take it seriously – too often, a costumer is left working with inaccurate measurements because she had a measuring party involving herself, her best friend and a few too many glasses of wine! Make sure you get it right, I can’t stress that enough!
- The measurements have been taken whilst you’ve been wearing what you would normally wear under the finished corset, as much as possible (a slip and well-fitting bra are fine but there’s no point measuring yourself for a fitted bodice block whilst wearing a sweater.) It may help to wear a close-fitting top with sleeves since you'll need to know where your "armscye" (armhole) is.
- Yes, that's right, wear your bra too when you're measuring for a corset - it'll ensure that your bust is in a more similar position to its final, corsetted location and make it easier to find the measurements of the corset that'll hold it there!
Do we have a deal? Right, here goes!
Tie a string or ribbon around your waist, where you bend naturally – not too tightly, just snug, and horizontal. This will help you to take the vertical measurements accurately. Move around, bend from side to side and so on until it sits comfortably. Wear a well-fitting bra. (Even though you won't wear one under the corset, it will help position your bust in a more accurate corset-like position!)
Remember to stand up straight (but not overly so) with your weight evenly distributed.
Here are the measurements you'll need to draft your own corset:
Bust (1) - Around the fullest part of your bust, with the tape straight across your back, as usual.
Bust to waist(2) - Measure at your side from the waist tape up to the level where you took your bust measurement.
Underbust (3) - measured along your bra band, directly under the bust.
Apex to waist (4) - measure from one nipple (ie. the fullest point of your breast) down to the waist tape at the side front, over the contours, not straight there.
Underbust to waist (5) - measure vertically from your bra band to the waist tape at the side front.
Desired waist (6) - Suck it in and pull the tape tight! Alternatively, measure your relaxed waist and take away your desired reduction from this value. (Beginner corsetwearers should aim for 5cm-10cm (2"-4") of reduction only for best results.)
Hips (7) - Measure around your hips at the fullest point. Note how far your measurement is below the waist tape.
Waist to hips (8) - The distance down your side from the level of the waist tape to the level where you took the hip measurement.
Front hip - The part of your hips at the front of your body. Measure along your hip line again as above, from the side seam on one side to the side seam on the other.
Back hip - This is just [your hip measurement] - [front hip], so you don't need to measure it again unless you wish to double-check.
Lap (9) - Sit on a hard chair (like a kitchen or dining chair) and measure from the waist tape at the side front straight down to the point where your thigh meets your torso. This measure will help to ensure that the corset doesn't extend too low here so that you can sit down in it!
Finally, for the following six values, measure vertically from the waist tape to the point where you'd like the edge of the corset to be.
Waist to top edge of corset (centre front)
Waist to top edge of corset (side)
Waist to top edge of corset (centre back)
Waist to bottom edge of corset (centre front)
Waist to bottom edge of corset (side)
Waist to bottom edge of corset (centre back)
Finally, don't forget to check all your measurements one more time, just to make sure. Measure twice, draft once!
Accounting for cup size
You'll need to split your bust measurement into "front bust" and "back bust". This will help the pattern to take account of your cup size, but you can work it out without any more measuring.
Your Back bust (the part of your bust behind your side seams) is worked out as follows:
Work out [Your underbust measurement] + 10cm (4")
Halve this to get your back bust measurement.
So if your underbust is 30", add 4" to get 34". Then halve this to get a back bust of 17".
Your Front bust (the part of your bust forward of your side seams) is
[Your bust measurement] - [your back bust measurement]
In other words, if your bust is 36" and your back bust is 17", then your front bust is 19".
Preparing the paper
Width of the paper = [half of front bust] + [half of back hip] + 10cm (4")
So if your front bust is 24" and your back hip is 26", then the paper should be
[half of 24]+[half of 26]+4 = 29" wide.
The height of the paper will depend on how long the corset is from waist to top and from waist to bottom. Pick the biggest of your three waist to bottom measurements. Then pick the biggest of the three waist to top measurements (or the apex to waist measurement, if it's bigger than all those three.)
The height of the paper is these two biggest measurements added together, plus 10cm (4").
Ready? Here we go!
OR
These downloads require Acrobat Reader - download it free here!
AND DON'T FORGET - the most important thing...
IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND OR CAN'T DO ANY PART OF THIS, IT'S BECAUSE I HAVEN'T EXPLAINED IT PROPERLY!! So if you find any part of this doesn't make sense, you have my permission to spam me relentlessly until you DO get it at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ! Good luck, and do let me know how your corset turns out!
"I would LOVE to thank you for actually getting back to me. Every other site hostess I've emailed in regards to their tutorial just gave me something along the lines of "I'm too busy being amazing. Go away." So you rock my socks. Hands down!!" - Chance, California, USA
I still cannot access the printer friendly version. I am in no mood to use up a ton of toner just to get a hard copy of this article. >:o